by Jayme Morse
I was determined to become the fastest wolf on the team. There was only one other wolf faster than me: Stella Knight, who was able to run two minutes and fifteen seconds. I always felt like she was gloating whenever she beat my running time. That was why I was so determined to get faster.
“Hey, Raven!” I heard a voice call out from behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to find Aiden running in my direction.
Ugh.
Of all times for him to try to talk to me. We had class together in less than a half hour. Whatever he had to say could have waited until then.
I didn’t slow down. I wasn’t about to let him interfere with my running time.
Must beat Stella, I reminded myself.
He caught up to me fairly quickly. There was no doubt that the Darken were fast—as fast as me, for sure. I knew that was probably because we were all Ancients. I just wasn’t sure why Stella was so much faster than me when she wasn’t.
Well, she was technically only twenty-two seconds faster than me, but still. Girl was pretty damn fast for not being an Ancient.
“You look nice this morning,” Aiden said, his honey brown eyes meeting mine.
“Thank you. Why are you buttering me up?” I questioned.
“Well, I just wanted to see if you wanted tonight to be our night,” Aiden said.
“Our night?” I eyed him curiously.
“Yeah, our date night.”
“Oh.” Duh. I probably should have figured that out on my own. “Okay. Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes. “You Darken and your surprises.”
Aiden grinned at me. “I’ll pick you up at your place at seven o’clock.” Then, without saying another word, he ran ahead of me, towards the school.
I tried not to smile too hard. I had a date with Aiden. My mate.
Somehow, that was enough to give me what I needed to move faster. In fact, just talking to him made it feel like my legs were moving entirely on their own. It felt like I was flying.
As I finished my last circle around the track, fully completing the mile, Iris announced my running time, the same way she always did. “Two minutes and fourteen seconds!”
“Yes!” I shouted, jumping up and down with excitement.
I had finally beat Stella’s time—and it was all thanks to Aiden.
It was like the Darken were my good luck charms.
Chapter Eighteen
As seven o’clock was about to roll around, I glanced at myself in the mirror one last time. I had decided to curl my hair, which was growing longer every day. When we first started classes, it was just slightly longer than my shoulders. Now it was halfway down my back. Iris had told me that werewolves’ hair grew like crazy, so it was probably due to my werewolf gene being activated.
I wondered what Aiden had planned for us to do for this date tonight. I was hoping that he wasn’t planning to take me to the same solarium Theo had. Don’t get me wrong. It was a beautiful place for a date, but since Theo had taken me there, it felt like it was our place. It would have felt so wrong to go there with another guy.
My doorbell rang two minutes before seven o’clock.
Pulling the door open, I found him standing outside with a huge bouquet of roses, but the color threw me off.
As he handed me the bouquet, my eyebrows lifted in question. “You brought me… black roses?”
Most guys went for red or pink. At least, I assumed. No guy had ever given me flowers before, so the gesture alone was incredibly sweet… even if it was an odd choice in flower. Even if black roses felt like they could have been a bad omen.
“Actually, I carefully chose black roses for a reason,” Aiden explained. “Black roses are only found in Halfeti, which is near the Urfa province of Turkey. They are extremely rare—just like you.”
Well, that was pretty freaking sweet. “Thank you. I love them,” I replied, giving him a peck on the lips.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” Aiden said as I pulled away from him and headed to the kitchen to put the flowers in water.
“Are you going to tell me where you’re taking me yet?” I asked.
“Nope.” A smile hit his lips. “You’ll find out soon.”
***
Twenty minutes later, I was flying high in the sky in a jet plane with Aiden. An actual freaking jet plane.
“How come I never knew any of you had a private jet?” I asked him over the sound of the plane’s engine.
“Well, it’s technically the pack’s jet. We share it,” Aiden replied from the pilot’s seat, as he flew the plane, titling it from side to side.
“Are you guys, like, rich or something?” And if they were, how hadn’t I realized this before now?
“We’re well off,” Aiden confirmed.
“Like how well off?” I asked.
“Combined, we have about as much money as Bill Gates,” he replied.
Holy. Crap.
Not that I wanted these guys because of their money. They could have been homeless, and I still would have wanted them just as much. My want for them was clearly out of my control.
It was dark out, and the stars just seemed to glow brightly through the darkness of the night. They looked like big fireflies from up here. I had never seen anything like it before.
Everything just looked so beautiful.
I wasn’t sure if Aiden would be able to top Theo’s first date with me, but this… well, it was certainly on par to the solarium and dancing under the stars to Ed Sheeran.
Both of these first dates were special in their own way.
Vince’s words echoed through my mind then: “Will you end up picking one of them in the end?”
How could I choose just one of them?
***
As we headed for the front door of my dorm suite, I noticed the small flakes that were falling from the sky. “Hey, look. It’s snowing.”
Aiden’s honey brown eyes met mine. “It’s a nice little romantic touch, isn’t it?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Did you somehow make this happen?”
