Chapter Seventeen: Anything & Everything (Part Two)
Wednesday
Emerald's POV:
After breakfast, the quads and Luca dropped us off at the academy. With the quads glaring at all the guys that looked my way, while making sure they knew I was mated to them, by constantly touching or nuzzling me, and the pet names that they basically yelled my way when leaving. I wasn't going to lie, it warmed my heart to see the quads giving me so much of their attention, but I was still scared.
I could feel the tiny sparks whenever our bare skin touched, and this strange feeling of being complete when they were around, pointing to the fact that I was probably their mate and Luna. But no matter how much my heart and body told me to embrace it, my brain kept telling me not to, and the sad part was that my brain always won. I know I was a little extra emotional at this point, but can anyone blame me? I don't want to feel abandoned again. First, my biological parents left me, then my so-called mate/best friend. Despite agreeing to still be the same as we used to be, I get uncomfortable, and I'm sure Eli does too.
Even today, when we were all in the cafeteria, we would tense up and change the topic whenever anything regarding my and Eli's past came up. Eventually, everybody caught on and steered clear of any issues. Even Axel, Jeremiah and Ian kept their distance from me today, probably because my so-called mates almost choked them to death with glares that went their way, when they came and hugged me in the lot in the morning. I didn't want them to be afraid of being with me. These people were the reason I was able to survive here when everybody else thought I was invisible. My friends saw me.
After noticing the changes around me all day; the increased attention from teachers, sneers from she-wolves, and some hungry lust-filled gazes from the guys, I decided to skip the last twenty minutes of class, claiming I had a headache to have some time for myself. So now, I was sitting at the edge of the forest, lost in my thoughts about what would happen on my eighteenth birthday and what had happened today between my friends and I. I was so focused that I didn't even hear someone come behind me and touch my shoulder.
"Penny for your thoughts?” asked Eli.
I looked behind and saw him settling down beside me, with a gap that wasn't there before when we sat together. Things have definitely changed.
I sighed!
That kind of hurt, not as much as I thought. It did, nonetheless.
"Is it worth it?" I asked, Eli seemed confused and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Is what worth it, Em?” he asked.
"The mate-bond." I could see that he finally understood, and a slight smile crept up his face, probably thinking about him and Leah. It did hurt a little, but strangely not like I expected it to. There was a minor twitch, and it was gone in less than a second.
"How can anyone be sure that their mate won't hurt them or leave them? How can the quads claim they would do anything and everything for me when they don't even know me?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the forest ahead of me.
"That's how the mate-bond works, Em. You may not see it now because you don't feel it as strong as the Alphas. Heck, they probably feel it way more than any of us do. Probably even more than Beta Luca and Hannah because of their rank. But trust me, Em, finding your mate is the best feeling in the world, and I know it's awkward for us to have this conversation, but I just wanted you to know that I am still here for you, no matter what. I know things have been a little weird between us, and the fact that you were claimed by the Alphas doesn't help, but don't ever think that any of us don't want to be around you anymore,” Eli replied.
"Wait, how'd you know that I thought you guys seemed distant?" I asked.
Eli just chuckled, squeezed my hand, and scooted closer to me.
"Because, Em, maybe anyone else might not see it, but I know you well enough to know when you're cooking up a concoction in that little head," he replied, as he flicked my forehead with his thumb and index finger.
Huh! Rude much!
However, I couldn't stop the small smile that graced my face. He was right, though I'm not going to admit it to him. At least I got a reason to smile today after the day I was having.
"No one is avoiding you, the guys and I are keeping our distance because wolves are territorial about their mates, and with you being mated to not one but four Alpha males means quadruple the trouble. We don't want them to feel insecure or threatened by something they have nothing to worry about, because that would make them super possessive and probably lock you down till they mark you,” Eli explained while chuckling at the end.
That made sense, the quads were already bonkers with all their rules and possessiveness. On the other hand, maybe I was just overthinking everything. Perhaps I should try talking to them later.
"Thank you, Eli!" I said while he held out his hand to get up, which I took.
"You don't need to thank me, Em, just promise me that you'll keep an open mind when the time comes and not let past experiences ruin something that will be the most amazing journey of your life," Eli replied while giving me a hug.
Everyone keeps on telling me to keep an open mind. Was it that I was the problem here and not the quads?
Despite the ragging thoughts in my head, I smiled and nodded in his chest, silently promising him that I would listen to him.
'Em, where are you? My brothers are here, and they are about to blow a fuse because they can't find you, and Mr. Donaldson told them that you left early because of a headache,’ came Hannah's mind-link.
"Yikes, fudge!” I quickly let go of Eli and gave him a reassuring smile to thank him, I basically darted off then.
"I'll catch you later. My hot-headed mates are looking for me,” I all but shouted to Eli, to which I just received a fading chuckle in response.
Oh, holy hell!
They'll probably be pissed because they told me last time to always have someone around me when I go to the forest.
Goddess, please, don't let them go crazy Alpha on me. I'm just starting to open up to them!
Ezekiel POV:
"Let's go, we're going to be late. We have to take Luna to the mall and get back and go over the new pack laws that were passed,” I yelled to my brothers, basically soaking in our Luna's scent on her bed.
The mall?
