Destiny Awakened

by C. J. Cooke

  “Yeah, we all feel it too sweetheart. We all belong together.” Kyle just shrugged. I get this is normal for them but I needed it spelling out for me.

  “Because I’m your … mate?” I winced. It sounded so foreign to me and I was still waiting to be declared crazy.

  “Yeah sweetheart. How do you feel about that?” Kyle looked genuinely concerned. Here was me worrying about myself but what must this be like for them. They had some hopeless case who had no idea what was going on as a mate. That had to be a disappointment for them.

  I cocked my head to the side and took a minute to actually think about it. How did I feel about this? “All my life, I’ve only been able to rely on myself, and then I had Alfie. I was never able to fully let him in. I should have but it’s hard. I don’t trust easily. It’s one of my very few character flaws,” I said smiling. “But all of this, this feels right. I don’t understand how and I’ve never felt anything like it before. It doesn’t feel wrong though. I think that I was supposed to come here. Does that sound crazy?”

  “No, not crazy. Magic determines a lot in our world. Some people call it fate. There is this other theory that magic has its own will and that it determines our path.” Sykes determined.

  “So, fate then.” I deadpanned.

  “Yeah, I suppose that I’m not explaining that very well.” Sykes said tilting his head to the side.

  “In our world we believe that there is someone out there for everyone. A fated mate. It isn’t unusual for a female to have more than one mate. Some people never find their other half and remain alone. Other’s elect to choose a strong mate that isn’t fated to be theirs rather than wait.” Liam said taking a shot at explaining.

  “Look just because we have all this fate stuff saying that we are meant to be doesn’t mean that we have to rush into all of this if you aren’t ready for it. We can still just go along as we were. Get to know each other and let things just happen when they happen. There’s no rush.” Kyle said squeezing my knee. It was like he could read my insecurities straight from my mind.

  “I’d like that. All of this is pretty new to me. Literally everything about this place and this situation. It’s all pretty confusing. I don’t want you to think that I’m not happy about this though.” I quickly explained.

  “Let’s talk about something else. What did Caleb and the headmaster want to talk to you about?” Kyle said and I could not have been more grateful.

  “Oh, just about the impending doom and why they are building their own little army.” I shrugged.

  “Wait, what?”

  “Apparently there is something coming. Some problem with the veils separating the realms and demons are getting through or something.” I explained what little information I currently had.

  “I have heard about the demon attacks in the human realm but we haven’t heard anything about demon attacks on this side. They wouldn’t be able to take an army across to the human realm not with the way that things are going at the moment.” Kyle looked over at Liam who just shrugged at him.

  “Maybe there is more going on in this realm than you know about.”

  “Nah, if something were going on Kyle would know.” Sykes said snuggling up against my side with a happy sigh and getting himself more comfortable.

  “How?” I asked looking from one of them to the other. We really didn’t know anything about each other. This was so messed up.

  “Well my father is kind of important and one day I will take his place, so I pretty much get to know what is going on around here. He’s … well … he’s the Prime Alpha.” Kyle shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he explained to me.

  “So pretty important then?”

  “Yeah you could say that.” Liam laughed.

  “Okay, here’s something I don’t understand. You guys are a pack?” I said running my hand round in a circle indicating the three of them.

  “Yes” Kyle answered.

  “And I met these guys in the corridor earlier who said that they were a pack?”

  “What? Who approached you in the corridor?” Sykes said bolting upright from his previous snuggled position.

  “Doesn’t really matter, poor little Pickle learnt that I just wasn’t worth the trouble.” I snickered.

  “Okay, I feel like there is a story there and I definitely need to hear it.” Liam said leaning away so that he could look me in the eye. I had all three of them intently staring at me and it made me fidget in my seat and not because I was uncomfortable. More because my lady bits were telling me to screw the getting to know you stage and just, well, screw.

  “Let’s just say little pickle paid the price for big Pickle’s stupidity. You’ll be able to tell who he is tomorrow. He’ll be the one limping.” I snickered.

  “Ooooo that’s cold, you don’t go after a man’s pickle.” Sykes laughed.

  “What can I say things were said, he put his hand on me and his pickle paid the price.” I was not here for anyone’s entertainment, well at least not Pickle’s, and personal space was a thing.

  “I’m so proud of you.” Sykes smiled. “I couldn’t have asked for a better mate.”

  I laughed. I felt like I should be a bit more nervous about the word mate being batted around so casually, but weirdly it just feels right. “Back to my original question, how are you all packs but there is only one Alpha?” I asked seriously.

  “We have lots of, I suppose you would call them, satellite packs. We form groups when we are younger. It’s hard to explain how we just know those that we are meant to be with. These groups eventually go on to find a mate that they share. All of these packs are part of a larger pack and we are all ruled over by one alpha.”

