NOVA 🌙
I growled muttering profanities to myself as I stomped back and forth across the space in the little zen garden behind the University that Jade dragged me too.
"I..." Jade murmured "I mean...that wasn't the worst I've seen her be to someone."
I paused, sending her a look "She gets worse?"
Jade nodded.
"One time, this girl I knew had to drop out of The Academy because Saoirse thought she was ogling Alpha Fenrir."
I gaped at her "She made someone drop out because she didn't like a girl looking at Phoenix?"
"And the worse part was that the girl wasn't even looking at him" Jade sighed "She just had a lazy eye."
I choked on a gasp "What the Hell?"
"Poor girl was bullied so bad that she became a Lone."
I stared at her in confusion "What's a Lone?"
She blinked at me "Sometimes, I forget how little you know for being an Heir."
"Tell me about it" I sighed "I feel like I'm always the last to know things."
"It'll get better the longer you're here" she said, her tone sympathetic "You have to remember that we were all raised around this lifestyle. It's a lot to condense nineteen years of learning into a few days of being here."
I sent her a smile "That's why you're quickly becoming one of my newest best friends."
"An honor I gladly accept" She smiled back at me "A Lone is a wolf who chooses a life outside of a Pack."
"Like a Rogue?"
Her lips quirked "How do you know about Rogues?"
"I read a lot of Supernatural Romances" I shrugged "Some of the authors liked to explain pack dynamics to their readers."
"Well then" she said "What do you know about Rogues?"
"Not a lot" I admitted "Only that they're usually the bad guys in stories."
"That's partially correct" Jade said "Rogues are the wolves who are thrown out of Packs after they commit unspeakable crimes. Wolves who were apart of packs usually suffer from withdrawals when suddenly cut off from their Pack and their Alphas. Rogues arise when the insanity takes over from being detached from their Packs for too long, causing them to lose all sense of rationality and moral righteousness. After a while, their humanity becomes non-existent as they're led by their predatory instincts, killing anything in sight without hesitation."
"Can they be cured?" I asked in curiosity.
She shook her head "The Penta's tried to figure out a way to tame them and reverse the psychosis but nothing they've ever tried has worked."
"So what happens to them?"
"They're usually put down."
"What?" I gasped "They're killed? And that's the only way?"
She nodded.
"And everyone's okay with that?"
"It may sound awful Nova but that's the way it is" she murmured "Because when it comes down to it, it's either us or them."
"You don't sound too sad about that." I observed.
Her lips pursed "Rogues are a touchy subject for me and my family."
I sent her a questioning look.
"My older sister was killed by a rogue when I was ten" she whispered "She was walking home after school, on our Pack's territory, when a Rogue Wolf stumbled out of the woods and into her path. She didn't even stand a chance. My parents couldn't have an open casket for people to share their respects because my sister was in pieces and unrecognizable."
A lone tear rolled down her face as she gazed at small patch of orchids growing right next to us.
I sucked in a sharp breath "I'm so sorry Jade."
"I'm not telling you this because I want your pity Nova" she murmured "I'm telling you this because rogues are more dangerous than any of those authors who wrote those books could even imagine. I don't want you to end up like my sister."
I sat down next to her, nudging her shoulder with mine "Thank you for sharing that with me Jade."
"What are new best friends for?" She nudged me "Plus, what kind of wolf would I be if I didn't warn the Lupine Heir of potential dangers from her own people?"
I was about to mutter a smart ass comment when suddenly, I felt this prickle of awareness in the base of my neck.
Jade opened her mouth to say something when I pressed a finger to my lips, shushing her.
Moving as silently as I could, I leaned over and grabbed a medium sized rock from beside the stone bench we were currently on.
Stronger than I knew I was capable of, I threw the rock as hard as I could at the tree twenty feet away from us.
A loud curse followed by rustles of leaves and a thump as a body hit the floor greeted my ears.
Jade jumped up in fright, clutching my arm "What the hell was that?!"
"I don't know" I growled "But I'm about to find out. Stay here."
"Are you out of your mind?" She hissed, yanking back on my arm "What if it's a rogue? Did you listen to nothing I just told you?"
I paused "Can the rogues break through the Academy's wards?"
She swallowed "I don't think so."
"Then chances are that this isn't a rogue we're dealing with" I said, unhooking her hand from mine and stomping over towards the figure that was still cursing and clutching his head.
