by Leila Vy
“Why don’t you do it?” I asked.
He licked my pulse, and then I felt his canine graze my skin before he spoke again, “Because I want you willing. I want you to be all mine. I don’t want you to doubt your feelings for me. When I mark you, you are mine forever. Your soul will be mine as mine is yours.”
I knew what he said made sense. He wanted me to be sure that I didn’t want Kyle because marking binds souls together for life regardless if the wolf is marked more than once. It binds their souls. The other one might lessen, but the connection will always be there.
My hands were running through his hair as he was driving me crazy with his body heat, and the bond between us was silently vibrating with our closeness, intoxicating me like a drug. My eyes fluttered close when he licked a spot behind my ear.
A soft knock on the door stopped both of us from what we were doing. My eyes fluttered open, and I looked up at Titus whose eyes were black with desire and need. My body was responding automatically, and I wanted nothing more than to pull him back into my arms and start where we left off, but another knock snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Yes?” Titus barked impatiently. He moved down to kiss me one last time on the lips before pulling up and began walking to the door. I didn’t realize I was breathing heavily and my heart was beating so fast until he was gone. I placed a hand over my heart as I turned to look at him when he opened the door.
“They will be here in less than a minute.” Christian’s voice came on the other end. I quickly sat up and scooted off the bed. I pushed Titus aside and opened the door wide enough to see Christian looking down at me.
“Is she okay?” I asked.
“She is fine,” he replied with a grin. “Although, I think this is about to get very interesting.”
“I have to go see her.” I saw from the corner of my eyes that Titus tried reaching for me, but I quickly evaded his grasp and ran down the stairs without a glance back. I heard him shout my name, but I didn’t stop. I had waited long enough to hear from Kailyn.
When I arrived outside, a black jeep pulled into the driveway. The driver side opened, and a tall, lanky male came out. Then the passenger side door opened and revealed a female who radiated power. She was beautiful as she wore a black tank top that displayed her toned body and slim form. She lifted her sunglasses up on top of her blonde hair as she stuffed her hands in her pocket. A sly devilish smile crawled on her face as she saw me.
The back door opened and out came a tall, handsome black-haired man before he turned back in and pulled out my sister.
Christian and Titus were behind me now, and I was about to run to my sister when I heard a male growl behind me.
“Mine.”
Chapter Twenty
Patience
“Mine.”
My head whipped towards the voice as shock settled in me. Christian’s eyes were black as he looked at the blonde woman who just stepped out of the vehicle. Christian’s body moved with ease and determination as he made his way over to the blonde woman who was smirking at him.
His hand moved to the back of her head, and he placed his forehead on hers as he whispered again, “Mine.”
“Yours,” she whispered back. Gone was the smirk, and in its place was a dazed look as she stared at Christian.
“Hold on.” The male who was still holding to a struggling Kailyn frowned as he looked at what just happened. “No, not my beta.”
Christian released a growl, and his eyes darted to the male, observing if he was challenging him for his mate.
“She’s my beta. If I lose her, I would have to find a replacement.”
“You make it seem like it is the hardest thing ever,” Titus spoke. His voice was a lot closer now to me. I felt his heat radiating through my back.
The male turned towards Titus as he grounded out. “Of course, it is hard to find a replacement. The one you chose for you is the best. I did the same.”
“She’s mine!” Christian roared.
“Let me go!” Kailyn shouted as she tried to pry the male’s fingers away from her wrist.
My attention was diverted again. I moved towards my sister, but Titus placed his hand on my shoulder, pulling me to his chest as he wrapped an arm around my front to keep me from moving further. I turned to him.
“He has my sister.”
“He is Alpha Micah, your sister’s mate. He will not harm her,” Titus said lowly, and I turned back to Kailyn who was looking at me pleadingly. This was a mess.
“Alpha Micah, if you would so kindly release my sister, I can assure you she will not run.” I tried to reason with him. He narrowed his eyes on me to see if I was lying. When he saw I was being honest, he nodded and released my sister, who came flying to my side.
“He’s crazy!” Kailyn snapped angrily as she wrapped her hand around her wrist to ease the pain of his grip.
“Just don’t run, mate,” he chided as he walked over to us with the tall, lanky man standing next to him. He turned to Titus. “Is there anywhere where we can talk?”
Titus nodded before he left. He glanced down at me briefly before squeezing my body with his arm and then releasing me. After they left, Christian and his mate walked up to us. He was grinning.
“Patience, this is Beta Emily.” He introduced the lady, and I gave her a smile.
She looked at me curiously before smiling and moving to hug me. I did not expect that. She looked bubbly and carefree—the total opposite of Christian. I wonder how he would handle his mate. I was almost confident that he would have his hands full with her.
“It is so nice to meet you. Everyone around here has heard about your arrival. Alpha Titus is pretty famous with the females around here, being mateless and all. No females have ever gotten his attention until you,” she said. “I can see why he picked you. You are absolutely stunning just like your sister.”
I laughed softly. “Thank you.”
After some talk, Christian and Emily left to spend time together. Kailyn turned towards me and hugged me tightly. After our hug, I pulled her back and led her back upstairs to my room. I didn’t know where else to take her. If I even tried, I thought she and I would end up in a supply closet.
