Meant to be.
PENELOPE.
I wake up in my room with four pairs of eyes looking at me. I sit up, wondering how I got here. My head spins a little and my head hurts.
What happened last night?
Then I remember…
The commotion.
The basement.
The knife.
I’ll worry about my arm later. Right now, the guys are more important. I look them over from head to toe, trying to see if they were injured. I sigh when I see that they seem perfectly fine, just worried.
“What happened?” I ask.
Everybody looks at Liam.
“We don’t know for sure.” Liam runs a hand through his hair. “My dad is looking into it. We were betrayed by our own kind. It’s a mess.”
My chest hurts, and I realize that it’s not my pain. It’s theirs. The fact that they’re hurting so bad brings tears to my own eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
That’s when I remember… my arm.
It’s not hurting so bad. Not like it should be.
I look over to see my arm, but Cole grabs it and covers it with his own hand. I look at him.
“Does your arm hurt?” he asks.
“No,” I answer. “But I want to see it. The guys were drawing some kind of pattern on me.”
“It’s going to heal,” Parker assures me.
“Completely,” Liam says. “There won’t even be a scar.”
“It appears that whatever the other half of your DNA is makes you immune to silver,” Cole explains.
“Okay,” I drawl. They don’t want me to look, obviously.
“And it’s not true,” Aiden adds. “What was cut into your arm… it’s a lie.”
“What… what is cut into my arm?” I ask, looking at Cole.
He hesitantly lets go of my arm.
And then I see the word.
It’s carved into my skin.
SLUT.
It’s a little pink, but it actually doesn’t look bad. It looks like it’s been there for a month, not just one night.
“It won’t leave a scar?” I ask, swallowing hard.
I refuse to cry over this. At least in front of the guys.
“No,” Parker confirms. “It is going to heal completely.”
“The guys who—"
“They’re taken care of,” Liam interjects, cutting off my question.
I want to ask what taken care of means, but I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
When I blink, a few tears fall from my eyes.
I don’t want to cry. It’s just…
I look at the words on my skin once more, so Cole covers it up with his hand again.
Everybody in the shifter community thinks it. It doesn’t matter if the wound will go away or not. Everybody already knows it.
“It’s not true,” Cole growls.
“Why else would I have four mates?” I ask, casting my gaze downward. “If I’m not…”
If I’m not a slut.
I can’t say the words, but I can think them.
“We think you have four mates because you need protecting,” Aiden says.
But he doesn’t elaborate. When I look up, all four guys are looking anywhere but at me.
I want to ask them questions, but before I can there is a knock on my bedroom door.
Who else is in our house?
Aiden gets up to answer the door, and I’m surprised to see Margot Westwood on the other side.
My chest aches a little when I remember that she’s my aunt.
“Can I come in?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah, please.”
I try to sit up a little straighter on the bed. When I do, Cole adjusts the pillows behind my back.
My mates are the best mates a girl could ever ask for.
I don’t deserve them.
“I was hoping that we could talk,” Margot says, walking closer to the bed.
I look at her, then at the guys.
“We’ll give you some privacy.” Aiden nods to me.
“But only a little,” Liam warns, his voice hard. “We will be right outside the door.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure him, smiling at them all.
I really just want to hear what Margot has to say.
Not just want. I need to hear it.
She takes a seat on the edge of the bed where Liam was sitting, tilting her body towards me. Her eyes glance at my arm where the angry, pink letters are carved into my skin, but then she looks at my face.
“Your mom was my sister,” she says. “My only sister. My only sibling. Our mom died when I was a baby.”
I frown, thinking how hard it must’ve been to be raised without a mom. Especially considering who her dad is—Robert Westwood isn’t exactly a warm guy. She and my mother must’ve had it rough.
“My sister was only ten months older than me.” Margot smiles sadly. “I used to tease her for two months out of the year when we were the same age. She hated it. But I thought it was awesome.”
I laugh.
Sounds like Andrew, Paige, and me.
