Protected by Three Mates

Chapter - 1

Good morning, sleepyhead.

Sleep has been disturbed by Vero's voice. Upon dragging the bedsheet off me, I exclaimed, "What the hell are you talking about? I have a day off today, so I'll sleep for five more minutes.".

When you're celebrating your birthday, you won't sleep anymore, because you're a dunce. "Fiona, get to your feet!" She screams. 

I asked sluggishly, "Where are we going?". "It's a surprise now," she said as she tossed away my bedsheet. I strongly suggest getting up now you lazy a**."

 With a grunt, I rolled out of bed, went to the shower, and made my way to the closet. My parents have left a note saying Happy birthday to our pumpkin in a beautiful box on my bed.

My shoulder was gently gripped by Vero when she appeared near me.

Six months have passed since my parents left me. When I opened the gift, my eyes welled up with tears. With the stone, which had a galaxy-like color, was an elegant silver chain.

 In the midst of receiving a gift box, Vero tells me to open it. I was soaked with tears as she wiped them away. Her parents were close friends with mine.

Veronica's House was a frequent stop for our family. We were both about the same age, so she became my close friend. We attended the same university and attended school together.

Before turning seventeen, I was unaware of the existence of shifters. When I learned about their permanence, I was stunned. I had a hard time explaining my feelings to my parents. I realized that they were dragon shifters.

"I don't shift in animals as you guys do. I am a weak human. As I sat on the porch staring at her profile, I realized that there must be something wrong with me.

When she touched my hair, she said, "Pumpkin, you are beautiful. I believe someday you will surpass the others." Her statement confused me.

Shifters have their own culture and traditions, as my mother told me. Additionally, I discovered that Veronica White, my best friend, is a wolf shifter; she is not human. 

As she brushed my brown hair, Veronica gave me a blue dress that ended slightly above the knee. In order to encourage the growth of my green orbs, I cover my dark circles with makeup after applying pink lipstick to my pale white skin and m******e to my eyelashes. 

As I make my way downstairs, I wear black strapped heels. In an entwined voice, she said, "You are looking gorgeous, Bitch.". A black sleeveless gown adorned her body. Red high heels completed the ensemble. The outfits Veronica wore looked as if they were made just for her. She and another shifter had similar physiques and features, but she was more attractive than the other. Seeing myself in comparison to them made me feel trashy.

“Veronica, please watch your language in this house.” Her mother advises. Veronica rolls her eyes and walks to answer the phone.

As they give me the gift, Mrs. & Mr. White beam at me. “Thank you so much,” I reply in a shaky voice, as I remember my parents. 

"Fiona, happy birthday!" He shouts as he marches into the hallway. Mr. White sneers at Eric's appearance, and Mrs. White gently elbows him to the side. 

Eric, thank you very much. A sigh escaped my lips, and he raised his eyebrows at me. "I am that irritating." 

The icey look on my face returned to him in response. He looked directly at me. Veronica was suffering severe discomfort for days before his acceptance of the mate bond. Eventually, however, he accepted the bond, and Eric has been begging for forgiveness ever since.

A shout came from Mrs. White to Veronica. "Sweety, Eric is here!" She said. I sat down beside Mrs. White on the sofa. Her kind-hearted nature is similar to that of Veronica, and she is easy to forgive. 

Mr. White walked away from that jerk Eric. My support goes to Mr. White. Mr. White and I are similar in nature. Our anger grows when we see someone we care for being abused. We don't simply overlook things. Trying to get his forgiveness was the best Eric could do.

“My dear Eric, I am glad you are finally here on time. She embraces him and he reciprocates. "I find it surprising," she says.

"I miss you," he murmurs, gently kissing her forehead. Upon embracing Vero, his face lit up.

Right now the couple is not sucking each other's faces as they walk hand-in-hand to the car. I was sitting in the backseat. It seems they discussed pack gossip I overlooked. Observing the serene scenery from the moving car, I close my eyes as the wind blows on my face. Today is my 18th birthday. As if time had stood still, it was just yesterday that my parents were murdered, and I was in prison awaiting their trials in the world of shifters.

The shifters who leave the human world and associate with them, and the shifters themselves, die unnatural deaths. After that, the shifter officers erase the memory of the human associate, as well as all legal documentation regarding its existence in the human world. No one remembers my parents among our neighbors; they think I've just moved here.

As far as I know, my home is the only thing in my possession that is owned by me now. 'Fiona, are you listening?' We're here. It was Eric who got my attention. He halted the car as I glanced in the direction of the view. The upper-rank shifters enjoy dining and drinking in this luxurious restaurant.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a receptionist. "I have made reservations for three people under the name Veronica White." She said.  The attendant checked the list and told us, "Yes mam, please go in this direction.". There were a variety of foods available to us, including fish, meat, and vegetables. 

Quite seriously, Eric says, "I need your forgiveness too.". Staring at him with confused eyes, I understood what he meant. 

She had a slightly moist look on her face. Eric smiles, reaching out for Veronica's hand. "Veronica treats you as her sister, and you're family to my mate," he says.

I couldn't help but look at Veronica, whose eyes beseeched me to overlook Eric's error. As I sighed internally, “I forgive you.” His smile reached just beyond the corners of his lips, as did Veronica's.

"During a summer festival last year, Fiona and I had a conversation with a clairvoyant." Veronica's goal is to make the conversation comfortable and reduce any awkwardness around us.

As Veronica sipped on the red wine, she asked, "What do you think?". "How could you forget something so romantic, shortly you will meet your Mates as you have turned 18." I shook my head vigorously at Veronica. "Her prediction was that you would meet your mates," 

 I try not to roll my eyes at her. “You will bring peace to the chaos with your power," Veronica repeated the words clairvoyant. I cannot bring back the beliefs my mother told me I would have. They are all lies, and I cannot bring them back.