by Bryce Evans
Larken didn’t beat around the bush. “Why are looking at my mate?”
“I’m sorry, brother. I won’t look at her again.” Larsen looked down at the floor trying to get control of his emotions before his twin brother could see that Ash was his mate, too.
“Brother, what is it. I can see you are conflicted about Ash.”
Larsen looked up, surprised. Larsen tried to hide it, but his twin knew him too well. “Brother, I know Ash is your mate, but…”
Larken knew the answer. He could tell by the way that Larsen looked at Ash. He knew his brother never looked at women like that. He slept with women but never looked at them the same way or acted concerned. “But she is also your mate, too.”
Larsen bowed his head knowing that Larken was his brother but also his Alpha that he respected and loved. He didn’t want his brother mad at him. He would give up his mate before he allowed his brother to be unhappy about sharing a mate. “Yes.”
Larken blew out his breath, turned around, and abruptly sat down at his desk.
Larsen could see the tension in Larken’s body when he answered him. “Brother, you will never have to worry about me trying to take your mate. I would never do that. Ash is your mate. Not mine.”
Larken looked up, giving Larsen an unknowing look. “Brother, we have shared women before. We will also share a mate, too. You are my twin and the fates have brought us a mate that will probably kill us both. Let’s just say this has surprised me. I would never ask you to give up your mate. The fates must know something that we don’t. Ash is very strong-willed and she scares the shit out of me.” Larsen smiled then started laughing at his brother’s explanation. Larken started laughing, too.
“I mean it, Larsen. She is different. I can’t figure her out. We both may be up shit creek without a paddle. She may turn us both down. She is having a hard enough time understanding me being her mate. And before you ask, no, she doesn’t want me.”
Larsen shook his head. He knew Ash would be a lot to handle, but she stirred something in him that he couldn’t explain. Ash would come to mean the world to him. In fact, she already had. He wanted to possess her and keep her safe. These feelings were coming out of every pore in his body. He knew his brother felt the same way. He could see it in his eyes. He knew his twin and they would need to come together and find a solution.
Larken and Larsen sat and discussed what they needed to do to gain the love and trust of their human mate.
***
Ash turned her head sideways, trying to relieve the tension she was feeling from sitting at the table all day going over profiles and who to send to question possible leads. Nash watched as Ash tried to stretch, feeling her stress.
“Can we take a break?” Nash knew that Ash wouldn’t ask for a break. She would plow right through. Ash stood and stretched then walked over to the snack table, picking up snacks and putting them on a plate. Nash walked over to Ash. “Are you okay?” This was the first time Nash had spoken to Ash one-on-one since lunchtime. He didn’t like the tension that was between them. He loved Ash as his family and best friend.
“Yes, I’m fine, Nash.” Ash held up a plate of food and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“I can get myself something. You need to eat, Ash. The Alphas will be back here in an hour, so eat up. You need the food for energy. I don’t want you passing out again.”
Ash saw the concern on his face. She reached up and touched his cheek as Larken and Larsen walked in the door.
Immediately Larsen leaped to where Nash stood and shoved him against the wall, pinning him there and growling at him. His eyes had already turned yellow and his wolf was coming to the surface. Larken and Pelton ran over and tried to pry Larsen’s hands off Nash. Larken was telling Larsen that Nash wouldn’t hurt her. His wolf was too close and he was ignoring them. Ash ran over, grabbed Pelton, and pushed him away. Then she reached up and grabbed Larsen by the arm. “Let him go now, you…you wolf!” Ash screamed.
Larsen felt his mate’s hand on him, telling him to let Nash go. He dropped Nash to the floor as Nash gasped in a big breath of air. He turned and looked at Ash confused. Ash pointed her finger at Larsen, poking him in the chest, backing him up a couple of steps.
“This is the last time I tell you wolves to stop trying to beat Nash up. He is my best friend. I will touch him or do anything I damn well please with him. I dare any of you to try to stop me. You have no fucking clue about me or what I’m capable of. If you touch him again, I will rip your fucking arm off. Don’t underestimate me.”
