Blood Of The Marked

“What the hell has even led you to this conclusion?” I questioned.It all sounded completely batshit to me. The fact that I could have been one of the Ancients… Well, it barely even made sense.

“You may have heard that no one from our pack has ever been romantically involved with anyone,” Theo began. “Have you ever heard the reason why?”

I shook my head. “No.”

But now that they mentioned it, I was dying to know why.

“Full-blooded Ancients are only attracted to other Ancients,” he explained. “It’s a curse that prevents us from being drawn to anyone else.” Theo’s light blue eyes met mine. “We all feel drawn to you, Raven. It’s something that none of us have felt in hundreds of years. It’s this… this undeniable physical, mental, and emotional attraction that none of us seem to have any control over. And we know you feel it, too.”

I swallowed hard. How could I deny that what he was saying was true when it was true? I was oddly drawn to all of them… especially Theo and Aiden, the ones who had the most Ancient blood.

“I’ve heard your thoughts, Raven. I’ve heard enough to know what you think of all of us.”

I grabbed the necklace that I still wore around my neck, the necklace that kept him out of my mind and thoughts.

“I heard your thoughts from the day we met you until you put that on. I know that the attraction you feel for us is inhuman,”

Theo said softly. “If I had to guess, I would say that you probably never felt this attracted to any guy you ever went to high school with back in the human world.”

Well, he was telling the truth. I had been in love once before with this guy named Chris, but I hadn’t really been that attracted to him. It had been closer to that of a friendship. It had been the total opposite of what I felt for all of the Darken. For them, I felt… everything.

“There’s something else, too,” Theo continued. “Another reason we are certain you’re an Ancient, too.”

“What is it?” I asked, staring back at him.

“Well, you should know that you’re mated to two of us,” Theo said. “What?” How was it possible that two of them were my mates, and I

hadn’t even known it until this very moment.

“Do you remember the night we first met?

We kissed and then you fainted. Well, that was our souls binding together that caused that,” Theo explained. “Then tonight, you fainted again after you kissed Aiden.”

I allowed this to sink in. “I didn’t even know you could have two mates.”

“We didn’t, either,” Aiden replied. “But apparently you can.” I frowned. “How does any of this prove that I’m an Ancient?”

“This doesn’t typically happen when two wolves become mated, but it does happen when two Ancients become mated,” Theo explained. “Your fainting was the main giveaway that you’re an Ancient, in fact.”

“There’s no way I could possibly be one of the Ancients like you,” I finally said after a long moment. “I wasn’t born hundreds of years ago. I was born eighteen years ago, to the day.”

“Or were you?” Aiden asked.

“You knew my parents,” I pointed out. “You know that there was no

way.”

“We believe that your parents were lying to us and to you, Raven,”

Theo informed me.

“What do you mean?”

“We think they took you in and pretended you were their child, even though you were actually an Ancient,” he explained.

“How is that even possible?” I asked.

“If what you’re saying could be true, wouldn’t I… remember it? I’m pretty sure I would know if I was hundreds of years old, but I don’t.”

“Raven, how much of your childhood do you really remember?” Theo asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“When is your first memory?” he pressed.

“Maybe when I was thirteen. Fourteen.” I shrugged. It had always been a running joke between me and my parents that I didn’t remember our first vacation to the beach when I was five years old. There were pictures of me riding the Ferris wheel, building sandcastles, and jumping in the waves, but I had never remembered any of it.

To say that my memory was pretty shitty would have been an understatement.Sometimes, I had wondered if I’d blocked out some of my childhood memories for a reason, but that didn’t make any sense. My parents had only ever been kind and loving. It wasn’t like anything traumatic had ever happened—not to my knowledge, anyway.

“So, on average, most humans’ earliest memories begin around three and a half years old. Werewolf memories tend to begin even before then,” Theo said. “So, what I’m saying is that while having no memories before the age of thirteen or fourteen isn’t typical for human or wolf, it would make a lot of sense with our theory.”

“What theory?” I asked.

“We believe you were given a memory serum to make you forget your past life,” he explained. “Then your parents raised you as their own, without ever telling you the truth.”

“I don’t understand. Why would they have done that to me?” I asked, shaking my head.

I didn’t want to believe it could be true. I didn’t want to believe that

any of it could be true.Why would my parents have faked being my parents for my entire life—or for the past eighteen years (or however long)? What would the point in all of this have been? Were they bad wolves?

“We haven’t quite figured that part out yet,” Theo replied with a sigh. “All we do know is that they must have done it in order to protect you.We’re just not sure from what—or, more likely, from who.” “I see.” I swallowed hard.

“There’s something else we wanted to talk to you about.” Theo’s eyes landed on mine. “We want you to be with us.”

“Um, what?” I glanced around the room at the four of them, completely confused by his words. I knew I’d heard him correctly, but I didn’t understand what he’d actually meant.

“It might sound strange to you, and the truth is that it’s even stranger for us,” he explained. “But we all feel so drawn to you, Raven. It’s the first time any of us have been attracted to someone in so long. We just keep thinking that this is fate, that there’s a reason for this happening. Even though each of us wants you to himself, we feel that it would be wrong to not share you. Assuming that’s what you want, of course.”

I swallowed hard, glancing around at each of them as they all stared back at me, waiting to see what my answer was going to be.I thought about it for a moment. Having an open relationship with the four of them sounded… well, complicated as fuck. I would basically be putting my heart in the middle of a ping pong machine.

But at the same time, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Because the truth was that I really did want them all. “Okay,” I said finally.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to do this,” Colton said quietly. “I’m sure. Truthfully, I want you all. It’s been so hard to choose just one of you.”Even if most of my thoughts had been centered on Theo, there was obviously a reason I had kissed Aiden, too. I wanted him, the same way I wanted Rhys and Colton. I had felt guilty about feeling that way before, but knowing that they were all okay with this made me feel so much better about wanting it.

This situation was going to be weird as fuck for all of us, but at least they were okay with that.

“As a part of this arrangement, it means we all get to date you,” Theo went on. “And as the Alpha of our pack and your first mate, tonight is my night.”

“You’re saying you want to take me on a date?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

He nodded. “Yup. Are you ready?”

I motioned to my body. I was still wearing the black bikini. “Does this look date night appropriate to you?”

“I don’t mind,” Theo replied with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Just let me go change.”

As I headed for the changing room, I felt sort of… well, giddy. I couldn’t wait to see where he was taking me.