  “So, are you an alpha?” I asked Kyle.

  “Yes. It takes a strong alpha to be able to lead all of the packs. Only the strongest of us can draw all the packs together. All the other alpha’s that lead the smaller packs have to answer to him.” Kyle explained.

  “So, what happens now? How do we stop everyone else from pursuing her? I seriously cannot sit in the cafeteria one day listening to them talk about her.” Sykes growled and the sound made me feel the need to melt into a puddle of want and need on the spot.

  “The only way to stop that is to claim her but that could open up other problems.” Kyle said giving Sykes a knowing look and I didn’t miss the nervous glance he cast in my direction.

  “What do you mean?” I cautiously asked, looking between all three of them.

  Liam gently took one of my hands and gave me a reassuring squeeze. “If we claim you, the other packs could challenge us for you. We are only a small pack and some of the packs at the school are much larger than us. They may not be more skilled fighters but they could overwhelm us in numbers.”

  “Don’t I get a say in this? I’m not some piece of meat to be fought over and won.”

  “No, you wouldn’t get a say. If a challenge was made you would belong to the winning pack.” Kyle explained and he at least had the decency to look embarrassed about it.

  “Well fuck that!” I shouted jumping to my feet and pacing the room in a rage. My magic started to rise with my temper and I could feel the delicious burn of it start to flow through my body. “No one can force me to mate with them and no one will separate me from my mates. If they dared to touch you, I would destroy them all.” I seethed.

  “Woah there dark and angry. Whilst the possessiveness is all kinds of hot, we don’t need to go wiping out all the shifters in the school.” Sykes laughed.

  “It is weirdly hot right?” Liam agreed looking over to me. I could see the predator shining through his eyes and suddenly it felt like it was getting a bit hot in here. Liam’s nostrils flared and I saw him scent the air. Crap, could he smell how turned on I was getting. Wait, is that a good thing? I looked around the room at my three guys. The atmosphere had changed. Was this something that I was ready for. I hadn’t taken this step before. I didn’t even know if I was ready to tell the guys that I was virgin. I liked the ide
a of us all getting to know each other before we took any steps like that. Essentially, we were all still strangers and there was a reason why I hadn’t taken this step with anyone else before. It felt right with these three but I still wanted to know them better first. My mind and my body were having conflicting feelings on this issue right now.

  Kyle suddenly laughed “Look nothing needs to be decided about the claiming right now. Let’s just carry on as we were and just see where it goes. We have all the time in the world right now. We don’t need to rush into anything. We were always meant to be, nothing is going to change that.” He pulled me into his arms and I sagged against him. My emotions were all over the place but at least the rage had calmed. Well at least there was one plus point to this whole situation. I had found a new way to calm the rage when it took hold, apparently, I could now add uncontrollably turned on to the list of my problems.

  “Let’s change the subject, shall we?” Liam suggested. We spent the next few hours with the guys trying to teach me about the pack and their rules. School was apparently the best place for me right now. I know nothing about this world and apparently if I met Kyle’s father right now I’d probably just piss him off somehow. How were there so many rules to this world? If it wasn’t for the guys I don’t think I could be a part of this world. I had just come from one society which subtly treated women as lesser and that had been hard to bear. Did I really want to enter a new one which was so open about it? I would never allow myself to be treated in such a way and thankfully my guys would never do that. But if I blindly accept this world as my own am I accepting all of their rules and customs as well? Would I be accepting their position on women? I strongly believe in equality and not just in theory. It wasn’t enough to just stand up and demand equality. You need to take action, if they won’t accept you as an equal then you need to stand up and crush them beneath your boots until they beg you for the right to be considered your equal.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning I went to the library. I had the whole day free but the guys had lessons that they needed to go to. I wanted to do some more background reading on the division of the races and the Galvinae War. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything that we could learn from it that we could apply to our current situation. If they had managed to lock them in the realm maybe there was a way that we could use that to strengthen the veils that were now starting to fail. I was busy rummaging through the dusty stacks at the back of the library but had so far only managed to find two books which looked to hold any kind of detailed information. The library was huge. It was possibly one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen. It was cavernous. It had to be two storeys high and the walls were lined with bookshelves that went all the way up the ceilings. The stacks in between didn’t reach as high but they were much taller than I could reach. Luckily each one was fitted with a sliding ladder to reach the top shelves. Which was lucky for me as both of the books I was currently cradling had both been right at the top. I was currently standing at the top of the ladder flicking through another book which I had found when I heard voices.

  “Stay the fuck away from me.” A female voice hissed.

  There was a bang followed by a male voice sneering “When will you get it through your head Britt, you belong to my pack. We own you and you will do as you are told.”

  “No one owns me and I would rather die than jump into bed with you.” A voice which I assumed was Britt sneered.

