How do I know that though? How can I feel so certain about that when I don’t even know them?
“Hey, Penelope,” Aiden calls out.
Aiden has a kind smile. I think that’s what I like the most about him. Even though he was saying crazy things the night we met, I still wanted to sit there and talk with him. I didn’t have the strength to walk away, even if I wanted to.
“Hey, Aiden,” I say, then nod at Liam. “Liam.”
“These are our friends.” Aiden nods toward one of the guys. “Cole.” Aiden then motions to the other boy. “And Parker.”
Cole is the second tallest of the guys. Liam is taller than him by maybe an inch. Cole also has a face that screams “don’t mess with me.” Even though he’s smiling at me, I can see something in his eyes. Something I can’t explain. Part of me wants to reach out and touch him—to know instantly what his story is. I want to know who hurt him.
Cole has dark brown eyes. They’re so dark that they’re almost black. Whenever the moon hits them just right, they glow slightly. I’m beginning to think that either I’m crazy too, or that wolf shifters really do exist.
His dark brown hair is longer than the rest of the guys’, but it still only goes slightly over his ears. I’m thinking, like Aiden, he just hasn’t had time to cut it, or maybe he can’t be bothered.
Cole holds out his hand to shake mine and I quickly back away from him, not wanting to accidentally touch him. I almost regret it when I see the hurt expression on his face, but he doesn’t understand what will happen if we touch.
Aiden speaks up. “She doesn’t like to be touched.”
He remembered.
I stand up now and look at the other boy.
Parker has a gleam in his green eyes and a smirk on his face.
Wait… are his eyes green?
It’s then that I notice that one of Parker’s eyes is green and the other is blue. I find it fascinating as I look back and forth between the two.
“Cool eyes,” he says, with an upward head nod.
He thinks I have cool eyes?
“Yours are two different colors,” I point out. “That’s awesome.”
Parker blinks as he looks at me. “Did her eyes just… change colors?”
“They do that.” Liam straightens up and smiles big, like he’s proud he knows something that the other boys don’t.
“I think they’re blue when she’s happy,” Aiden pipes in.
“They’re black when she’s angry,” Liam adds. “I can’t figure out what pink means yet… but sometimes they change to pink.”
“And you still don’t know what she is?” Cole’s jaw is clenched, and I wonder if he’s still angry that I wouldn’t shake his hand. My heart aches at the thought that I hurt this fragile boy.
“Her eyes are gray now,” Parker says.
“Gray is… sad.” Aiden cants his head to the side and studies me. “Are you sad?”
“What? No.”
“They’re purple again,” Liam observes.
“Oh, my gosh, can you guys stop staring at my eyes. It’s creeping me out,” I huff.
I resist the urge to lower my eyes so they can’t see them. I refuse to hide from them.
“Sorry,” the four of them say in unison, looking away from my eyes.
“Who are the humans you stay with?” Cole asks.
“The… humans?” I shake my head and sigh. They’re seriously keeping up with the whole wolf shifters story? “I am human. And they are my family.”
“Your adopted family?”
His comment hits me hard because it’s something I’ve been wondering my whole life—if my parents have lied to me about being their kid. Even kids at school or random people will ask if I’m adopted.
“No, they’re my birth family.” I cross my arms and tilt my head up, holding their gazes.
The four boys share a look between each other that I can’t quite read. Someday I’ll be able to read their looks.
Wait.
Did I seriously just think that?
These boys are crazy. I’m not going to know them in the future.
Mine, the voice inside insists again.
As if two boys weren’t enough, now my inner voice wants four? I can’t even manage to get one boyfriend. How the heck am I supposed to get four?
“Penelope, I don’t know how to tell you this,” Aiden says, his voice soft.
“You’re not human,” Cole adds.
All the guys jerk their heads toward Cole, narrowing their eyes.
“I’m not a wolf.” I jut my chin out and cross my arms over my chest.
“We know,” Liam agrees.
“How do you know?”
“You don’t smell like a wolf,” Parker answers. “You smell…”
“Like sunshine,” Aiden suggests. “Like a field of flowers.”
Huh.
I suppose that isn’t so bad.
At least I don’t smell like garbage or something equally horrible.
“Okay. Well, that doesn’t mean I’m not human,” I point out.
“Can you do things that normal people can’t?” Cole takes a step closer to me. He doesn’t touch me, but he gets uncomfortably close. “Maybe you’ve questioned whether it’s real, and you’re too scared to tell anybody about it.”
I swallow hard, but I don’t answer him.
He’s right.
The whole touching people and knowing their every thought isn’t normal. Not at all. I’ve always known this, but who would I tell? Who would believe me? It’s a big burden to carry alone, but I have no choice.
“I don’t believe in supernaturals,” I say.
Cole smirks and takes a step back. He pulls his shirt off and starts to undo his pants.
“What are you doing?” I yell.
“I’m going to shift so I can prove what we are.” He moves his hand to his boxers.