“When your mom was eighteen, she met her mate,” she continues. “It’s rare for our kind to meet their mate so young in life. It never happens. I mean, I’m thirty-six and haven’t met my mate yet. That’s pretty normal, actually. Until my mate comes, I am happy waiting for him.”
“I’m lucky then.”
“You are,” she agrees.
“Who is my mom’s mate?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Margot answers. “Your mom never introduced me to him. She kept it a secret from everyone. She only told me because I noticed when she started showing.”
“Oh.”
“Your father was, and still is, a mystery.”
“My mom… she’s dead, isn’t she?”
She nods, a frown forming on her face. “She was murdered. They were after her—after you. I don’t know who and I don’t know why. But she came to me, she was bloodied and had been running for hours. She had you in her arms. You had just been born and you were so tiny. She brought you to me and told me to hide you. She said to hide you among the humans where you’d never be found. Then she died. I… I didn’t want to hide you. I wanted to keep you with me. But it’s what she wanted. It’s what my sister asked for with her last breath, so how could I not?
“I found the Monroe family. They had just given birth to a beautiful girl. And I could read their thoughts. I could see how pure they were. I knew they wanted more kids. And I knew they treated their kids well. So, I hid you with them. I compelled them to think that you were theirs biologically. That you were the twin of the other girl. You’re a few months older than the other girl, but you were still so much smaller.”
“Wait… I’m older than Paige?” I ask.
“Your birthday is October twentieth,” she says.
October?
I’m about to turn eighteen soon. Really soon.
“I’ve checked on you every summer.” Margot’s eyes fill with tears. “I could see how truly happy you are with them. They love you and you love them. I know I made the right decision. Nobody was more surprised than me when you showed up at the school with Liam and the rest of the guys.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad you left me with them.”
I feel so much relief at her words.
So much.
My parents haven’t lied to me. They truly think I’m their biological kid.
“I know I don’t deserve it, but I would really like to be a part of your life,” Margot says.
“I’d like that too.”
Margot smiles. I think it’s the first genuine smile I’ve ever seen on her face.
She’s beautiful.
Actually, her smile… it reminds me of my own.
Even though we have different hair, eye, and skin colors, she’s truly my aunt. My family. I can’t turn her away. I wouldn’t.
There is still so much I must learn about this world, but with the guys by my side and now my aunt, I know that I can make it. This is where I was always meant to be.
I rub at the vile word on my arm.
It doesn’t matter what everybody thinks of me. I know that I’m not a slut. And the guys know it too. That’s enough for me. At least, for now.
Somebody wants our mate dead and they want it bad.
All of us listen as Margot Westwood tells the story to Penelope. About how Penelope’s mom fought for her life when she was a baby. How Margot hid her to protect her.
It’s clear now why Penelope has four mates. It’s because she needs us. We’re going to have to fight for her.
I look at Cole, then Aiden, and Parker last.
“We’re going to have to fight for her.” My voice is steady and firm as I begin. “This isn’t going to be easy. I need to know that you are all willing to fight for her and possibly give your life for her.”
I already know the answer, but I need to hear them say it out loud.
“You already know, I’d give up everything for that girl,” Cole says.
Parker and Aiden both say something very similar.
We already love her.
All of us.
It’s unconventional. Our own species looks down on us. On her. But I don’t care. I will fight them all if they ever try and treat my mate with anything but the respect she deserves.
“There is no backing out after this. It’s your last chance,” I warn. “You’re not going to have a normal relationship with Penelope. Being with her means you have to share her.”
“Normal is boring anyway,” Parker says.
Cole and Aiden both nod in agreement.
I know that being with Penelope, sharing her affection with three other guys, will not be easy. But I also know that if it were easy, it wouldn’t be as rewarding.
Even though she doesn’t know it yet, Penelope has my heart and soul. I will fight every day to be the man she deserves.
I just hope that we’re enough to protect her.
The end.
Book 2, Monster, is coming soon!