Chapter 16

Anila POV

The amount of gasps around the table was alarming.

“What?” Penny gasped.

“Are you serious?” Both Sadie and Sally gasped.

“No way!” Sage gasped.

“Holy shit,” Becca gasped and then she burst out laughing. “And here we are, feeding you awful information about him.”

Penny’s face was beat red when she turned to me.

“Oh, my gosh. I’m so sorry, Anila. You must think awful of us. Speaking about your mate like that,” she said, shaking her head, her blonde, red, and feathered curls bouncing around her features. “I’m sure he’s so much different with you because you are his mate.”

“That explained why he looked so happy,” Sage said, nodding in agreement to Penny.

“You don’t need to apologize,” I said, placing my hand on Penny’s arm to calm her. “I’m glad you told me this information. I only just met him, and I wasn’t really sure what to think of it all. It’s… a lot,” I admitted.

“I can’t believe Zach would be so cruel as to fight Xaden for his mate,” Sally breathed, shaking her head with dismay written all over her face.

“I can,” Becca muttered. “Zach is a playboy. He can’t help but flirt and fight his brother for any woman. Dude is always surrounded by all the loving and adoring women he could want, and he still goes after Xaden’s women. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that he’d go after Xaden’s mate too.”

Becca’s description of Zach being a playboy left an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was hurt by those words, but I was hurt even more knowing they were most likely true. I would have tried to deny the fact that Zach was a flirt, but our moment in the elevator proved otherwise. Then, I saw him flirting with those girls once he left the elevator and I knew right then that he flirted with everyone.

“So, that explains why those two were fighting earlier. But what about Harley?” Sage asked. “It’s not like him to participate in a fight.”

“She’s right,” Sally chuckled. “Harley is so loyal and lovable. He’s not a fighter.”

“Don’t forget, ladies. Harley has a fighting side to him. He’s an Alpha bear shifter, after all,” Penny told them.

They all nodded in agreement before looking at me. I realized they all wanted an answer for why Harley was involved in that fight.

“I think he was just trying to protect Xaden,” I said, shrugging as I took another large bite of pizza.

“That makes sense,” Penny said, nodding. “Harley is very loyal to his friends and Xaden is his best friend.”

I was impressed with how much they knew about the three of them already and I felt a bit intimidated.

I wanted to know so much more about all three guys, but I knew I couldn’t without stepping on Xaden’s toes. It’s not like I could get close to Harley to learn anything about him. He won’t go anywhere near me because he’s Xaden’s best friend and he’s very loyal to his friends. I admired that about Harley and it got me wondering….

“What about Harley?” I found myself asking out loud, silencing their side banters. “So far, I learned that Xaden is a dick to everyone but me. Zach is a playboy and competes with Xaden for everything. Is there more to Harley besides his loyalty?”

“Harley is very serious when it comes to work and relationships. He’s only had a couple of relationships and they were long-term and serious. But nothing ever came from them. I think he’s always been waiting for his true mate,” Becca answered.

“I imagine Harley to be a hopeless romantic,” Sally purred.

“I bet he’s great in bed,” Sadie chuckled,

The twins both started chuckling at the thought and my stomach churned.

Sally began to say, “Someone that big, has to have a huge—”

“Okay, ladies, that’s enough,” Penny said between gasps of giggles. “I don’t think Anila wants to hear about your fantasies. She has a mate and shouldn’t be thinking about other men like that.”

“Sorry,” the twins laughed.

“We get carried away sometimes,” Sally chuckled.

I smiled, but I knew it wasn’t going to reach my eyes. I really didn’t like them talking about any of the men like this. There was this possessive tendency in my chest that wouldn’t go away and there was a part of me that felt all three of them were mine.

But I knew that wasn’t true. I didn’t own them just like they didn’t own me.

They could flirt and be with whoever they wanted; the only one I was dating and getting to know was Xaden.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t look at the others and maybe even fantasize about them a little. It’s not like Xaden and I were married. I was my own person.