"Who are you?" I demanded, toeing the dark hair guy's leg with the toe of my Docs "And why were you hiding in the tree, spying on us?"
"God damn" he rumbled "My brother told me you were feisty but he didn't tell me you had the arm of a professional quarterback."
"Who's your brother?"
He looked up at me then and I didn't even have to hear the next words that came out of his mouth to confirm whose brother sat before me.
The eyes gave him away...
The same unique amber shade that captivated me from the first moment we met.
"Which Lobo brother are you?" I barked down at him.
He gazed up at me in surprise "You know who I am?"
"I know you're Atlas' brother" I confirmed "But I don't know which one."
"How do you know I'm Atlas' brother" he questioned "We look nothing alike and for safety reasons, no one knows what we look like. Hell, no one even knows Atlas has more than two brothers...So the question is, how do you know who I am?"
"The eyes gave it away" I said "You have the same eyes as your brother, except now that I'm looking at them, yours are a little more golden than amber."
He stood then, dusting off the dirt from his jeans, and making me glare up at him.
He was tall, way taller then me, but not as tall as his brother.
The eyes were probably the only similarity the brothers shared because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to tell that the man in front of me was related to my surly roommate in any way.
Where Atlas was tall, dark, brooding, and covered in tattoos, his brother radiated an alluring and warm aura.
He was also tattooless and sporting dirty blonde hair that reached past his shoulders in a way that made him look more like a male model and less like a spy.
He was attractive to say the least, but not as attractive as his brother was.
"I'm Xólo" he sighed, holding out his hand to me "And my brother's going to kill me."
I raised a brow and shook his hand "You still haven't answered my question."
"What question?"
"Which brother are you?"
"The second youngest" he ran a hand through his hair "And the sexiest one out of the Lobo clan."
My lips quirked up fractionally.
"And why were you spying on us?"
His lips pursed.
"Xólo, why were you spying on us?" I asked again.
This time, he gave me a pained look.
"Xólo...why were you spying on us?"
"I...I..." Jade stuttered from behind me, making both of us look her way "I don't think he can tell you Nova."
"Why not?"
"Sometimes, Alphas can order their Pack members to follow their commands without complaint. When that happens, we're bound to follow their commands implicitly and cannot speak a word about it to anyone else."
"So he can't tell me because he was forced not too?"
She nodded.
I narrowed my eyes at Xólo, gripping him by the ear the same time I motioned for Jade to follow me.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" he whined as we made out way outside of the garden "Where are you taking me?"
I ignored his question, instead focusing my attention on Jade.
"Can you make it back to your dorm safely while I deal with this?"
She nodded, her gaze straying to Xólo momentarily before meeting my gaze again.
"Perfect" I said, dragging my little spy behind me and stomping back to my dorm "Let's go little Lobo."
When he realized where we were headed, he dug his feet into the dirt as hard as he could.
"You can't take me in there" he said, panicking "If they find out that my covers been blown, my ass is grass. They'll skin me alive and hang my fur over their fireplace."
"Calm down little Lobo" I reassured him "There will be no skinning of furs tonight. I'll make sure of it."
"You obviously don't what my brother or his friends are capable of" he exclaimed drolly "I've seen them skin someone for less."
I threw open the front door and called out to the three stooges, pushing Xólo onto the closest arm chair near me.
"Sit" I smirked down at him "Stay."
The look of outrage he gave sent me almost made the giggles I held back burst forth.
"What's with all this noise..." Phoenix trailed off when he saw a pouting Xólo sulking on our arm chair "Shit."
"Shit is right" I narrowed my eyes at Atlas as he slowly walked into the living room, his eyes focusing on his baby brother "Care explaining why I had a little stalker watching me from a tree?"
"How in the hell did she make you?" Atlas barked at his brother, ignoring my question "I helped train you myself."
"Apparently not good enough" Phoenix murmured which had Atlas shooting him a nasty glare.
"I don't know" Xólo grumbled "One second I was watching her like I normally do and the next, I was being pelted in the head with a rock the size of a small dog. It happened so fast that I didn't have a chance to hide."
Three sets of eyes shot over to me.
"How did you know he was there?" Kassian asked, curiosity lacing his tone "Xólo is not only the best Royal Guard we know, but he's considered the best assassin in all the Packs."
My eyes slid to the boy that couldn't be older than seventeen "He's an Assassin?"
"Hey!" Xólo said indignantly, sitting up straighter in the armchair "Age has nothing to do with my talent and skillsets! Just because I'm not a hundred plus year old doesn't mean I'm not great at what I do."
