Different (Shifter Academy Book 1)

by Scarlett Haven

  “Of course,” she says before picking up the phone.

  He just commands her to do something and she does it? That’s crazy. It’s even crazier if he expects me to be like that toward him.

  I follow Aiden toward the spiral staircase. He and Liam go first, then me, followed by Cole and Parker. Once again, I’m directly in the middle. By now I’ve realized it’s not at all coincidental.

  The staircase goes up and up for what feels like forever. By the time we get to the top, I’m nearly panting and my thighs and butt are starting to burn, which only solidifies the fact that I need to work out more often. I didn’t realize that I was so out of shape.

  At the top of the staircase, there’s a huge, oval office. Windows line the entire room giving me a view of the ocean and the rest of the island. The view is incredible. I almost forget why we’re here until somebody clears their throat. It’s then that I see a woman sitting behind a large, wooden desk.

  The woman looks to be in her mid-thirties. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes. I’ve never seen her before, I know this, but there’s something familiar about her. She stands up and I see that she is tall.

  Of course.

  Everybody is tall but me.

  “It’s a shifter thing,” Aiden says to me.

  Great. I’ll be the only short person at this school.

  “You’re late. Again.” The lady, Margot, looks at Liam as she speaks. Her face is straight, showing no signs of emotion. “Alpha Mutatio is furious.”

  “I was busy.” Liam carefully grabs my sleeve so that we don’t touch. He pulls me so I am out from behind Aiden. “This is Penelope…” He looks at me. “I don’t actually know your full name.”

  “Penelope Rose Monroe,” I reply, grinning at him. I turn and face Margot. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”

  She looks at me for a moment, titling her head to the side as if she’s studying me. I’m used to it by now, but I still can’t help but feel a bit like an animal in a zoo. I wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t for so long that it’s actually kind of awkward. I start to move a little bit behind Liam, wanting to hide from her.

  “Dean Westwood,” Liam says sharply. “Don’t stare at my mate.”

  Mate?

  Wait, I thought I was Aiden’s mate.

  I’m so confused.

  This entire world is confusing to me.

  “Your mate?” she repeats.

  “Yes. My mate.” He then grabs onto my hand with his. I feel a rush of emotions but not his. They’re mine.

  Well, maybe a little of his too. He’s feeling… pride. He’s proud of the fact that I’m his mate. And he’s happy. So, so happy.

  Me? I’m confused. Because I thought I was Aiden’s mate, but I’m also happy. Even though Liam touched me without my permission, I don’t regret it. His mind, his thoughts, his feelings are incredible. Just as Aiden’s are, when he doesn’t hide them from me.

  “I see,” Margot drawls out the word, eyeing Liam for a moment before she looks at me. “Hello, Penelope, and welcome to Shifter Academy. I am Margot Westwood. You may call me Margot or Dean Westwood, whichever you prefer.”

  I nod and smile at her.

  “You’re a wolf,” she says, studying me.

  I shake my head. “I’m not a shifter.”

  “We’re not sure what she is.” Liam speaks up. “We were hoping that you would be able to help us with that.”

  “We will worry about that later.” She waves a dismissive hand. “For now, you need to call Alpha Mutatio.”

  Liam nods before leaving the room. I hear him start to walk down the long spiral staircase.

  “You four, take a seat and get comfortable. You might be here a while.”

  We all comply and find a seat. I have a thousand questions that I want answered, but I won’t ask them with Dean Westwood in the room. It just doesn’t seem like the right time to ask Aiden why he and Liam both think they’re my mate. Later, I’ll get all the answers.

  LIAM.

  “Where have you been?”

  My father is angry.

  Really angry.

  But I know with my next breath what I tell him will completely change his tone with me. I’m just nervous to say the words out loud. I have a mate. She’s mine and I am hers. It still doesn’t seem real.

  Never mind the fact that I just spilled the beans in front of Dean Westwood. It just pissed me off that she was making Penelope uncomfortable. We’ll deal with that later though. At least Penelope didn’t freak out like I thought she would. She was just curious.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call, I was just busy,” I say.

  “Busy? Busy doing what? You have no other responsibilities right now than to be at school. You’re training to be the future alpha,” he growls. “You think you can do this once you’re alpha? Just run off with your friends and have a vacation?”

  “I found my mate.” I don’t even bother to respond to his lecture.

  “Your mate? Where? Who?”

  “Her name is Penelope.” A warmth spreads over me when I say her name. “She’s so beautiful, Dad. And perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

  “Of course she is. She’s the future luna of the pack,” Dad says. “Who are her parents? Do I know her?”

  “Her name full name Penelope Monroe. You don’t know her because she was raised by humans.”

  “Humans?”

  He sounds confused and upset.

  A wolf shifter raised by humans would be an actual tragedy.

  “She’s not a wolf.” I pause. “Not a shifter, actually.”

  There’s silence on the other end of the call.

  “Dad?”

  “I’m here,” he finally replies. “She’s… human?”

  “No,” I answer. “We actually don’t know what she is, but she’s definitely not human.”

