Five Times Fated

Chapter Four

LAIKA NEARLY JUMPED out of his skin when he stepped out of his dorm and saw Noah standing there. The Quints rarely came to the lesser dorms, as most of their friends lived in the private dorms, like Skye and the twins did. “Noah, what can I do for you?”, he asked dryly.

“That new girl you’ve been hanging out with, who is she?”, Noah asked.

Laika snorted. “Her name is Skye, and you’re barking up the wrong tree. That’s Carson and Rhodey’s little sister.”

Shit. “What else do you know?” Noah tried his best to look casual. He failed.

“I know that her dad is throwing her a super awesome birthday party and you’re making me late to decorate for that”, Laika said flatly. “These are things you would know if you ever checked your email. Every major pack got an invite.”

“K. Thanks.” He took out his phone as Laika left. He sent Blaine a quick text since he was the only brother he was currently speaking to in that moment.

From: Noah

To: Blaine

skye’s birthday party is tonight. coming?

From: Blaine

To: Noah

most definitely

Noah pocketed his phone with a smirk. There was no way his brothers were ruining this for him.

— — —

Skye’s party was in full swing. Everyone was counting down the minutes until the clock struck twelve. Skye herself had, admittedly, not been having very much fun. There were so may people here, half of which she didn’t even recognize. The adults were off in the guest house to talk business. They’d had a nice evening with their families, shmoozing and introducing their children to each other, and then left the kids to have a ‘real party’, as Fenris had put it. Most of the people were just excited to be in the alpha king’s home rather than there for the party, but she didn’t mind. She would have rather just had the day with her family.

“Have you seen Fallon?”, Honi asked. She sounded concerned.

Skye frowned. “No. Should I have?”

Honi guided her a few steps over over, where she could get a clear view of Fallon. Skye’s face immediately fell. Fallon had dressed to impress. Her long hair had been straightened and pushed back, falling to the middle of her back. There was literal gold flaked in her hair in large sizes. She was wearing a strapless, ribbed corset with a swirled pattern around the cups that was a deep gold in color. Large earrings made of gold and diamonds were in hear ears, so big they hung to her shoulders. She completed the look with nice, form fitting, black pants that had gold buttons and a fancy belt. She also had on a large, golden bracelet and red bottom pups. She had a designer black purse as well, but Skye couldn’t see the logo. Beyond all that, her makeup was flawless. She had shown up on Keller’s arm, because of course she had. Skye couldn’t explain why this made her skin crawl, but it did. Fallon showed up looking like a million bucks with everyone’s favorite Quint on her arm. Everyone greeted her like she was the closest friend they all had. Most of those people hadn’t even spoken to her. It felt like she was being upstaged on her own birthday.

Laika gently nudged her. “It’s okay, Skye. You still look even more gorgeous.”

Skye had worn a sparkling, floor length dress with an open back and angel sleeves. It hugged her curves nicely. Skye had never really worn such nice clothes before. She had been doing a lot of that since her life changed, though. Having the ability to dress however she wanted whenever she wanted had felt oddly freeing. The dress was still the most expensive thing she owned, as she was still a bit frugal. She was beginning to lean more into the figure hugging clothes, being a lot less insecure about her body. Still, she wasn’t the most confident in herself and still had her moments of hating the way she looked. Aside from the really nice dress, she had taken the time to carefully straighten her hair. (It took hours.) She had also done makeup, her eyeshadow matching the way her dress sparkled like diamonds. “I wouldn’t say gorgeous”, Skye chuckled, glancing around the room. Her father had really gone all out with decorating. There was one of those fancy towers of champagne glasses and everything that she couldn’t help but to admire. She didn’t dare take one out of fear that it would topple over (she had notoriously bad luck), but it was nice to admire. Pink balloons were scattered across the floor and stuck to the walls, along with star shaped streamers. There was an entire buffet table left behind from the first half of the night, and while the finger foods were nice, she appreciated the fact that her favorite pasta was provided a whole lot more. The cake was probably the most impressive thing, with five large tiers. The bottom four were decorated with white icing roses, while the top had a fondant bow, dusted to look pearlescent, with a golden candle on top.

All in all, it was a nice event. That being said, she probably would have rather been with her father in the business meetings than with her classmates. They were cool, for the most part, but parties made her feel overwhelmed. “I’ll be back”, Skye said after a moment, placing her cup down.

“Wha- Skye, it’s a minute to midnight!”, Tala called after her.

