by Jayme Morse
I would use all of my study time as an excuse to stay away from them. I was sure they probably wouldn’t like it, but they would get over it.
I was making the most responsible and most selfless decision I would ever make in my life. Because the truth was that I wanted all of the time with them that I could get. I wanted them with me always.
Walking away from them was going to be just as hard for me as it was for them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Theo was finally released from the infirmary, and I tried to limit my conversation with the Darken to class time only, and even then, I didn’t say a whole lot.
They caught on pretty quickly.
They invited me to their house for dinner on Friday nights. They asked me to hang out during the weekends. When the Easter holiday came around, they asked me to celebrate with them.
I kept telling them that I had homework for my other classes—the ones that I didn’t have with them, obviously. But really, I spent most of my time with Iris and Vince or alone in my dorm suite.
The truth was that I missed the Darken all the time.
It didn’t make it easy that I was mated to three of them, so my body had those random urges to be around them. Sometimes, when it was dark out, I would walk to their house and hang outside in their backyard, just to get that sense of closeness. It helped the withdrawals subside, for the most part, but I was always nervous that I would end up getting caught.
Towards the end of April, Colton cornered me after Weaponry class. “Raven, we didn’t do anything to make you upset with us, did we?”
“No,” I replied. “I just have a lot of homework.”
“You’re lying,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve spoken to both Professor Lee and Professor Wickburn. I wanted to find out they were giving their students so much homework that their students’ social lives were beginning to suffer. You know what they told me? Neither of them has assigned any major papers or projects in weeks. So, tell me why you’re lying.”
I sighed. I should have known that one of the Darken would go and investigate things for themselves.
“I don’t want Theo or any of you to get shot and killed because of me,” I said quietly.
“Raven, none of us blame you for what happened to Theo. I wish you would just believe us about that,” Colton said softly.
“I just feel so guilty. And so afraid. What if Milos comes back and hurts another one of you or successfully kills Theo next time?” I asked.
“We promised your parents that we would protect you,” Colton reminded me.
“But they weren’t even really my parents, so does that promise still mean anything at this point?” I questioned.
“It still means something to us. We stay true to our word. Even if they weren’t your biological parents, you still meant the world to them. No one knows how or why they protected you so much, but one thing is clear. They wanted you to stay safe.”
“I guess,” I replied.
“And none of us would choose to not protect you if given the option. We’re your mates. We would put our lives on the line if it meant saving you.” His gray eyes locked on mine. “We love you, Raven, so please. Please stop shutting us out. Please stop pushing us away. Please just be with us.”
“I love you guys, too.”
And I really meant that. I did love them. I wasn’t sure if I was in love with them. It was so confusing because the way I felt about them physically complicated things. I just wanted them near me always.
I had just always been a firm believer that you could only be in love with one person at once, but what if I was wrong? What if it was possible to be in love with four guys at the same time? Three of them were my mates, so it would have made sense if I was in love with them.
The only thing I did know for sure was that I loved them in the sense that I cared about them. I loved them the way I loved my family. I would have done anything for them.
“And that’s exactly why I’ve been staying away from you. Because I do love you.”
“Raven, come on. You haven’t hung out with us in weeks. Just come over and go swimming with us tonight. Please?” Colton begged. “Let us remind you of how much fun we have together.”
I sighed. I knew that he wasn’t going to leave me alone until I said yes.
“Fine. I’ll come swimming one time,” I replied.
“Great.” He kissed me on the lips then. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
Why did I have a feeling that I would?
***
The Darken’s pool was just as warm and refreshing as I had remembered it. But what was even more fun than that was seeing all of the girls in their swim trunks.
I had gotten so used to seeing them in suits and ties when they taught our classes that I had completely forgotten what they all looked like half-naked.
To say that they were gorgeous would have been an understatement. If it was even possible, they all looked even more chiseled—and gorgeous—than ever before.
“So, there’s something we want to talk to you about,” Aiden finally broke the ice. “We’re tired of you living in this… fear.”
“Fear?”
“Of Milos.”
This was obviously stemming from the conversation I’d had with Colton about why I’d been avoiding them all.
“My fear isn’t going to just go away,” I replied with a shrug. “Milos Santorini is still out there, and I doubt he’s given up on me yet. Considering he has been trying to get me since ancient times.”
“We know he’s still out there, and that’s what we want to change,” Theo commented. His blue eyes locked on mine. “We want to help you take him down, Raven.”
“I’m not ready yet,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not strong enough or fast enough to face him yet.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Colton said. “You’re my best Weaponry student. Your aim is on point. You have a better shot than any of us. You could easily take Milos down.”
“Not yet.” I shook my head firmly. “I need more training.”
The guys glanced around at each other. I was pretty sure they had expected me to go along with this plan they had cooked up. They hadn’t been expecting me to tell them I wasn’t ready.
