Chapter 179

Evaline:
After dinner, we all parted ways with soft laughter and tired goodbyes.
It had been a long day, and though I spent most of it in the comfort of Draven’s safe house, returning to the Academy, to the bustle of friendships and familiar places, had tired me in a different way – emotionally more than physically.
“Good night, you two,” Noah called with a wink before he disappeared inside his dorm. Kyros waved at us before he followed next. Selene had already parted with us on the previous floor.
The remaining three of us girls entered in our dorm and Ria took her leave first as she had to call her parents.
“Sleep well, Eva” she said as she unlocked the door to her room.
“You too,” I smiled back.
As soon as she was gone, I glanced at Mallory. “Come with me,” I said softly, and without waiting for a reply, I tugged her toward my bedroom.
“Is this finally going to be the much-awaited girls talk?” she teased as she followed behind.
Once we were inside, I sat cross-legged on my bed and patted the spot beside me. She plopped down with a pillow hugged to her chest, one brow raised in curiosity.
“So,” she said, drawing the word out. “How are you actually feeling now?”
“I’m fine,” I said honestly as a soft smile tugged at my lips. “No, better than fine. I think… I’m doing better than I have been in a long time.”
My tone must have given something away, because her eyebrows shot up in suspicion. “That was a very loaded answer. Spill. All of it. Don’t you dare hold back.”
I laughed, chewing on my bottom lip as I debated where to even begin. “Alright. So… I found my mates.” ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ~net
She blinked.
Then she gasped.
“Mates? You mean mate – wait. Plural?” Her eyes widened, and she leaned in, staring at me like I had just said the sky was green and gravity stopped working. “Eva. Eva. Did you just say mates as in… more than one?!”
I nodded, trying to hide my amusement at her reaction. “Yeah. Two.”
She looked like she was about to faint.
She stared at me, blinking rapidly, opening and closing her mouth like she wanted to say something but just… couldn’t.
“I… How… Who?” she finally managed, breathless.
I hesitated for a moment, not because I didn’t want to tell her, but because I knew how big the reveal was going to be. These weren’t just any two guys. They were Oscar and Draven Thorne – names that carried their own weight, fame, and power.
“You know them both,” I started, watching her intently. “Oscar Thorne… and Draven Thorne.”
Dead. Silence.
Mallory’s entire body froze.
Her jaw dropped open and stayed that way for a solid ten seconds before she finally blinked, shook her head like she was trying to reboot her brain, and gaped at me.
“You are joking.”
“I’m really not.”
“You are mated to two of the Thorne brothers? Oscar and Draven? THE Rogue Alphas?!” Her voice was a whisper-shriek, like her brain couldn’t decide whether to shout or be silent for national security reasons.
I gave her a sheepish smile. “Yes.”
She still couldn’t speak. So, while she sat there, trying to process everything, I took a deep breath and began telling her everything.
I told her about how I felt the mate bond with Oscar first, then with Draven. How both of them initially reacted poorly – how cold they were, how indifferent and unwelcoming. I explained how I was so unsure of where I stood that I never told either of them that I was bonded to both.
I told her how, slowly, things shifted. The walls cracked. They saw me and I started seeing them for who they really were.
“And then things started getting serious,” I continued softly. “They were ready to accept me, both of them. And I… I decided to come clean. I told them the truth last Friday.”
She was listening in silence, wide-eyed and completely absorbed.
I told her mostly the truth, just kept my pregnancy a secret as I wasn’t ready to reveal that to anyone except for the ones who already knew.
Fully, her eyes softened and something clicked in her mind. “That’s why she trailed off, then suddenly sat straighter. “That’s why you reacted the way you did when I told you about Oscar and Jasmine Bills!”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, guilt clouding her features.
I shook my head, reaching out and taking her hand. “Don’t be. You didn’t know. I never told you. You weren’t wrong to share something you thought I should know.”
She squeezed my hand, a hint of relief crossing her expression.
“So… now things are okay?” she asked hesitantly. “Between you and them?”
I smiled, thinking of Draven’s embrace, of Oscar’s playful jealousy, of the gentle way they both touched me, held me, protected me.
“They are better,” I said. “Not perfect. Draven still hasn’t completely accepted the matter. But he’s trying. And Oscar’s been… incredible. Honestly, I still can’t believe that things are finally settling in. I wanst expecting them to return to me this quickly after they left on Friday.”
Mallory kept looking at me for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, slowly, a grin bloomed across her face. “This is insane. And amazing. And… so hot.”
I burst out laughing. “Only you would say that.”
“Excuse me,” she said, flipping her short hair. “You are dating – no, mated to – two of the hottest and most powerful werewolves in existence. And I’m your best friend. I get bragging rights.”
I laughed again, the sound lifting some of the weight from my chest.
We stayed up for hours after that, talking, whispering secrets, giggling about things that had once made me cry.
With Mallory’s experience as recently finding her own mate, we had a lot to talk about and share. And we did just that until… we both ended up falling asleep in my bed, snuggled up like besties did.