Unconventional.
PENELOPE.
“Was that room meant for me?”
I can’t believe that is the first question I’m asking, but I’ll go with it.
If I’m being honest, I’m a little scared to ask what I really want to know.
“It was technically meant for Liam and his mate,” Parker answers.
“And the clothes that happen to be my size?”
Liam clears his throat, obviously uncomfortable with my question. “I had them ordered when I met you and knew that you were my mate. I knew we’d eventually end up here, and I wanted you to have plenty of clothes.”
Ah, I guess that makes sense.
“I have plenty of clothes,” I say, giving him a pointed look before continuing. “At home.”
“I just figured it would be easier for you to have stuff here and there so you don’t always have to pack.”
Right.
Because packing it hard?
Or maybe that’s just because he’s the alpha’s son, which means something. What, I’m not sure.
“What does alpha mean?” I ask.
“It means leader,” Liam answers.
“Leader?”
“He’s being modest,” Cole interjects. “Liam is going to be alpha of all of the wolf shifters one day, like his dad is now and his grandfather was before.”
“So, it’s a birth thing,” I muse. “Like royalty or something?”
“Kind of,” Liam says. “But not so extreme.”
“Again, he’s being modest.” Cole turns on the couch so that he’s facing towards me fully.
I nod.
Right.
“What does mate mean?” I look at each of the guys as I speak, gauging their reactions. “I mean, I know you explained it before, but I think maybe I misunderstood.”
“Mate means… soulmate, I guess.” Parker fidgets in his chair as he answers, seemingly nervous about our conversation.
Soulmate?
“It’s destiny,” Aiden adds. “Everybody has one person they’re meant to be with. Whenever a shifter meets their mate, they just know. There is a calmness and a rightness about it. Like everything in the world is pulling you to be with that one person.”
“Okay.” I drawl out the word, considering the information they’ve just given me. “How can I be your mate and Liam’s mate if everybody just has one person?”
The guys all fall silent and look between each other. I wonder if they’re having a silent conversation with one another through their mind connection.
“We don’t know why, but you have four mates,” Liam eventually says out loud.
Four mates.
Four. Not just two.
Somewhere, deep down, I knew it already. But feeling it and knowing it are two very different things.
“Why do I have four?” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth and dart my gaze between them all. “I mean, that doesn’t seem very fair to you guys. You’ve been waiting your whole life for some shifter girl and now you’re stuck with me. Is there a way to undo this?”
Even as I say the words, my chest aches so much that it’s hard to breathe. It takes me a moment to realize that it’s not my emotion. I can’t quite distinguish whose it is, but when I look at the guys, I see that it’s not just one, but all of them that are in pain.
Liam clears his throat before answering my question. “No, there is not a way to undo it. Do you want to undo it?”
I shake my head.
No, I don’t. Not even if I could.
I put a hand over my heart, hoping to rub the pain away.
“That freaking hurts.” I wince.
“When you ask if you can—” Aiden starts to say, but his voice cuts off. He clenches his jaw before he continues. “Finding the other half of your soul is something we look forward to our whole lives. Some people find their mates when they’re young, like us, and some people don’t find their mate for hundreds of years. We’re truly lucky. The thought that this isn’t what you want hurts.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, biting my lip again. I didn’t mean to hurt them. “I’m just trying to understand. I’m not denying anybody. I have… feelings that I don’t understand. There are a lot of questions that I need answered.”
“We’ll try to answer as honestly as we can,” Parker’s tone is reassuring, and his expression is kind, soft.
I suppose that’s all they can do.
I nod. “Okay. The next question is kind of obvious. Or maybe it’s not, I don’t know. What are we going to do about the fact that I have four mates? Is this set in stone or do I have to choose or what?”
The thought of choosing makes me feel sick to my stomach.
“Do you want to choose?” Cole asks.
I shake my head. “No. How could I? I feel like my heart is being pulled in four different directions.”
“You don’t have to choose,” Liam rumbles.
“How does that work?” I ask, looking at each guy before I finally look at Liam. “I don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to dating.” None, actually, but I’m not going there right now. “But won’t dating four of you cause jealousy? Oh, gosh. It’s weird to even say that out loud.”
“I don’t know about the other guys, but I haven’t felt any jealousy so far.” Parker pauses, appearing deep in thought for a moment. I assume he’s examining his feelings. “At least not when it comes to them. It must be fate because wolves are very territorial. But the thought of somebody besides them touching you makes me angry.”
All the guys say something similar, which surprises me.
I try to imagine if our roles were reversed. What if I had to share one of them with four other girls?
