Mini castle.
PENELOPE.
My head is swimming by the time we leave the meeting with Alpha Mutatio. I have so many questions, yet the second I get alone with the guys I can’t think of one. I think my brain is just exhausted from the long day.
It has been such a long day.
Was it just this morning that I woke up on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
Yeah, I guess it was.
Now, it’s the afternoon as we’re leaving the castle. The guys say we’re going to our off-campus dorm, which I find incredibly confusing because weren’t there boys and girls dorms in the castle? Or maybe the seniors stay somewhere else.
Tomorrow I guess we will go to class. I don’t even have a schedule, and I have no idea where I’ll be going or what classes I’ll be taking. I don’t even know if Margot Westwood got my transcript from my last school.
“Don’t worry. Everything is settled.” Aiden speaks up, answering my unasked question.
But how is it settled?
I’m just so confused.
I’ll also never get used to having somebody else in my head. It’s so strange.
The dorms are a short drive from the castle, and I’m pleasantly surprised when I see a miniature version of the castle we were just in—there are even circular towers sticking up. It’s awesome.
“This is where we’re staying,” Cole says. “Just the five of us.”
My mouth falls open. “The five of us?”
Before the question is even fully out of my mouth, the guys are already walking inside. I follow them because I don’t exactly have a choice.
This place is big for five people, but I guess since Liam is alpha, or soon to be alpha, maybe he gets a bigger place than everybody else. Still… why am I here with them? Don't they separate the boys and girls?
“I need stuff,” I call out, hurrying to catch up to them. “I don’t even have clothes or anything. And I really want to take a shower.”
I’ve been wearing the same clothes since yesterday. It’s not my fault. They are the ones who kidnapped me and brought me on a boat.
To be fair, they did ask me to come before they kidnapped me. I said no, so they didn’t have a choice. I think I’m supposed to still be mad about that, but I’m not. Especially since I know my family isn’t worried about me.
“Everything you need is here.” Liam glances back at me as he talks. “There is a shower in your room. You get the master bedroom.”
“Okay,” I say.
I mean, giving me the master bedroom is the least they can do since they kidnapped me.
Aiden shows me where my room is, and I walk inside alone. I’m grateful for the bit of privacy.
I’ve never actually had privacy in my life. Growing up with six siblings, there was always somebody around. I even share a room with Paige. And now that I have a niece on the way, I realize our family is just going to keep getting bigger. Privacy just isn’t a thing.
And now I’m surrounded by four very protective guys.
Mine, a voice insists.
That voice always insists whenever I think about them.
I keep trying to remind myself that I can’t date four guys, but my inner voice doesn’t want to listen.
The master bedroom is huge. Like, bigger than any one room I’ve ever seen. The floors are marble, but there is a large, fluffy rug covering a lot of the space.
There is a king size bed with a black comforter spread out on top. That’s going to be a big change. I’m used to sleeping on a twin size bed. We had no other choice. It’s not like two full size beds would’ve fit into the room Paige and I shared.
On each side of the bed, there is a nightstand with a lamp. I see an electric outlet so I can charge my phone.
Speaking of my phone, I have no idea where it is. I might have left it home last night whenever I went out for my walk. I won’t be able to survive without texting my family, so I’ll have to rectify that situation soon.
I continue to look around the room, amazed at all the little details—like the wolf carved into the wood on the nightstand.
There is a huge walk-in closet that is literally bigger than the room I shared with Paige. There are a ton of clothes inside—all my size.
What the heck? How did they even have time to do this? We’re on an island. It’s not like somebody would’ve been able to go shopping unless there is a mall I happened to not notice.
There are also clothes for a guy inside the closet. Another question for later.
I grab an outfit that looks kind of comfortable but still cute. Because I want to look cute for the guys who kidnapped me. There is something seriously wrong with me.
The bathroom is massive. The first thing I notice is the large tub. I’m pretty sure it’s big enough to fit ten people. But then again, all the wolf shifters are tall and I’m the size of an ant next to them. Still, I’m excited about all the bubble baths I’m going to get to take—something I never got to do at home. Mom would occasionally let me use her tub, but it was a rarity. Plus, in a house with nine people, somebody always needs the bathroom, so spending an hour soaking in a tub was just out of the question.