This was the first time in my life that I had complete freedom, and I was going to soak it up.

“What about Damien?” Penny then asked. “How was it possible for you to be able to yield his wand without getting hurt?”

I stared down at my hands, also confused.

When I didn’t answer, Penny looked at Becca.

“Becca, you know Damien, don’t you? Has anything like that ever happened before?”

“Yeah, Damien and I grew up together,” Becca said. “But we were never close. The only person he’d ever been close with was Sarah, his childhood best friend and sweetheart. She touched his wand once and it looked like it electrocuted her. So, no. I have never seen anyone else yielding it until today.”

“I don’t really have answers,” I said, shrugging. “It was flying around us, and I just grabbed it.”

“That’s interesting,” Becca breathed. “And really cool.”

She looked at me suspiciously for a moment and I felt myself sinking into my chair, suddenly not very hungry as I stared down at my half-eaten food.

“What’s his story anyway?” I found myself asking, still not looking at them.

It was Becca who answered.

“Damien is like, the most talented wizard in this place. I’ve never seen him with anyone else other than Sarah. He’s always been good with magic growing up and he takes his studies very seriously. He’s also very conceited and he knows he’s the best, which makes him incredibly annoying.” Becca added that last part with an eye roll.

I nodded along with everything she said, but I felt very overwhelmed by all the information I was given. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful to these girls for being truthful and telling me the latest gossip and information, but my heart was tugging in different directions, and I wasn’t sure why or what was going on.

“Have all of you completed your first shifts yet?” I asked, changing the subject.

They all nodded, except for Becca who shook her head.

“Sally and I turned 19 a couple of months ago,” Sadie said, happily.

“I shifted for the first time last month,” Sage answered.

“And I shifted when I was 15,” Penny announced, making us all gasp. “I was an early bloomer and it’s not unusual for an owl to shift early.”

“I shift for the first time in a couple of months, but I’m prepared for it,” Becca said with a proud smile. “I’ve been preparing my entire life.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat; I wasn’t prepared at all. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified about what this first shift contained. I was excited to find out for sure what I was and to get my wolf. But I didn’t do well with pain and according to Xaden and Professor Howl, the first shift was going to be incredibly painful.

I shuddered at the thought.

But, despite only meeting him recently, I trusted him. I knew Xaden would get me through this. But that didn’t mean I was any less nervous.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” I said, grabbing my tray and standing to my feet. I needed some time to sit with all this information without wandering eyes.

These girls were amazing, but I needed to be by myself for a minute.

Penny gave me a gentle smile.

“We will be here when you get back,” she said sweetly.

“If you finish before I get back, you don’t need to wait,” I assured her. “I’ll just catch you ladies later.”

They all nodded and said goodbye as I walked over to the dirty dish station, and I placed my tray and utensils into the bin.

I then snaked around the tables, sneaking into the hall just before the main doors of the dining hall. I remembered seeing a bathroom sign around the front doors when we entered. The initial awe faded enough for me to feel a little more comfortable once I was in the hallway.

It seemed the hallway expanded down into a new section of the dining hall, and I realized that this entire building wasn’t just the lunchroom. There were other sections in this area.

There was a bathroom sign pointing down the hall, so I followed it.

As I walked down the hall, I saw a door with floor-to-ceiling windows beside it and I saw that there was workout equipment inside the room. A few were working out on treadmills and lifting weights.

As I went further down the hallway, there was another door with floor-to-ceiling windows beside it, and peering inside I saw a giant indoor swimming pool. Some were swimming laps; they looked to be part of a team with their matching swimming trunks and bathing suits.

There was another sign for the bathroom pointing around the corner, so I rounded the corner, but then I froze when the threads in my chest tightened, and the familiar senses of my mate whirled around me.

I knew it meant one of my fated mates was nearby; but which one, I wasn’t sure.

Then, I heard an unfamiliar sweet, and pleading female voice coming from around the corner.

“I didn’t cheat on you I sweat! You must believe me…I would never do that to you, Damien.”