Chapter 7: _ Our Mate?

"Don’t laugh," Morgan says first, fiddling with the collar of his black academy shirt like it’s choking him. "But I think... I think she might be my mate." Grayson, who was seated beside him, slouches deeper into the armchair, throwing his booted feet onto the coffee table. "Same here. I thought I was imagining it at first, maybe the booze. You know when your heat gets delayed and you start hallucinating random Omeg..." What? Darien’s ears perk up. It can’t be. Grayson and Morgan are feeling... no, no. "Morgan, Grayson," Darien growls, pinching the bridge of his nose while his heartbeat trips. "What the hell are you two talking about?" The twins exchange a glance. The kind that makes Darien’s spine go stiff because it usually precedes some absolute, world-ending idiocy. "We’re talking about the new girl. The Omega we played with earlier. What’s her name?" Darien’s soul nearly launches through the roof. "Heidi." They all stop short and take a bewildered, simultaneous glance at him. "How on earth do you know her name?!" Uh-uh. How could he be so stupid as to blurt her name like that? Darien rubs his forehead sheepishly. "Urm... I mean, I heard someone mention her name earlier." From the depths of his mind, he hopes his brothers remain oblivious to her scent and heartbeat. As it seems, they haven’t detected a thing yet. "Whatever, Darien. But Grayson and I...we mean it. She might be our mate." That’s not possible. She is HIS mate, Darien roars in his head. "No," he says flatly. "You’re wrong. You can’t be." Morgan raises a hand. "We didn’t say it lightly. We ran a few checks. The tingling when she was near, the scent disruption, the momentary hallucina—" "That’s just your conscience rebelling after years of abusing women," Amias cuts in dryly from where he’s sprawled on the couch like an exhausted god. "You finally met one who didn’t look at you like your hormones are misfiring." That’s it. He might not plan on being mated to an Omega, but he wouldn’t let his brothers prank his bond. Darien rounds on them all, slamming his fists on the desk. "She can’t be your mate. Because she’s mine!" "WHAT?!" Grayson and Morgan chorus. Then Amias groans, dragging a pillow over his face. "Shit. We’re all fucked." The pillow muffles him, but it’s not enough to block his words. Grayson stiffened, his eyes bulging. "Wait. You too?" Amias tosses the pillow aside. "You think I’d say we’re all fucked if I just meant you three? I’m selfish, not blind." Morgan’s jaw drops. "That makes four of us. Is this some kind of glitch? A mistake from the Moon Goddess? How can one girl be mated to four brothers?!" "This is a divine prank," Grayson mutters. "The Moon Goddess is drunk." "Or evil. Tomateg all four of us to one single girl? One Omega girl? She must hate us." Amias scoffs, raising his glass. "She’s not just an Omega. She must be... different." To their surprise, Morgan suddenly defends. "Oh, please," Amias snaps. "You were the one laughing about her two hours ago when she tripped." "I didn’t laugh. I reveled in it." "What’s the difference?" "Whatever!" Morgan snaps. "It doesn’t matter. The point is, how is this even possible? You can’t have four mates. It’s unheard of. It’s biologically impossible." Grayson scratches his head. "Unless we’re not reeling the bond. Maybe it’s a... sympathetic resonance?" Darien scoffs. "What? Like her pheromones are out here syncing with four different genetic codes at once?" Grayson shrugs. "Maybe she’s not just an Omega. Maybe she’s a hybrid." "Maybe she’s cursed," Amias mutters. "Or planted by our enemies... could be the vampires. The end-of-the-year competition, maybe they are targeting us. You know they always like to cheat." They all know vampires have nothing to do with mates; the Moon Goddess does. However, their brains are having a hard time adjusting to the situation and will make up any excuses. The room tilts as their thoughts spiral. Darien, standing by the bookshelf, can feel his shirt sticking to the back of his neck. He’s sweating from the fact that he has the literal Omega girl hiding in the closet behind the bookshelves, no doubt pressing her ear to the wood and hearing every damn word. Morgan paces now, agitated. "What do we even do? If this gets out, the NAY boys are going to crucify us. They are our fucking rivals on this campus. They’ll call us Omega-slaves!" "Crucify us? As if they’ve got the balls. They can only gossip," Grayson shrugs. "Same thing!" "Shut up," Darien growls. "No one is to say a word about this outside this room. Am I clear?" A heavy silence settles over the room as each brother weighs their options. Morgan stops pacing to gesture wildly at Darien as though he’d just figured something out. "Wait, wait, wait. We’re not just glossing over the fact that you, Darien, the most emotionally unavailable of us all, have somehow figured out Heidi’s name and claim she’s your mate like it’s normal Tuesday news!" Darien growls, nostrils flaring. "Do I look like I’m enjoying this? I didn’t choose this..." "Oh shut up," Amias groans, tipping his head back. "None of us chose this. That’s the whole point of the damn bond. It just... happens. Like herpes." Morgan squawks, "Excuse you?! The Moon Goddess doesn’t hand out mates like herpes, Amias!" "She might as well!" Amias shouts back, then shoves himself off the couch. "You’ve seen the way people treat Omegas here. The way WE treat Omegas. The second this gets out, we’ll be the Academy’s punchline. They’ll call us ’The Omega Alphas’ or something worse." Darien clenches his fists at his sides. His heartbeat pounds, way too loud in his ears. The stupid closet behind him feels like a fucking time bomb. If Heidi does as much as breathe a little heavier than she already does, there’s no hiding this secret. How on earth does he explain this to his brothers? That he was just kissing her and about to pull up her plaid skirt right before they walked in? Heidi. Heidi is hearing all of this. Her scent is already curling around the bookshelf. Oh, it’s warm, sweet, slightly spicy, and utterly maddening. Grayson finally breaks the thick silence. "Okay, hypothetically speaking... what if she is all our mate?" Morgan snorts. "What are we now? A boy band? Sharing one mic?" The bond shouldn’t work like this. Shouldn’t split like this, Darien thinks. His mate should ONLY belong to him. He hates to share. Hold on a sec... What the hell is he thinking? Why on earth would he want to consider an Omega a mate?! But when his fingers trace his lips, he could still feel hers on it. The softness, plumpness, and oh... the ecstasy it set to his insides... Amias glares at all of them. "Can we focus? This is serious!" "No shit, Sherlock," Morgan retorts. "We’re about to be the first known case of quadruple-mating in Duskwind history. That’s not ’serious.’ That’s illegal." Darien can’t help it anymore. His voice drops into a low, warning snarl. "She’s listening." All three brothers go stock-still. "What?" Morgan whispers. Darien tips his chin toward the bookshelf, where Heidi is curled up like a terrified squirrel in a dark hole. "She’s been hiding there since before this whole conversation started."