Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

IZZY

" W hatever it was, it was fucking epic!" Archer interjects from behind Luca.

A half smile crosses my lips at his praise. "Thanks."

"So, can you take us all out with your magic?" he asks while bouncing on his toes. His aquamarine eyes dance in delight.

Bishop snorts. "She can obliterate your entire pack, Arch, and still have magic left over."

I glare at Bishop. He just smirks at me in response. I really don't need the wolves knowing any more about my magic than they already do. Yet Bishop is throwing out clues like they're confetti.

He's infuriating. As is Luca.

It seems to be a theme with my mates.

"Oh, man! That's so cool!" Archer grins at me. We must have different definitions of cool. Someone being able to destroy my entire family doesn't really seem cool to me.

Archer wanders closer as he talks, stopping beside Luca, who didn't back up as much as I thought. They're way too close to me now.

"Why would your magic worry about the safety of your family?" Luca asks shrewdly.

I groan. "Dude. Really? I just told you I can't tell you. I have eight million other problems I have to take care of tonight, so can we just spar and get this over with?"

Luca prowls back into my space as he pushes me for information. "What are these other problems?"

"Stuff. And things," I answer evasively. It's not like I can tell the wolves what I spend my nights doing.

Bishop doesn't know, either. He only knows about my magic because my parents told him after finding out he's my mate. He definitely wouldn't be happy to know what I've been doing in the forest.

"Wow, kid. You're really good at not arousing suspicion," Aggie sarcastically comments from behind Bishop. I turn my head to give her a death glare. When she catches my narrowed eyes, her spectral ones widen in understanding. "Oh. Right. They don't know you can see me. You can't talk to me now. I'll just…be quiet."

Rolling my eyes at her, I turn back toward Luca. Oh, goodie. Cain is now in my personal space as well.

Does Cain have any other expression other than glaring? Because I haven't seen his captivating face without his eyes narrowed on me.

Luca doesn't say anything for a beat. He just clenches his jaw, causing a vein to throb on the side of his stupidly handsome face.

Why couldn't the universe give me ugly mates?

At least it would be easier to stay away if they didn't look like models.

"I'll spar with you," Luca finally concedes. "On one condition. You have to go on a date with each of us at a time of our choosing."

My mouth pops open at his ridiculous demand. "What? No! I am not going on a date with any of you. Besides, what are you, like eighty?" I ask. I know full well he isn't anywhere close to that. Even with wolves aging much slower than humans, there's no way he's that old.

"Cute," Luca tells me, clearly unimpressed. "No. I'm thirty."

My brows raise in surprise. He's really young to be an alpha, maybe the youngest one in recent history. Usually, wolves are around fifty to sixty when they take over their packs. With their slow aging, wolves still look around thirty at that age.

I blank my face to cover up how impressed I am. I have a feeling Luca doesn't need a bigger ego. "Wow. You really are an old man. Who knew the Nightshade Alpha was a cradle robber?" I tell him in as serious of a voice as I can manage, just to irritate him. He's really not that much older than me. It's fun needling the overbearing wolf, though.

Luca glares at me and opens his mouth to say something. Bishop beats him to it. "Izzy," Bishop groans. "Could you try not to antagonize Luca for a whole five seconds, please?"

"You wanted me to talk to them. I'm talking!" I protest. I am technically following his instructions.

"Is she always this mouthy?" Luca asks Bishop with a raised brow.

My mouth pops open at the audacity of this wolf to talk about me like I'm not here. I'm also not mouthy. I just have a sarcastic streak. I growl and send a punch of magic to the infuriating wolf's midsection. He doubles over with a satisfying groan.

Straightening up, Luca advances on me a step, the promise of violence in his eyes. "You want to play, little mate?"

My eyes widen. I flounder for something to say in response to his threat and invitation. Half of me wants to say hell, yes . The other half actually has an ounce of self-preservation and screams no .

When I don't say anything, Luca chuckles, the sound menacing. "You either agree to go on a date with us, or you can deal with the consequences of your magic alone."

My mouth drops open again that he'd do that. I know he just met me, but I thought maybe he'd care about me, since I'm his mate and all.

Apparently not.

I don't even know why I'm surprised. Most people don't like me, much less care about me.

My heart squeezes at his callous disregard for how dangerous it is for me to let my magic out. I logically know he doesn't have any idea what could happen to me. But it still feels like someone shoved jagged glass around my heart, which tears into the organ with every beat.

I whirl around before he can see just how much his lack of concern guts me. "Goddamn it," I softly growl to the brick in front of me, wanting to kick the wall in frustration. The last thing I need right now is to get emotional in front of my bullheaded mates.

"I don't think he means it, kid. Even if he does, he doesn't know what it could do to you," Aggie says, attempting to reassure me. Her words echo my own thoughts.

Jesus. I must really be a mess if Aggie's being nice to me.