Larsen wasn’t even listening much since Ash was actually touching him. He was getting hard watching her threaten him. I’m in love already. He couldn’t wait to get her in bed. He bet that she would be as wild as a tiger. This was his mate. Larsen started smiling as Ash started poking her finger in his chest. He couldn’t help it. She was turning him on.
Ash saw Larsen smile at her, infuriating her even more. She turned and grabbed her purse then stormed out of the room.
“Did you see her? Wasn’t she magnificent?” asked Larsen.
Nash got off the floor, rubbing his neck where Larsen had him pinned to the wall. “Yeah, Sheriff, what was that about?” Nash asked.
Larsen realized that everybody was looking at him. “What? You were touching my mate.”
Nash wanted to hit his head against the wall. He knew it; Ash was going to blame him for this and for bringing her here. “Your mate? I thought she was the Alpha’s mate?” Nash groaned.
“Sit down, Nash. You will need to sit down for this,” Larken responded.
Nash sat down at the table with Pelton, listening to Larken explain that Ash was also Larsen’s mate. After he finished, they all watched Nash, waiting for him to say something. Nash knew Ash better than anyone did and they wanted his opinion since he was her best friend.
Nash rubbed his hand through his hair, trying to release some of the tension he was feeling. He sat back and let out a deep breath, annoyed at the situation. “She will blame me for bringing her here. I know she is your mate, but Ash is different. There is a lot you don’t know about her.” Larken and Larsen narrowed their eyes trying to understand what Nash was saying.
“You said that before, Nash, and I let it go. So tell me what you mean by that,” Larken said as he sat down across from Nash.
“It’s not my story to tell, Alpha. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I won’t betray Ash. If you talk to her maybe she will tell you.” Nash stared at his Alpha, knowing that wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he wouldn’t betray her trust. He had guilted Ash into trying to give Larken a chance but now that Larsen said he was her mate, too, this would be too much for her to handle.
“Okay, let’s just get through this meeting and then we can go look for our mate to try to make her understand,” Larken muttered. The door opened and the Alphas started coming in. Larken instructed everyone to sit down and the meeting started.
Chapter Seven
Lori Sanchez looked up into the eyes of a girl she didn’t know. She tried to talk, but her throat was too dry. The girl leaned over and tried to give her some water from a water bottle. “Just drink a little,” the girl whispered.
“Where am I?” Lori asked.
“I don’t know. They brought you in here about an hour ago,” the girl said.
“What is your name?” Lori asked, trying to sit up on the bed.
“I’m Jamie…Jamie Johnson. Those goons took me. They say we are joining their pack and that you are now my sister,” Jamie said as she rolled her eyes as she looked around the small room.
“I belong to the Dugan Pack. I can’t join another pack,” Lori said with tears in her eyes.
“OMG. That is what I told them too, but the big one who calls himself Alpha hit me in the face. He said they didn’t want me anymore and gifted me to his pack,” Jamie said. Tears sprang to Jamie’s eyes. Lori reached out and held her hand. “He said we would be mates with the men in his pack who didn’t have a woman.
I tried to tell him that I was only fifteen years old. He said I was old enough to mate and have pups that would make his pack grow.”
“OMG. I’m only fifteen years old too. I’ve never had sex before,” Lori said in shock.
“I know, right, but he said he doesn’t care and that I would have plenty of sisters to help me get through it. He said he only needed a few more girls before we are mated,” Jamie said as she huddled closer to Lori.
***
Ash went up to her room and put her coat on. She needed some fresh air and it was starting to snow outside, so she decided to go sit on the porch to try to calm down. Plus she didn’t want to run into Larken or Larsen. She wanted to think about everything that had happened and why Larsen tried to choke Nash. Everyone was acting strange since the meeting and she didn’t like that she couldn’t speak to or touch anyone. Ash felt as if her choices were being taken from her already—and that was not going to happen.
