by Jayme Morse
I kissed him back. Then I added, “Besides, the sooner we can find Milos and kill him, the better. What if she’s really able to lead us to him?”
“I guess we’re about to find out,” he replied as he untangled himself from me and pulled himself out of bed.
I climbed out of bed, too, and changed into a white tank top and gray yoga pants.
As we headed downstairs, I was surprised to find that Jessica was already sitting at the kitchen table.
“Do you want cream or sugar in your coffee?” Aiden was asking her as we entered the room.
“No, I prefer my coffee black, just like my heart,” Jessica replied. Her gaze shifted to me and Theo as we entered the room. “Good morning, lovelies.”
“Good morning. You guys are up early,” I found myself saying.
“Yeah. I’m so not a morning person, so I decided to just stay up and watch some TV. I figured I would be more awake than if I went to sleep for just a few hours. I was knees’ deep in a Golden Girls marathon when my TV woke Aiden up, and he decided to keep me company.”
“How nice of him.” I shot Aiden dagger eyes as I made my way over to the Keurig.
It was hard for me to hide my jealousy, but I couldn’t help it. Jessica went to Aiden’s office hours. I had questioned Aiden about it before, and he’d told me that Jessica was having a hard time in his class so he was giving her some one-on-one tutoring. He’d told me that I had nothing to be worried about, but even so, I had always secretly wondered if she wanted him.
More importantly, I had wondered if Aiden secretly wanted her, too. Even though ancients could only be attracted to other ancients, being Milos’s daughter meant that Jessica was half-ancient. And while I knew firsthand that being attracted to a half-ancient wasn’t as intense as being attracted to a full-blooded ancient, I knew that it was possible. I had found myself attracted to Javier at one point in time. And even though my connection with Javier had been nothing like the connections I had with the Darken, I knew it was possible.
Anyway, the point was that hearing Jessica and Aiden had stayed up alone last night together just drudged up all of those old feelings. And I didn’t like it one bit.
“Good morning, everyone,” Colton said as he strolled into the kitchen, interrupting the awkward silence that had filled the room.
“Good morning,” Jessica said, a sugary sweetness to her tone.
I found myself rolling my eyes at her as the Keurig began to make a whirring sound.
“Do you really think this arrangement is going to work out?” Theo asked me.
“It has to work out. She might be our key to figuring out where Milos is hiding. As of right now, we don’t have even the slightest hint.”
My mates had tried to find Milos after I had escaped, but it had been no use. Milos hadn’t been at his house on Nocturne Island. We hadn’t known where he was hiding out.
“But if we let Jessica work with us on this, I’m afraid that you’re going to end up mauling her to death. You must be struggling so hard right now not to shift into a werewolf,” Theo responded.
Actually, I had become really good at controlling my inner wolf. It took as much to anger me these days. That was one of the only good things that had come from my three-month stint in the dungeon: I now had the patience and tolerance of a saint.
“It’s just obvious that you don’t like or trust her… especially around your mates,” Theo went on. “This jealousy might make this situation really hard for you to handle in the long-term.”
“Right now, I need to give this a try. Just leave it alone, okay?” I shot a glance in Theo’s direction.
He nodded from where he was sitting at the table, across from Jessica.
“Okay, so let’s get started,” I said as I carried my coffee back to the table, just as Rhys entered the room, yawning groggily. I sat down at the head of the table, diagonally from Jessica. “The first challenge is going to be actually locating your father.”
“Well, the first place I would check is the house on Nocturne Island,” she said.
“We already have. That’s where he held me captive all summer,” I explained. “He’s not there anymore.”
“Okay. Well, I have both good news and bad news.” She paused. “Let’s start with the bad news. My dad owns fifty-three homes throughout the entire world.”
Holy. Shit. I had figured that Milos had other residences aside from the house on Nocturne Island, but fifty-three? How the hell were we going to be able to find him?
“And the good news?” Colton pressed.
“I know where all of them are?” Jessica asked with a shrug.
“Fifty-three homes,” Theo said, shaking his head.
“Even if we decided to check out all of them, he could easily move onto the next before we find him.”
“Unless we break up into groups,” Jessica suggested. “We can start with the United States. You and Raven can go check out his houses in the northeastern U.S. Colton and Rhys can take on the South, and Aiden and I will head to the West Coast.”
I found myself glaring at her yet again. Of course she would have wanted to team up with Aiden. I knew I probably sounded like a jealous school girl, but he was my mate. I may have had five mates, but until I ended up choosing one, he was mine. And even if I didn’t end up choosing Aiden in the end, I hope he didn’t end up choosing her. Of all the werewolves in the world, did he have to be with Milos’s daughter?
I actually often wondered what would happen to my mates who I didn’t choose in the end. Would they be with other people? If Professor Lee was able to figure out a way to break the curse that prevented ancients from being attracted to anyone besides ancients, then anyone was fair game. All of them could go on to have normal, happy relationships… without me.
