by Jayme Morse
“He should be here any minute now,” Rhys informed me, glancing down at his watch.
Hmm. Supposedly this whole birthday party had been his idea, and he was late for it. It was making me question, yet again, if Theo was going out of his way to avoid me for some reason.
“Anyway, how is your first semester going?” Colton asked me.
“It’s… going,” I replied with a shrug.
“Whose class is your favorite? I will be really offended if you don’t say mine,” Aiden said with a grin, but I knew he was joking. He had been the first to admit how boring the History of Werewolves was.
“Actually, I do love your class,” I admitted.
“Are you freaking kidding me? It’s boring as hell.”
“I like history,” I replied with a shrug. “The more we learn about the things that have gone wrong in the past, the less likely we are to repeat them in the future.”
“That’s sometimes true, but not always,” Aiden said, swimming across the pool and over to me.
He placed his hands on the edge of the pool, locking me in between his grip.
“How do you figure?” I found myself whispering because it was too hard to get the words out. Something about being this close to him, with his honey brown eyes pouring into mine, was giving me all the feels.
“Sometimes, people—and werewolves—know that they’re about to do something that will complicate everything, and yet they choose to do it anyway,” he murmured, still staring into my eyes.
All.
The.
Swoons.
“Aiden,” I heard Colton say, but his voice droned into the background as Aiden brought his lips down on mine. His kiss was wet and warm from the water.
I kissed him back slowly at first, hesitant because of Theo.
Except Theo wasn’t even here…
So I kissed him back, knowing that he’d definitely find out about our kiss later. But in that moment, I didn’t even care.
It was passionate and hasty, a kiss that was obviously driven by a lot of built up tension.
Not caring that everyone in the pool was probably watching us, I wrapped my arms around his neck and, tugging on his wet hair, pulled him in closer to me and latching my legs around his back, trying to pull him in as close as possible to me.
When he finally pulled away from me, we were both breathless.
Wow. Everything about that kiss had been completely wow. It had been… amazing. There was just no other way to describe it.
“Ahem.” I heard a throat clear behind me.
Glancing over my shoulder, I was surprised to find Theo standing there behind us. He looked… well, honestly, he looked crushed. If there had ever been a doubt in my mind about his feelings for me, the look on his face completely cleared it up for me.
He really did feel something for me, and I had just hurt him.
“Sorry I’m late,” he finally said after a long moment. “I went to pick up the birthday cake.”
Then, without saying another word, he headed into the house.
“Holy shit,” Vince said quietly from behind me. “I feel like I’m in the middle of a romantic comedy, except it’s not funny.”
Well, that was one way to put it.
Climbing out of the pool, I did the only thing I could think of.
I started to go after Theo, but then something happened.
I began to feel dizzy and before I even knew what was happening, my eyes were fluttering shut and I was falling hard to the ground.
Chapter Fourteen
When I opened my eyes, I found that I was laying on a couch. I was still wearing the black bikini, and there was a white fluffy towel tucked underneath of me.
What the hell had just happened?
I sat up, glancing around. Theo was kneeling on the marble floor next to me. Colton was sitting in an armchair. Aiden and Rhys were just standing there, arms folded across their chests, as they peered down at me.
“Oh, thank god you’re alright,” Iris said as I glanced over in her and Vince’s direction.
“We were so worried about you,” Vince added.
“W-what happened?” I managed to ask.
The last thing I remembered was kissing Aiden, getting caught by Theo, climbing out of the pool, and then passing out as I had tried to go after him.
“We think it might have just been too hot in the pool for you,” Theo explained. “You were probably dehydrated. Here, drink up.”
He handed me a glass of water.
“Thank you.” I took it from him and brought it to my lips. All I could wonder was why he was being so nice to me after he had just caught me kissing Aiden.
Not that I really owed Theo anything. After all, we had made out in my kitchen and then he had gone over a month without even talking to me. But it had me feel sort of guilty to know that while he was out getting my birthday cake, I had been kissing his… well, basically his brother.
“How are you feeling now, Raven?” Rhys asked me.
I considered it for a moment. “I actually feel fine.”
“You’re not dizzy or anything?” Theo asked.
I shook my head. “No. I feel okay.”
“Then the party must go on,” Colton said. “Are you ready to have birthday cake?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, let’s head into the kitchen then.”
I rose to my feet and then glanced down at the bikini I was wearing. It made me feel sort of naked. I thought about changing back into my clothes because I felt awkward, but honestly? They’d all seen me wearing it now already, anyway.
Once the Darken pack had slipped into the kitchen, Iris grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “You really feel okay?”
I nodded.
She glanced around to make sure no one was listening to us before saying, “You should have seen how Theo took care of when you passed out, Raven. He came running outside and swooped you up like he was Prince Charming or something and brought you onto the sofa. He seemed so worried about you.”
“Wow.” I thought about it. I wondered if that was how it had happened when I had fainted back in the human world at Branden Mitchell’s party.
