Crumbling the piece of paper, Edward walked away from the beast hall while keeping his head lowered. The moment he found a place where he was sure no one had eyes on him, Edward changed form and rushed out of the city.

A few hundred feet north of Oasis, Edward returned to his human form and sat down under the scorching sun while closing his eyes.

[Are you going to wait for them? There’s still a lot of time until tonight,]

“Something appears to be going on inside Oasis as well. Let’s wait and see what is happening before making more trouble.”

A few hours after laying under the sun, a smile appeared on Edward’s lips as he opened his eyes and looked towards the city.

The air all around turned colder, but he didn’t look the least scared as he stood up slowly. From the distance, a bluish-white wolf jumped onto Edward, pushing him back down.

Rubbing the head of the wolf licking him all over his face, Edward chuckled and said: “I miss you too, girl.”

The wolf had its fair share of licking before taking the form of a young woman. Fixing her teary eyes on Edward, her face kept changing as she said with a trembling voice: “You’re late.”

“I know.” Replied Edward with a sigh before pulling Minx into his arms. Rubbing her back softly, he continued: “I’m sorry. It took a lot longer than expected to deal with everything.”

Minx nodded and just hugged him tighter as she started crying in his arms. Edward continued consoling her until she finally calmed down.

Not letting her leave his arms, Edward asked: “What happened in Oasis? How is Violet?”

“She’s good. The city is on alert for a while and that’s why they can’t leave until tonight. I sneaked out earlier.”

“Alert? What for?” asked Edward with a frown.

“There is an earthworm that attacked the city a week ago and killed the lord’s son. Two more attacks have followed since then, killing even more people. Everyone inside fears the worm, but its attacks are quick and no one can find him after it attacks to take care of it.”

Edward’s frown relaxed, happy it had nothing to do with him or the dragons. Pulling the sobbing wolf up, he looked into her blue eyes and asked: “You look even more beautiful now. Also, you seem to have grown up. Did your level increase?”

Minx nodded and smiled brightly. “I got the beast companion pass and I’m rank six now.”

“Congratulations.”, said Edward before giving her forehead a kiss: “I’m happy for you.”

Minx nodded and looked around with curiosity before asking: “Where’s Kali?”

“I left him in the north once I entered the dragon kingdom. I haven’t seen him in a long time, but I sent Circe to look after him, so he should be fine.”

Minx nodded and asked nothing as she looked back at Edward. He could see a trace of hesitation in her eyes and, just as he opened his mouth to ask, Minx lowered hers and kissed his lips.

Edward’s eyes widened as he pushed her back, a panicky expression on his face. “Minx, what was that for?”

Minx also panicked and lowered her head before saying: “I wanted to see how it feels. Edward always did it with sister Violet.”

Sighing, Edward moved his hand through her soft hair and said: “Minx, that’s something lovers do. That’s why I’m doing it with Violet. It’s not right to do it with anyone else.”

Minx dropped her head even lower when Fenrir’s voice sounded from his mark: [Stop acting like an idiot. I know you are not stupid enough to not see the feelings she has for you.]

Perking up slightly, Minx looked towards Edward’s arm and said: “Sister Fenrir…”

[Hey Minx.]

Edward wanted to ignore Fenrir’s comment when she added again: [A pack will only have one alpha, but the alpha will not only have one partner. You know Minx’s been speaking about it with Violet and she doesn’t mind. I can feel you also like Minx, so take her in and stop making her suffer.]

Minx’s hopeful gaze turned back to Edward, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Edward sighed, being put on the spot by Fenrir, and brought Minx into a hug again.

“Give me some time. Okay?”

Minx nodded shyly and said: “Can I get a kiss? Minx will wait after.”

Hearing no answer from Edward, she put some strength in her arms and lifted herself up. Closing her eyes, she bent her head to the side and locked lips with Edward again.

When Edward thought it was over, Minx parted his lips with her tongue and started putting her tongue inside. He could feel her silver tail curling around his leg as her ears fluttered happily.

Just as he wanted to pull back, Minx tightened her arms around his neck, leaving him no way to escape as her breathing turned slightly ragged and she started rubbing her naked chest against his upper body.

Edward felt himself also slowly losing control and used a little more force to push her away. When he finally broke the lock of her arms on his neck, Minx was panting heavily with her eyes glazed over.

Channeling his water mana, he made a small bucket of cold water drop on Minx’s head. Minx’s eyes regained some clarity and Edward said: “What part in ‘give me some time’ you didn’t understand?”

Minx lowered her head, realizing she had lost control just now. Edward then looked at his mark and said: “As for you. I appreciate the input, but refrain from getting involved anymore in my personal life.”

[…]

Both Minx and Fenrir could tell that Edward was angry, so they said nothing else. Minx also stood up and moved to the side with her tail hanging pathetically before taking her wolf form and curling up.

