Ever Lasting Love

3) Mate? Mates?

    As the door opens, I keep my head down. Praying that these Alphas are kind and will go easy on my trespassing.

    Scents that remind me of the bakeries in books infiltrate my nose. It kind of feels ticklish, twitching I hold in the laugh. Not the time, little me.

    In the background, I hear an indistinct shout, and the guys who escorted me here backed out of the corridor, and I assume started running because they sounded like a stampede.

    The alphas were saying mine. Mine? I'm not a possession, and only mates call each other that. But, wait, mates- is one of the alphas, my mate?!

    Anxiously glancing up, their expressions reflected rage. Then, one of the girls beckons me forward in that index finger curl motion. Shuffling forward, I think they are already mad; what if it's because I'm so weak and ugly? Don't do anything to anger them, I say to myself.

    One of the women growls, making want to freeze in place. The same person says in a tight pain-filled voice, "Do not test me, little mate, come forward now or else."

    Blushing, I walk a little faster, looking at my feet. All of the alphas are now crowded around the desk. I wonder which one of them is my mate.

    Only steps away, two hands grab me, calluses lining them. That person had pulled me towards them. Suddenly, well, not so suddenly, I started getting shy and peek upwards.

    Sighing, I relax into the embrace. She must be my mate. Tensing, I realize the other alphas are staring at us intently. Like I mean, in those shows, when a character brings home the person they are dating, and they try to have a private moment before the scene cuts to the family just watching- yeah, like that.

    This jolted me out of little space. "What are your names?" I choke out.

    The intense looks change into a soft and caring one, but that can't be right. No one can love me. Not at first sight, especially when they aren't even my mates. Then, my idiotic self realized that I am not mated to one of these alphas- but all of them.

    As I await an answer, I analyze them. They formed a semi-circle around me, with the woman holding me in the center. They all have the same tanned skin tone, black hair, and brown eyes. The man to my left has hair going to his mid-back, the woman to his right has a shorter pixie cut look, the man next to her has a buzz cut look, and the woman holding me has a bob that goes to her shoulders. They are all extremely tall at varying heights, but unlike in books, I cannot look at them and say they are six foot something- they are giants, though.

    The man to my left starts the introduction, "Going in order from left to right, I am Angelo, they are Angelina but goes by Angeli, she's Angela, and he's Angele."

    Furrowing my eyebrows, I nod. They are obviously quadruplets. If they are all mated to me, though, is my twin sister mated to them?

    Angela asks something, I think. But like is what if they are? I don't want to share them. She made my life hell there, and somehow I know that if they were to be mates, she would make my life hell here. I used all my strength to get away from that place- I'm never going back. Mentally or physically.

    There is a sharp sting on my thigh, making me cower. Tucking further into Angeli's body, trembling. Though it was not painful, this was how Alpha Father started as well. Space becomes smaller as choked breaths escape my lips.

    Angeli moves her arms from around my waist, rubbing along my back. The movement brings me back to the here and now as Angelo whispers, "Shhh, Love, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. Come here, please."

    He looks so heartbroken. And although they are strangers, I feel like I can trust them. Surprising given my backstory, I know, but the mate pull is designed to give the partnering a basic level of trust that we would never physically harm each other intentionally. Reaching out towards him, I cling on tightly to his neck. Mumbling, "Not your fault," as my mouth moves along his neck. I'm 90% sure that I left a trail of saliva.

    The others come close to me, each of them touching my back. They whisper soothing words. I think I started to un-tense. Wait, was I tense before? No matter, I was a puddle of goop. Their auras, their presence was so relaxing, from the scent to the touches to the comforting voices. I was afraid, and there were even flashbacks. Why am I no longer afraid? These episodes last so much longer when triggered.

    Content, no trace of fear, I lazily reach up and wipe the stress and worry off of Angelo's face. It's not his fault I have problems, and it's not his fault that he didn't know. We need time to get to the point where we know each other's limits, but we've barely known each other for an hour if that long.

    "There, there, it's alright, Angelo." The pressure from his face resting in my palm makes me release a small giggle. "Let's start the journey of getting to know each other slowly. My name is Kali Everlasting. She is the goddess of Death in Hinduism, and my mum was like, 'wouldn't Everlasting be a cool last name to show my everlasting love of our children.' You see, Father was an orphan and felt horrible that he couldn't pass on any meaningful name. So he and my mum created one for us."

    "How many of you are there?" Angela whispers into my right ear.

    "I have four brothers and two sisters; one of them is my twin sister. What are you about you?"

    "Just us four," Angele says from my left, kissing the shell of my ear. Shivers course through my body caused by his breath tickling my ear from the laughter.

    Interrupting Angele, Angeli asks more about my twin sister. "I, yeah, she's my twin. What else is there?"

    "Could we be mates with her as well?" Angeli, please let this go. Please.

    "Yes, I guess?" I said this in a despondent way. Angelo taps me gently on the back, his inquisitive eyes pulling me in. "I just don't want to share you, especially with her."

    "Can we find out, if only to assuage your fears and our curiosities?" Tightening my grip on Angelo, I agree.

    I don't know if this is for the worse or better. But I know with my mates; over time, we can take on the world." However, I am quite curious on why they didn't ask me about my rouge equivalent status.