Chapter 132


    “Luca!” Rafe shouts, just as Jesse shouts Jackson’s name, both of them baffled.


    I shake my head at Jacks, begging him to understand as I keep moving forward, as I ce myself


    between my mates. And the moment I step actually between them, holding out a hand, palm out,


    towards each, begging them to stop


    I realize that it was a mistake.


    I mean, I don’t know what else I could have done, but it was a mistake.


    Because in that moment, each of my mates sees that I’m not denying the other. Luca’s eyes sh to


    Jackson’s just as Jackson’s move to his. There’s a brief moment of silence before Jacks releases a


    horrible, desperate snarl. Luca roars in response before, in a sh, they both shift into their wolves.


    Ben realizes what is happening half a second before everyone else, and he’s the only one to move


    in time. My friend releases a shout, hurling himself up from the couch and leaping over the coffee


    table to tackle me to the floor jus


    as the two wolves crash into each other


    above us.


    And god, the sound they make –


    The crashing roars they release sound unending, so loud in our tight stone room that it feels my


    eardrums will shatter. Ben wraps an arm around me, pulling me away, back against the stone of the


    firece as I cover my ears with my hands, tears slipping down my cheeks. I try to look, but god,


    there’s blood-


    And as each of my mate’s emotions rage through me, I’mpletely overwhelmed. I no longer


    have any idea which of my emotions are mine, and which are theirs scream, and scratch, and bite,


    and intercede, and stop them, and


    – I want to


    Somewhere, outside, I feel Ben wrap me up in a tight ball as more noise adds to the fury-


    And suddenly, somehow, the feelings change shock and confusion adding to the anger, and a


    sudde


    sense of shame, and restraint


    –


    –


    Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.


    I open my eyes, my senses slowlying back to me, and my face goes still when I see that there


    are four wolves in front of me now Jackson’s scruff in his mouth, not biting him but a warning growl


    rumbling deep in his


    Rafe’s huge dark wolf snarling as he holds chest. Jesse’s familiar brown wolf stands between Rafe,


    Jackson, and the fourth wolf, who is a lighter brown – almost blonde – panting and snarling his


    warning. But then Jesse shifts,


    his hands out between them.


    “This is done!” Jesse shouts, ring viciously between Jackson and Luca. “Shift the fuck back! We


    are getting to the bottom of this, right now!”


    There’s a long pause as we all look around at each other before Jackson shakes himself, just a


    little, and Rafe loosens his grip on his neck. Luca shifts then, and my eyes go directly to him,


    groaning when I see his bloody lip, the swelling already starting around his eye.


    I move, wanting to be next to him instantly, to check on his wounds – but Ben tightens his hands on


    my arms. “You stay…right here…” he murmurs in my ear. “For just a little longer, okay?”


    Realizing that he’s right, I stop, though I can’t stop the whimper in my throat as Luca stares at me,


    appalled.


    There’s another sh to my right, and when I look I see Jackson getting slowly to his feet. He didn’t


    come out of it as badly as Luca did, but I see his hand move instantly to his jaw, rubbing it like he’s


    assessing the damage.


    Rafe shifts a momentter, turning to me in his rage. “Ariel!?” he says, ring down at me. “Is there


    something that you want to exin here!?”


    fe


    “Um,” I say, ncing at Ben, who sighs and releases his grip on me. The two of us get to our and I


    look awkwardly around the room, tears welling in my eyes, not knowing where to begin. I feel so


    horribly selfish and overwhelmed because I know I need to tell them – all


    of them.


    It’s just – I have no idea where to start…


    “Ariel,” Luca says, his voice desperate and heartbroken as he takes a step towards me. A snarl


    breaks from Jackson and my head whips towards him, but I see Rafe’s hand out in a sh, catching


    Jackson in the chest.


    “Stop,” Rafe growls, ring at the other Alpha who only he could probably hold back. “Let them


    talk.”


    I turn my head back to Luca, who is just staring at me, crushed. “Why…Ariel, why is he saying that


    he’s your mate?”


    “Because,” I whisper, locking my eye with his. “Because, Luca…he is.”