Lucas“Why are you still following me? She already left, you should walk away,” I told the lunatic who thought it was a good idea to follow me back to my office. I don’t like him and I am not trying to hide it. It’s not just me. It goes both ways for us. We have known each other since we were little boys and we have never gotten along. That’s not about to change now.“I am following because clearly, we have something important to discuss. This isn’t the time to act out. I hate you just as much as you hate me but we have a situation at hand that requires us to talk.” I hated the fucker. Today didn’t turn out the way I wanted and seeing him made everything worse. I finally saw my mate again after three whole weeks of not being able to see her and now, not only does she have some dumb human boyfriend, but I also have to deal with the fucker who won’t leave me alone.“I don’t want to talk to you about anything. In case you haven’t noticed.” He didn’t stop following me. I tried to shut
Lucas“I don’t think I have the time you think I have. Why will I go so far just to get under your skin? You are forty, start acting your age and start thinking your age. We have a situation and I am trying to be the logical adult here. I told you not to go after her when she left but you did and made a scene. Do you even think or are you so caveman that you don’t think before you act?” He shot at me. I clenched my fist and growled at him.“Stop doing that.” He warned me. “I don’t listen to you or take orders from you.” I fired at him.“We both don’t take orders from anyone but again, we have a situation. Do you think I want this? No! I don’t want it. I finally found my mate after so many years of waiting and now I find out that she isn’t just my mate. Do you think I am okay? I am not fucking okay but you don’t see me acting all angry and going around creating a scene. We want to protect her from them, not expose her to them. Think!” He yelled at me and for the first time, I actu
CrossI watched him pace around. He was finally getting it. He was acting like he usually does acting before thinking. It’s one of the things I hated about him. In all, I couldn’t stand him and would very much not want to be in this situation right now but I couldn’t change things.If I could, I would go back to that night three weeks ago and make sure that Thalia knew she only belonged to me. That she couldn’t be with anyone else. I didn’t do it and now, I have to live with the consequences.“Why did it have to be him?” I wasn’t the only one pissed by the idea that my mate didn’t belong to me alone. My wolf was too and he has been going crazy inside me. I was in control so he had no choice but to foam inside.Everything happened so fast that it still felt like some weird dream to me even though I knew that it wasn’t a dream. I don’t dream about stuff like this. My dreams were what people call nightmares. This might as well be a nightmare. My mate isn’t just my mate. She’s mated to a
Cross“I can’t let that happen.”I whispered to myself.“Damn well, we can’t.”He heard it even though I said it in a very low voice. Wolves have really good hearing so it wasn’t a shocker that he heard me.“So, you do agree that we can’t let them get to her. That we have to protect her no matter what?”I asked him. He scowled at me but nodded in agreement. We are finally getting somewhere.“What do you want to do?”It funny how he was asking me my plans now when just a while ago, he went crazy because I asked him what he planned to do. Honestly, right now, I don’t have a plan. Yes, I had a plan before. That’s why I applied to lecture in her school, I wanted to be with her.My plan had been simple, find her, ask her out, and make sure she was never out of my sight. They will definitely know she has been mated if they find her and it’s my job to protect her from that. Of course, staying away from her might be the only right way but I can’t stay away from my mate.The three weeks it too
ThaliaI fidgeted, biting my finger, a habit I have and can’t stop especially when I am anxious. Right now, I was beyond nervous. I could practically feel my heart beating fast against my chest. We tried. We talked for hours but nothing seemed to work so now, we were calling her aunt and waiting for her to take her call.My heart skipped a beat when I heard her voice echo on the phone. Emily greeted her and told her that her friend had something she wanted to talk to her about. I have seen her aunt a lot in photos but I haven’t spoken to her before. Emily said it would be better if I talk to her directly.“Here, she wants to talk to you.”She said and handed the phone to me. I took it with shaking hands. I don’t know why I was shaking so much. Maybe because the reality of my situation finally dawned on me. I carried the marks of not one but two shifters and whether I liked it or not, my fate was pretty much sealed to theirs. I cleared my throat and tried to calm down as much as possib
Thalia“She must be some drama queen.”I bit out in an attempt to lighten my mood but that didn’t work. I still felt like crying. Still felt shitty and out of touch with reality. I don’t even know how to describe how I feel right now. I was angry, sad, confused, and most annoying of all, Horny. I was fucking horny and guess whose face crawled into my head. Lucas and Cross. I shook off my stupid train of thought and focused on what Aunt Rachael was saying.“You will get over that feeling very soon. I promise you. There’s always a solution.”I liked her positivity, and in any other situation, it would have worked on me, but not this one. There was no way out, no solution.“They are both professors at my University. Both are nearly two decades older than me. Both are off-limits because the school doesn’t allow students and professors to have intimate relationships.”I explained to her. She went silent on me again. Maybe she was thinking I might have done it to up my grade or something.“
