Lyla

Lyla POV:

Unconsciously, I looked towards the twins and saw their rage-filled eyes on Jax. Alana cut them off as soon as the twins opened their mouths to say something.

"Oh, you're not eighteen yet, though. What if you find your mate once you turn eighteen, since you'll still be at the academy at the time." She said.

Jax and I both stilled. We had never had this conversation before; it was kind of an unsaid thought. I had always wanted to be with him, and everyone knew, so the perception of me rejecting my mate was already like an unsaid commitment. However, the thought of rejecting the other half of my soul was becoming gut-wrenching as time passed and I got closer to my birthday, but I didn't tell anyone that. I didn't have it in me to tell Jax this. With how much love and support he has shown me, and even if my brothers and I had drifted apart over the years, I still didn't want them to be disappointed in me. I knew they wouldn't be if I told them. Still, the guilt of straining