The Human at Alpha Academy

Chapter Seventeen

“What the hell has even led you to this conclusion?” I asked, my voice sharp.

It all sounded completely batshit to me. The idea that I could be 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, his tone serious. “Have you ever heard the reason why?”

I shook my head. “No.”

Now that they mentioned it, though, I was dying to know.

“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 locked onto mine. “We all feel drawn to you, Raven. It’s something that none of us have felt in hundreds of years. It’s 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 it when it was the truth? I was undeniably drawn to all of them… especially Theo and Aiden, the ones with the most Ancient blood.

“I’ve heard your thoughts, Raven. I’ve heard enough to know what you think of all of us.”

I reached up and touched the necklace still around my neck, the one 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’d say you probably never felt this attracted to anyone you went to high school with back in the human world.”

He wasn’t wrong. I had been in love once before, with some guy named Chris, but I hadn’t really been that attracted to him. It had been closer to friendship. Totally 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’re certain you’re an Ancient.”

“What is it?” I asked, my eyes wide.

“You should know that you’re mated to two of us,” he said.

“What?” I could hardly process it. 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. That was our souls binding together causing it,” Theo explained. “Then tonight, you fainted again after kissing Aiden.”

I let it sink in. “I didn’t even know you could have two mates.”

“We didn’t, either,” Aiden admitted. “But apparently, you can.”

I frowned. “How does any of this prove I’m an Ancient?”

“This doesn’t typically happen when two wolves become mated, but it does when two Ancients are mated,” Theo said. “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, shaking my head. “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 said, incredulous. “You know there’s no way.”

“We believe your parents were lying to us, and to you, Raven,” Theo said calmly.

“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 this is true, wouldn’t I… remember it? I’m pretty sure I would know if I were 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 admitted.

“When is your first memory?” he pressed.

“Maybe when I was thirteen… fourteen,” I said with a shrug. I’d always joked with my parents about not remembering our first vacation to the beach when I was five. There were pictures of me riding the Ferris wheel, building sandcastles, jumping in the waves, but I didn’t remember any of it.

To say my memory was shitty would be an understatement. Sometimes I wondered if I’d blocked out parts of my childhood, but that didn’t make sense. My parents had only ever been kind and loving. Nothing traumatic had happened—at least, nothing I could recall.

“So, on average, most humans’ earliest memories begin around three and a half years old. Werewolf memories often begin even earlier,” Theo said. “While having no memories before thirteen or fourteen isn’t typical for humans or wolves, it makes sense with our theory.”

“What theory?” I asked.

“We believe you were given a memory serum to make you forget your past life,” Theo explained. “Your parents then raised you as their own without ever telling you the truth.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. Why would they do that to me?”

I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want any of it to be true.

Why would my parents have faked being my parents for eighteen years, or however long? Were they bad wolves?

“We haven’t figured out that part yet,” Theo said with a sigh. “All we know is they must have done it to protect you. We just don’t know from what, or more likely, from whom.”

I swallowed hard. “I see.”

“There’s something else we wanted to talk to you about,” Theo said, his gaze softening as he met mine. “We want you to be with us.”

“Um… what?” I looked around at all four of them, completely confused. I knew I’d heard him correctly, but I didn’t understand what he meant.

“It might sound strange, and the truth is, it’s even stranger for us, but we all feel drawn to you, Raven. It’s the first time any of us have been attracted to someone in so long. We feel like this is fate, like there’s a reason for it. Even though each of us wants you for himself, it would feel wrong not to share you.”

“Assuming that’s what you want, of course.”

I swallowed hard, glancing around at each of them. They all stared back at me, waiting for my answer.

I thought about it for a moment. Having an open relationship with all four of them sounded… well, complicated as f**k. My heart would basically be 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, 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 wanting them all before, but knowing they were okay with this made me feel so much better.

This situation was going to be weird as f**k for all of us, but at least they were okay with it.

“As part of this arrangement, it means we all get to date you,” Theo went on. “And as the Alpha of our pack, and your first mate, tonight is my night.”

“You’re saying you want to take me on a date?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

He nodded. “Yup. Are you ready?”

I motioned to my body, still clad in the black bikini. “Does this look date night appropriate to you?”

“I don’t mind,” Theo replied with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Just let me go change.”

As I headed for the changing room, a sort of giddy excitement bubbled up inside me. I couldn’t wait to see where he was taking me.