The Human at Alpha Academy

Chapter Nineteen

“How are you mated to two of them and I can’t find my own mate?” Iris asked the following afternoon in my dorm room, after I had finished telling my friends everything.

“Um, it’s seriously unfair,” Vince agreed, taking a bite of his pizza.

“Seriously? You guys! I just told you all about this craziness, and that’s your only response?” I laughed.

“I mean, it’s a good question,” Iris said with a shrug. “But in all seriousness, this is all really crazy.”

“Crazy is one way to put it,” Vince agreed. “Awesome is another way. So, my question is, what will happen once you kiss them all?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, you’ve only kissed two of the four, and you’re mated to both of them. So, doesn’t it seem likely that you will end up being mated to the remaining two once you kiss them, too?” he said.

“Oh, that’s a really good point,” Iris agreed.

Huh. I hadn’t even considered the possibility that I could end up being mated to all of the Darken.

“What are the odds, though? It’s rare enough to have two mates, let alone four,” I said.

“All I’m saying is that next time you kiss one of the Darken, maybe make sure you’re somewhere comfortable in case you pass out,” Vince replied with a shrug.

“Thank you for that important life advice,” I chuckled. “Last night with Theo was just amazing, you guys.”

“So, who do you like the most?” Iris asked, glancing over at me with a look of intrigue.

“I don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head. “I guess I need to date them all to figure it out.”

“I just don’t understand,” Vince said. “I get that they all want to see you. It sounds like they all need to get laid really bad—”

“Would you sleep with all of them?” Iris asked with raised eyebrows.

“I don’t know.” I hadn’t even thought about that yet. “I guess if it… feels right?”

“But my question is what happens once this is all over?” Vince asked.

“Once what is all over?” I asked.

“This whole arrangement. I mean, it can’t last forever, can it? Are you just going to be that girl with four boyfriends—or four mates—until the end of time? Will you end up picking one of them in the end?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. Like I said, it’s all really complicated.” I hadn’t thought about how this all would end. “If they do all turn out to be my mates, then I won’t have much of a choice, right? Theo told me you’re basically tied and connected to your mate for life.”

“I mean, yeah, pretty much,” Vince agreed with a nod. “So maybe think twice before kissing the other two.”

“What’s the difference?” Iris asked. “She already has two mates.”

“There is a very big difference between two and four,” Vince said.

“I know, but I mean it’s going to be complicated when there’s more than one, regardless. You might as well mate to all of them. Plus, that way nobody will feel left out. You don’t want to cause tension among the pack,” Iris said.

They went into a full-on heated debate about whether two or four was a better number of mates for me when there was a knock on the door to my dorm room.

As I opened the door, I fully expected to see Theo or one of the other Darken.

So, I was completely caught off-guard when the She-Wolves were standing outside my door.

“Hey, are you Raven?” Jessica Davis, the Alpha of their pack, asked.

“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod.

“We have an invitation for you.” She handed me an envelope. “Be there or be square,” she added, her tone almost threatening.

Then, without saying another word, she turned on her heel and walked away. The other girls followed her.

As I closed the door, I wondered what the She-Wolves could have even been inviting me to.

“What is it?” Iris asked, obviously as curious as I was by their random drop-by and invitation.

“I guess we’re about to find out,” I replied, tearing open the envelope, which had my name written on the outside in swirly letters.

I read the words written inside:

Congratulations! The She-Wolves pack is looking to expand, and you are being considered as a member. The reason you have been chosen is because we believe your strength and abilities give you what it takes to be a She-Wolf. The She-Wolves have not added any new members outside of direct descendants of the founding members in more than 40 years, so please recognize what an honor it is that you have been hand-selected. Our induction ceremony is going to be held on November 15th at 9 p.m. in the Dark Woods.

Once I finished reading, I handed the invitation to Iris. Vince read over her shoulder.

“Damn. They must really want you!” Vince said once he finished reading.

“Yeah, apparently,” I replied. Truthfully, I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about this. “Why would they want me of all people?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Iris asked. “They must have somehow caught wind of the fact that you’re, like, crazy powerful. They want you to be a part of their pack so that you can make their pack stronger.”

“Ugh.” I sighed, crumpling the invitation.

“You’re not even going to think about it?” Vince asked with raised eyebrows.

“Nope. I’m not about to let them try to use me for my so-called powers,” I replied, shaking my head.

I may have been powerful, but I wasn’t about to let myself be used by just anyone. I didn’t even know these girls, and they were trying to use my powers for themselves. No, thank you.

Jessica’s threatening tone when giving me the invitation echoed in my mind: “Be there or be square.”

I got the feeling they weren’t going to like the fact that I was going to be a no-show at their induction ceremony, but oh well.

On Monday, it felt like everything was back to normal with the Darken. They stopped acting like I didn’t exist and instead gave me tons of attention.

I felt so relieved. That, in itself, had been the best birthday gift (or fake birthday gift) ever. The last thing I needed to worry about was whether they were mad at me, on top of everything I had just learned about myself and my parents.

The one thing that had changed? I felt like I was in constant need of both Aiden and Theo. Every moment that I wasn’t with them, my body missed them.

The only good thing about all of this was that I at least understood the reason why. I no longer had to feel like a weak, pathetic girl longing after a guy she hadn’t known for very long. I was longing after both of them because we were connected in a way that could never be undone; our souls were permanently bound together. And I knew that they were longing for me, too.

I sometimes heard girls in my classes talking about how badly they wanted to find their mates. It boggled my mind that girls actually wanted this. The truth was that, as attracted as I was to both Theo and Aiden, life had been so much easier before these withdrawals became a part of my daily life.

But at the same time, my life would have been so lonely without the Darken around.

I wasn’t sure what I would do if Vince was right. If I ended up mating with all of the Darken, life would be even more complicated. I wasn’t sure I could handle it physically or emotionally, but honestly? There was no turning back now. I had agreed to be with all of the Darken, and that was what I really wanted.

On Friday morning, Iris and I headed for the track before classes started. We’d done this every morning for the past couple of weeks. Today, she hadn’t had enough caffeine to wake up yet, so she was sitting on the sideline while I ran the mile.

I had really been working on my running times. I had gotten my mile down to two minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

I was determined to become the fastest wolf on the team. There was only one other wolf faster than me: Stella Knight, who could run two minutes and fifteen seconds. I always felt like she was gloating whenever she beat my time. That’s why I was so determined to get faster.

“Hey, Raven!” I heard a voice call from behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder to see 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 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 toward 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 beaten Stella’s time, and it was all thanks to Aiden. It was like the Darken were my good luck charms.