“Don’t take them off!”
He shrugs. “Your choice.”
I stand there, watching him. I don’t believe that he’s going to turn into a wolf, but I’m curious to see what he’s going to do. I watch as his body starts to morph. Within seconds, Cole is gone and in his place is a wolf.
My heart pounds fast and I turn, prepared to run, but the wolf just sits down on the sand.
“He won’t hurt you.” Aiden attempts to reassure me, his voice softer than normal.
I think he’s scared I’m going to run.
“Your eyes are black when you’re scared too. Interesting,” Liam says.
I lean forward to touch the wolf… Cole? At the last second, I pull my hand back. I can’t touch him. Not without his permission. I refuse to do that to any of them until they have a chance to know the truth about me.
Will I tell them?
I want to. They’ve told me the truth.
“You can touch him.” Parker nods his head toward the wolf. “He won’t bite.”
“I don’t like touching people.” I wrap my arms around myself and take a calming breath.
The guys all share another look, and I’m so curious as to what it means. They’re not easy to read.
While I’m watching the three of them, Cole shifts back into a human and…
He’s naked.
Completely naked.
I cover my eyes with my hands.
“A little warning would be nice,” I mumble, my face growing warm.
The boys all snicker.
“We don’t really care a lot about modesty,” Liam says. “Being a shifter, you kind of have to get used to it.”
“I’m not a shifter, am I?” I ask, still keeping my eyes covered.
Do I really believe this now? I mean, a boy just changed into a wolf right in front of me. I don’t think I have a choice.
“We don’t think so,” Liam answers.
Why am I even asking?
I’m a human.
“You can look now,” Cole calls out.
I uncover my eyes, but I don’t look at him. I’m
sure my face is bright red.
“You have to come with us.” Liam takes a step forward, his voice urgent.
“Come with you where?”
“To our school,” he answers. “Shifter Academy.”
“But I’m not a shifter.”
“No, but you are a supernatural. Until we figure out what you are and make sure you aren’t going to expose us all to the humans, we have to keep an eye on you,” Liam says. “At school, we can figure out your lineage and what you are.”
“No.” I straighten to my full height and give him a pointed look.
“Excuse me?” He returns my intense gaze, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No, I am not coming with you. Are you psycho?” I take a step forward to show him that I’m not scared—even if he is a foot and a half taller than me. I refuse to be intimidated by him.
“I am your alpha,” he grits out between clenched teeth. “You don’t have a choice.”
“Yes, I do.” I raise my chin and glare at him.
I turn around quickly. My hair slaps him on the chest, which is very satisfying, and I storm off in the direction of my house.
Nobody tells me what to do.
I hear footsteps behind me, but I don’t give them the satisfaction of looking back.
LIAM.
Maybe sedating the girl wasn’t the best decision ever, but what else was I supposed to do? Let my mate leave? Let her go back to her human world and go to school without her? Even if I wanted that, which I don’t, I can’t do that. We can’t just leave a supernatural out there without proper training. The last thing we need is to be exposed to the humans.
We didn’t have a choice.
Aiden is glaring at me from the backseat. He has made it very clear that he disapproves of this plan, but he has yet to offer up another solution.
This is what we have to do.
I put my eyes forward, watching the road.
Penelope is going to be pissed when she wakes up, but I can’t bring myself to regret what I’ve done. I just did what had to be done.
“She’s got a lot of spirit,” Cole murmurs.
I nod.
She certainly does.
Nobody stands up to an alpha unless they have a death wish. She didn’t back down either. She stood her ground when she told me no. I was impressed but also scared. What if she does the same thing to another alpha?
I grip the steering wheel tighter.
“We have to protect her,” I say. “She’s so…” I took in the rear-view mirror at her sleeping form.
“Tiny,” Cole finishes. “She really is.”
“It’s our job to protect her.”
“We will.”
“I don’t know why she has four mates. It’s unheard of.” I’m worried about what it means. “I have a feeling it’s because she is going to need the protection.”
“This won’t be easy.” Cole sighs.
“Nothing worthwhile ever is.”
Penelope is worth it.
She is everything.
AIDEN.
I’m so mad at my alpha for kidnapping Penelope.
It feels… wrong.
I know that we didn’t have another choice, but we could’ve at least waited. Maybe we could’ve called Liam’s dad and explained the situation.
I think about Alpha Mutatio finding out about Penelope. He would’ve made a big deal out of it. His only son, the only heir to his throne, found his mate. Half the shifter community would have come, and it would’ve been chaos.
As angry as I am, Liam was right to do it. That is why he is alpha. He makes the hard decisions that the rest of us can’t.
I look over at Penelope. She’s asleep against the seat. She looks so… peaceful.
Beautiful.
I’ve never met a girl as beautiful as Penelope. She absolutely takes my breath away. I would feel this way even if she weren’t my mate. There’s something about her light skin and dark hair. There’s something about her eyes and the way they change colors—exactly like a mood ring. And there is something about how short she is. Short, yet so fierce. She stood up to Liam when she didn’t like what he said. She’s done what the rest of us would be way too scared to do.