Why did I keep fainting lately? I had never fainted before in my life until that party.
I wondered if this had something to do with being a werewolf. It was sort of strange how it kept happening whenever I was around the Darken, too.
A thought occurred to me then.
The first time I had fainted, I’d kissed Theo. This time I’d fainted, it had been after kissing Aiden.
Was it possible that kissing them sent my heart into overdrive or something, causing me to faint? Or was it merely a coincidence?
Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, Iris and I followed the others into the kitchen. They had already lit the candles on the huge turquoise cake with yellow sprinkles. How had the Darken known my favorite color combination?
“Happy birthday to you,” they all began to sing in sync. “Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Raven. Happy birthday to you.”
“Make a wish,” Vince said.
I hesitated for a moment. What did I wish for?
I racked my mind for a moment until I settled on something.
I wish to avenge my parents’ murders.
I managed to blow out all of the candles out in just one attempt.
“Yay, your wish is going to come true,” Iris said.
I’d never been that superstitious, but honestly? I was a werewolf now. Clearly, anything was possible.
***
As we were watching a movie in the Darken’s movie theater room, Iris yawned loudly. “I am so ready for bed. I don’t know why I’m exhausted. What was in that cake?”
“I’m actually pretty tired, too.” Vince glanced over at me. “How about you Raven? Are you ready to call it a night?”
“Um, I actually feel fine,” I admitted. In fact, if anything, I actually felt more energized since I had passed out, if that
was at all possible. “But if you guys are that tired, you should probably head back to your dorms.”
“Okay.” Iris rose to her feet.
“Do you want one of us to drive you there?” Colton asked her.
“No, we can walk, but thank you.” She hesitated. “You’ll make sure that Raven gets back to her dorm okay, though?”
“Yeah, of course we will,” Rhys promised.
“Okay.” Iris gave me a loose hug. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight,” Vince said as he came in for a hug, too.
A moment later, they were gone.
I turned to the Darken. “So, now what?”
“Now, we tell you the truth,” Theo said.
The truth. It sounded so serious—so consequential.
“The truth about what?” I questioned.
“The truth about why we’ve pretty much been M.I.A. up until now,” he explained.
Finally. I was about to get the answer that I’d been wondering about for more than a month now.
“The reason we haven’t spoken much is because we’ve been trying to figure things out for ourselves,” Theo began to explain. “We’ve been trying to make sense of everything.” His light blue eyes locked on mine. “I’m not quite sure how to tell you this, Raven.”
“Just tell me,” I insisted.
“You’re not just an average werewolf,” he began. “You’re a lot more extraordinary—a lot more powerful.”
“You’re not telling me anything new, Theo. You already told me my parents were really powerful,” I pointed out.
“You are far more powerful than even them.” He paused. “We’ve all been watching you, Raven. Your abilities are… well, they’re extraordinary.”
“I don’t know about that.” I found myself growing frustrated. What did these alleged abilities have anything to do with why they’d been avoiding for more than a month? I wished he would just get to the damn point already.
“Did you see the way you shot that bow and arrow in Weaponry class yesterday?” Colton asked me. “You are absolutely excelling with every single weapon you’ve tried so far. None of my other students even come close to how on point you are with all of these weapons.”
“Most of your students probably don’t have as much anger and rage as I do. They don’t have the desire to avenge their parents’ deaths,” I pointed out.
“It’s not only that. Professor Lee told me that you’re excelling in Lunar Magic 101 to the point that it’s freaking her out a little bit,” Theo said.
I just stared back at him. “Freaking her out? Why?”
“Your magic seems to know no bounds. It’s far stronger than most werewolves’—modern day werewolves’, anyway.”
I frowned. “What exactly are you saying?”
“We don’t think you actually are a modern wolf, Raven.” His blue eyes locked on mine. “We believe you’re one of the Ancients, just like us.”
Chapter Fifteen
“What the hell has even led you to this conclusion?” I questioned.
It all sounded completely batshit to me. The fact that I could have been one of the Ancients… Well, it barely even made sense.
“You may have heard that no one from our pack has ever been romantically involved with anyone,” Theo began. “Have you ever heard the reason why?”
I shook my head. “No.”
But now that they mentioned it, I was dying to know why.
“Full-blooded Ancients are only attracted to other Ancients,” he explained. “It’s a curse that prevents us from being drawn to anyone else.” Theo’s light blue eyes met mine. “We all feel drawn to you, Raven. It’s something that none of us have felt in hundreds of years. It’s this… this undeniable physical, mental, and emotional attraction that none of us seem to have any control over. And we know you feel it, too.”
I swallowed hard. How could I deny that what he was saying was true when it was true? I was oddly drawn to all of them… especially Theo and Aiden, the ones who had the most Ancient blood.
“I’ve heard your thoughts, Raven. I’ve heard enough to know what you think of all of us.”
