by Jayme Morse
“Raven, are you okay?” Aiden asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay, but Milos actually just spoke to me.”
“He did?” Aiden’s dark eyebrows shot up. “And it hurt?”
“My head hurt once he disappeared. It was strange.” I swallowed hard, a little weirded out by the fact that Milos apparently listened in on my thoughts this much. “He said he wasn’t the one who tipped off the Winston Coven. He also said he will have them all killed if they do anything to hurt me.”
“That’s a little ironic, isn’t it?” Aiden said, and I knew exactly what he was talking about.
“That my biggest enemy—the one who I fear the most—is actually trying to protect me?” I asked. “Completely ironic.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The next few weeks went by so fast. I was always so buried in schoolwork that I felt like I didn’t even have a second to breathe. I barely spent any time with my mates, let alone my friends.
Maddie and Vince were both spending the majority of their time with their mates, anyway.
I wasn’t sure what was going on with Iris. She claimed that she was busy with her schoolwork, too, but it had gotten to the point where she barely spent any time with us. She was sometimes taking her meals to her room or outside to study, instead of eating with the rest of us in the Dining Hall.
It was obvious that she was going through stuff. Ever since Maddie and Vince had found their mates, Iris had taken a big step back from our friend group. I was pretty sure it was because she felt like the odd ball out. It sucked for me because I felt like a fifth wheel without her there. I may have had four mates, but it wasn’t like any of them could join us in the Dining Hall, considering they were our professors.
Even though Iris was acting strange, she kept assuring me that it was nothing personal. I wanted to believe her, and I hoped that she would come around in her own time. I knew that pushing her would only make matters worse.
***
One morning in early May, there was a knock at my bedroom door. I groaned, glancing at the clock on my nightstand. It was seven in the freaking morning.
Before I even had the chance to answer, the door was being flung open.
“I found it,” Aiden said, sitting down on my bed. “I was going through some of my old books in our library, and I found it.”
“Found what?” I asked, sitting up with in bed with a yawn. “Whatever it is better be good for you to wake me up at this hour.”
“Read for yourself,” Aiden said, handing a book to me.
I glanced down at it and began to read:
The prophet predicted that the Triangle would be one of the most powerful magical alliances formed in the paranormal world.
We had learned about magical alliances last year in the History of Werewolves class. It was when a group of werewolves—or other paranormal beings—formed an alliance with one another, but magic helped seal a connection between them that transcended beyond friendship.
The scary part was that when someone was part of a magical alliance, they were incredibly strong and powerful. They were capable of all sorts of magic. It was one of the only ways a werewolf could ever come to control the elements.
The Triangle would be formed when three Alpha wolves, all born of three of the most powerful ancient werewolf packs or their first-generation descendants, kissed the first biologically born werewolf in the world.
I swallowed hard. The first biologically born werewolf in the world. That would be me. I continued to read.
The three of these werewolves will become the three most powerful Alphas in the world.
However, there was a second prophecy, one that would make the Triangle more dangerous than even they believed.
The Triangle’s powers would be so strong that it would tip the balance of good and evil. The world as we know it would be forever changed. Fires would begin to erupt everywhere, wars would break out between all of the paranormal races, and, over time, the portal into the human world would go extinct.
The only way to undo the Triangle’s devastation on the world would be to end this alliance through death.
The only one who could kill the alliance, however, is the first biologically born werewolf.
I swallowed hard, glancing up at Aiden. “That’s all pretty freaking terrifying.”
The idea that the portal into the human world could end forever made me feel sick to my stomach. While I would have been okay with staying in the paranormal world, the idea made my heart break for my friends, who all called the human world home. The possibility of not seeing Maddie, Vince or Iris again was really upsetting.
“It is terrifying,” Aiden agreed with a nod. “The only thing I can’t seem to figure out is who the werewolves are.”
“Milos Santorini,” I said immediately. “Maybe he has always known about this, and it’s the entire reason he’s wants me so bad.”
“Well, I think we can count him as one of the three, for sure,” Aiden replied. “The Tigre pack was, by far, one of the most powerful ancient packs. They’re still one of the most powerful packs today, and many regard Milos as the most powerful werewolf in history.”
“But who are the other werewolves?” I questioned.
“I haven’t figured that part out yet,” Aiden replied, shaking his head. “Considering there aren’t any ancients still alive besides us.”
“Well, technically, it wouldn’t need to be an ancient. It says ‘born of three of the most ancient werewolf packs or their first-generation descendants’,” I pointed out. “So, it’s either an ancient or their first-generation offspring.” I paused for a moment. “You told me Javier’s mother was from one of the most powerful werewolf packs on the island. The Rose pack?”
“Yeah, that makes sense, actually. Javier is an Alpha of the pack he belongs to.” Aiden agreed.
“So, we’ve figured out who two of the Triangle are, but who’s the third?” I questioned.