I wasn’t going to lie. That last part made me pretty freaking sad.
“This plan sounds great in theory, but logistically, it doesn’t work,” Theo said, pulling me back out of my thoughts.
“Why? It seems like a pretty great idea to me,” Jessica said.
“Because we’re contracted to teach, and you and Raven have school. We can’t just up and leave everything right now to go check out fifty-three houses with no guarantee that your father will be at any of them.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I thought you guys want to kill my dad.”
“It’s the only thing I want,” I said with a nod.
That was a lie, of course. I also wanted her to leave my mate alone. But saying that out loud only would have caused drama, and I had enough of that lately.
“Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get what you want. Skipping school, or work, just might be one of them.”
“I don’t think splitting into groups is a good idea,” I said. “What if something happens? We should really all stick together.”
Mostly, because I wasn’t about to let Aiden and her travel the West Coast together. Nope. That was not happening under my watch. Not without a fight.
Jessica stared at me for a long moment. Finally, shook her head and then rose to her feet.
As she began to walk across the room, I asked, “Where are you going?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Back to my dorm room. Call me when you guys are serious about actually finding and killing my dad.”
A few moments later, I heard the front door open and then close.
I turned to my mates. “Well, that was a waste of our time.”
“Maybe she would have stayed if there had been less tension in the room,” Colton said quietly.
“What are you saying?” I knew he must have been referring to my jealousy.
“Oh, come on, Raven. You were acting like a jealous schoolgirl,” Theo said, shooting me a side eye glance.
That’s because I was a jealous schoolgirl.
I sighed. “Was it really that obvious?”
“Very, very obvious,” Rhys said with a nod.
“Great. So, I messed up our one connection to
possibly kill Milos?” I asked.
“Maybe?” Colton said.
“Great. I’m glad you all blame me.” Rising to my feet, I headed to my bedroom.
Closing the door behind me, I climbed under the covers and turned to face the window.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I called, even though I didn’t really feel like talking to any of them.
Truthfully, I was feeling sort of sorry for myself. If fate hadn’t been so cruel that it had to mate me with not just one but five guys, things would be so much less complicated. I wouldn’t have to get jealous about a guy who wasn’t even, technically, mine. I would get to just be a normal wolf with a normal mate.
But here I was. Jealous about a guy who I wasn’t even entirely sure I would choose in the end.
“Raven, can we talk?” Aiden’s voice asked.
I didn’t turn to look at him. “I guess.”
He closed my bedroom door and then climbed into my bed.
Dropping his arm around my waist, he said, “Is there something you want to talk about?”
I just shrugged.
“What’s all this jealousy about?”
“It’s stupid,” I replied with an eye roll. “And that’s the thing. I know it’s stupid, but that doesn’t make me feel any less jealous.”
“Well, it is stupid,” Aiden agreed with a nod, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “But it’s not because of how you’re acting.”
I shifted in my bed to face him. “It’s not?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re just acting like a werewolf normally would act about her mate. Jealousy is all par for the course.”
“Well, then why is it stupid?” I questioned.
“Because you should know that there’s nothing on my end when it comes to Jessica.”
“How would I know that?” I knew I just sounded like a brat at this point, but I needed some sort of reassurance from him. I figured that it must have just been the werewolf in me.
“Because everything I have, every single part of me—my heart, my body, my mind—it all belongs to you, Raven. You’re my whole life, my whole world.” His honey brown eyes pierced straight through me. “So, Jessica Davis can feel however the hell she wants to feel about me, but it doesn’t mean a goddamn thing because you are my everything. I love you, Raven.”
I knew he meant every word.
“I love you, too.”
He brought his mouth down on mine then. His kiss completely stole my breath away, but I just kissed him deeper.
His lips moved their way down my neck, sending a wave of shivers down my spine. Before I even knew what was happening, he had pulled my dress off. Reaching behind my back, he unhooked my bra, allowing it to fall to the side, revealing my breasts.
His mouth fell to one of my nipples, and he sucked it slowly as his hand drifted downwards. He slipped his fingers beneath the lacy material of the skimpy thong I was wearing.
As he touched me, my hitched in my throat and I arched my back.
“I want you inside of me,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?” His honey brown eyes stared into mine for my approval.
Last year, I had told him I wanted to wait until I made a decision. But now, everything had changed.
Now, all I wanted was to feel him inside of me.
I nodded with certainty.
He covered my mouth with his lips again, as I reached for his zipper and pulled his pants off.
I could feel his bulge through his boxers. He slid out of them and then kissed me again.
He tilted forward then, the weight of his body pinning me against the mattress as we breathed heavily into each other’s mouths.
My body was already trembling with my hunger for him as he pressed his tip against me but didn’t enter me.
It was a slow torture and enough to drive me mad.
I moaned against his mouth. “Please fuck me.”
That was all it took. He slowly pushed himself inside of me, satisfying my craving.