Edward sighed and didn’t console her as he laid back down and closed his eyes. The atmosphere turned awkward and remained like this until midnight, when the sound of footsteps appeared from the south.

Sitting up, Edward could see a small orb of light and two women walking toward him. One of them broke away from the light and rushed through the sand, only stopping after jumping into Edward’s arms.

A sobbing sound entered Edward’s ear. He said nothing and just slowly rubbed Violet’s back with a smile on his face.

Echo also arrived next to them but didn’t disturb their reunion as she moved close to Minx and started petting her silently.

Edward and Violet kept hugging each other for a long time until Violet finally pulled away. Her face was covered in snot and tears as she did her best to smile and said: “Welcome home.”

Edward did his best to stop himself from crying as he nodded and gave her lips a peck. “I missed you, Violet.”

Violet nodded and bent her head to the side before kissing him back. Just as she was about to part her lips and join him in a tongue dance, she remembered Minx and Echo were still there and stopped.

Pulling apart, she shook her head to stop herself from crying and dragged Edward back toward the two girls while using her other sleeve to clear her face.

Edward remained silent and followed her. Smiling toward Echo, Edward said: “It’s good to see you, Echo. How have you been?”

Echo nodded with a smile of her own. “Good to see you, too. I’m good, but I heard you got yourself in quite a lot of trouble.”

Smiling wryly, Edward sat down with Violet next to Minx and Echo before saying: “Just the average amount, but it’s mostly taken care of now. Did you get married? I’m sorry I missed the wedding.”

Echo’s eyes clouded over for a moment before smiling and nodding: “Yes. I did.”

Edward saw the hesitation in her eyes and was about to ask something when he felt Violet squeezing his hand and he stopped himself.

The group of four kept chatting for a while casually before the girls explained the situation in the city better. With the earthworm’s attacks, the people of the city are afraid to even go out at night. No matter what they tried, they haven’t been able to stop any of its attacks or find out where it lived. It also got a lot bolder, increasing its number of victims with each attack.

Edward also found out that Echo had met Violet and Minx not long after they moved here and she had helped them get registered as a beast tamer and beast companion. She even joined them in some quests to help them buy a small house in the city's west.

Their chat extended until morning when Echo said: “I have to return home now before it brightens outside. Be careful. Violet knows where to get me if you need help with anything.”

Edward nodded and said: “You two. Thank you for everything.”

Echo nodded and shared a small hug with Violet and Edward before petting Minx and leaving for the city.

Edward frowned as he looked at her heavy steps while heading towards the city gate and asked: “Is there anything wrong with her?”

Violet hung her head with a downcast look, before looking at Edward and asking: “What do you think of sister Echo?”

“Think?” asked Edward with a raised eyebrow. “She’s a good friend and has been one of my party members. Why are you asking?”

“Ed, her husband is… he’s not a good man.”, said Violet with a sigh.

“What does that mean?” asked Edward with a frown.

“She always says she’s fine and that she’s happy, but we’ll sometimes spot bruises on her body she had failed to heal properly. She also quickly changes the subject whenever it reaches her marriage. I am not sure, but I think he’s hurting her…”

“I’ve seen him once.” Added Minx from the side. “He has an evil face.”

Edward sighed and looked in the direction Echo had left. “I’ll look into it, but I can’t help her if she doesn’t want to be helped.”

Violet and Minx also hung their heads. They had also offered to help, but Echo kept insisting everything was fine so they didn’t want to do anything to make her situation even worse.

Having been left alone with just the three of them, Violet placed one hand on Edward’s leg and asked: “Can we go somewhere else?”

Noticing the look in her eyes, Edward knew what she wanted and nodded. He was also quite starving himself. “Sure, but where?”

Violet smiled and turned towards Minx. Minx quickly stood up, and they both mounted on her back before she started running toward the north. They rushed over the dunes for about half an hour until they reached a tall mountain line.

Minx turned to the side and led the three of them into a large cave built into the side of the mountain. What took Edward by surprise was the furniture present inside. There were many beds, tables, chairs, and even some cooking utensils.

Seeing Edward’s look, Violet said: “This was the hideout of some thieves we cleared as part of a quest.”, she then blushed slightly as she looked at Minx and said: “We’ll come here from time to time whenever we miss you.”

Edward missed the look between the two and nodded while looking around. Just as he was about to turn to Violet, he felt a warm body hugging him from the back as a pair of small arms started making their way inside the water curtain he used to cover himself.

“Violet, Minx is still here.” Said Edward, looking at the blushing Minx to the side.

Violet smiled and acted like she didn’t hear him as she continued moving her hands through the water curtain. Tiptoeing to reach his ear, she whispered. “And?”