  When I heard him slap her, I was down that ladder like a shot and rounding the corner when I heard him say. “Know your place bitch. You will do as you are told or you will be made to comply. Personally, I don’t mind either way.”

  Just the sight of him standing over her as she cowered on the ground, one side of her face red and swollen, was enough to make me snap. Pulling one of my daggers into my hand I rammed it into the back of his right thigh before kicking out his left knee and taking him down to the ground. His roar of pain and rage must have been heard all the way across the academy but I soon silenced it with an arm across his throat as I pressed my knee into his spine. My other hand kept hold of the dagger in his thigh which I made sure to twist a few millimetres. I didn’t want to permanently damage him just yet. The girl in front of me slowly got to her feet but continued to cower against the bookcase behind her. “Listen to what I’m about to say to you extremely carefully, because I’m only going to say it once and if you’re too stupid to get it the first time I’m going to start slicing pieces of you off. Do you understand?” He gave a grunt of agreement which I took to be a yes, given that my arm was banded across his throat. “You no longer have the right to look at this girl in front of you, you will not approach her, you will not talk to her and you’re so called pack will have no contact with her whatsoever. If you or any of your pack cannot follow these simple rules, I will hunt you down and I will castrate you and leave you to bleed out in front of the entire academy.” I let go of the dagger in his leg and slowly started to get off him. “You’re going to want to stay down until we have left. You don’t want to see what I do to you if I get really angry.” I said. I reached out and Britt took my hand. I pulled her gently towards me and we walked away from the seething shifter laying by the bookcase.

  “You shouldn’t have done that.” She whispered to me.

  “Yes, I should have.” I said leading her over to a table by the far wall. I tipped her head to one side to get a look at her face. It was swollen now but hopefully it wouldn’t bruise too much. “He had no right to do that to you.”

  “You don’t understand. His pack claimed me. They told the Prime Alpha that I was their fated mate. I’m not but the Alpha won’t listen to me. They told him that I was nervous about finding them so young. He approved our bond and now I’m stuck with them.” She said miserably.

  “I don’t care if he is the Prime Alpha he can’t make you be with that dick. If he thinks that he has a right to basically allow them to rape you then he has no right to call himself an Alpha. He should care about all of his people, not just the men.”

  “Shhh,” Britt said, looking around panicked. “You can’t say things like that. They will take it as you challenging him. He will kill you.”

  “He can try.” I said feeling that familiar burning rage flow through my veins. “Wait, this Alpha, is that Kyle’s Dad.” I suddenly felt deflated.

  “Yes.” She said nodding and then wincing at the movement.

  “Come on,” I helped her up out the chair. “You should get some ice on that it will help with the swelling.”

  Just as she went to stand up Della came storming into the library. “What have you done?” She seethed at me grabbing Britt and pulling her away from me.

  “What have I done? I just saved her from her would be rapist.” I said making Britt wince.

  “It isn’t what you think. Isaac and his pack are a good match from Britt. She is lucky that she caught their interest. She’s just nervous.” Della glared at me.

  “Nervous! She doesn’t want to be with him and he doesn’t get to make that choice for her.”

  “You don’t understand our ways. You shouldn’t get involved.” Della said as she started to pull Britt behind her heading for the door.

  “Thank you for your help.” Britt said. I could see the tears in her eyes as she turned and followed Della out of the room.

  I stood there for a few minutes completely shocked by what had just happened. How could this be allowed to happen? What kind of a person was Kyle’s father? What kind of a person was Kyle if he was brought up by that man? I grabbed the few books that I found and took them back to my room where I spent the next few hours pacing the floor waiting for the guys to come out of their lesson.

  A couple of hours later I had given up on the pacing and was reading the textbook for my Theoretical Natural Magic class to try and get a bit of the basic information handled before my first lesson. There was a quiet hesitant knock at my door. It was half an hour after the end of classes
for the day and I knew that it was probably the guys. Part of me didn’t want to answer the door. I was so confused about this world which I suddenly found myself in. I hadn’t been down for lunch choosing instead to break into my snack pile rather than face anyone. The knock came again and I realised that this wasn’t something that I could just hide from. I huffed out a sigh of resignation and opened the door. Kyle stood at the door alone with his sad puppy look on his face. I took a step back and opened the door wider so that he could come in. He stepped in and leant back against the desk watching me. I walked back over to the bed and dropped down on it. Awkward silence fell over us. I didn’t even know how to start or what to say.

  “I’m sorry.” Kyle said looking down at his feet.

  “Why are you apologising to me?” I asked. Is this it? Is he going to break up with me because I won’t stand for whatever shit patriarchal system they have here? Is that why the others aren’t here? My vision started to get misty around the edges and I knew that my eyes were filling with tears. I had just found something worth having and now I was going to lose it.