As he filled me, a deep, primitive groan escaped his lips. “Fuck, yes, baby.”
He pinned my wrists down over my head as he sucked my nipple again.
I pushed my hips against his, forcing him deeper inside. My entire body quivered with every thrust as an electric-like feeling radiated from our skin.
His pace quickened, and I could feel myself tightening at the core.
His breath quickened, and his lips came crashing down on mine as we completely came undone together.
As I called his name out loudly, I knew damn well that my other mates could hear us. But I didn’t care. Because right now, it was just Aiden and me.
Chapter 7
During the days that followed, Theo would barely look at me, let alone talk to me.
I knew that he was probably pissed that I’d had sex with Aiden. Anyone would have been jealous, and he was a werewolf. We were more naturally prone to jealousy when it came to our mates.
But he knew the situation. He knew that I hadn’t asked to be mated to all of them. Fate had chosen this arrangement for me, and originally, they had all agreed to this. They had agreed to share me.
I hated that he was mad at me, but I also didn’t regret it for even a second.
Originally, I had promised not to have sex with any of them until I made my decision. But I had a different plan for myself now.
I wasn’t going to force it. But when the timing was right, I would do it with the others, too.
If I was going to choose who I was going to be with for the rest of my life, then I needed to know what sex with each of them would be like. And sex with Aiden?
Well, it was everything.
On Monday, Jessica passed me in the hallway at school. She smiled at me, but she didn’t say anything.
I knew it was because she didn’t take me seriously, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. But I didn’t feel ready for her help yet. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her help. I knew she would be a valuable tool for us to have on our side when it came to hunting Milos down. But we really weren’t ready to do this the way she wanted to go about doing it. The Darken had signed a contract to teach at Werewolf Academy this year, one that they couldn’t just go back on. It would be one thing if each of the Darken took a leave of absence, but they couldn’t all ditch their teaching positions at once now that school was officially in progress.
The only problem was that I wasn’t sure how we could go about it now, either.
My plan was for us to come up with a plan before we asked her to be a part of the plan. And I wasn’t sure how long this plan was going to take.
Later that day in Advanced Paranormal History, Aiden said, “Class, we have a new student with us this afternoon. I would like you all to welcome Lydia.”
I glanced over my shoulder to find Maddie’s roommate Lydia, A.K.A. Sarah from the ancient times, sitting towards the door of the classroom. It seemed odd that she had switched classes.
Honestly? I didn’t really like the idea of being in a classroom with her. I couldn’t help but feel like the entire reason she was at Werewolf Academy had something to do with me. I just wasn’t sure why.
“Next, I would like to tell you about a group project that I’m going to assign you today,” Aiden continued. “We’re going to be researching curses and prophecies. I’m going to assign you with a curse, and a partner. You’ll research the curse or prophecy together and then do a presentation about it. So, I’m going to read off your partners and the curse or prophecy that you’ve been assigned.”
He began to call out pairs of names.
Iris and Vince were partnered, which was relieving to me. The last thing I would have wanted was to be partners with either of them.
“Raven Gallagher… and Lydia Bowers. The two of you will cover the Triangle prophecy.”
“Why the hell would you pair me with Sarah?” I asked him through mind-speak, glaring at him from acr
oss the room.
“Easy,” he replied, glancing in my direction. “This group project will force you to interact with one another. Once you’ve talked to her some more, maybe you’ll be able to get to the bottom of this whole thing and figure out why she’s here.”
I found myself sulking. I didn’t want to have to interact with her. I just wanted to pretend that she wasn’t here and hope that the problem would go away entirely on its own.
But nope. My mate was going to force me to talk to her.
And we had to research the Triangle together. Of all the curses and prophecies for him to assign us, it was one that directly involved me… one that Sarah knew directly involved me.
This was going to be interesting, to say the least.
Sarah… I mean “Lydia” … and I met in the library for the first time the following afternoon.
“I found these books before you got here.” She laid a stack on the table between us. “This prophecy doesn’t seem to be that popular or that well-known, so it seems like there aren’t a lot of books on it. These are it.”
A realization dawned on me then. “Why didn’t we find these books in the library last year when we were actually trying to find information on them?” I thought to Aiden through mind-speak.
“Because I had the library order these books specifically for this assignment,” Aiden explained. “Considering the Triangle prophecy is so close to coming to fruition, I also thought it was really important for the other students to learn about it. That’s the entire reason I decided to give you two this assignment.”
“Gotcha,” I thought back to him, as Sarah said, “So, I’m thinking that I can go through these two books, and you can go through those two.”
“Okay,” I agreed. Ultimately, I knew that we needed to focus on the project. We needed to actually get it done in order to get a passing grade. Of all of my mates, Aiden was probably the toughest when it came to grading. We had to make sure that we knew our shit about this prophecy, which shouldn’t have been too hard for me. The prophecy haunted my life every single day of my life, after all.