Touching.
PENELOPE.
People are staring at me.
Do I call them people? Well, I guess they’re technically people, but they’re more than human. They’re shifters. Shifters that could probably rip me to shreds in two seconds flat if I pissed them off.
Still, they’re staring at me. They’re probably wondering what I’m doing here. That is a question I wish I knew the answer to myself. Yet, here I am, in a castle where I’m about to attend school.
“Do the stairs change positions?” I whisper to Liam, since he is the closest to me.
He raises an eyebrow. “Why would they do that?”
“Never mind,” I mumble.
Right.
I forgot.
They don’t even know what Harry Potter is.
“Explain yourself,” he demands, not leaving me room to argue.
I roll my eyes.
Liam truly is the “alpha.”
“It’s from this movie,” I say, waving my hand. Though, it’s much more than just a movie. It’s easier to explain it this way though.
“We will watch this movie with you.”
It’s not a question.
Great. Glad we settled that.
When you first walk into the school, there are marble floors, large archways that are three stories high, balconies where other students are walking, and the ceiling is partly glass so you can look up and see the sky from inside. It’s impressive.
I want to continue to explore, but they say we have to go speak to the dean of the school.
I’m sandwiched between the guys—Liam is to the right, Cole to the left, Parker in the front, and Aiden behind me. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or if it’s just coincidental.
No, everything with these boys is intentional. It warms my heart that they want to protect me, but it also worries me. What are they trying to protect me from? The other students? Is it dangerous for me to be here? What’s going on?
My questions have to wait, however, because right now I’m going to meet the dean of this school. I have no idea what’s about to happen. Are they going to ask permission for me to go here? What if the dean says no? Will I get to go back home?
My heart races at the thought of seeing my family again, but it drops just as quickly at the thought of leaving these boys. As much as I miss my family, I can’t imagine not being here with these four guys. I’ve grown kind of used to having them around, and I like it.
I look up at the ceiling one last time as we pass under the archways that lead down a long hallway. The marble floor is replaced with a deep red carpet and the ceilings are still high, but not as high. I almost expect to see torches on the wall and knights in metal suits, but that’s just silly.
“There isn’t a mote either,” Cole pipes up from my side.
Wait… what?
How did he know what I was thinking?
But before I can ask, we walk through a big wooden door. There is a large, spiral staircase that goes up, but behind that, there is a desk. A young girl is sitting there—she can’t be older than seventeen.
“Liam, what a nice surprise.” The girl is grinning entirely too big at him.
I kind of want to claw her face off for looking at him like that.
Oh, my gosh. What is wrong with me? I’m not jealous. I can’t be. Liam isn’t my boyfriend. He isn’t my anything. I just met him.
So why do I want to smack this girl and tell her to take her eyes off him?
I’m losing it.
The girl finally stops checking out Liam and frowns when she sees me.
“We’re here to see Margot,” Liam says.
“Who is she?” The girl sniffs the air. “Better yet, what is she?”
“She is none of your business,” he nearly growls. “Call Margot now and tell her we’re on our way up. That’s a command.”
“Of course,” she says before picking up the phone.
He just commands her to do something and she does it? That’s crazy. It’s even crazier if he expects me to be like that toward him.
I follow Aiden toward the spiral staircase. He and Liam go first, then me, followed by Cole and Parker. Once again, I’m directly in the middle. By now I’ve realized it’s not at all coincidental.
The staircase goes up and up for what feels like forever. By the time we get to the top, I’m nearly panting and my thighs and butt are starting to burn, which only solidifies the fact that I need to work out more often. I didn’t realize that I was so out of shape.
At the top of the staircase, there’s a huge, oval office. Windows line the entire room giving me a view of the ocean and the rest of the island. The view is incredible. I almost forget why we’re here until somebody clears their throat. It’s then that I see a woman sitting behind a large, wooden desk.
The woman looks to be in her mid-thirties. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes. I’ve never seen her before, I know this, but there’s something familiar about her. She stands up and I see that she is tall.
Of course.
Everybody is tall but me.
“It’s a shifter thing,” Aiden says to me.
Great. I’ll be the only short person at this school.
“You’re late. Again.” The lady, Margot, looks at Liam as she speaks. Her face is straight, showing no signs of emotion. “Alpha Mutatio is furious.”