“What if we gave you some additional training over summer break? Our own training?” Theo asked.
“Yeah, we could put you through the Darken boot camp,” Aiden agreed with a nod.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Then after I graduate, I’ll be ready.”
Theo swam over to me then. “Raven, you’ll be ready by the end of summer. You’re ready now, really. Why are you so hesitant about this?”
“Honestly? Because I don’t want to mess this up. I feel like we have one shot, Theo. One shot for me to avenge my parents’ deaths. One shot for me to avenge him shooting you. One shot to kill Milos Santorini, once and for all. If we make one wrong move, we could mess it up and then I would be disappointing everyone—my parents, especially.” I swallowed hard, feeling the tears build up behind my eyes. “I just want to get this right.”
His blue eyes were full of understanding. “I get it. I get that you want to be as prepared as possible. We also need to locate Milos first.”
“Actually, I have his address,” I admitted quietly.
“You do?”
“I searched for his location on Woogle, and it told me that there was an address on Nocturne Island.”
“Did you know about this before we went there for our field trip?” Aiden asked me.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, why didn’t you say something?” Theo pressed.
“Because I wasn’t ready yet then, either,” I replied with a sigh. “I’ve been working up the nerve to get my revenge on Milos Santorini almost all year.” I paused. “But now that he nearly killed you, I know that I have to get myself ready as soon as possible. If I don’t, there’s a chance he will hurt one of you before then, and I can’t let that happen. I don’t ever wa
nt to lose any of you.” The tears began to flow freely then.
Theo pulled me into a close hug. “You won’t lose us, Raven. I promise.”
I hoped he was right.
***
Our last track meet was in May, a week before finals were due.
I stood in position on the track as we waited for the race to begin. Iris and Vince were next to me.
It was the last track meet of the season, and I planned to win.
I had never been competitive before. But now, things were different.
I had come to realize that I needed to let other werewolves know that I was strong. I needed them to fear me.
I needed Jessica Davis to know that I could outrun her. I secretly hoped that word would get back to Milos Santorini about my strength, my abilities. I wanted him to know that I saw Werewolf Academy as a way for me to train to fight against him.
I wanted other werewolves to fear me. I was Raven Gallagher, after all.
The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to be known as Princess Fallyn. And it wasn’t just because it might have taken convincing for people to know the truth about my real identity. Werewolves viewed Fallyn as weak. She was just a princess, a princess who had been tragically locked away from society by her parents. But Raven Gallagher was strong. Powerful. That was what I wanted to be known for.
As the horn blared out, I began to run as fast as I could. I passed up Iris and Vince within seconds, and most of the other members of the track team, too.
I found myself neck in neck with Stella Knight, which didn’t surprise me. She was still the only one who had stood a chance at beating me, the only other truly fast werewolf on this team.
I planned to beat her.
Switching off my thoughts, I began to resort to images in my mind.
Theo.
Aiden.
Colton.
Rhys.
My legs began to carry me a little faster, the same way they always did when I thought about the Darken—the guys who I had fallen so hard for, the guys who had fallen so hard for me. My mates… well, three of them, anyway.
I knew they were all watching me from the bleachers, cheering me on. I couldn’t look at them or I would distract myself from winning, and I needed to win. I had to maintain my focus.
Then I pictured the next image in my mind, the image that I found myself thinking of—and fearing—the most.
Milos Santorini. His black eyes pierced through my mind. They stared back at me with a look of annoyance. Of anger.
My mind shifted to my parents’ kind, loving faces. Their smiles… the smiles that I missed so much.
I had surpassed Stella Knight.
“Raven Black wins with a running time of one minute and twelve seconds!” The announcer said into the microphone.
***
The following Monday at school, Headmaster Black called me into his office.
It was the first time the Headmaster had called me into his office since the first week of school, which had my stomach in knots as I wondered what he could have possibly wanted.
Was he going to blame me for what had happened to Theo?
Months had passed since Theo had been shot, but I still would have totally understood if Headmaster Black had something to say about it. I think a part of me secretly hoped that someone else would blame me for it and acknowledge that I was the reason he’d been shot. It actually would have made me feel a little less crazy if someone was able to recognize that I was to blame.
As I entered the Headmaster’s office, he stared up at me from his desk. “Hello, Raven. Please have a seat.”
I slid into a chair across from him. “What is this about?” I blurted out.
He lifted one eyebrow. “What do you think it’s about?”
That you’re going to blame me for Theo getting shot, I thought to myself. But I didn’t say that out loud.
“I don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head.
“I actually wanted to speak to you for several reasons,” Headmaster Black replied. “I’ve just gotten final grades in for the semester. Your GPA is the highest out of any first-year student at the Academy. If you continue to receive such good grades, you will be, without a doubt, the valedictorian of your graduating class.”
“Wait. How is that even possible? I’m barely passing Werewolves and Dark Magic,” I told him with a frown.
