Chapter 6

Viola's POV

I fell asleep quickly at Derek’s, it surprised me how comfortable I was here. I woke up much earlier than him, I made my way to his kitchen and started some coffee as I waited around. Noticing it was only 4 am I opted to have coffee and read the book Cade had given me. Might as well find something else out about myself.

I didn’t often do research, I never actually had the patience for it. Endless reading trying to learn something. The book was thorough, though it didn’t seem to say how or why mating to more than one person was a thing. That was until I reached the end. Bloodlines it read.

According to the text, mixed alpha’s were the only ones who could have more than one mate. Reaching up to four of them! Typically the gene passes down through one bloodline, but when that is a hybrid, there was a high chance of being mated to no less than two others. One of which is also always some type of mixed breed. I flipped through the pages some more not finding anything else that explained anything.

I needed to talk to my dad, I needed to find out what I was clearly. Mixed breed? ‘Vex, any suggestions here?’

‘No. I don’t remember her either.’ 

I slammed the book shut much harder than I had meant to.

“Whoa, what did that book ever do to you Viola?” Derek was in the kitchen heading to the coffee in nothing more than his boxers. My face heated and I looked down at the table only to remember what I had been reading. My cheeks flamed even more. I probably looked like a damn tomato. 

“Uh, I just, there’s just so much.” I stammered. “Look I, there is something I should tell you.” I folded my hands together in my lap and looked at him standing in front of me. His abs were in touching distance and those sweet smells felt like they were completely taking over my brain.

Slowly his hand had reached under my face and he took his fingertips to tilt my face up to him. He was much closer than before. “You can tell me anything Viola.” He was squatting in front of me his face inches from mine. His eyes begged me to let him in.

“I have more than one mate.” I whispered. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Derek. He had always been a constant in my life, and I didn’t want that to change either. Many emotions seemed to play across his features but he didn’t let go of me.

“That’s why you wanted to speak to Cade after I told you. Why you sounded so perplexed when I was at the infirmary with you.” I nodded. He sighed and ran his thumb over my jaw sending sparks through me.

He moved to his knees and kissed me so abruptly that it took me a second to respond. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me up turning so that he was on the chair with me in his lap. I pushed against him as his hands trailed around my waist and cupped my butt pushing me closer to him. 

When he broke the kiss his hands moved to cup my face. “I don’t completely understand this multiple mates thing Viola, but I won’t reject you for this, I’ll fight for you.” He kissed me more intensely then, like it was our last day on Earth. 

Kissing him felt right, but somehow it was also not right. The man in the forest was sent to deal with Vex yet somehow I was still drawn to him differently then I was drawn to Derek. And I wasn’t sure how that would work out, but being with Derek felt safe.

It was only when he cupped my breast under my shirt that little warning bells started going off in my head. I froze and he felt the change immediately and stopped.

“Sorry, I was getting a little carried away.” He smiled sheepishly. 

“It’s fine I just…I’ve never…and I’m not ready.” I quickly got off of him and went to the bathroom splashing water on myself. Ok Derek was hot, but I definitely did not seem to respond to him the way I did with the guy in the woods because I hadn’t even second-guessed possibly losing my virginity against a tree in the woods.

‘Maybe the Night Goddess has a preference for your mate even if there are more than one.’ Vex mused. I growled.

‘We need to figure out why Dalia tried to keep you away from me.’

A snort. ‘We turned too early, she doesn’t want us as alpha, she despises us, take your pick Viola.’

I left the bathroom to find Derek still at the table looking through the book I had left there. 

 He furrowed his brows. “I think there’s something else going on here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know yet, but something isn’t adding up. For instance what would be the purpose of keeping you alive without a wolf?” He scratched his chin. “Maybe she couldn’t kill you.” He mused and furrowed his brows.

“What would stop someone from being able to kill me? I’m like everyone else.”

He shook his head, “You aren’t though. Your wolf was supposed to have been bound for a lifetime Viola, yet here she is after nineteen years. There’s clearly a strength within you that’s more than just alpha bloodlines. I mean it’s why you are able to have more than one mate, you’re a hybrid Viola. That spell should have worked if you were just an alpha. So maybe there is something that isn’t killable that way.”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Everything happening all at once was making me feel like I was being suffocated. I wanted to run, fast and hard. I felt the itching in my limbs at the thought of turning. 

“Let’s go.” Derek grabbed my hand and pulled me outside to the gates. “We could both use a run.”

“I don’t know how to just start?” He grabbed both of my hands and kissed me softly. “Vex does.”

‘Vex?’

My limbs begin shaking and shifting, breaking as we are finally on all fours.

‘Ready?’ Derek thought to me after we had transformed.

‘I can hear you?’

‘Yeah, mind linking is different as a wolf.’ I notice then that his brown wolf, although burly is certainly smaller than mine.

I smiled and took off running with Derek at my heels.