The shower is also big. It takes me a minute to figure out how to turn on the water, and I find out it’s the kind of shower that rains water from all of the top. I’m pretty sure it’s meant for more than one person to shower at a time, but I can’t figure out how to change it so that it just has water on one side.
Whatever.
The water is warm the second it comes out, which is nice. Usually my showers are pretty cold, simply because I don’t fight my siblings to take the first shower. I just let everybody else do their thing and go last so I don’t have to rush through a shower. Going last means there is little to no hot water left. So, this shower… I’m going to enjoy every second of it.
I’m not sure how long I stand under the stream of water—long enough for my fingers to start pruning. I guess I’m waiting to see if the hot water will run out, but it’s just as hot as when I started my shower. Of course, it is. I’m staying in a castle! Well, a miniature sized version of one.
Eventually I shut off the water and get out. I wrap one of the huge white towels around myself, amazed at how soft they are.
Why do I feel like I don’t belong here?
Because I don’t. I definitely don’t.
This room… it wasn’t supposed to be mine. At least not mine alone. And that means the guys have a lot of questions that they need to answer.
I get dressed quickly, pulling my wet hair into a messy bun on top of my head. I’ll blow dry it later. For now, I need answers.
By now, everybody at Shifter Academy knows that Penelope is my mate.
Well, not just my mate.
She’s Aiden’s mate. And Parker’s.
But the biggest news will be that Liam found a mate.
Our future alpha.
I wonder what everybody will say when they realize that Liam has to share his mate.
Honestly, I don’t care what they have to say about me and the guys. I know we can handle it. I just worry what they’re going to say about Penelope. It’d be one thing if we were dragons and sharing a mate was considered normal, but we’re not dragons and it’s definitely not normal in our shifter community.
I won’t let them talk bad about my mate though. I will fight anybody who tries.
I am meant to be the beta of the pack. I’m second in line to Liam. If anything ever happened to him, I would take over as alpha, either until his heir is old enough to take over, or indefinitely if Liam doesn’t have an heir. I hope nothing happens to him; I don’t want to be alpha. I’m not into the whole political side of things.
Instead, I help protect Liam and the pack. Not that Liam needs protecting.
Now, we all agree—Penelope comes first. I protect her over all else. It’s law in the shifter community. Mate comes first, pack comes second. Always.
The guys and I give Penelope privacy while she’s showering. Even though I am so, so tempted to take a peek in her mind, I won’t. I would never betray her like that. Not until she says I can. I know someday she will say it’s okay.
Most shifters don’t wait to complete their mate bond. When they find their mate, they almost always bond the first day. But it’s different with Penelope. She doesn’t know this world and how it works. We’re going to have to go slow with her.
Slow is going to kill me.
But I’ll go slow for Penelope.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t hear Penelope walking down the hall toward the living room. When she walks into the room, just looking at her takes my breath away.
Her black hair is wet and pulled into some kind of knot thing on top of her head. I’ve never seen her with her hair up, and I can now see her face clearly. She is so beautiful.
I’ve never seen skin quite like hers. I don’t even know how to describe the color. In her head she thinks she’s pale, but she’s not. Her skin almost glows. And considering how much time we spent in the sun today without sunscreen, you’d think she would be pink from the sun, but she’s not. I think her skin color must be a supernatural thing, because even wolf shifters get sunburnt.
She has on a pair of black pants. She calls them leggings in her head, and she’s thinking about how comfortable they are. They look nice on her. Really nice. They hug every curve on her tiny frame. And as hard as I try to not check her out, I can’t help it. She’s my mate. I want to look at her.
When I look at her eyes, I expect to see purple, but instead I see blue. I’m pretty sure that when her eyes are blue it means that she’s happy. I love that she’s happy right now. I want her to be happy here.
“We need to talk,” she says.
Yeah, we truly do.
Penelope deserves answers.
My heart races and my stomach ties in knots.
We have to tell her that she isn’t just Liam’s mate. She’s not just Aiden’s mate. But the four of us are her mates.
I worry that she will want to choose just once of us. I worry that if she chooses just one of us, it won’t be me.
How can I live without my mate?
I know it isn’t something I should worry about until the time comes, but I do worry. I know all the guys do.
Penelope is mine. And even though I have known her less than twenty-four hours, I can’t imagine my life without her. I don’t want to imagine life without her.
We will fight for her, my wolf says.
And I agree.
I will fight for the five of us to become a family.