Eden’s Destiny (The Royal Quads: Book 1)

Eden I sat in the backseat of our SUV with my eyes closed and my earbuds in, music blasting, to drown out my parents voices. I was still pissed at them and so I was choosing to ignore them for the entirety of our two hour drive. I couldn’t get over how unfair it was. It was the summer before my senior year, my last summer before truly becoming an adult. In just a few months I’d be 17 and would finally get to meet my wolf. I should be at home, hanging out with my friends and my boyfriend, Tucker. At 17, I’d also get to find out if Tucker was my mate, which I was sure he was. But instead of enjoying my summer, here I was, bags loaded in the back end of the vehicle, being hauled off to my grandparents house for the rest of my life. Literally. Never mind the fact that my grandparents were the king and queen of the entire werewolf kingdom and their house was a palace. That was beside the point. Apparently, before we had even been conceived, mom had promised my Grampa, King Gregory, that her firstborn would be brought to the palace once they turned ten years old. Everyone naturally assumed that as an Alpha, and especially as a Royal, my mom’s firstborn child would be a boy. Little did anybody know, mom would end up having quadruplets, two girls and two boys, with me being the oldest. That meant the responsibility of the kingdom fell to me. It was my destiny, or so I was told. I was so sick of hearing that. So at ten years old my grandparents contacted my parents demanding that I come to the palace as promised. Thankfully, mom and dad decided that ten was just a bit too young to have to learn how to be the leader of an entire kingdom and refused to send me to the palace until now. They wanted me to be a child as long as I could. I was kind of irritated that just because I was a few minutes older than my three siblings that I was the one who was stuck in this position. I wasn’t happy about being separated from the others either. The four of us, being quads, had always been together. Wherever one of us was, you could be certain the other three were nearby. Ember and I, though drastically different in our personalities, had always been the closest. While I was loud and rebellious, Ember was quieter and always followed the rules that mom and dad gave us. I helped her let loose and have fun and she kept me grounded and out of serious trouble. When you think about someone having a devil and angel on each shoulder talking them into good or bad behavior- that was me and Ember for sure. As far as Auggie and Asher, they clashed a lot, but I think it was because they were so similar. Both boys were strong, athletic, and smart as hell. The two of them were probably going to be vying for the valedictorian position in our graduating class. Well, their graduating class I guess, since I’d be spending my senior year learning from the palace tutors. Ugh. A hand slapped my leg and I opened my eyes to see mom turned around and peering at me from the front seat. I hit pause on my music app and pulled the earbuds out of my ears. “What?” I asked her, irritated that she had interrupted my sulking. “We’re almost there!” Mom said, smiling at me as if she wasn’t destroying my entire life. “And?” I grunted at her. “Am I supposed to be excited?” Her face fell and for a moment she looked hurt. Dammit. As bratty as I could be, seeing my mom’s feelings hurt always stung my heart. “Eden Raine. Lose the attitude.” Dad growled at me from the driver’s seat. Instantly I straightened up in my seat. Dad wasn’t one to argue with. “You will speak to your mother respectfully.” “Yes sir.” I told him. “Sorry mom.” She smiled at me again, but with less excitement. “Listen Eden,” she said. “I know you feel like we’re ruining your senior year, but please try to understand how important this is.” I had to mentally force myself not to roll my eyes at the speech that I knew was coming. “Your grandparents need an heir and it had to be someone that our family can trust. They couldn’t pick just anyone for this. It needed to stay within our family.” “Y’know mom, that’s something that’s never been explained to me.” I replied. “If Grammy Sarah and Grampa Greg are able to just pick someone to be their heir, why does it have to be me? If I don’t want it, why can’t they just find someone else and train them?” Mom and dad exchanged a glance in the front seat and I could have sworn that dad shook his head. They were silent for a few moments while I waited for her answer. “That’s something that you’ll have to discuss with your grandparents.” Mom finally said. I sighed, allowing myself to roll my eyes this time. Suddenly mom squealed excitedly. “We’re here!” I looked out the window and my eyes widened. We were making our way up a large cobblestone driveway with lush green grass spreading out for what looked like miles. Cottages dotted the landscape and I could see people and wolves everywhere. It was like a little village, and at the end of the driveway was the palace. The Regal Ridge Palace doubled as their packhouse and was actually more of a gorgeous old five-story victorian-style mansion in the center with a three story wing on each side. At the end of each wing was an honest to goodness tower. The castle had the weird quality of looking both modern and historical, which fascinated me for some reason. “Okay mom… you never told me how gorgeous Regal Ridge was!” I exclaimed, unable to hide the excitement in my voice. “You’re only seeing parts of it, Eden. The village center is behind the palace. There are shops, cafés, a library… basically you name it and Regal Ridge has it.” Mom said, grinning at me. “How come you never brought us here when we were growing up?” I asked mom, suddenly. We had never been to Regal Ridge as pups. We only saw our royal grandparents a handful of times, and it had always been back home at Shadow Moon. Grammy and Grampa would show up with a vehicle full of expensive presents and stay for a week or so, showering us with attention, before leaving in the same flurry of activity as when they arrived. As a result, I didn’t know my grandparents well. I knew Grammy Sarah liked to shop and for some reason loved football. Grampa Greg liked rock music and horror movies. “Well, we tried. Every time we would try to make arrangements to come visit, we were told that it wasn’t a good time.” Mom explained with a shrug. “I never really pushed for an explanation.” We pulled up to the front entrance of the palace and a stuffy old man stepped out of the doors. Dad laughed and nudged mom with his elbow. “Look Maggie, it’s your good buddy Ramsey!” He said to her with a laugh. “I can’t believe he’s still here.” “He’s gotta be 80 by now!” Mom mused. “I wonder if he can still bow…” Dad parked the car and mom turned in her seat to look at me, a huge grin on her face. “Are you ready?” She asked me. I nodded, though I wasn’t really. I opened the car door and stepped outside. Time to start my new life.