No. I wouldn’t. I would claw another girl’s eyes out before I shared them.
The guys laugh, but it’s not funny. How hypocritical am I? I want to date them all, yet I would have a problem if they tried to date somebody else.
“How are we going to figure out what kind of supernatural I am?” Changing the subject away from dating seems like the best idea—for now. I keep trying to remind myself I haven’t known these guys very long and it’s too soon to talk about dating anyway, even if it’s fate.
“My dad has called in the council,” Liam says. “Everybody will be here this weekend. There will be a formal ball introducing you as my mate, and the whole weekend will basically be you meeting a lot of people. We’re hoping somebody will know.”
Meeting…
People?
Lots of people?
A crowd.
My stomach is queasy at the thought.
I swallow hard. “I can’t. Touching people is… too much.”
“Nobody will touch you,” Cole insists.
All the guys nod.
“How can you keep everybody from touching me?” I ask. “In a crowd, sometimes people accidentally bump into me, even if I’m being vigilant.”
“I will make sure nobody gets within five feet of you,” Liam growls. His promise to protect sends a warmth through me.
“Wolves that mate are very territorial, especially in the first year or so,” Aiden explains. “Nobody would dare approach you without our permission, aside from our families.”
Families?
“Wait, I’m going to be meeting your families?” I squeak out, my mouth suddenly dry.
“It’s tradition,” Liam says. “Every shifter presents their mate to their family. I’m sorry we can’t invite your family here too. Since they’re human they’re not allowed to come on campus.”
“I don’t want them to come.” I cringe, hating even admitting it out loud. “How could I explain this to them?”
I’m going to have to keep all of this a secret from my family. How can I do that? My family means everything to me.
I’ve been hiding my gift from them my whole life, but that’s different. Now I’m literally going to be hiding my entire life from them. How can I explain the supernatural school I go to? How can I explain that I have four destined mates? That one I don’t even understand.
“Will I ever see them again?” I ask, looking at my feet. I’m not sure I can bear to look them in the eyes when they answer.
This moment has always been coming. I’ve felt it my whole life—that I was missing something. I was always meant for more. I just didn’t realize what until now. And I also didn’t realize that it would mean leaving my family behind.
Parker steps forward, putting his fingers under my chin and gently nudging me so that I look him in the eyes.
“You will see them again, I promise.”
“When?” I ask.
“We’ll go there for Thanksgiving,” Aiden offers, giving me an encouraging smile.
“And Christmas,” Cole adds.
“And when your sister gives birth,” Liam says.
They’re trying. They really are.
I don’t think I could have found more understanding mates.
The five of us might be unconventional, but I’ve always thought normal was overrated anyway.
Another thought hits me.
“Did you say some people wait hundreds of years to find their mate?”
“Yeah.” Aiden shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal.
“How long do shifters live anyway?”
“Depends on the shifter,” Liam answers, shrugging his shoulders. “Two to three thousand years is pretty normal.”
My jaw drops open as I look between them all.
Two to three thousand?
That’s insane.
It kills me to see her hurting.
I know she misses her family, but I also know that she feels it—the sense of belonging. I know she’s never felt like she belonged before and now she does. I also know she feels guilty for feeling this way because her family always tried so hard to make her feel loved, even though she’s so different than the rest.
I wish I could take her pain and her worry. I wish I could make it better. But all I can do is be there for her.
“She’s finally asleep.” Aiden lets out a relieved sigh and his shoulders relax.
Penelope’s thoughts have been loud today. And I know she hates that we can hear her, but none of us are going to teach her how to block us yet. It’s not fair to her, but until she trusts us enough to tell us how she feels, we need access to her mind.
It has been a long day. Not just for her, but for all of us. And tomorrow is going to be even longer, because tomorrow we have to go to classes.
Again, we are all starting a week late. We start late every year, why should senior year be any different?
We’re all worried about Penelope’s first day. She’s starting at this school as a senior, which puts her at a disadvantage. The rest of us came here as freshman—as all the students do. We were raised knowing exactly what we are.
In the rare event that parents die before a child is of age, another shifter family always takes in their kids. They’re never left to be adopted by humans, which makes Penelope very unique.
Of course, there is also the fact that none of us know what she is.
“We have to watch out for her tomorrow,” Liam warns us, his jaw clenching and unclenching like he was struggling to control himself. “I have a feeling that not everybody will be receptive of her.”
“One of us will be there at all times,” Cole says.
Aiden, Liam, and I all agree on this.
Nobody messes with Penelope.