EMILY’S POV

Into the dark space, I was spun around to meet the face of…

“Reece?”

“Yes, it’s me, Emily,”

I searched his face in the dark. Now that my nerves were settled…a bit, I was able to pick out his familiar scent, ignoring the smell of dirt and sweat that were mixed with his body scent. Suddenly remembering the maid I was with, I tried to find her in the dark.

“Your Highness?”

A hand reached out to rub against my arm, and I jumped.

“It’s me, Your Highness.” I hear the maid's familiar voice.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here. Uhmm…”

“Melissa,” she provided, understanding I was unaware of her name.

“Melissa, I hope you’re fine?”

There was silence.

“Melissa?”

This place was dark; I could barely see past me. I heard a sniffle.

“Yes, Your Highness,”

“It’s okay.”

I tried to console her till she calmed a bit.

Next, I found the hand of my best friend since childhood in the dark and held onto him. Reece was the only person outside my family who knew me and understood me. I’ve always had this crush on him, though, but it was not mutual. Still, I’d rather have him as a friend than let some feelings ruin our relationship. It had hurt, but he was still in my life, and that was enough for me.

He hugged me tight. "Are you alright?”

I heard the concern and fear in his voice. Underlying those emotions were the tiny threads of sadness and pain stringing along the edge of his voice. I returned the hug as tightly too, forcing myself not to give in to emotions. I needed to have answers first before coming to any conclusion. I inhaled his scent as some sort of comfort, wishing it would calm the incessant throbbing of my temples, the frantic pounding of my heart and loosen knotted nerves.

“Where are the rest?”

I pulled away from the hug. I hated the fact that this place was dark and we could not go out because of some intruders.

The only thing I could hear was his heavy breathing. He gripped my hand tightly. He was tense and angry; I could feel it from our contact.

“Tell me what happened, Reece? I woke up to find the manor empty, and Melissa was running with blood all over her. Please, do you know what happened? Where’s my father? Where’s yours? Where’s Julian?”

Just like me, Reece lost his mother at a tender age, so we just had our fathers, though Reece had an elder sister, but she was already mated and married to the Beta of a different pack and no longer lived in our pack. I had an elder brother, Julia,n who mostly ignored my existence and treated me unkindly too.

“They are dead,” he replied, deadpan. His tone was flat and void of any feeling.

“So it’s true? Melissa was not lying.”

I broke into a sob. I had believed her for a moment, but then I’d had a different thought.

A small seed of hope had dared germinate, and now it was shrunken. It had wilted and died. My father was dead. Just like that, without a goodbye. It felt strange to feel this way toward the family who had never shown me love.

Reece engulfed me in another hug. He was mourning with me and at the same time, offering comfort. I offered him comfort in return; I was not the only one who had lost a family member. I knew how close he was to his father. The spitting image of the man, too. His father had been my father’s Beta.

“What are we going to do now, Reece? We have no family anymore. It’s just you and me now. And Melissa,”

My sob was heavy, and tears ran freely down my cheeks; I did not bother to hold them back. Reece’s hand searched my face and wiped the tears away.

“It’s okay, Emily, we’ll find a way. We’ll try to find a way.”

I got the feeling he was also speaking to himself. Trying to encourage himself as he was encouraging me. I used to believe him. His words always found a way to calm me and fill me with the courage to go on, but this time was different. We had not just lost our family, but our pack too.

“Are we going to go rogue, Reece ?”

The quiver in my voice was unmistakably conspicuous. Going rogue was seen as taboo for werewolves. They were the lowest, most despicable kind of werewolves. No one wanted to be associated with a rogue, and for someone from a respectable werewolf family like Reece and me, it was the most humiliating thing ever.

“I won’t let it come to that, Emily. I promise you.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’ll seek help from my sister. Maybe her mate can talk to the Alpha of their pack and take us in.”

“Do you think he’ll agree to help?”

“Why not?”

He was not fully convinced that his plan would work, but I guess he was trying to find the light in this overwhelming darkness, figuratively speaking. Though, literally speaking, I also wished there was light to brighten this place. It was quite cramped and dark.

“Do you…”

He clamped a hand over my mouth. “Be quiet, Emily.”

That was when I heard the noises. Incomprehensible ones. But as the voices drew near, their words became clearer. They were arguing, sort of.

“How could you let two girls outrun you?”

There was an annoyed growl from the second person, “They did not outrun me.”

“So where are the girls you’re supposed to have in your custody right now?” The first person taunted further.

“I’ll find them!”

“Remember, the Alpha had said no one must escape. We must gather every living werewolf of the Greyhound pack,”

“And I said, I’ll get the two girls. They came this way,”

“There’s no road here.”

The other person sounded really upset.

Reece’s hand was still clamped in my mouth. I shook his hand off when it was getting uncomfortably hard for me to breathe properly. Melissa found my wrist, and I winced from how hard she held tight, her fingers digging into my flesh.