“I don’t know,” Aiden replied. “I can’t think of any other ancients or their first-generation offspring.” He paused. “Unless it’s one of us.”
“Well, that doesn’t really make sense. I’m the Alpha, and I can’t exactly kiss myself,” I pointed out.
“Unless it’s referring to Theo. He was Alpha before you were,” Aiden reminded me.
“I don’t think it’s about Theo,” I replied, shaking my head. “If he was the third Alpha who would form the Triangle, then this prophecy would have already taken effect. I already kissed all of them. I’m not sure, but I also got the feeling that my parents knew who the Triangle were. I don’t think they would have asked the Darken to protect me if they thought it could have been one of you. I’m pretty sure this is about someone else.”
I didn’t know who the third member of the Triangle was, but I knew we needed to be on the lookout for them.
I had already kissed Javier and Milos. Whoever this third Alpha was, I needed to keep his mouth far away from mine.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Finals week should have been stressful, but it wasn’t this year. I studied hard, even though I only felt like I was absorbing half of the information—if that.
Mostly, I just kept thinking about the Triangle. If what Aiden and I had read was right, if that whole prophecy about it was true… Well, we were in way over our heads.
The one thing that I had learned in my classes about prophecies was that they almost always came to fruition in the paranormal world. That meant that I could hide from Milos and the third Alpha wolf who would be a part of the Triangle all I wanted, but it didn’t matter. There was still a really good chance that the Triangle was going to end up forming.
If that alone wasn’t scary enough, what was worse was that it was all going to be on me to save the world. I was the only one who could kill Milos, Javier, and the third Alpha in order to save us all. To save the paranormal world and the human world.
No freaking pressure.
It almost made finals week see
m entirely insignificant. Passing Lunar Magic 201 and Werewolf Herbs and Potions no longer seemed like they should have been a priority in my life. I needed to figure out how to conquer the Triangle, instead.
But I took my exams, trying to get the best grades possible. I honestly wasn’t sure if I would become the class valedictorian this year, but honestly?
I didn’t even care. I had more important things to do. You know, like save the world.
***
Me and my friends had gone to the bar to celebrate that classes were over. Vince had brought Julie, and Maddie had brought Branden. Iris and I were both, obviously, flying solo.
“I’m so excited for the festival tomorrow,” Vince commented, draping his arm around Julie’s shoulders. “You’re going to love it, babe. It’s so much fun. Probably my favorite part about Werewolf Academy.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” Julie glanced over at him. “I have to leave first thing tomorrow morning to help my mom with something.”
“Oh, boo.” Vince sighed. “You guys are going to stick around for the festival, right?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I replied. “The Darken and I aren’t going to leave for about another week.”
“Branden and I are going to stay until tomorrow night,” Maddie added.
“How about you?” Vince asked, glancing over at Iris.
“I actually need to leave as soon as we get back to our dorms,” she replied quietly.
“Why so early? Going to the festival together is, like, our thing,” Vince insisted.
“My aunt died,” she replied with a shrug, darting her eyes to the floor.
I couldn’t help but think that, for someone whose aunt had just died, she seemed really… chill. Really cool and collected. Not that I knew the deal with her aunt or anything.
“I need another drink. Are you coming with?” Maddie asked Branden.
“Yeah. Want anything, Raven?” Branden asked me.
“Uh, sure,” I replied, glancing at my nearly empty glass. “I’ll have another strawberry margarita.”
“One strawberry margarita coming right up.”
As Branden and Maddie headed off to the bar, Julie rose to her feet. “I need to go call my mom. Just to let her know what time I’ll be leaving tomorrow.” She kissed Vince on his cheek and then slid out of her seat.
That left me, Iris, and Vince.
“You guys, I really need to talk to you,” Iris said then. “Now that we’re… alone.”
“What is it?” I asked, leaning forward in my seat.
“Yeah, is everything okay, honey?” Vince asked, shooting a concerned look in her direction.
“Everything’s fine, but I just wanted to apologize to you guys. I know I’ve been really weird and… off… this year,” she explained. “I’ve just had a lot going on. There are a lot of things that I need to fix in the human world, but I plan to do that this summer. Once we come back next year, everything will be different. I’ll be a much better friend to both of you. I swear.”
I glanced over at her. “What about Maddie?”
“What about Maddie?” Iris asked, glancing over at me with wide eyes.
“I just get this feeling that you don’t like her.”
“Maddie’s cool,” Iris assured me. “Everything going on has to do with me. I’m sorry I let it get in the way of our friendship at all this year.”
“It’s okay.” I smiled. The truth was that I was actually relieved that Iris was apologizing. It had really felt like I’d lost my best friend this year. It was good to know that she was still in there.
“You guys, you know what this calls for?” Vince asked.
“What?” I asked.
“A group selfie.” He moved to stand in between Iris and I and snapped a photo of the three of us. “We’re officially juniors now!”
I allowed that to sink in. I had survived freshman and sophomore year, but just barely.