“What happened?” I asked immediately.
“I know about it, Patience. I know Kyle was your mate.” I felt like my world came crashing down. I moved to my sister as I pulled her into my arms again.
“I am so sorry, Kailyn. I wanted to tell you so bad. You and I never keep secrets, but you have to understand why I did it. You love him, Kailyn. I love you enough to want you happy,” I said as a tear slipped from my cheek.
“I can see why you did it, but why would you think I would want this? You are my sister! How do you think it made me feel to find out that I took my own sister’s destined mate?” Kailyn reasoned as she pulled back and smoothed my hair behind my ear. “It destroyed me to realize that Kyle was yours. All those years, you were hurting. I didn’t even stop to think that maybe he was yours. I am so stupid.”
I shook my head. “Don’t, Kailyn. We all had a choice, and we all made it. Moon Goddess is either having a fun time playing with our destined mates, or she had made a mistake because you have always loved Kyle. You should’ve been his destined mate, not me. Yes, I felt pain, but I am okay now. Don’t feel guilty. You have the right to choose.”
She shook her head, and tears began streaming down her face. “I can’t. I feel torn. My heart feels like it is being ripped apart.”
“You love Kyle still,” I said quietly as I watched her pained face.
“I love him, but I am feeling things with Micah that I have never felt with Kyle. It is like a spell that I can’t resist. My soul is calling out to him.” She admitted as she wiped the tears on her rosy cheeks.
I didn’t know how she felt. She and I might be in a puddle of mess, but I never loved Kyle. I grabbed her hands in mine.
“Listen, Kailyn. What do you think is the right thing to do?” I asked.
Sh
e sniffled and looked at me. “I don’t know.”
“Get rid of all the guilt you have. Listen to your heart. What do you want? Do you want Kyle or do you want Micah?” I asked.
“Kyle doesn’t want me, Patience,” she said quietly, her voice broken. “The reason why I left was that he told me he doesn’t love me anymore. He has fallen in love with you. Even if I wanted him, he is no longer mine or the Kyle that I knew.”
This was giving me migraines. I felt the vein on my temple pulsing, and I rubbed my temple to get rid of it. Kyle was being indecisive. One minute he said he didn’t love me and he loved my sister, but then he told my sister he was in love with me.
“Then what are you going to do?” I asked. She looked at me again as fresh tears brimmed her eyes.
“I can’t go with Micah. You need to hide me. You need to find a way for me to run away. I am not a good mate, Patience. I didn’t wait for him. I picked a chosen which was my sister’s destined mate—” She began, but I interrupted her.
“You need to stop carrying around this guilt. This right here is not your fault. Our choices brought us here. If anything, we are all somehow at fault because of our choices,” I said.
“I know that, but I can’t stop feeling this way. Micah is beautiful, Patience. I have never seen anyone as perfect as him, but he and I are completely different. I got marked by Kyle, Patience. I didn’t even wait. I didn’t even think that maybe my destined will show up at any moment in my life. I gave up on my destined mate and followed my heart,” she said dejectedly.
“Honestly, Kailyn, people make mistakes all the time. Nobody is perfect. I am not. Kyle isn’t. We all made mistakes. You just need to forgive yourself and decide what it is that you want.” I continued, but I knew the reason why she was hesitating. Her human part was still in love with Kyle, but her wolf yearned for her mate.
She stood up and began pacing. “It’s not that easy. I am so torn inside. When I see Micah, all I want to do is jump on him, but when I think about that, I would remember Kyle.”
“Does Kyle want you?” I asked.
“No,” she replied.
“Does he love you?” I continued.
“No,” she replied after a moment. “But a part of me still loves him.”
“Of course, you still do. He was someone important in your life. He played a part in your life for many years, Kailyn. If you didn’t feel anything at all, I would say you have no compassion. He was your chosen. You have every right to feel this way, but why go back to someone who doesn’t love you?” I reasoned.
“I don’t know! I just need time. I need space. I need to get away.” She whipped towards me. Her eyes were slightly wild as she spoke. “Please, give me a few moments alone to just think.”
I sighed and nodded. Her face relaxed slightly. “C-can you take me away from him? I can still feel him close by and it drives me mad.”
“Okay.” I took her hand and led her to where I went this morning—down the back door into the clearing. Noor glanced up and saw us as he was still training. His eyes darted on Kailyn curiously. I waved at him before dragging my sister away from his view. We passed by another hill and went into the woods where we sat on a log.
We stared ahead at the nature in front of us, content in just watching what was going on around us. After a moment, Kailyn spoke up.
“How did we get here?” she asked, melancholy clear in her voice. I knew what she meant. We were always so close. Never in our minds did we think we would be in this kind of situation, yet here we were. Fate was kind of cruel. Well, I shouldn’t blame fate when it was our choices that got us here, but who was to say that fate didn’t play any part in this?
“I don’t know, but you and I can figure it out together. I am sorry, Kailyn.”
“I am sorry too, Patience,” she whispered.
We went silent for a while before Kailyn spoke up again, “Let’s forget things.”