“Ring it in without me!”, Skye called over her shoulder as she headed to the stairs.

Laika shook his head. “That girl is a handful already. My head hurts.”

Daciana snorted, holding back a laugh. “She has a right to not want the first few minutes of her birthday to be in all of… this.”

Skye spent a few moments on the balcony of her room. Staring at the moon always made her feel more at peace. The night sky calmed her down like nothing else did. It always felt so alive. She wanted to feel that alive, that beautiful. How wonderful it must be to be so magnificent, so loved. There had been no shortage of love in her life - Conall had done a wonderful job - and yet, somehow, it still didn’t feel like enough.

‘Love is always the trickiest part of the human existence, I’ve found.’ Hearing a voice that wasn’t her own in her head was almost startling. She’d never mind linked another pack member before, as she and Conall stuck to themselves. This voice was soft, elegant. It sounded wise beyond her years. She knew right away this was her wolf speaking. It was most comparable to a subconscious. The animalistic side of her that was typically dormant. Skye liked to think of it as two souls inhabiting one physical existence.

“I cant believe these are the first words you’ve ever said to me”, Skye sighed. She didn’t want her first moments as an eighteen year old to be filled with discussions of love and how difficult it was. “What is your name?”

“Dominique”, she answered. “Not quite as nice as other wolf names, I suppose.”

“I like it”, Skye reassured. “If you’re here now, does that mean it’s midnight?” She hadn’t been keeping up with the time, partially because she didn’t have a phone yet. Conall hadn’t been able to afford one back then. Fenris had offered, but, honestly, she didn’t feel she really needed one. Maybe now that she had friends, she would see what all the fuss was about.

“It does. We’re eighteen now.” Skye always assumed she would shift immediately the moment she turned eighteen. Maybe she was just delayed. One thing that certainly wasn’t delayed was the sensing of her mate. He or she must have been at the party, because she could immediately pick up their scent. She couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. It was like a rich blend of spices that mingled together perfectly.

Skye wanted to be excited, but she had a bad feeling about all this. Something felt off. And truthfully, she wasn’t interested in the possibility of a rejection. That was one thing she hated about the situation of fated mates. It was the most amazing feeling, the most intense love you’d ever feel, and if it got taken away from you, even if you hardly knew the person you were fated to, it was an even worse pain. How was that fair? Still, her wolf wanted her to go forward to find their mate, and, at the very least, she would indulge her. When she pulled opened her bedroom door, she was surprised to see Keller standing there, and he did not look happy. s**t. The spicy scent from earlier seemed even stronger near Keller, which could only mean one thing. “Mate.” If she threatened Dominique could they both die?

Skye didn’t know much about Fallon, but what she did know was that she’d seen her make a girl cry. She had no interest in being on her bad side. And, judging by the look on Keller’s face, he didn’t want anything to do with her either. Skye could understand the lack of wanting a mate while you were potentially in love with someone else, but the complete and utter look of disdain he was giving her in that moment made her heart ache. “Look, Skye, I’m sorry, but you know what I have to do, right?” Of course she did. Why would anyone settle for her when Fallon was an option? She had watched people fawn all over her. She knew Fallon was incredibly loved. Furthermore, she would make a good Luna. She had been raised amidst the top of the elite. She was loved. She was charming. She knew how to fake it for the public. She was everything Skye aspired to be. After a brief second of hesitancy, Skye nodded. She meant it when she said she understood. If she didn’t even like herself, how could she expect anyone else to? She screwed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain of the pending rejection. “I, Keller Leikos, future alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack, reject-“

Keller’s sentence was interrupted as he was shoved aside by Noah. “What the hell are you doing?!”, Noah shouted in frustration.

Skye blinked a few times. The scent was stronger now that Noah was here. All werewolves had a scent. Their true scent, however, was typically only sensed by their mate. It was tailored specifically for that wolf, distinct. For other pack members, they would only pick up the scent of rain when Skye was nearby. For Noah, she smelled like a curious mix of cinnamon and rain water, and, very faintly, strawberries. It sounded like it should smell horrible, but to him it was alluring. ‘Dominique’, she asked internally, ‘why-‘

‘We are mated to all five.’

Fate hated her, didn’t it? One quint was bad enough, but all five of them? She felt like she was gonna be sick. Would five rejections hurt even worse? She had heard of multiples having one mate before. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon. She didn’t understand the why behind it, but she was sure there was some profound reason.