I was nervous, to say the least, to see what my junior year at Werewolf Academy would have in store for me.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“You guys, I’m so sad that the school year is over,” Maddie commented as we slid into the Tilt-a-Whirl seat.
We were at the end of the school year festival that Werewolf Academy held every year.
It felt like everything had come full circle. We were on the same ride we had been on last year. The only difference was that Maddie was here, and Iris had already left to go back to Savannah for the summer.
“Are you going to actually come visit me in Chicago this year, Raven?” Vince asked.
“Actually, I am.” I smiled. “Colton and I were figuring out our schedule for the summer the other night. We want to come to see you sometime in July.” I glanced over at Maddie. “We’re going to visit you in August.”
“Why are you going to visit Vince first?” She sounded offended.
“Because we’re going to be going to Colorado at the end of May,” I explained.
“Oh. Well, then. I guess that makes sense.” Maddie shrugged.
“Are you excited to travel the world with your mates?” Vince asked.
“I am excited to get away from here,” I admitted. “This year has been so stressful.”
“Yeah, I mean, it makes sense with Milos Santorini after you.”
“Yeah.” And that wasn’t even the half of it. There was also Professor Rodriguez and the Winston Coven that I needed to worry about. Not that I could tell Vince or Maddie about any of that. Keeping secrets from my friends was, in itself, incredibly stressful, too.
Mostly, I was just ready to go on a vacation. I was ready to pretend, even for a second, that I was a normal teenager and not a werewolf. I wanted to forget, for just a second, that I still needed to avenge my parents’ murders. In fact, that was my main goal for summer.
I was going to ship my blood to Javier so that both of us could stay alive.
I was going to do everything I could to fly under the Winston Coven’s radar.
But most of all, my plan for summer was to try to forget, temporarily, that Milos Santorini even existed.
***
“I can’t even believe we made it this far,” I commented as I popped some purple cotton candy into my mouth at the end of the school year festival at Werewolf Academy.
“It was a really rough year,” Rhys agreed with a nod. “Tonight marks our anniversary, you know.”
“Our anniversary?” My eyes widened.
“Yeah, you know. The night we became mates,” Rhys replied with a smile.
Oh, he was right. It was our anniversary. The end of the school year festival was where we had kissed for the first time.
“So much has changed since that night,” I murmured.
Rhys’s kiss with me had sparked so many changes within the pack. It was the night my becoming mated to each of the Darken was complete, the night I became Alpha. It was the night I went down in history as the first girl Alpha of an otherwise-male pack.
“And you still haven’t made your mind up yet, have you?” Rhys asked, his blue eyes piercing through mine.
I reached for the engagement ring I wore, that I had barely taken off since Christmas Eve.
“With everything else going on, I haven’t really had much time to make a decision,” I admitted.
“Oh, come on, Raven. We all know you’re going to end up choosing Theo in the end,” Rhys said quietly.
“What makes you say that?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“It’s pretty obvious. Your feelings for him just seem stronger. The two of you seem to have this connection that you don’t really have with the rest of us,” he explained. “I sometimes wonder if it’s because he was your first mate. Maybe that means he’s your true mate—the one you’re most destined to be with.”
“I’ve actually thought of that before,” I admitted. The truth was that I sort of felt relieved that someone else had actually considered this besides me.
Maybe that meant it was true.
/>
“What is it that’s holding you back, Raven?” Rhys asked quietly.
“Fear,” I admitted quietly. “If I choose one of you, that means losing the rest of you. And I don’t want to lose any of you.”
“But that’s where you’re wrong. You’ll never lose us, Raven.” Rhys pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me. “It will be different. You won’t have us in the same way you do right now. But we’ll always be here for you. We’re your pack. Your family.”
“I know,” I whispered. “But that doesn’t make this any easier. It doesn’t mean I want to choose.”
Rhys’s dark blue eyes locked on mine. “You should just choose him already, Raven. We’ll all forgive you.”
“I know,” I replied quietly, burying my head in his chest.
I knew I needed to choose. I really did.
But the thing was, I had to be really confident in my decision first, and I hadn’t been one hundred percent certain.
Even though I usually felt like I gravitated the most to Theo, there were times when I doubted the decision completely.
There were times when I thought Aiden was the one who I most wanted to be with. He could make me laugh, and he was just as interested in history as I was. We had ended up having some of the longest, funniest conversations because of that interest.
And then there was Colton. He always made me feel safe, which meant I wanted him around more often than not, considering I felt like I was anything but safe, most of the time.
And Rhys. Well, Rhys was just the sweetest. He was hopelessly romantic, the most understanding of the four. The one that I could spill my heart out to, even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
But even though I loved things about Aiden, Colton, and Rhys, a part of me just continued to feel pulled to Theo. I didn’t even know why half the time, but I felt drawn to him.
Was it because Theo really was, as Rhys had called it, my “true” mate?