He opened his computer and clicked through my file. “It says right here that you’ve received a 96 in the class.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve definitely never received a single ‘A’ on any paper, exam or project I’ve ever had to do in Professor Wickburn’s class,” I replied, shaking my head. “I mostly get ‘C’s and ‘D’s in her class, with the occasional ‘F’ and ‘B’ thrown in.”
“Raven, are you trying to talk yourself out of this ‘A’?” Headmaster Black asked, glancing over at me.
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m just trying to make sense of it. You see, the truth is…”
He glanced over at me. “The truth is what?”
“Professor Wickburn doesn’t actually like me,” I admitted. “I’m pretty sure she has a thing for Theo, and since he’s my mate, she hasn’t exactly been the nicest to me.”
“Well, perhaps she has realized that a student’s grades should never be based upon how the professor feels about the student, but rather the student’s abilities and their schoolwork.”
“Maybe,” I replied, even though I sort of doubted it. I kept thinking that there was some sort of mix up, but I knew that I shouldn’t have complained about it. Like Headmaster Black said, I was only going to end up talking myself out of this ‘A’, and the absolutely last thing I would have ever wanted was to have to retake a class with Caroline Wickburn.
“I also called you here because I wanted to congratulate you on your running time during the track meet over the weekend,” Headmaster Black went on.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“We have never had a student have such a fast running time, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You arean Ancient, after all. They tend to be quicker, faster, and more agile than the rest of us. That’s something else I would like to talk to you about, in fact.” He glanced over at me. “I was thinking that next year, we might consider having one of your classes be in the form of an independent study.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, it’s just that you’re very different from the other students,” Headmaster Black explained. “I feel that it’s important for you to learn more about the Ancients, but I know that will cut into your schoolwork. I thought that you could get credit for learning about them—about yourself,” he explained. “One, or maybe even all, of the Darken could teach you privately all there is to know.”
Well, I was completely down with the Darken teaching me privately. “That sounds like a great idea to me.”
“Perfect. I will begin designing the curriculum.” Headmaster Black paused. “Now that we’ve discussed everything we needed to, there’s one more thing I wanted to tell you—and that is that you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” I eyed him curiously.
Headmaster Black nodded. “He’s waiting for you outside in the courtyard.”
***
As I went out to the courtyard, all I could seem to do was wonder who my visitor was.
The absolute worst-case scenario crossed my mind: Milos Santorini. But I didn’t think the Headmaster would send me straight into the arms of the werewolf who had killed my parents in order to get to me.
Then again, I couldn’t have been too sure.
What if the Headmaster was working with him?
That was a paranoid thought, of course. Nothing about Headmaster Black had ever given me the impression that he wasn’t on my side.
No, if anything, he had been nothing but kind and caring. He had accepted that my professors were my mates. When I had gone into that coma, he had also let me take two weeks
off from school without any consequences. I was pretty sure that the Headmaster wanted nothing more than to protect me, too.
When I went to the courtyard, my breath caught in my throat.
Uncle Ryan.
Our reunion felt like something out of a movie. We ran to each other and then basically jumped into one another’s arms. It may have sounded cheesy, but it was the truth.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Raven,” my uncle said, as he hugged me close.
“How did you even get here?” I asked.
“Maddie came to me with your message,” he explained. “It took me a little bit to figure out what you meant by ‘W. Academy’, but once I figured it out, I knew that I had to come here and see you for myself. You look great.”
“Thank you.” I swallowed hard. “So, this must mean you’re a werewolf, too? Or else you wouldn’t have been able to get into this realm.”
“Yeah, I’m a wolf,” he agreed with a nod. “Your parents were wolves, too, but I’m sure you’ve probably figured that out by now.”
“I did,” I replied. “I also know they’re not my biological parents.”
“What?” Uncle Ryan looked completely blindsided by that fact.
“Wait, so you didn’t know?” I asked him with raised eyebrows. “I had just assumed that they must have told you.”
“No, I had no idea. How do you even know this?”
I told him everything then: about the Ancients and how I was Princess Fallyn. I told him about my flashbacks and how I was pretty sure that my parents had been protecting me from Milos Santorini.
Once I was done, he finally said, “Wow. So, here’s the thing. I never met you until you were in about ninth grade.”
“You didn’t?” I asked with raised eyebrows. I didn’t remember my first meeting with him, to be honest.
“Nope.”
“Didn’t you think that was sort of… strange? You were supposed to be my uncle, but my parents never introduced you to me when I was a baby or a little kid?” It didn’t make much sense.
“There was always an excuse,” he explained. “Your parents were off traveling the world with you. My brother was away on business. We got into a few arguments, and now I’m convinced that the reason we got into those arguments was so they could avoid me.” He paused. “For most of your life—or the time you were with them, I mean—they made a calculated effort to prevent you from meeting me.”