Keller shot his brother a dirty look, shoving him in return. “You know what needs to happen, Noah. Let me finish.”

Noah immediately took a protective stance in front of Skye. “Actually, no, I don’t know what needs to happen. I told you before that you don’t get to decide that for me and I meant it. This isn’t some unanimous decision that you get to make for us all just because you’re older than me by a few seconds.”

“You’re not listening to reason, Noah”, Keller sighed. “If Cady comes back, how are we gonna explain this to her?”

And that’s when it finally clicked in Skye’s mind. Cady was more than just a friend. Hell, she was more than just a girlfriend. “Cady was your mate”, she stated quietly. She’d meant to ask it, not assume, but she already knew that answer. Why it wasn’t common knowledge to her classmates, she had no clue. But it was clear in the way that Keller was willing to do anything for this girl that she was special to him in a way that only a mate could be. So what was she? An accident? Fate making a monumental mistake?

“Cady is our mate, and you don’t get to say her name”, Keller corrected bitterly.

“Don’t talk to her like that”, Noah snapped. “Your problem is with me, not her. She didn’t do s**t to you.”

“She existed”, Keller scoffed.

That hurt. That hurt more than she would be willing to admit, because what was that for? She could understand Keller being angry, but it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t ask for this. “What the hell is going on up here?”, Blaine asked as he approached, dropping his voice to a dangerous hiss. “We can f*****g hear you downstairs.”

“Had to convince people that the party was moving out by the pool”, Channing informed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“And Fallon isn’t happy”, Flynn added. “Not that anyone gives a s**t whether or not Fallon is happy about anything.”

“Shut up”, Keller scowled. “I can only handle one brother being a dipshit today.”

“Keller is the one being a jackass”, Noah scoffed.

“No, you just don’t wanna-“

Noah interrupted him with a cold gaze. “So, what, you think after what happened to Cady we should just never love again?” Noah was just as hurt as his brothers had been, he could admit that, but he was tired of being forced to hold onto that pain. He wanted to move on. He wanted to find happiness again. Fate had given him that chance. It didn’t seem fair that he might have to miss out on that just because his brothers weren’t ready and wanted to harvest that pain until it consumed them. Everyone grieved at their own pace, but Noah was done being a kicked puppy. Life wasn’t going to go easy on anyone. You had to make it what you wanted.

Keller clenched his jaw. “I think Cady is our mate and we should be looking for her, not playing the Moon Goddess’s games.” As far as he was concerned, this was nothing more than some cruel trick. How could he love anyone else when the last was perfect? When he had spent hours and hours getting to know her? How could anyone ask him to just do it all over again?

Noah shook his head, clenching his fists. “Cady is gone! Alright? She’s gone! We all felt it. Skye is here and we should-“

He was interrupted by Skye sobbing, trembling where she stood. She hated fighting. She didn’t like seeing people fight. She disliked it even more when she was the root of it. “Please, stop”, she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Blaine scowled, glancing over at Keller. “Look at what you did, Keller.”

Keller did feel bad about that, actually. He didn’t feel bad about much, but he felt bad about that. He never meant to make Skye cry. His own wolf scolded him internally, and that made him even more guilty about it. But it also made him feel even more bitter. How is it that even his own wolf was against him in that moment? “This isn’t Keller’s fault. This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t intervened.” It was Channing who came to his defense.

“If Keller wants to reject her, we can’t change his mind. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept it”, Blaine scoffed.

“You need all five for it to be complete”, Flynn pointed out.

“Then I guess we’ll remain at this impasse”, Blaine shrugged.

“Don’t be foolish. We should just-“

Skye whimpered as pain suddenly shot through her. Her first shift, now? Really? It chose this moment? Noah took her into his arms with ease, holding her close to his chest. “This conversation is over”, he said flatly, attempting to move forward. None of his brothers let him pass. “Move”, he said coldly. Not even a flinch. How could they be so childish? “Move, or I’ll make you move”, he said through gritted teeth. Eventually, they let him pass.

As Noah took her away, Skye could hear Blaine speaking in a haughty tone. “You three should think about something. We all felt the disconnect. Cady died. And if she didn’t, then why is she not here right now? Why didn’t she come back to us? If she’s alive and hasn’t tried in any form to contact us, then she simply doesn’t want us anymore. Let’s face it, either she’s dead or she rejected us. Neither of those options sounds particularly good. You three can choose to hang on to that if you want, but I’m not going to.”