“I was busy.” Liam carefully grabs my sleeve so that we don’t touch. He pulls me so I am out from behind Aiden. “This is Penelope…” He looks at me. “I don’t actually know your full name.”
“Penelope Rose Monroe,” I reply, grinning at him. I turn and face Margot. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”
She looks at me for a moment, titling her head to the side as if she’s studying me. I’m used to it by now, but I still can’t help but feel a bit like an animal in a zoo. I wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t for so long that it’s actually kind of awkward. I start to move a little bit behind Liam, wanting to hide from her.
“Dean Westwood,” Liam says sharply. “Don’t stare at my mate.”
Mate?
Wait, I thought I was Aiden’s mate.
I’m so confused.
This entire world is confusing to me.
“Your mate?” she repeats.
“Yes. My mate.” He then grabs onto my hand with his. I feel a rush of emotions but not his. They’re mine.
Well, maybe a little of his too. He’s feeling… pride. He’s proud of the fact that I’m his mate. And he’s happy. So, so happy.
Me? I’m confused. Because I thought I was Aiden’s mate, but I’m also happy. Even though Liam touched me without my permission, I don’t regret it. His mind, his thoughts, his feelings are incredible. Just as Aiden’s are, when he doesn’t hide them from me.
“I see,” Margot drawls out the word, eyeing Liam for a moment before she looks at me. “Hello, Penelope, and welcome to Shifter Academy. I am Margot Westwood. You may call me Margot or Dean Westwood, whichever you prefer.”
I nod and smile at her.
“You’re a wolf,” she says, studying me.
I shake my head. “I’m not a shifter.”
“We’re not sure what she is.” Liam speaks up. “We were hoping that you would be able to help us with that.”
“We will worry about that later.” She waves a dismissive hand. “For now, you need to call Alpha Mutatio.”
Liam nods before leaving the room. I hear him start to walk down the long spiral staircase.
“You four, take a seat and get comfortable. You might be here a while.”
We all comply and find a seat. I have a thousand questions that I want answered, but I won’t ask them with Dean Westwood in the room. It just doesn’t seem like the right time to ask Aiden why he and Liam both think they’re my mate. Later, I’ll get all the answers.
“Where have you been?”
My father is angry.
Really angry.
But I know with my next breath what I tell him will completely change his tone with me. I’m just nervous to say the words out loud. I have a mate. She’s mine and I am hers. It still doesn’t seem real.
Never mind the fact that I just spilled the beans in front of Dean Westwood. It just pissed me off that she was making Penelope uncomfortable. We’ll deal with that later though. At least Penelope didn’t freak out like I thought she would. She was just curious.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call, I was just busy,” I say.
“Busy? Busy doing what? You have no other responsibilities right now than to be at school. You’re training to be the future alpha,” he growls. “You think you can do this once you’re alpha? Just run off with your friends and have a vacation?”
“I found my mate.” I don’t even bother to respond to his lecture.
“Your mate? Where? Who?”
“Her name is Penelope.” A warmth spreads over me when I say her name. “She’s so beautiful, Dad. And perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
“Of course she is. She’s the future luna of the pack,” Dad says. “Who are her parents? Do I know her?”
“Her name full name Penelope Monroe. You don’t know her because she was raised by humans.”
“Humans?”
He sounds confused and upset.
A wolf shifter raised by humans would be an actual tragedy.
“She’s not a wolf.” I pause. “Not a shifter, actually.”
There’s silence on the other end of the call.
“Dad?”
“I’m here,” he finally replies. “She’s… human?”
“No,” I answer. “We actually don’t know what she is, but she’s definitely not human.”
“Good.” The relief is clear in his tone.
Nobody has ever had a human for a mate.
Actually, I’m not sure that any wolf has had a mate that isn’t a wolf.
“I’m going to come there,” Dad says. “I’m actually on my way anyway. I wanted to be there when you showed up.”
Wow.
Dad really was pissed about me being late.
Finding my mate is the only acceptable reason for me being late.
“You’re going to love her.” I feel a grin pull at my lips as I think about her. “She’s magnificent.”
“I’m sure she is, Son.”
“There is one other thing.”
He hesitates. “What?”
“I’m not her only mate.”
My dad curses, which is something he never does.
Well…
Things are about to get interesting.