His lips slid into a grin. “Maybe.”
“How?” I knew werewolves were capable of magic, but this wasn’t anything Professor Lee was teaching us in Lunar Magic 101.
“It’s a mystery.” His eyes met mine.
I would get him to tell me how he had made it happen later, but right now, all I wanted to do was take it all in.
“Well, it’s beautiful.” I pulled my key out and unlocked the door. “I had a great time with you.”
“May I come inside?” Aiden asked.
I thought about Theo, about the fact that letting Aiden inside would basically be a form of betrayal.
Except, deep down I knew it wasn’t. They had all agreed to this, after all.
So instead of thinking about the rest of the Darken, I followed what my heart wanted. And what my heart wanted more than anything was to let him inside.
I nodded as I held the door open for him.
We had barely set foot inside my apartment, and his lips were already on mine. His tongue slipped into my mouth, setting my entire body on fire.
Holy shit.
I wasn’t sure if it was because we were mated now or what, but this kiss… It was so much different than the first time he had ever kissed me.
His kiss was slow and deep, powerful. It felt as though he was claiming me with his lips—and he was doing a good job at it. I could feel something stirring within me… something more than just desire. I needed him.
Threading my fingers through his dark brown hair, I pulled him closer. Everything about his kiss was completely intoxicating.
Aiden lifted me into the air, kissed me on my neck, and then tossed me onto the sectional. He climbed on top of it, hovering over me.
One of his hands fell to my thighs, moving up the length of my dress until he reached my thong. His fingers slipped underneath the lacy material.
&nb
sp; Shifting his body, he kissed me again.
As his tongue tangled with mine, he slipped a finger inside of me.
He moved his mouth downwards, sucking one of my nipples hard.
“Fuck,” I groaned out, tilting my head back as he circled my clit with his finger. My knees were trembling.
“You’re so fucking hot,” Aiden growled out. “I want you so bad right now.”
“I’m all yours,” I managed to moan out. I wanted—no, needed—him in me so bad. “Fuck me.”
“Tonight is all about you.” He began to trail his kisses down my stomach, his breath warm against my pelvis.
My legs began to tremble uncontrollably as his tongue slowly circled over my clit. He closed his mouth around it, sucking it hard as he continued to move his fingers in and out of me.
“Aiden,” I moaned out as I felt myself tightening at the core.
It just took one flick of his tongue against my clit to come undone.
As I unraveled underneath him, the world around us just seemed to spin.
Chapter Nineteen
Aiden stayed with me that night but only after I nearly begged him to. I wasn’t sure how Theo or the others would feel about him spending the night, but I was sure their turn would come eventually.
When my eyes fluttered open the next morning, I found Aiden’s arm wrapped around me, pulling me close.
I smiled. I could seriously get used to this.
As I shifted in his arms, letting him know I was awake, he brought his lips down on mine. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” I replied, smiling up at him. “Last night was… incredible.”
“You were incredible,” he replied.
I hesitated. “Except you rejected sleeping with me.”
“I suppose you should probably know the reason why,” Aiden said with a sigh. “Believe me when I tell you that I did not want to reject you, but the guys all have an agreement.”
“What’s the agreement?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“None of us is allowed to have sex with you until you’ve been on a date with each of us,” he explained.
I just narrowed my eyes at him. “I love how I get no say in this decision about who I sleep with.”
“We just want each of us to have a fair chance at being your first,” Aiden explained quietly.
“How do you know I haven’t already had a first?” The truth was that I hadn’t lost my V-card yet, but I didn’t remember telling any of them that.
“This is probably going to sound weird, but we can smell it,” Aiden replied.
“Smell it? Like, literally?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
Could every werewolf smell it? I was pretty sure I did not want the answer to that question. I would have felt way too awkward walking around Werewolf Academy if I knew that everyone could.
“Yes. It’s a werewolf’s instinct.” He shrugged as he climbed out of bed, walking over to the side of the room and pulling his pants on.
That’s when I noticed it: on his shoulder blade, he had a tattoo. It was a tribal paw print.
“I didn’t know you had a tattoo,” I said.
“Well, this would be the first time you’ve seen me shirtless.” He turned around and grinned at me. “We actually all have the same tattoo. It’s our pack tattoo.”
“What made you choose a paw print?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“Actually, we didn’t choose it.” He pulled his shirt on and then turned to me. “When you become a part of a pack, you get that pack’s tattoo. And it can be in any location. Mine is on my shoulder blade. Theo’s is on his spine. Colton’s is on his chest. Rhys’s is on his chest, too.”
“Wow. So, you just woke up with it one morning and it was there?” I asked.
“Pretty much. Fate imprints you.” He shrugged. “I guess the design could be worse. The bright side is that I don’t have to see it all the time.”
“I want a tattoo.” I paused. “A real one, though. Not the type determined by fate.”
“Well, you will get the fate kind. Eventually.” He laughed. “What type of tattoo do you want?”