  “Good.” The relief is clear in his tone.

  Nobody has ever had a human for a mate.

  Actually, I’m not sure that any wolf has had a mate that isn’t a wolf.

  “I’m going to come there,” Dad says. “I’m actually on my way anyway. I wanted to be there when you showed up.”

  Wow.

  Dad really was pissed about me being late.

  Finding my mate is the only acceptable reason for me being late.

  “You’re going to love her.” I feel a grin pull at my lips as I think about her. “She’s magnificent.”

  “I’m sure she is, Son.”

  “There is one other thing.”

  He hesitates. “What?”

  “I’m not her only mate.”

  My dad curses, which is something he never does.

  Well…

  Things are about to get interesting.

  Chapter Ten

  Must be fate.

  PENELOPE.

  Liam comes back into the oval office to get the rest of us after he’s done talking to his dad.

  Oval office.

  I giggle.

  We’re halfway down the stairs when I bump into the back of Liam. He and Aiden have both stopped and they’re looking at me. I look behind me and see that Parker and Cole are also staring at me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “We’ve never heard you laugh before,” Parker says, voice filled with something I can’t describe.

  “Oh.” I drop my gaze, uncomfortable with them all looking at me right now. Liam and Aiden start walking again, so I follow behind them.

  I’m honestly kind of worried about falling down these stairs. They’re so tall, I’d probably fall forever.

  “Don’t worry, I’d catch you,” Liam is quick to assure me.

  Ah, right.

  Liam is in my head now.

  Or has he always been?

  “You guys have a lot of things you need to tell me.”

  “We will. Soon,” he promises. “We just need to get through the next few hours first.”

  The next few hours.

  I can do that.

&
nbsp; “Why did you tell Dean Westwood I’m your mate?” I ask. “I thought I was Aiden’s mate.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  I have a feeling that will be the answer no matter what I ask, so I shut my mouth and just follow them.

  The guys give me a tour of the school, which is massive. I won’t be surprised if I get lost in here multiple times.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be with us always,” Aiden says.

  Always?

  “Won’t I be in the girl’s wing? And you guys will be in the boy’s wing?”

  Nobody says anything.

  Right.

  More questions I can’t have answered.

  As we walk through the castle, I can’t help but feel this is a castle straight out of a Disney movie. The library is huge, full of not just educational books but also recreational. I don’t recognize any of the titles, but I’m excited to read as many as I can.

  After the library, we go into what the guys call the common room. I’m told that mostly people come in here to do their homework. It’s such a nice room for that. There’s a fireplace that is lit with a fake fire. Since we’re in the middle of the Caribbean, I doubt we’ll ever need heat in this castle.

  Speaking of, the air conditioner in this place must be massive because, despite the fact that it’s one hundred degrees outside, it’s actually cool.

  “Wolves get hot,” Aiden explains. “We like the air conditioning on full blast.”

  Ah, it makes sense.

  I’ve always liked it to be really cold too, at least inside. When I’m outside, I prefer to have summer year-round.

  There’s a huge dining area that’s always open. There are certain times you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but you can go in there anytime to grab a sandwich or a snack. When we go through there, all the guys grab food, despite the fact that we just ate an hour ago.

  “Wolves eat a lot,” Cole says, when he sees me eying him.

  I only thought Andrew ate a lot. Nope, he’s got nothing on these boys.

  My chest aches as I think about my brother. I wonder how he’s doing at school. I bet he’s already made a ton of friends, but it’d still be nice to hear his voice and know for sure that he’s okay.

  “Do you want to call your family?” Parker puts a hand on my shoulder, being careful not to touch my skin.

  Okay, that was freaky.

  I’m beginning to think these guys can read my mind before we even touch to open the link.

  “Can I?”

  Parker looks at Liam.

  “It should be fine,” Liam nods his head. “Just make sure you don’t say anything about the school.”

  “They’re going to be curious though.”

  “Say as little as you can.” He waves his half-eaten sandwich in the air, indicating the room around us. “And say nothing about the location.” Bringing the sandwich to his mouth, he pauses and looks me directly in the eyes. “Lie if you have to.”

  Lie?

  I’m a really sucky liar.

  “Haven’t you been lying to your family for a long time?” he asks. “About your powers?”

  I swallow hard and nod my head.

  Way to call me out on it.

  “So, this won’t be any different.” His eyes soften. “It’s actually very important to keep the existence of our kind a secret.”

  I nod.

  I can do this.

  It’s what I’ve always done.

  I was just hoping. Because the guys make me feel brave. Brave enough to tell them the truth—something I’ve been scared of since I was old enough to remember. Even as a four-year-old, I knew reading people’s minds wasn’t normal. I knew it was something I shouldn’t tell anybody. Now that I’m finally ready to tell them, I can’t.

  When I look up, all the guys are frowning.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing. You’re just killing me here,” Liam says. “Your thoughts. They make me want to break all the rules. You make me want to break all the rules.”

  Me?