***
The meeting didn’t take long after the orders were given. Larken and Larsen wanted to go find Ash. Nash had received a phone call from the security team about a group of young men who were harassing some females outside behind the lodge. Larken looked at Nash wondering if he should go with Nash to help. “Look, Alpha, I can handle it. If I need backup, I will call. Go find your mate, but be gentle with her.”
Larken smiled and patted Nash on the back. They all left in different directions.
Nash walked around to the back of the lodge and located the four men who were drunk. They had two women who were trying to get away from them, but they kept harassing them as they walked toward the lodge. Nash came up to the men and scented that they were werewolves. He stopped the men from following the women.
“Hey, guys, hold up for a minute. It’s time for you to leave the lodge,” Nash said as he held up his hands, stopping the men from following the women. Then it turned ugly. One of the wolves pushed Nash.
“Go fuck yourself,” one of the men said as he tried to walk around him. Nash jerked the guy backwards, stopping the guy from following the women. The man jerked his arm away from Nash and pushed him backwards. “You fucker. I will kill you,” the man growled. Nash struggled, trying not to let his wolf out. However, the men had other plans. They wanted a fight. Two of the men shifted into wolves and tried to attack Nash while the others pushed him back and forth into the circle they formed around him.
***
Ash was antsy sitting on the porch and decided to take a walk, but she didn’t want to go far from the lodge. She wanted to go down to the frozen lake and watch people ice skate. She was walking along the path when the hair on her neck stood up. Something was wrong, Ash could smell Nash’s blood in the air. Running along the path, she followed the scent to the back of the lodge and saw two men, and what appeared to be two dogs, fighting with something. The closer Ash got, she realized that it wasn’t dogs but wolves, and they were pushing Nash back and forth so the wolves could bite him.
Larken and Larsen walked out on the back porch when they both smelled her scent. Ash was standing frozen, staring at something. They both watched as her body crouched down into a fighting position. Before they could get her attention, Ash jumped and landed further up the path into the open area behind the lodge. Ash screamed at two of the men, trying to gain their attention. She grabbed the two wolves by their necks and slung them against the fence. Both wolves hit the fence with such force that they slid down the fence to land on the ground. One of the wolves never got back up while the other wolf tried to get up but couldn’t gain his footing and fell back to the ground. The two men stopped pushing Nash to look at the woman who had thrown their two friends into the fence. They were stunned, which left them wide open for Nash to grab them both.
Ash angrily walked toward the two men. Her fangs sprang from her mouth. Every muscle Ash had was tensing up for a battle. Nash threw the men to the ground, turned, and held his hands up to Ash trying to stop her. He had seen this look before. She was in protection mode, trying to protect her best friend. Nash knew the damage she could do to the men. He could tell that she wasn’t in control and wanted them hurt, or dead. Nash could see the emotions running through her. Her eyes held the look of a predator. Ash was scary when she got like this. She would lose herself when she let this part take over.
Larken and Larsen had jumped from the top of the porch and were running toward Ash. All they knew was their mate was in a fighting stance and she had jumped further than any man or wolf could.
Jonas and Pelton were standing on the back porch drinking a beer when Larken and Larsen came out to look for their mate. They stood as Larken and Larsen jumped off the back porch.
Nash put up his hands to stop Ash from advancing on the two men. He knew the power Ash had in her, especially when she was protecting someone she loved. Larken and Larsen ran up behind Ash trying to get to their mate. Nash yelled at Larken and Larsen to stop and not to touch her.
Ash was still enraged and in fighting mode, it would take a few minutes for her to get control of herself. “Ash, calm down. Look at me, honey. I’m okay. They didn’t hurt me.” The two men were on the ground watching the woman who had thrown their friends fifty feet away into a fence. They were so drunk they didn’t know what really happened.
Ash slowly straightened up. It was as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes. Her voice was rough when she spoke. “Nash… Are you okay?”
