Page 63 of Heat Me

"I’ll be there too," I said, grinning. "I’ll keep an eye out for you and cross my fingers for a True Mate candidate!"

He laughed softly and nodded, seeming more at ease. Darien definitely had a different energy than Star. He was approachable, kind, and more easygoing. He had a solid chance of finding someone who would truly love him. And who knows? Maybe I could help.

Was one phone call all it would take?

As I stood up and said goodbye to Darien, my mind was full of swirling thoughts.

What Fate had planned for me was absolutely nuts. Was it seriously lining up True Mates for so many of my family members? It seemed almost like magic, something unbelievable.

Wait.

Could someone be behind this?

Some vague, foggy memory surfaced in my mind.

I was a kid back then, maybe seven years old. Three of my brothers—Winter, Rain, and Skye—were doing what they loved most: playing their favorite game, ‘hunt the alien’.

I was running through the dense grove behind our house, trying to escape Winter and the rest. He was the oldest and the quickest, already sixteen at the time. Suddenly, I stumbled into a small clearing in the bushes and found my brother Snow sitting there on the grass. I blinked because there was this faint rainbow glow around his hands—or maybe it was just an illusion? He looked at me. Snow barely ever spoke, if at all.

"Snow, help me hide! They’re hunting me again," I panted, struggling to catch my breath. I was way heavier than a normal kid my age because of my dense bones, so sprinting was definitely not my forte.

Snow stared at me with his strange pale violet eyes, still sitting on the grass.

"Please, these jerks will be here soon enough. They’ve got a plastic BB gun! But it fucking hurts!"

Snow didn’t answer. Slowly, he just pointed to the space behind him.

I frowned. Snow was thirteen at the time and had just barely started showing alpha traits, so he wasn’t much bigger than me. As a purple alpha, I looked more like I was ten, not seven.

"I can’t hide behind you, dumbass. I’m too big!"

He just kept staring. So, with a sigh, I crouched behind his back. I couldn’t help but giggle a bit—it was a terrible hiding spot, and there was no way they wouldn’t see me. But I hoped Snow’s presence might at least save me from getting hit by too many rubber bullets.

He stayed silent, and I noticed a small butterfly perched on his hand. It was fascinating, so I stared at it for a while.

Then I heard it—sounds of people trudging through the undergrowth, the crackle of twigs and rustling of leaves. Soon enough, my three brothers showed up: Winter, Rain, and little Skye, who was barely five.

"Snow! Did you see the cosmic beast anywhere? Big, purple one! Humanity is endangered; we need toeliminatethe hostile presence!" Rain yelled, quoting a popular cartoon.

"Monster hunt!" Skye giggled, raising the plastic BB gun he held.

Snow stayed silent.

"He won’t answer you, idiots. Snow doesn’t talk to muggles like us," Winter snorted.

I couldn’t believe it—they were acting like they didn’t see me! Were they pretending? I was tempted to say something, but for some reason, I didn’t.

"He’s beencompromisedby an alien spy, his mindinfiltrated, it’s a hostileinfestation!" Rain was getting heated, randomly repeating phrases from the cartoon. Then he glanced at Winter. "Should we shoot him in the head too, colonel Frost?"

"C’mon," Skye grumbled, looking bored. His eyes were fixed on the butterfly. "Let’s check by the lake and then head home. I’m hungry!"

Winter rolled his eyes. "Really, Skye? Fucking little shit. No fun with you around," he hissed, and Skye angrily threw the BB gun to the ground, where it was quickly picked up by Rain.

The three of them stomped off toward the edge of the grove—Skye sniffling, Rain shooting into the air and screaming something along the lines of,"Alien commando semper fi!"

Shocked and in disbelief, I watched them disappear into the bushes. There was no way they didn’t see me! No fucking way! I was literally crouched behind Snow’s slender back, and Winter, being the tallest, should’ve spotted me instantly! I wasn’t exactly tiny. I stood up.

"How’s that possible? Is this… magic?"

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