  Honestly, I should still be mad at these boys for kidnapping me. I know that. I should be fighting them at every step. I should be screaming for them to take me home. But there is something that has me so calmed. It’s like I can’t imagine leaving their side, even for a second. I want to be around them. All of them.

  “Your eyes are pink now,” Cole points out.

  “I think I know what pink means now,” Aiden says.

  “I want to see.”

  Parker leads me into a large bathroom attached to the cafeteria. I look into a huge mirror hanging over the sink. Sure enough, my eyes are pink.

  How do my eyes change color?

  As I’m looking in the mirror, they change back to purple.

  “That’s so freaky. And it’s new,” I murmur.

  “When did it start happening?” Parker asks.

  “The night I met Liam.”

  Little did I know the night I met him, everything changed.

  We walk back into the cafeteria with the rest of the guys and I sit down between Parker and Liam.

  I look at Liam. “How did you find me anyway?”

  “I felt this pull.” His eyes get a far-away look in them, like he’s recounting exactly what happened. “I was driving through Jacksonville, and I had this feeling. My wolf took over and somehow my car wound up at the mall.”

  My eyes widen. “I knew I felt you!”

  “You didn’t tell us that.” Aiden looks at Liam.

  “It really was fate for us all to meet,” I say, smiling at him.

  I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth. But I was thinking it anyway, and I’m pretty sure they can all hear my thoughts, so I might as well say it out loud.

  “It is fate,” Parker agrees.

  “Can I call my family now?” I dart a glance at Liam.

  “Sure.”

  Cole pulls his phone from his back pocket and holds it out for me. When I grab it, my fingers graze against him.

  I’m so comfortable around these guys that I forgot to be careful.

  When our fingers touch, my stomach suddenly feels like it's full of butterflies and my heart races. I touch his hand longer than necessary, but I don’t care. I just want to touch him longer.

  I’ve been deprived of touching my whole life by everybody but my family. Now that I’ve found them, I don’t have to be scared of touching anymore.

  Mine.

  His thoughts and mine are both very similar, and I wonder what that means. How can I have all these boys? I can’t. And it’s silly to even think that.

  I stop the thoughts before they can go any further because I know they can all hear me right now. My face grows warm.

  I really hope there’s a way to block them. I mean, there must be. They all block me unless they want me to hear them.

  “We don’t mean to block you.” Aiden has a smile on his face and his shoulders are relaxed. If he’s bothered by my thoughts, he’s not showing it. “It’s just a habit. Wolves can share thoughts freely.”

  “Really? Isn’t that weird?”

  “How else would we communicate when we’re in our wolf form?” he asks.

  I hadn’t thought about that.

  “I guess I’ll call them now.” I clutch the phone to my chest and watch the guys, waiting on their response.

  The boys step away, giving me the illusion of privacy, but I know they’ll be listening to every single word shared between my family and me. The weird part is, I don’t even mind. I find it comforting.

  AIDEN.

  “We’re going to have to tell her soon,” I whisper to the guys once Penelope is on the phone to her family.

  We don’t know how good her hearing is. Actually, we don’t know much about her powers at all, aside from her eyes that change colors and her ability to read other’s minds with a simple touch.

  None of us have ever heard of somebody having that ability before. No creature we’ve ever heard of has her ability.
Maybe Alpha Mutatio will know, at least that’s what we’re hoping.

  “We will,” Liam says. “Later though. We have bigger things to worry about right now.”

  “Like what?” Parker rests his back against the wall.

  “My dad is coming now.” Liam rubs a hand on the back of his neck.

  “Now?” I ask, confused.

  “I had to tell him why I was late.” Liam shoots a glance at Penelope. “He wants to meet my mate—our mate.”

  “You told him that we’re all her mate?” Cole narrows his eyes and focuses his gaze on Liam.

  Liam nods.

  “How did he react?” I pipe in again.

  Liam grimaces. “He cursed.”

  I suck in a breath, my eyes widening.

  Alpha Mutatio never curses.

  “Is he upset?” Cole asks. “Is he going to make her choose just one of us?”

  My heart sinks at the thought. There’s no way she would choose me. She would choose Liam because he’s the alpha. Or Parker because all the girls think he’s cute. Or Cole because he’s tough. I have nothing going for me, except that people call me nice.

  “I don’t care what my dad says. I’m not making her choose one of us.”

  “What if she wants to choose?” Parker looks at each of us as he speaks, an intense expression on his face. “I mean, she was raised human, and even if she had been raised as a shifter, we don’t share mates.”

  We all fall silent.

  I hadn’t even considered that. Would she want to choose just one of us?

  “If she wants to choose, that’s her choice,” Liam says. “But we will fight for her. All of us, together.”

  “Together,” we all agree.

  As strange as the idea of sharing a mate is, I honestly can’t imagine it any other way now.

  She belongs to all of us.

  Chapter Eleven

  Meeting the alpha.

  PENELOPE.

  The guys are acting weird—tense. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Liam’s dad is coming. He’s the alpha, which I think means he’s like the president of the wolf shifters. I don’t exactly understand the leadership system just yet. All I know is that he’s alpha and that someday, Liam will be alpha too.