This entire night has been a shit show. I'm so ready for it to be over. My shoulders slump in defeat as I realize I have no other option but to agree to his terms. I turn around, ready to agree. Instead, I come face to face with Bishop's chest. He's standing between me and the wolves, giving me a moment to process everything in peace.

A lump forms in my throat at his thoughtfulness. I let my head thump against his hard chest as I try to absorb his strength. His warm arms wrap around my back, squeezing me comfortingly.

"You okay?" Bishop asks me again.

"I'm just so tired," I whisper brokenly. I'm so tired of taking the whole town's shit. I'm so tired of having the safety of everyone I care about resting on my shoulders. I'm so tired of having to spend all night, every night, crossing ghosts. And all that comes with it.

I'm just fucking tired of it all.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. What can I do to help?"

I just shake my head. There's nothing he or anyone can do about it. I'm the only one who can fix anything. That fact just makes me feel more overwhelmed. But I don't have time to fall apart right now. I need to get my shit together and get this over with. There are ghosts I need to cross tonight.

After a moment in Bishop's arms, I'm able to stuff my feelings down. I step back from his hug, swiping my hands over my cheeks. Hopefully, I don't look like I've been close to crying. There's really nothing I can do about it, though. I'm too scared to pull on my magic, even for a simple spell, right now. At least when I'm not blinded by rage at Luca for being an asshole.

"Thanks," I tell Bishop before stepping around him. All three wolves are staring at me with concern. Even Luca.

"I'll go on a date with each of you." There's no snark or fire anywhere in my words. All of it is gone and replaced with bone-deep exhaustion.

Luca's eyes crinkle in worry, instead of flashing with victory, like I thought they would. "What just happened, little mate?" he asks.

"Nothing," I answer, too done with tonight to come up with a creative lie.

Luca frowns at me. "You're a shit liar."

"Yeah. I know."

He huffs out a laugh at my admission.

Bishop looks down at me for a moment before turning back to the wolves. "You basically told her you didn't give a shit if she died. No one wants to hear their mate say that, Luca."

I glare at Bishop for spilling my secrets. He just can't help himself with the wolves tonight, it seems.

"What?" Luca exclaims. "I never said that!"

"You did when you told her you'd leave her to deal with her magic on her own. If Izzy loses control of her magic, she can die. Every single time her magic runs the show, there's a risk she won't ever come back." Bishop's voice gets choked up as he talks about something happening to me. My heart squeezes, seeing my normally stoic mate and best friend close to tears.

I give into the impulse to hug him, wrapping one of my arms around his back. Bishop breaks out into a huge grin at me being the one to initiate it. He bands his muscular arm around me and pulls me tighter into his side.

After dropping a kiss on the top of my hair, Bishop rests his cheek on my head for a moment. I allow myself a second to enjoy his comforting touch and scent.

"I thought losing control of magic was just an inconvenience for mages?" Luca is likely thinking of how young mages frequently lose control right after coming into their power at sixteen. Those control losses are little more than an annoyance. Certainly not a threat to entire towns.

"For most mages, yeah," I confirm bitterly. Not only is my magic weird, but it also came in way too early. I got my magic at seven, which is unheard of. I've had to hide it for almost fourteen years, two-thirds of my life.

Luca tilts his head in consideration. "But not for you?"

"No." I don't want to say anything else and invite questions I can't answer.

"Fuck. I'm sorry, little mate," Luca tells me seriously. My eyebrows jump almost to my hairline at him apologizing. From what I understand, alphas never apologize. I don't have much experience with wolves, though. "I'd never do anything to put you in danger. I'll spar with you, without any conditions. Whatever you need, I'll do it." Luca rakes his hand through his short blond hair as he talks.

I'm taken aback by his concern. It soothes some of the jagged edges of my heart. The pathetic organ feels less like it's a torn, bloody mess. With my sappy heart softened a little toward him, I try to compromise. "How about, if I win, no dates. If you win, then I'll go on a date with each of you."

Luca shook his head, seeming surprised more than anything. "You don't need to do that, little mate."

"I know. Do we have a deal or not?" I ask impatiently. He should agree before I change my mind. This is the only way they'll ever get a date with me. And let's face it—I'm going to lose. Without my magic, I have no hope of winning against the behemoth.

Is going on a date with each of them a spectacularly bad idea?

Yes, yes, it is.

Does my idiotic heart scream at me to spend as much time with them as I can?

Yes, yes, it does.

Hopefully, one date each will be enough to tide me over once I have to stop seeing them. Or it could just make the whole thing more complicated.

Who knows?

I'm winging it here. There's no cheat sheet for getting through this. I just have to make it up as I go.

Luca flicks his aquamarine eyes between mine a few times before nodding. He sticks his hand out to shake. When I grasp it with mine, Luca says, "We have a deal."