“Stop it, Melissa, you’re hurting me,” I whispered.

“S-Sorry, Your Highness,”

She was crying again. I hope she was not going to give us away.

“Stop crying. They might hear you!” Reece warned. His tone was panicky and mildly irritated.

Soon, we heard footsteps walking away, and everywhere became quiet. I exhaled in relief; that had been a close call.

Suddenly, there was a scream, and Melissa was pulling at my nightwear.

“Got you!”

Melissa’s strong hold of my nightwear soon went lax until my gown was free from her grip. Then I saw a looming figure at the entrance of our hideout. We’d been caught. The men had found us. Technically, they had found Melissa first and had figured that I was going to be there. They did not know of Reece’s presence yet, and I did not want to expose him, but I was scared; I could not let go of his hand.

A hand was stretched out and grabbed my arm, pulling me out. Reece was holding onto me, too. He was struggling to keep me by his side. But the man was stronger and soon had me out.

“So there you are!”

His smile was dark and menacing.

I struggled not to tremble or let his dark gaze intimidate me.

“Look what I found,”

The second person had gone in and brought Reece out.

“Three. Even better! You’re sure there’s no one else in there?” the one who had me and Melissa effortlessly bound by his hands asked.

“Yes, I checked, no one else!” the second person replied. He was annoyed that Reece was struggling to be free from his hold. “Will you hold still, you clod?”

“Not until you let me go,” Reece retorted.

Out in the morning light, I could see him properly. His white shirt was stained with blood, too, and had creases on it. His blonde hair was tousled, and was that dirt I saw clinging to a few strands of his hair? His brown eyes harboured tiredness, grief and pain. Also, there was anger.

I sighed in sadness. I had never seen my best friend look this way before. His eyes were always crinkled in humour, and there was this usual lopsided smirk he wore. Reece was not one to get angry or feel negative, but now, all I could detect from my best friend were negative emotions.

I watched him still trying to struggle free from his captor, who was way taller and bulkier than him. And, possibly stronger too.

“Please, Reece,”

I pleaded with him, getting his attention and hoping he’d read the signs in my eyes. I did not want him fighting these men; they could hurt us. Him, especially if he kept refusing compliance with them. His body, which was poised for aggressive defence, relaxed and caved in.

Our gaze still locked on each other, I mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him. Reece was a very tenacious werewolf who was ready to fight it out till death, if that was what it took.

“Let’s go. The Alpha will be waiting for us.”

Reece’s captor said triumphantly to the one tightly gripping the wrists of Melissa and I, pulling my best friend forward roughly. My captor pulled us forward in an equally rough manner.

“Hey, don’t manhandle them!” Reece warned the one holding us; anger flickered in his eyes.

Our captors exchanged gazes and laughed.

“Are you trying to score a point with the ladies?” my captor taunted, an unfriendly smile creeping onto his face and spreading his lips a bit.

“Or maybe it’s one of the ladies?” his own captor joined it, his mocking tone was also obvious.

I shook my head at Reece, silently begging him to stop. I knew he was trying to protect us but we were no match for these mean hulks. One wrong word or action could set them off and have them tearing out flesh with fangs that I was sure were as deadly as their demeanour.

It was obvious they had no sympathy. Not even an ounce of empathy. Anyone who could transgress into their fellow pack just to kill, maim, plunder and secure the residents, the ones remaining, as captives could well do anything else. And that was what I did not want.

We were dragged along like common strays with no care for us. I noticed Melissa was still crying, but she had the sense to do it silently. Reece was quiet, too quiet. His expression was masked, betraying no emotion. It made me wonder what he was thinking. I just hoped he was not planning any crazy moves that might get him killed; I needed him to survive this. If anything should happen to him, I would be gone too.

“Let’s head out, back to the pack!”

One of our captors called out as soon as we reached where the other members of my pack were held captive, too. My eyes widened in horror at the damage that had been done to my pack.

Dead bodies lay scattered. Smoke from different areas wafted through the air, the evidence of burned-down properties. Tears streamed down my cheeks seeing all these innocent people lying dead.

Why?

Who was the tyrant Alpha who had done this?

Why did he have to be so mean and wicked, snuffing life out of people, even children?

“Ashton!”

I heard Melissa cry out, her eyes fixed on a dead body lying on the ground with a slit throat and open, lifeless eyes. She had stopped walking.

My chest constricted when I saw who she was looking at; it was a boy no less than fourteen or fifteen.

“Keep moving!”

Another captor brought out a whip and tried to hit her. That made me snap, and everypiece of advice I’d given to Reece to keep it low flew out of my head in that instant. I was angry, my wolf was angry.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” That warning had come out as a growl.