I grabbed the necklace that I still wore around my neck, the necklace that kept him out of my mind and thoughts.
“I heard your thoughts from the day we met you until you put that on. I know that the attraction you feel for us is inhuman,” Theo said softly. “If I had to guess, I would say that you probably never felt this attracted to any guy you ever went to high school with back in the human world.”
Well, he was telling the truth. I had been in love once before with this guy named Chris, but I hadn’t really been that attracted to him. It had been closer to that of a friendship. It had been the total opposite of what I felt for all of the Darken. For them, I felt… everything.
“There’s something else, too,” Theo continued. “Another reason we are certain you’re an Ancient, too.”
“What is it?” I asked, staring back at him.
“Well, you should know that you’re mated to two of us,” Theo said.
“What?” How was it possible that two of them were my mates, and I hadn’t even known it until this very moment.
“Do you remember the night we first met? We kissed and then you fainted. Well, that was our souls binding together that caused that,” Theo explained. “Then tonight, you fainted again after you kissed Aiden.”
I allowed this to sink in. “I didn’t even know you could have two mates.”
“We didn’t, either,” Aiden replied. “But apparently you can.”
I frowned. “How does any of this prove that I’m an Ancient?”
“This doesn’t typically happen when two wolves become mated, but it does happen when two Ancients become mated,” Theo explained. “Your fainting was the main giveaway that you’re an Ancient, in fact.”
“There’s no way I could possibly be one of the Ancients like you,” I finally said after a long moment. “I wasn’t born hundreds of years ago. I was born eighteen years ago, to the day.”
“Or were you?” Aiden asked.
“You knew my parents,” I pointed out. “You know that there was no way.”
“We believe that your parents were lying to us and to you, Raven,” Theo informed me.
“What do you mean?”
“We think they took you in and pretended you were their child, even though you were actually an Ancient,” he explained.
“How is that even possible?” I asked. “If what you’re saying could be true, wouldn’t I… remember it? I’m pretty sure I would know if I was hundreds of years old, but I don’t.”
“Raven, how much of your childhood do you really remember?” Theo asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied.
“When is your first memory?” he pressed.
“Maybe when I was thirteen. Fourteen.” I shrugged. It had always been a running joke between me and my parents that I didn’t remember our first vacation to the beach when I was five years old. There were pictures of me riding the Ferris wheel, building sandcastles, and jumping in the waves, but I had never remembered any of it.
To say that my memory was pretty shitty would have been an understatement. Sometimes, I had wondered if I’d blocked out some of my childhood memories for a reason, but that didn’t make any sense. My parents had only ever been kind and loving. It wasn’t like anything traumatic had ever happened—not to my knowledge, anyway.
“So, on average, most humans’ earliest memories begin around three and a half years old. Werewolf memories tend to begin even before then,” Theo said. “So, what I’m saying is that while having no memories before the age of thirteen or fourteen isn’t typical for human or wolf, it would make a lot of sense with our theory.”
“What theory?” I asked.
“We believe you were given a memory serum to make you forget your past life,” he explained. “Then your parents raised you as their own, without ever telling you the truth.”
“I don’t understand. Why would they have done that to me?” I asked, shaking my head.
I didn’t want to believe it could be true. I didn’t want to believe that any of it could be true.
Why would my parents have faked being my parents for my entire life—or for the past eighteen years (or however long)? What would the point in all of this have been? Were they bad wolves?
“We haven’t quite figured that part out yet,” Theo replied with a sigh. “All we do know is that they must have done it in order to protect you. We’re just not sure from what—or, more likely, from who.”
“I see.” I swallowed hard.
“There’s something else we wanted to talk to you about.” Theo’s eyes landed on mine. “We want you to be with us.”
“Um, what?” I glanced around the room at the four of them, completely confused by his words. I knew I’d heard him correctly, but I didn’t understand what he’d actually meant.
“It might sound strange to you, and the truth is that it’s even stranger for us,” he explained. “But we all feel so drawn to you, Raven. It’s the first time any of us have been attracted to someone in so long. We just keep thinking that this is fate, that there’s a reason for this happening. Even though each of us wants you to himself, we feel that it would be wrong to not share you. Assuming that’s what you want, of course.”
I swallowed hard, glancing around at each of them as they all stared back at me, waiting to see what my answer was going to be.
I thought about it for a moment. Having an open relationship with the four of them sounded… well, complicated as fuck. I would basically be putting my heart in the middle of a ping pong machine.
But at the same time, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Because the truth was that I really did want them all.
“Okay,” I said finally.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to do this,” Colton said quietly.
“I’m sure. Truthfully, I want you all. It’s been so hard to choose just one of you.”
Even if most of my thoughts had been centered on Theo, there was obviously a reason I had kissed Aiden, too. I wanted him, the same way I wanted Rhys and Colton. I had felt guilty about feeling that way before, but knowing that they were all okay with this made me feel so much better about wanting it.