“A butterfly.”
“Where do you want it?” Aiden asked.
I hesitated for a moment. I’d never given that part much thought. “On my wrist.”
“You should do it.”
“I’ve always been afraid of the pain,” I admitted.
“You’re a werewolf now. I can almost guarantee you that it won’t hurt as much as shifting into your wolf form.”
“Well, that’s true,” I agreed. Shifting was painful as fuck.
“I’m starving. Do you want to go get some breakfast?” Aiden asked.
“Sure.” This date was lasting practically forever… and honestly? I was loving every single moment of it.
“I was thinking we could meet up with the rest of the pack,” he told me. “If that’s okay with you.”
“Oh.” Well, as much as I was enjoying my one-on-one time with Aiden, I really was missing the others. Even after how incredible last night had been, my mind was still missing Theo, the same way it always did. “Sounds good.”
***
About an hour later, we were sitting at a diner with the other Darken members. I was sitting in between Rhys and Aiden, while Colton and Theo were across from me.
I couldn’t help but notice that Theo was being… well, strange… with me. He’d barely made eye contact with me since arriving at this diner.
As our waitress brought our food out, I decided it was probably a good thing we were in the werewolf world because this would have been an abnormal amount of food in the human world. There were stacks and stacks of pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, and muffins. It looked like enough food to feed an army, even though there were only five of us.
“So, what did you guys do last night?” Colton’s eyes locked on mine.
“Yeah, what did you do?” Theo looked at me for the first time then, his blue eyes piercing straight through mine. I got the impression that he was trying to play it off coolly, even though deep down he was anything but cool about it.
No, I was positive that he was jealous and was trying really hard not to let his jealousy show.
“Aiden took me in your private jet,” I replied, trying to act like it was no big deal.
“Dude, that was my date idea,” Rhys groaned.
“You can still do it, too,” Aiden shrugged as he crunched on his bacon.
“But it won’t be as special. You stole my damn idea.”
“Sorry, bro. I’m sure you’ll come up with something just as good.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know why any of you feel the need to impress me.”
“Really?” Theo asked me, shaking his head.
“Yeah, really.”
Shaking it again, he slid out of the booth. “I gotta get some fresh air.”
I watched as he walked out of the diner. I glanced over at Rhys. “Can you let me out so I can go after him?”
“Theo is such a party pooper,” he replied with an eye roll, but he let me out of the booth.
Once I was outside, I found Theo standing next to the restaurant. “What is going on with you?” I asked him.
He glanced over at me. “What do you mean?”
“You’re acting like a jealous jerk. That’s what this is, isn’t it? Jealousy?” I swallowed hard, trying to fight back tears. This was only the first time we’d argued, and I already hated arguing with him. “Are you acting this way just because I spent the night with Aiden? If you had wanted to come inside after our date, you should have said something.”
“This has nothing to do with your date with Aiden. Not directly, anyway. Are you really so naïve that you actually believe we don’t have to impress you?” Theo asked. “Because we do.”
“No, you don’t. I care about you all. I want you all. I don’t need to be impressed.”
Theo shook his head again.
“Why do you keep shakin
g your damn head at me?” I asked.
“Because you’re wrong if you believe any of that is true.” His eyes locked on mine. “We’re werewolves, Raven. It’s in our nature to end up with our mate. Keyword there? Mate. Not mates.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say,” I replied, shaking my head. “It’s not my fault that I ended up being mated to both you and Aiden.”
“And you’re probably going to be mated to the others, too,” he muttered.
Okay, everyone seemed to think that.
“This arrangement can’t go on forever,” Theo told me. “It’s working right now, for now. But in the end, we’re going to have to figure out a solution.”
“A solution?” I questioned.
“A way for you to not be mated to all of us. A way to break your bond with three of us. There’s just one problem.”
“What?”
“You can’t fall in love with all of us, Raven. You can only fall in love with one of us,” Theo said.
“Why?”
“Why? You really just asked that?” He sighed. “If you fall in love with all of us, you’re never going to be able to choose just one of us to keep as your mate. You’re going to want to stay mated to us all.” Theo paused and then glanced over at me. “You’re not already in love with all of us, are you?”
“What? No. Of course not. I barely know you all.” But even as I said the words, I wasn’t entirely sure if I meant them. I cared deeply for all four of the Darken, and I also felt the mate bond with both Aiden and Theo.
What if I was already falling in love with them?
I knew that I couldn’t let myself.
Because, ultimately, Theo was right—that Vince had been right. This arrangement was fun right now, but it couldn’t last forever.
In the end, there could only be one.
Chapter Twenty
On November 16th, I was just about to head to my Weaponry class when Jessica Davis walked over to me.
“You didn’t show,” she said.
Oh, yeah. I had completely forgotten about their invitation.
“Sorry, I actually meant to let you know that I wouldn’t be there,” I told her. “It was so rude of me. But I hope you ended up with some great new members.”