"I didn't say you sucked at your job" I narrowed my eyes at him "I just meant that you're really young considering your occupation."
He harrumphed and sat back into his chair, grumbling.
I locked eyes with Atlas "How many brothers do you have?"
His lips pursed as he gazed down at his brother.
I could tell they were having a silent conversation with each other by the small shakes of their heads and narrowing of eyes.
"Officially I have two brothers" he sighed after a moment "Unofficially, I have four brothers in total."
My eyes widened "Why are you hiding the other two?"
"I'm not hiding them" he said "I'm giving them the choice that I never had."
At my look of confusion, Xólo chimed in softly.
"He did it to protect us."
My eyes snapped to Atlas, urging him to elaborate further.
"I'm the first born" he started explaining "I never had the choice in the matter of whether I was to be apart of the public eye. The moment I was born was the moment that my life was no longer my own. I was created for the survival of the Pack, a title I revere greatly. However, with the privileges that this life has, it also has its misfortunes. Mainly, the fact that no matter how powerful you are, there will always be someone in the shadows waiting for the opportunity to eliminate you"
"My second brother was in the similar boat as me" he continued "Being the Spare, the back up, he needed to be in the public eye in case anything were to happen to me. My third brother's birth was leaked to the media on purpose by a bitter friend of my mothers that betrayed her. Because of that, I ensured that Luciana kept her pregnancies with my younger brothers a secret."
"Who's Luciana?" I questioned, finding it weird that he would call his mother by her first name.
"My mother" Xólo said softly "My youngest brother and I share the same mother."
I looked towards Atlas in surprise "You have different mothers?"
"She's my mother too" he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose "I had two mothers."
I was thoroughly confused at this point, something Phoenix pointed out in the next moment.
"Great, you've confused her you Jackass."
"I don't know how to explain this to her without freaking her the fuck out." Atlas muttered.
"I'll explain it to her." Xólo volunteered.
"No," All three Men exclaimed at once, making Xólo pout and cross his arms as he leaned back in his seat.
"Explain what to me?"
"In our community we're blessed with something called Mates" Phoenix explained, triggering something in my mind.
"I've heard that term" I murmured to myself, racking through my brain's memories "Where have I head that term before?"
"The Penta asked if my Parents were Mates" I snapped my fingers as the memory filtered into my mind "And one of my Professors briefly mentioned something about Mates in passing. What are Mates?"
"Mates are the one person in the world that is made specifically for you, the person or persons you're drawn to for an unknown and indecipherable reason. You share a love so strong and deep with them that you end up questioning if the love you've experienced prior to meeting them was ever truly love at all. Mates carry a piece of your soul and connect with you in a way where no one else will understand. They bring you peace, calmness, and happiness in a way no one else could. Mates accept you for who you truly are and are loyal to no end, loving you until they take their last dying breath."
By the time Phoenix finished explaining what Mates were, I was breathless.
That was...breathtakingly beautiful.
"You said person or persons" I noted "What does that mean?"
The boys looked at each other, having a silent conversation of their own.
It was interesting watching Kassian's face tighten in anger and Phoenix's continual head shakes.
"Mates are rare these days" Atlas said slowly "But when they do happen, you typically only get one in your life time."
"But there are even rarer occasions in which someone could have more than one Mate in their lifetime." Kassian chimed in.
"My Mother died in childbirth with my third brother when I was ten" Atlas explained "The jealous friend that told the world about her pregnancy was the primary nurse apart of her medical team. She purposefully let my mother die instead of intervening when she should have."
"My mother was his Mother's youngest sister" Xólo supplied "Apparently, the bond between our father and my mother snapped into place the moment she stepped foot inside the Cathedral for the funeral."
I winced at the statement, knowing it must have been hard for Atlas to watch his father move on from his mother so quickly after her death.
"Who was his Mate?"
"What?"
"You said you only get one Mate in your lifetime" I questioned "And if that's true, then who was your Father's true Mate?"
"Apparently, our father was one of the rare exceptions" Atlas said "Because both my mom and Luciana were his Mates...just at different times."
"You can't have multiple Mates at one time" Phoenix said "And if you are destined for more than one Mate, they can't exist at the same time."
"So that means..."
"You're only supposed to be blessed with one Mate in your lifetime" Phoenix surmised "No one is lucky enough to have more than one Mate at a time."