Thalia“What the fuck are you both doing in my room?” I yelled at them when I finally got myself back enough to speak and quickly wrapped my towel around my body. I mean, my reaction was kind of hypocritical seeing as they have both seen me naked and have both been inside me but still, I didn’t invite them in. Heck, only a few minutes ago, they were downstairs looking at me and now, they were standing at my door and not even trying to leave.Normal people would wait for me downstairs. I am very sure they scared my friend so I can’t even blame her for not trying to stop them. Compared to her petite five foot three self, they were over six foot ten. They weren’t humans either so why did I even expect them to act normal?No human would have followed me home and even found their way into my bedroom. These men don’t follow any norms. They can very much decide to remove me from my house and take me wherever with them and I can’t even fight them. I swallowed as the reality of the whole sit
Thalia“What do you want to talk to me about? Do you realize that you can’t be seen with me outside of school?” I asked him. Lucas scoffed. I turned to him and glared at him. I couldn’t even hold his gaze for up to ten seconds. My whole body heated up and I felt tingles all over. How could I still be attracted to him when I was so mad at him? What’s even wrong with me at this point?“It’s the damn mark, isn’t it?” I let out, they both looked at me in confusion.“That’s why I keep getting drawn to you guys. It’s the mark. You did something to me and now I can’t get over my attraction t—.” I pressed my lips together when I realized I had said too much.“You can’t undo what’s done.” “Yeah? My life would have still been normal if you just fucked me without marking me.” I replied to Lucas who shook his head.“That’s not how it works. You will still be mated to us either way.” Us? Did he just say, us? As in both of them? Of course, that’s what he meant.“So, it isn’t like a glitch?”
Thalia “Can we go now? We can help her arrange her stuff and even share a few drinks while we help her discuss how to prepare for her makeup exams.” Elena suggested. “I agree.” Both Emily and I chorused at the same time. Elena drove out of campus and there was a long moment of silence before Emily spoke again. “Does she know we are coming? I haven’t really talked to her a lot in person.” Yeah, I thought of that too that’s why I texted Cross and he said she knew. He already told her that after class ends, we will all go to see her. I explained to Emily. “Then we should talk about things to do. I think you got the schoolwork part covered, right?” I nodded at her question. I might not really be a great teacher but in this case, there will be exceptions. It’s the first favor that Cross has asked of me. “Okay, I hope your guys won’t mind that we might have to go out a lot. What better way to hell the mind than to go out and have fun with people?” Emily suggested. I smi
Thalia “I wish we could, there’s only a little we can do with the government backing them up. Shifters are minorities and with a lot of things against us, we have to always keep our identities secret and if people found out about us, we always have to watch our back.” I could hear the sadness and weariness in Elena’s voice as she explained what it was like to be in the world of shifters. I felt bad for them. They really are not doing anything wrong or harming anyone. They are just like humans. Heck, even better. Shifters were closely knitted. They look out for each other and have each other’s back. I like living among them more than I love living around humans. Being in their world showed me a whole new meaning of living and I don’t want to lose that. “What can we do for Calista?” Emily asked while she wiped tears from her eyes. It was my turn to speak. Cross already told me what he wanted us to do for him and what we needed to do to get Calista back on track academically a
ThaliaI woke up the next morning sad as fuck. I did everything sluggishly. If the class I had wasn’t so important, I would have called to make an excuse and just stayed at home. I also had a presentation due today so there was no staying home for me.Lucas left very early because he had a meeting at his company so he couldn’t drive me to school. I didn’t have the will to drive so I just ordered a ride after I made sure it was okay for a car to come pick me up inside the estate.My ride arrived just as I walked out of the house and I was really thankful for it. Yesterday was a whole lot. Everything I found out still felt surreal. Even on the ride to school, I just kept replaying what Cross had told me over and over again, and each time it got worse.I had to wipe tears from my eyes a handful of times because the tears just refused to stop each time I thought about what Calista had gone through. The driver turned to look at me to make sure I was okay more than twice. He looked at me wi