And she is mine.
I am hers.
My mate.
So perfect.
Chapter Seven
What did you mean by soulmate?
PENELOPE.
I hear the ocean in my dream. There are soft waves crashing and…
A rocking motion?
Why am I rocking?
And why do I feel like I got the best sleep of my life?
I stretch my arms and legs out.
I can literally smell the salt water in the air, like I’m sleeping on the beach or something.
Wait a minute.
My eyes open abruptly, and I find myself in an unfamiliar room. The rocking sensation wasn’t just in my dreams. Something is rocking gently.
I am in a small bed in the corner of a room. I sit up and look around, seeing nothing familiar. There is a small window with a curtain covering it, so I get up and walk over to look outside. When I look out, I see nothing but water.
Oh, my gosh.
I’ve been kidnapped.
My heart is racing, and my entire body feels heavy.
Think, Penelope.
What’s the last think you remember?
Liam. Cole. Aiden. Parker.
I hate how just thinking their names makes my heart race for an entirely different reason than fear.
Why are they the last thing I remember though?
Liam said something about a school.
Shifter Academy?
I told him no. Then I turned to go home and that’s the last thing I can remember.
Did they kidnap me?
No. They wouldn’t do that. I trust them.
Should I, though? I barely know them. And they could very well be my kidnappers.
Oh, God. I was kidnapped.
My heart is beating so fast and I am on the edge of having a panic attack. A real panic attack. This time, it’s not because of somebody else’s emotions. It’s because of mine.
I see myself in a mirror closely.
My eyes are black. So black. Which causes me to panic even more.
Why are my eyes black? They’re not even dark brown. They’re just straight up black—just utter darkness.
My hand trembles as I bring it up to my face, touching under my eyes, as if I can change the color somehow.
No. They’re still black.
A door I hadn’t even noticed bursts open and I watch Aiden, Cole, Parker, and Liam all come running in.
“Are you okay?” Aiden asks.
“My eyes.” I widen them for emphasis.
I was kidnapped and I’m seriously the most worried about my eyes?
It is a relief to see the four of them. I hate myself for being relieved at seeing them. I should be scared. They kidnapped me.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Liam’s brows furrow, and he stares at me with confusion written on his face. “They look fine to me.”
When I look back in the mirror, they’re purple.
“I am going crazy,” I mutter. “They were black.”
“They turn black when you’re mad or scared.” Aiden studies me. “Were you afraid?”
“Why would I be afraid? I only woke up on a boat.” My voice is still shaky from my panic attack. “Where the heck am I?”
Cole, Parker and Aiden all remain silent and look at Liam, so I look at him too.
Liam stares at me with a stoic expression, before he finally speaks up. “We’re on our way to Shifter Academy.”
“I thought I told you no,” I say, then gasp. “My family! I can’t just leave them! They’re going to think I was kidnapped.”
“Relax.” He holds his arms out in a “calm down” motion, before letting them fall back to his sides. “They think you’ve been selected to go to a special boarding school
for the year.”
“My parents would never let me go to boarding school,” I protest. “And they definitely wouldn’t believe it if strangers told them I’d be going. They’d drive me. The whole family. We’re very close.”
“Don’t worry. We had somebody compel them,” Parker says.
“Compel?” I ask. “Like a Jedi?”
The four of them laugh.
“Not a Jedi.” Cole’s lips twitch as he jumps in to explain. “We’re not sure exactly who compelled them. Shifter Academy sent somebody—maybe a witch or a vampire or another shifter? We can all compel humans. It’s not hard. We would’ve done it ourselves, but we wanted to get you on the boat in case you woke up.”
“A vampire?” My voice comes out in a whisper.
“Don’t worry. They wouldn’t eat your family,” Aiden says. “They only eat from the willing, typically.”
“Typically?”
“If they’re really hungry, they’ll compel somebody so they can eat.”
My mouth falls open.
“Truly, don’t worry. They wouldn’t have been hungry if they compelled your family,” he adds.
My heart is beating super fast again.
My family.
“Will I ever see them again?” My voice cracks as I voice my fear.
“Of course you will.” Liam’s voice softens. “We have Thanksgiving and Christmas break, just like any other school.”
Thanksgiving?
I can’t see them until Thanksgiving?
Tears begin to fill my eyes.
I’ve never gone without seeing my family more than a day. I can’t survive being away from them for months.
“Her eyes are gray. I don’t like it when they’re gray,” Parker whispers. “Oh, God. There are tears. Somebody, make them stop.”
Aiden steps forward. Before I can tell him not to touch me, he puts his arms around me. When he grazes my skin with his, I expect there to be a rush of memories and emotions, but there’s not. It’s just… thoughts. Current thoughts.
Mine.
It’s what he’s thinking.
Different (Shifter Academy Book 1) Page 4
