Chapter Sixteen: Anything & Everything
Wednesday
Emerald's POV:
I woke up to the blaring of my alarm going off on my phone, since when did I even set the alarm? I'm losing it, that's the only conclusion, I can't even remember stuff I did not even a few hours ago! Rubbing my aching eyes I sat up, last night's incident came rushing back to me, my confrontation with the quads, and then me walking out.
Ughh!
Maybe I shouldn't have done that, I don't want them to think I disrespected them. Alphas and their egos are freaking huge, and trying to poke it is a big no-no!
But I wasn't going to stand there and just listen to accusations that weren't even true. Plus, I think I did a good thing by telling them how I felt about our relationship. Despite them being my potential mates, no relationship can work out if there isn't enough trust in it.
Getting out of bed and hopping into the shower seemed like the most challenging thing to do this morning with my raging headache, probably from all the tears and drama. I honestly just wanted to curl back into bed and sleep, but I wasn't going to miss my classes. Potential Luna or not, I didn't want the quads paying for my tuition, I wanted to maintain my academic standing and stay on scholarship. Maybe the other students thought of us scholarship students as charity cases, but I prided myself to be smart enough to have one. I wasn't going to let anything come between that.
Finishing up my shower as quickly as possible, I threw on a pair of skinny black jeans and a lilac crop top, and blow-dried my hair. I wanted to put it up in a French braid, but I was sure the quads would flip out, saying that my neck is bare of their marks and yada yada, yaa. Plus, I didn't want to take any more chances to make them angry; they were still my future Alphas and mates, and disrespecting them wouldn't be good. So after applying some moisturizer, mascara, nude lip-gloss, and some perfume, I slid into my ankle heel boots, grabbing my bag. But before I could reach the door to leave, there was a knock on it.
Azrael's POV:
I was up at the crack of dawn. Seeing my pretty little Luna shaken up last night was gut-wrenching. Her tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes were all I could see the entire night, making it impossible to get any sleep. Even Lex kept nagging about going to my love's room and snuggling up against her to make her feel better. I knew we had f****d up bad, and would probably be paying the price for it today, but if all four of us had to grovel at her feet, we would do so.
Quickly showering and throwing on a pair of grey joggers and a black crew neck, I was out my door and headed towards Emerald's room.
As I got close to the room, which would hopefully be the room we all shared soon, I saw my brothers.
"What took you so long, Azrael?" asked Ezekiel.
"Sorry, bro, tough night. I just couldn't get rid of Emerald's distraught image out of my head!” I replied, while the images of last night popped up in my mind again, making Lex whimper.
"Same here, big bro,” sighed Zeke. I could tell he hadn't had much sleep with the dark bags he was sporting under his eyes.
I felt terrible; being older than Sam and Zeke always made me more sensitive towards their feelings. I always wanted to spare them unnecessary tension if I could.
"How do we make this right?" asked Sam, looking as miserable as the rest of us.
I honestly did not know. We all looked toward Ezekiel, he was usually the one that came up with great ideas. Hopefully, he wouldn't disappoint now.
Running his hand in his hair, he sighed and said,
"All we can do is apologize and ask her to trust us, and over time she'll see she has nothing to worry about. After returning from the academy, I also want to take her shopping, we were supposed to, so maybe a day out will help ease the lingering tension."
Ezekiel was right. Only time could show my love how much she meant to us, and if that meant I had to slave away in a mall, then so be it.
Oh, how things change! All my exes tried taking me out shopping with them and failed, and now my hardly five-foot-two mate has me all giddy going to the mall.
"Okay, let's go get her; I want my baby to eat something before heading to the academy,” said Sam.
We knocked on her door; we knew she was awake from the shuffling sounds coming from inside.
Zeke's POV:
I wanted to see my angel right or wrong. Rowco had been howling all night in my head to go comfort our mate, and I wanted to do nothing but that, but I knew she needed her space. I loved her already, we all did, and I was ready to do anything to take away the insecurities that she had regarding us.
Blowing up regarding that pup, Ellie, or whatever his name was, was definitely uncalled for, but we couldn't control ourselves. Wolves are protective regarding their mates, and us being Alphas just multiplies that by ten. I hope my angel won't hold a grudge against us because of last night. Hopefully, the shopping trip might loosen her up a bit.
Azrael had already knocked on my angel's door, she was awake, so what was taking her so long to open it?
Was she still so upset that she didn't even want to see us?
I really hoped not!
I was ready to barge in, but my angel opened the door before I could even formulate a plan.
In tight black skinny jeans and a crop-top, with ankle-heeled boots, and her long silvery hair flowing down her back, she looked like a damn sex goddess. I could feel my p***s twitching. From the shuffling my bros were doing from the corner of my eye, they had the same dilemma as me.
Though angel looked gorgeous, I wasn't so sure if we should let her go to the academy like this. I honestly didn't want to deal with horny wolves.
Especially during teenage years, male wolves tend to be more hormonal and stalk she-wolves who they can't have. It's just the animal drive in us to catch bigger and better prey.
"Good morning. I was just about to come to the dining room,” said my angel.
"Good morning, little Luna. We wanted to be sure you were awake so you had something to eat before dropping you off at the academy,” said Ezekiel.
My angel gave us a small smile and nodded her head.
But she wasn't meeting our eyes, was she still upset?
Emerald's POV:
Opening the door, I saw the quads all showered and dressed, probably to take me to the academy. I greeted them and walked down the hallway heading toward the dining room. I could tell they were tense and probably mind-linking with one another as they stole glances at me.