Thalia “Is she moving into the pack tonight?” I asked. If she was then I wanted to go see her and hug her. “No, tomorrow, tonight, I sent someone from the pack to be with her.” “A guy?” I asked. I really didn’t trust a lot of guys. “Yes, but don’t worry, he isn’t going to hurt her. It’s Elena’s brother.” “The beta?” “No, Elena’s other brother.” Huh? Promise? I thought he wasn’t due back until next year, that’s what Elena told me after I asked her why he wasn’t living in the pack. “He is back?” “Yes, he is the reason I found out. He came to my office earlier today. He saw Calista leaving. He was the one that first told me.” He explained but I didn’t understand. “Wait, you found out after the meeting with the Dean of students ended?” “Yes, he saw her leaving my office and recognized her.” Wow. “So if he didn’t show up at your office, you won’t have known?” Cross nodded. I can’t believe while I was busy being jealous and acting like a bitch, having all
Thalia “What are you talking about, Cross?” I let out. The fact that he wasn’t even talking about what that pervert did. The council? What could they have done that would take Calista’s life without killing her? “Her whole family was captured and burnt alive. The only reason she survived was because she was in school and she bears a different name. She only found out after a month what happened to her family and she has been living with the guilt of being the only one to survive for over a year now.” I didn’t know how to process what he just told me. Where do I even start from? Her whole family? But why? “What do you mean? Why would they do that? Who burns people alive in this day and time?” I asked him, too shocked to process what he just told me. They burnt her family? No one even knew that she lost her whole family. “The council are the most fucked up people in existence. I only found out recently what happened. I didn’t know. I didn’t know they did that.” He looked
Thalia“You sound so sure,”I whispered and smiled.“Yes, I am sure. It might take a while to convince you since you don’t feel it the way we do but soon, we won’t need to convince you because you will know and you will feel it just as we do.”He explained. God, I hope that soon will come really quickly. I want to feel the intense feelings that they talk about. I mean, yes, I already feel so much for them.“Thank you for not getting mad at my outburst,”He leaned forward and kissed my lips. He ruffled my hair playfully before sitting back in his seat. I felt really good about his response and how he was treating me, even after how I acted.“Baby, there was no outburst. Also, Calista has a lot more things to worry about. I don’t think she has time to be involved with a man right now.”He said and started the car. My nosy ass wanted to hear the whole tea. I used to think that she was really good at what she did. I mean with the way she carries herself. I don’t know a lot about her grade
Thalia “I am so sorry, Em. You should have told me.” I wasn’t mad at her. How could I be? She literally had to move because of me. I wasn’t mad that she didn’t tell me. “Actually, I moved when we were on our trip. My older siblings and their spouses came to town and did all the job.” She explained. “I am sorry,” I apologized again. “No, don’t say sorry. Also, there’s a room for you just in case we have to study together or meet at my apartment.” How could I ever pay her back for her kindness and thoughtfulness? I might not get to live with her again but I felt glad that she thought of me even while loving even though my parents were the reason she had to move. “I have been there before and it’s spacious!” Elena let out from the front. “Girl, you were there only yesterday for half an hour.” Emily said and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and it was enough time to see how spacious the place is.” “Just drive!” Emily scolded Elena and turned to me. “Don’t be sorry,
Thalia “Emily!” I yelled out. She shrugged her shoulders and handed me my phone. I stared at the text that she sent for a few seconds wishing I could take it back. It sounded stupid, childish, and insecure to me. There were so many flaws in the short text messages that made me want to hide away. “The deed is already done.” Emily said as if that was supposed to make me feel less ashamed. “You shouldn’t have sent it.” I let out. “If you didn’t want to send it then you shouldn’t have typed it out. He will read and respond, okay? Just let it go now.” Elena said. She finally looked ahead and started the car. “Also, we are going for our little date! You are not backing out just so you can go hide away in your room and make shit up in your head! That’s unhealthy.” Elena let out. I didn’t argue. Now that I have spoken to them, I didn’t want to be alone. I still wish Elena hadn’t sent the message but I didn’t want to think too much about it and how Cross will respond to w
Thalia “Lia! That’s not how it works! Do you really think they will meet with other women? You think so little of them and it’s not fair. I have known those men all my life, they are fucking loyal!” Elena let out. I understood her anger. Those were her alphas. “Guys, I am sorry, okay! I can’t control how I feel. I know I should trust them with my whole heart and not let little things sway me but this is all new to me! All these feelings. The relationship, the mating thing. It’s all new to me and I don’t know how to navigate anything!” I blinked and tried to stop my calf from crying. This wasn’t the time to cry. Their gaze softened. Emily got out of the car, pulled the back door open, and got in with me. She reached for me and I let her hug me. I couldn’t hold the tears anymore and I felt stupid. I felt stupid because what were the tears for? It’s not like I caught any of them cheating. It’s not like they gave me any reason to think that they will one day move on from me. I