She stood up and began stripping. A grin came on my face, as I knew what she was doing. I began stripping off my shirt and pants. When I was down to my bra and panty like Kailyn, we both started running and giggled as we went deeper into the woods and shifted into our wolves. Together, we ran for a few miles and allowed our wolves to play back and forth.
It had been a long time since we had done this together, and to have our wolves get in touch again as siblings was thrilling. We were so consumed in playing with our wolves that we didn’t realize how late it was until we heard paws hitting the ground and branches snapping. I stopped mid-jump to look around. Kailyn noticed my distraction and stopped as well.
Two large wolves came into view: one of them was Titus, and the other, I assumed, was Micah. They both looked furious with us. Kailyn and I stared at each other. A slow wolf grin formed on Kailyn’s face before she burst into a run away from me. I knew what she wanted to do. Her mischievous wolf wanted to play further. I ran the other way, and I heard Titus’s wolf chuckle as he followed me. How quickly he became thrilled with the chase after looking at us furiously. Out of the corner of my eyes, I heard and saw Micah growl angrily and run after Kailyn.
I ran for a few miles, being able to dodge Titus’s attempt to nail me down until it went deathly quiet. I slowed down my pace to see if I could hear him. My ears perked up. I walked a few more steps before I was pushed to the ground. A whine escaped my mouth as Titus sat on top of me. I tried pushing him off, but he seemed content in just sitting on top of me as he nipped at my ear.
Damn him. He caught me.
***
Kailyn
I burst into a run, not wanting to go back to the mess I was about to face. I could hear Micah’s warning growl for me to not run. It sent a shiver through my body, and it only stirred my excitement more.
When I was training in my pack, I was one of the fastest wolves out there. I was also good at tracking. I wanted to see how bad this alpha was and just how much he would go. I didn’t know if this was a good thing because it could lead to something bad, but I always liked a good challenge.
I heard him quickly catching up. He was faster than I thought. His wolf was bigger than mine, so I could see why it didn’t take much for him to catch up to me.
He pounced on top of me, a growl escaping his lips. I snapped my jaw at his neck to get him off me, but he only pinned me down harder.
We rolled around in the dirt, trying to fight for dominance as he wanted me to submit to him, but I refused to do so, which made my wolf snap angrily at his neck to get him to lay off me. The minute my canines sunk into his skin, I knew what I did. Panic set in, and I released his neck as I scrambled up onto my paws and stared at him in horror. We had started the mating process.
He shifted in front of me and clutched at his bloody neck, completely naked. His russet-colored eyes stared at me in shock.
No.
No!
I spun on my paws and ran away from him. I heard him call out my name, but I couldn’t face what I just did. I was reckless and a mess. I couldn’t believe I allowed my wolf take temporary control over my body that I totally forgot where I was, who I was, and what was happening. I was having too much fun playing around.
Already inside of me, I could feel it was too late. I could feel the strengthening of our bond. It was like a light that glowed brighter. It was like a rope that grew in size. I felt like I was grasping for Kyle’s bond at the same time as I saw it disappearing slowly. The light was dimming slowly.
What have I done?
Chapter Twenty-One
Kyle
Beta Roy and Patience’s father nailed me down, and I saw Kailyn running away from me. Reality began to set back in. My wolf whimpered inside me as he now felt the loss of his destined mate and his chosen. My head was pounding, and my veins were pulsing with adrenaline. My body slumped to the ground, and I felt Roy’s hand relax on my back as well as Harold’s.
“Are you okay now?” Roy asked. I grunted my response as I was far from okay. I was in constant pain. My heart felt like i
t was being ripped in two. My soul was torn. It was like walking barefooted on hot charcoal.
They pushed off me and stood close by, watching my next move. I kneeled, my hands on the ground still and my head bowed.
Patience.
I made a bad decision, and it cost me my destined mate—the only one I would have in my lifetime. I didn’t know when I started loving her. I didn’t even realize it until I lost her. Was it selfish of me to demand her to come back? I knew it was. I was stupid for choosing her sister. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I knew what I was feeling was wrong.
The beast inside of me wanted to rip Titus’s throat and mark Patience, but the human in me was reasoning for me not to do it. I failed her as a mate. She deserved to find someone who could love her, but even the thought of her with another man had my skin prickling with hair as my wolf itched to come out.
I knew he didn’t do it yet. The mating process hadn’t started yet because I hadn’t felt anything, but I could feel my bond with Patience slowly disappearing. It was terrifying to me.
“Leave,” I barked. There was a brief hesitation. “I said fucking leave.”
After a moment, Roy and Harold disappeared, and the door closed behind me. I was left alone to wallow in my misery. I was left alone completely. I swallowed the large lump in my throat. My heart ached like a thousand knives being plunged into it at once. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I needed to clear my head. Heading over to my bookshelf, I took out a bottle of mind-numbing alcohol.
Taking off the cap, I brought the copper glass bottle to my lips. The burning sensation was welcomed as it crawled down my throat. Plopping back down on my leather chair, I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to wander back to Patience.
She was always on my mind even when I told her I chose Kailyn.
She was always there.