Nash walked up to her but didn’t touch her. He knew his Alpha and the Sheriff were already in protection mode, too. He looked over Ash’s head and signaled them to be cautious. “It’s okay, Ash.” She reached up and touched his face where he was bleeding from a cut when one of the men’s claws slashed him across his cheek.
Larken and Larsen walked up beside Ash. She dropped her hand and took a deep breath. She could smell both Larken and Larsen’s scent. This calmed her for some reason. She avoided looking at them, the thoughts that were going through their head right now had to be about what kind of freak she was.
Jonas and Pelton came running up, looking over at the wolves that had shifted back and were moaning from where Ash had thrown them against the fence.
Four security guards ran up to Nash. “Are you okay, sir?” They looked over and saw the Alpha and the Sheriff were also standing there with Nash. The guards turned and showed their necks to the Alpha and his second, Larsen.
“Get this trash off my property. If they can’t act like decent wolves then they are banned from the lodge.” All the men bowed, ran, and picked up the two men lying on the ground, shaking their heads. They escorted the other two men toward the front of the lodge. As they walked past, one looked at Ash and asked, “What are you?” Nobody said anything but looked back at Ash, who had her head down and her eyes closed.
“Ash, it’s okay. They were too drunk to understand what really happened. They won’t remember this tomorrow.” Ash never looked up, but the tears were falling down her face. If Larken hadn’t seen the tears, he would have thought she was asleep standing up.
“How did you…?” Larken never finished his sentence when he watched as Ash tensed up and folded in on herself.
She was scared that her secret would be out and they would try to experiment on her.
“Ash, it’s okay, look at me,” said Nash.
Ash slowly lifted her head and stared at Nash. “I need to leave before they come and get me,” Ash said in a scared whisper.
Larken, Larsen, and Nash all said at the same time, “No.”
“Nobody will come for you, Ash. I promise you,” Nash responded.
Larken and Larsen could see that Ash was cold and was starting to shiver. “Let’s get you inside, baby, and out of the cold. We will figure this out,” Larken whispered to Ash.
Larsen reached over and dragged Ash to him. He lifted her up in his arms, holding her close to his chest. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to have her near him. He could see the anguish on her face, she was about to break. Ash cuddled up closer t
o Larsen. They walked to the back door where they wouldn’t be seen as Larsen carried Ash to the garage. All the emotions Ash was feeling about her life with her mates had overwhelmed her, making her weak and spent. Ash was so exhausted that she fell asleep in Larsen’s arms.
All the men got into the SUV with the Wilder brothers and traveled further up the mountain where the Wilder home was located. Ash wasn’t awake to see the log cabin mansion that was built on the side of the mountain. Jonas looked over at Pelton, who was looking out the window in awe. The cabin was a replica of the lodge. It was huge and breathtaking. The cabin had a wraparound porch. Jonas smiled and cackled at Pelton’s expression.
“You need to get out more often, Pelton, and visit more of the packs,” replied Jonas.
Pelton swallowed hard and nodded. Nash pulled into the garage and everyone started getting out of the vehicle.
Larsen still had Ash cuddled in his arms. She never moved. Her face was nuzzled in his neck and was sound asleep, inhaling the scent of her mate. Larken pulled the door open for Larsen as he carried her up the stairs into the kitchen area.
Pelton stood looking around the kitchen. He couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.
Pelton and Jonas stayed downstairs while Larken and Larsen took Ash upstairs to the master bedroom. Larken went over and pulled the comforter down. Larsen laid Ash down on the bed. He started taking her shoes off as she turned in her sleep and lay on her side. She was still asleep as Larken pulled the comforter back up and tucked it around her.
Nash watched silently at the door as Larken and Larsen looked down at their mate. Larken reached down and skimmed his fingers through Ash’s hair, pulling it away from her face. They both heard Nash turn around and leave the room. Larsen looked up at Larken. The silent bond the twins had was understood. Larken and Larsen always could communicate with each other in wolf form, but nobody knew they could in human form, too. They kept this a secret from others in the pack, in case they needed to use it.