Seriously, I never thought I'd be in a hurry to go to that overcrowded building dome.
Ah! The things that need to be done for love are truly exceptional.
"Bro, this is hard. We have to convince her to share a bed with us! I can hardly get any rest, and the fact that she goes to school and is away for like half the day makes it harder. Plus, Scar can't shut up!" Sam whined.
I knew what he meant. But, hell! Ace couldn't shut up either about how he wanted to be snuggled into our Luna's arms all day long. But asking her to share a bed right now would probably have her running for the hills.
Her birthday couldn't come fast enough!
"Chill, man! It's just a few more days, once she turns eighteen and feels the bond, she won't be able to resist. Forcing her right now will just push her away more,” said Azrael, placating our baby bro. To which he earned a grunt in response.
We all ended up taking our Escalade since Luca and Hannah would be joining us. As much as I love Hannah, I wanted to have some alone time with my Luna, to help thaw the ice between us.
"Luca, you’ve got to keep Hannah busy. We need some time with our Luna, and seeing how possessive Hannah is of her, she won't leave her alone,” I told him.
"I'll try my best, Alpha, but you know your sister. If she's stuck on something, no one can make her budge,” he snickered. To which we all chuckled back.
It was true, our devil of a baby sister was havoc created by the Goddess, but we loved her nonetheless.
After twenty minutes of planning how to get some alone time with our Luna at the mall, we finally reached the academy, quickly parked in the reserved Alpha spot and left. Unfortunately, we were five minutes early, so I couldn't see my beautiful Luna yet.
"Let's go wait for her outside her class, Hannah and she have Advanced Lycan History last period, we’ll grab both of them from there,” said Zeke. We all nodded and started going towards the historic building.
The academy had changed so much since my brothers and I were here. The constant attention of she-wolves and ass-kissing of teachers was something I personally did not miss. I couldn't say the same about my brothers though. Every three to four weeks, they would always have a new she-wolf on their arm. I wonder if our Luna noticed us when we were seniors here, she would’ve been a freshman.
She probably did!
That's probably why she thinks we were entitled playboy assholes. I hope she stays faithful to her word, looks beyond our past grievances, and gives us a fair chance.
Before we could even reach her classroom, we saw Hannah sprinting toward Luca, jumping into his arms, and start eating each other's faces.
To which we all just groaned. We will probably never get over seeing our baby sister getting her face eaten out.
"Alright, break it up, Luca, before I kick your ass in front of all the kids,” said Azrael.
"Oh guys, Em's not in there! She left like twenty minutes ago,” said Hannah.
We all whipped our heads toward her so fast and scowled, which caused Hannah to literally jump out of Luca's arms in fear and hide behind him.
"What do you mean? Where is our Luna, Hannah?" I asked, trying my best to keep Ace in check so he wouldn't lose it and shift.
"I..ah.. not sure, she left a little while ago. I tried to go after her, but Mr. Donaldson didn't let me,” she replied.
We quickly rushed into the classroom and saw Mr. Donaldson was still packing up. He's been teaching lycan history for as long as I can remember.
"Oh, Alphas….,” but before he could say anything else, I had him by the throat in the air and glaring daggers at him.
"Where is our Luna? Why hasn't she returned?” I asked menacingly.
"Ezekiel let him down so he can talk,” I could feel Azrael come behind me, while trying to yank my hand away from Donaldson's neck.
I let him go and stepped back, letting Azrael deal with it. I didn't want to hurt him, and with Ace going crazy right now, it was best I kept my distance.
"I apologize, Alphas, for any inconvenience. The future Luna said she had a headache and requested to leave early. So, I did as she asked,” said Donaldson.
Damn it! Where was she? I hope she’s okay!
"I apologize, Donaldson. We have just recently found our Luna, and she isn't of age yet, so our wolves tend to get the best of us,” I said to him.
I didn't want my pack members to think I was a hot head and fear me, I wanted to be approachable. However, the thought of our Luna being sick or not in reach just made all sense fly away.
"No need to apologize Alpha Ezekiel, I understand," Donaldson replied with a small smile. I just nodded and left with my brothers in tow to look for our Luna.
"Hannah, can you see if you can reach Emerald and ask her where she is while we check the nurse's office? asked Sam over his shoulder, as we sprinted towards it.
"I hope my baby is okay. Why didn't she tell Hannah or us?" said Sam.
I had thought the same thing. Was she sick, or did she run away? No, no! She can't, I won't let her!
Before we could reach the nurse’s office, Zeke stopped us.
"Han got hold of angel, she's on her way to the parking lot now," said Zeke.
Oh, Goddess! My Luna is probably going to give me heartache very soon!
"Is she okay?" we all asked in tow together.
"Hannah didn't say," replied Zeke.
We quickly made a beeline towards the parking lot, where Luca and Hannah were already waiting. After a few minutes, I smelt her delicious scent before I spotted her. She was running towards us.
"Slow down, my love, you could fall and hurt yourself,” said Azrael, as soon as she reached us, panting.
"Oh, Goddess. I am so sorry. I was in the forest and lost track of time….,”
but before she could finish, we all let out a menacing growl when we heard the forest. She went there again without any protection despite us telling her not to. We'll probably have to teach our beautiful little Luna a lesson in discipline after our trip to the mall.