As much as I'm glad that I stood up for myself and Hannah, I had this nagging feeling in my heart. I didn't want them to be upset with me. They hadn't tried to touch or hug me, which they always tried doing every chance they got.
I had already planned to apologize to them, not for voicing my feelings, but for offending them with my tone if I did so last night. They were still my to-be mates, and as much as my heart held doubts, I had to give them a chance. I had to give us a chance. Hopefully, it wouldn't blow up in my face.
When we reached the dining room, Sam pulled out a chair for me between him and Azrael. Hannah and Luca weren't there yet, so it was probably the best time to apologize. As much as I loved Hannah, I didn't want to showcase more of my emotions in front of her mate anymore nor her. I didn't want her to fight with her brothers regarding me.
I cleared my throat, and that caught the quads’ attention. Thinking I got something caught in my throat, Ezekiel handed me a glass of orange juice.
"You okay, baby?" asked Sam.
"Um, actually, I wanted to apologize...,” before I could say anything, Azrael put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.
"My love, there's nothing you need to apologize for. You did nothing wrong,” he spoke.
“Yes, little Luna, Azrael is right. We shouldn't have accused you of something that you never did. There's nothing wrong that you and that pup were close….,” I could see it took everything for Ezekiel to talk about Eli without exploding; his palms were literally pale white from the clenching "…but you need to know that you are our mate and the thought of anyone other than us touching you isn't easy for us to digest,” he finished.
"Baby, we know you never did anything. Us acting like that was hypocritical. We know what the reputation regarding our personal lives is around the pack, and we know that maybe our words for you might not suffice right now, but you have to trust us that we would never regret having you as our Luna and mate,” said Sam.
"We know we f****d up yesterday, angel, but please don't shut yourself off from us. All we're asking for is a chance; let our actions show you how much you mean to us,” said Zeke, holding my hand.
I hadn't even realized that the quads had turned my chair around, and all of them were gathered around me. Zeke holding my right hand, while Azrael held my left, and Sam and Ezekiel holding each of my shoulders.
Everywhere they touched, I could feel the light sparks tingling and warmth over my body, making me slightly shiver.
For some odd reason, I felt that whatever they said was straight from their hearts, the look in their identical eyes showed nothing but love and honesty. Being an Alpha and admitting that you were wrong was a big deal. For the entire pack, what they said was law, no questions asked. But here, the infamous quadruplet Alphas were begging me, basically a nobody, for a chance, and admitting their mistake. That only made my heart slightly open to them. I had already planned on giving them a chance, and even though they told me I didn't need to apologize, I still wanted to.
Smiling at them, I said,
"I would still like to apologize. I'm not apologizing for voicing my feelings, but how I delivered them. It was uncalled for and disrespectful; you are all still my Alphas, mates or not, and I have the utmost respect for you. We have a potential mate-bond that will be established soon, so I would also like to get to know you all. But I ask for you to trust me. I'm not going to lie, I have a few guy friends, but that's all they are. They would never do anything to offend you guys. Regarding Eli…,” the quads’ eyes lit up when I told them about me giving us a chance but as soon as I said Eli's name, I could feel them tense up and scowl "… he's one of my closet friends, and has been there for me, and I would really appreciate it if I could still be friends with him and the rest,” I said, looking up to the quads trying to judge their feelings.
Their eyes were a bit hazy, probably mind-linking one another.
Ezekiel sighed and ran his hand through his hair and spoke,
"As much as we don't want you around any male wolves, little Luna, we will allow it. You can still be friends with that pup and the other male wolves in your close group, but other than that, it's a big no."
"It's give and take, baby. We let you be friends with the male wolves already in your group, but no other. It's only fair. Don’t think for even a second it's that we don't trust you, it's them we don't trust," said Sam, giving me a peck on my forehead that cracked the faintest of smiles from me.
I couldn't help but feel warm at the amount of trust in Sam's words.
"Okay," I said, smiling.
As if on cue, Hannah and Luca came in. Hannah came up to me and hugged me, asking if I was okay, to which I smiled and nodded.
We all ate breakfast while Hannah and I talked about her congratulatory dinner on Friday, and how she wanted us to go to the club and get drunk afterward if everyone was up for it. To which Luca and the quads gave her the stink eye.
"You guys aren't going without Luca and us,” said Ezekiel with a tone of finality.
Well, I was already expecting that, whereas Hannah seemed angry. I wasn't planning on getting drunk anyway, the last time I did, I ended up with four potential mates. With how the quads were acting around me, I doubt they would let me scurry off in a bit of dress to dance and drink anyway.
"Love, we'll be going to the mall after your classes are done, so don't take long coming out to the parking lot,” said Azrael.
"Wait, hold up and rewind! Azrael. did you say mall, like you and the rest?" Hannah exclaimed, pretty much flabbergasted.
What the heck was that about?
Azrael just nodded.
"Goddess Em! You’ve already got them hooked. Big brother Azrael is going to the mall, I don't even remember the last time he went,” said Hannah smirking.
Wait, what!
I looked up at him, and he just shrugged.
"You don't need to go if you don't want to," I told him. I didn't want him to do anything out of his comfort zone.
"For you, my love, I'll do anything and everything,” said Azrael, as he nuzzled my cheek and gave it a peck. I literally burned up like a tomato, to which all the quads chuckled.
"Oh, and I'm coming too. You can't take my best friend and not me,” said Hannah.
Luca and the quads all groaned while Hannah and I just smiled at one another.
Maybe giving the quads a chance won't be so bad.