CHAPTER FIVE

“Aurora’s POV”

The sound of bones breaking and screaming were dying down gradually but my body couldn't stop shaking from the fear that has become my acquaintance since I uncovered this other world.

So many things terrified me; what if he forgot I was here? What if someone else found me? What if he got killed? This particular thought hurt me more than it should.

I had gotten tired of crying and I just sat on the ground, my knees locked in my hands as I rocked myself back and forth.

If my mom knew where I was right now, she'd have a heart attack.

She was not the best of Mothers but she tried her best. Up until I left for college, his abuse had been a constant struggle for me and each time I begged my mom to leave him, she broke down in tears. I had resented her as well but when I escaped out of the house, I realized she was also a victim; she probably didn't believe there was a world outside of my father.

While lost in my thoughts, I failed to hear the approaching footsteps until it was right in front of my hiding place.

I heard three voices but I couldn't figure out what they were saying as there was a literal wall between us.

I heard the voice of the man that brought me here and I became confused. Did he bring people to hurt me? He could very well do that on his own, I thought.

I stood up, ready to run for it. I refused to die without making any effort, I'd rather fight no matter how pointless it seemed.

Before I could make any further decisions, the wall in front of me dissipated and I stepped out.

Before I could make a run for it, I made the mistake of looking up.

If I thought the first man was handsome, these two gave him a run for his money.

The first man had very dark hair that was begging me to run my hands through it, his massive figure filled with blood splatters. As I noticed this, I quickly averted my eyes to the second man. Then I noticed the resemblance between them. They were definitely twins. Dark hair, broad shoulders and that jawline could cut ice.

Despite having the same appearance, they had distinct energies; one seemed calm and steady, while the other was adventurous and restless. They were simultaneously terrifying and fascinating. Like a magnet to steel, they drew me in.

A word came from their mouth at the same time which shook me out of my state of reverie

“Mate”

“Axel’s POV”

There was pandemonium for about a minute as we all started speaking at the same time, expressing shock, confusion and a little bit of possession all at once but we all stopped immediately.

We tried speaking again but we all started at the same time again so I raised my hand up and they gestured for me to go first.

“I guess I'm speaking our minds here, so we are all saying that the three of us feel a mate bond to one woman?” I asked, confused as hell.

I'm an Alpha Wolf and my mate signified a big part of my journey in life. The context or idea of sharing her with someone else was unheard of. The animal in me was a jealous and possessive one, he would kill anyone who so much as attempted to hold her hand so how come there are two other wolves with the same feeling?

“That is what it looks like. Which is ridiculous! I have never seen or heard anything like it” Alpha Kane responded, anger rolling off him in waves.

“Well, I have. Well, sort of; I read it somewhere, it's been centuries since such an occurrence took place” my twin responded as we watched the girl like she was an artifact in a museum.

“But I found her first! In fact, we were preparing for the Luna Ceremony before your pack of nitwits attacked! And how do I know you both are not lying? You could just be doing this so you can take her from me. We all know how much power a mate holds over an Alpha” Alpha Kane poured out, a bead of sweat dropping from his face.

“First of all, I will not take any type of insult against my pack! You attacked us first and had the audacity to go back to your palace and relax like we are too inconsequential. You brought this on yourself!” My brother replied angrily

“You expect me not to avenge my father? What sort of Alpha do you think I am?”

“You avenging your father is one thing but nearly decimating the entire pack in the process? And I don't even want a mate so I can't fake this feeling that proves she's my mate. You have eyes so you can see the connection between us, don't throw unnecessary accusations” Ares finished, his eyes flaring in anger.

“If you were in my shoes, you'd think the same thing! This is unheard of!”

“You both need to stop this exchange so we can figure out a solution” I spoke up, forcing them to take deep breaths in order to settle their wolves.

Our Packs had been at war for generations far before us; we definitely didn't need a history lesson right now. We had a bigger dilemma as our mate had disappeared while we were going at each other.

Looking at my brother, I was reluctant to tell him what was obvious for us to do, which was to stop this war immediately. We had planned this for years and we didn't take into account the possibility of meeting our mates.

Well, he didn't but I had hoped to meet mine after we decimated the DarkMoon Pack.

My brother was closer to my mom while I was a daddy's boy, always following him around and learning from him.

Even though Ares was a tough and powerful Alpha, he was a nerd because Mom loved to read as well and he watched the light disappear from her eyes as Papa died.

This made him hold the mate bond in distaste but I didn't think so. Anyone who knew my father closely would see how much his mate made him happy. If I can have a little bit of that in my life, I'll be content.

“Brother, please go and address the pack. We don't want her getting killed in this fray while I and Alpha Kane find her” I said to them.

He nodded and left, sending a message to the pack through the pack link while Alpha Kane and I began following her scent.

“She must be so terrified with all of this, how did a human even come this far into your pack?” I asked him as we crossed a log that had a drop of her blood on it. Damn! She's injured.

“Wait, you mean you don't smell she's not human?”

“I don't understand,” I replied, wondering what he was talking about.

I opened the link so my brother could hear everything.

“She was brought to my pack by a pack member that works in my firm in the human world. She walked in on my Beta mid-shift and she was supposed to have her mind wiped but then I discovered she was my mate” he explained and he paused and sniffed the air, bending down to touch the ground. He rose up and his hand was bloodied. We sped up faster.

“So,” he continued, “my wolf took over and I kissed her, not thinking of her for a moment as human. When I regained my composure, I noticed that was the story she was going with. I had to put her at arm's length. I suspected she was a spy or something. Now that you are saying you smell her being human, I can't help but wonder if I was wrong to have treated her that way”

“I think there is another scent that her human scent covers so you may not be wrong but regardless, she's our mate. Even if she's a spy, we can always turn her to ours, there's no need to treat her horribly” I told him as we finally saw her as she kept trying to run, while holding her hand that kept bleeding as she moved.

“You keep saying “our” like it's set in stone. We are not going to share a mate, Alpha Axel. I don't know what will happen but the idea is ridiculous. Aurora, wait!” He called out to her but instead of stopping, she increased her pace, crying as well.

“Wow, you really terrified her.” I said and began running towards her.

In no time, I caught up to her and lifted her off the ground and hugged her shaking frame, her tears pouring as she kept crying. The sparks that overwhelmed me was as real as anything and I knew if it we were in a different circumstance, I'd be balls deep in her right now. But the situation was different and we'd succeedded in terrifying her before she even got to know our names.

It tore my soul into shreds watching her this way.

My brother came to where we stood at that point as I hugged her to my body, trying to make her feel safe.

So here we all stood, with the biggest dilemma of our life; who will claim her?