The captor with the whip advanced towards me menacingly, but I was too incensed to care that he was stronger than me and might probably snap my neck effortlessly. Enough of their wicked acts, I wasn’t going to let them whip Melissa. She deserved the right to mourn; these bastards won’t take that away from her.

“Do you want me to whip you instead?”

His eyes were chillingly dark and wicked. Then he flexed the whip, proving he would go through with his threat.

“Touch her, and you’ll regret it!” Reece’s growl was deeper and meaner than mine. It boosted my morale and steeled my spine, encouraging me not to show fear.

“What is going on here?”

My wolf senses heightened. Ilaya — my wolf — began prancing in my head. Following the scent, she wanted me to sniff, so I obeyed and did a deliberate slow spin on my heel. My eyes flashed hot.

“Mate!”

“Mate!”

“Mate!”

EMILY

What?! I turned to my side to see who had growled out that same word beside me, my eyes widened in shock. Reece? I swept my gaze to see the person who had also spoken, whom Ilaya had perceived to be our mate. I was hit aback by the view before me.

He had silver hair that caught the beam of the young morning sun, it was shoulder-length long and held in a small elastic band. His green eyes- the shade of forest- were striking but cold; I wondered how something that was so beautiful could house such iciness and ominosity.

My gaze slowly went down, taking note of his every feature; his delicately pointed nose, chestnut lips that were curled in disapproval and surprise, a fine chin that had a day or probably two-day-old stubble. The muscled, evenly toned biceps added to the allure of the man. He was wearing a black shirt that did little to hide the rock-hard body beneath. My gaze wandered back to his face, his expression was formidable and there was this dark aura that oozed from his presence.

"Ilaya, calm down," I told her firmly, she would not stop prancing in my head.

"We have not one, but two mates, Emily!"

She was full of glee. My wolf was the definition of happy and bubbly, no matter what we might have gone through in the past, or even now, she never let it affect her personality, which was why I was blessed to have her. She cheered me up. Every werewolf could communicate telepathically with their wolves.

"You two are my mates?"

The dangerous guy who looked young but was obviously older than Reece stepped forward, his expression darkened more, if that was even possible. He looked from me to Reece, back again to me and then to Reece.

Reece, on his own, was beyond stunned. He looked at me and I saw the obvious question; why had we not recognized each other as mates until now? And his question was valid, we had grown up together, did everything together yet our wolves had never reacted this way around each other.

"Look at me, the both of you,"

His tone was calm but I did not miss the steel underneath. The forest green orbs flickered to a darker shade, and an involuntary shiver raced through my spine, causing the hair at the back of my neck to stand stiff.

I was commanded to attention not just by his voice but the mate bond was at work here. From my peripheral vision, Reece was affected too. We could both do nothing but stare at our third mate.

"Do you both know who I am?"

As though on cue, Reece and I exchanged curious gazes, I was hoping he had a clue and from his expression too, he was thinking the same thing.

"Who are you?" Reece asked, his countenance changing to a serious, mildly curious one. And from his stance, he was trying not to be intimidated by our mate's unfriendly, hostile persona.

"You murderer!" Someone cried from the crowd of captives already in shackles.

I whipped my head to see who had dared utter those words, my heart pounding in fear for that werewolf. It was an elderly man, he was from my pack...or what used to be my pack.

"Bring that man to me!" this strange mate commanded, the steel in his eyes was still there and his words dripped with dispassionate frigidity.

"Yes, Alpha!"

Alpha?

Reece and I met each other's gaze again as though it was a rehearsed thing. He was an Alpha? Not just any Alpha but the tyrant, evil one who had ruthlessly pillaged our pack, murdered innocent lives and taken the rest of us who were alive captive?

This Alpha was our mate? The shock and absurdity of the situation were boldly written on our faces. How could such a mean werewolf be our mate?

"What did you call me again?"

This Alpha roughly handled the man when he was brought to him by one of his men. The poor man visibly shook in fear, unable to speak. I saw him bring out a knife from the small sheath attached to the waist of his trousers.

"Please don't..."

"Don't kill him!"

I cried out before I could stop myself, only to realize Reece and I had spoken at once.

The Alpha raised his eyes to both of us and smiled, but there was nothing sweet or sunny about it. There was a dark, dismal doom about that crook of his lips. "Oh, my mates have spoken," His gaze went back to the man. "They are begging for your life. They are your pack members and my mates, what a cruel twist of fate!"

He sneered derisively. Seeing him raise his knife, I screamed, refusing to watch him kill that man in cold blood. But all I heard was a grunt. I turned to see that he had merely used the edge of the weapon to hit the man's head.

"You have my mates to thank for saving your life,"

The way he'd said mates was unkind. He clearly detested the Moon Goddess's choices for him, and honestly, I was the same.

He was the enemy. How could I be mated to the enemy? Was the Moon Goddess blind?

"Our mate scares me, but he excites me too," Ilaya commented from her lying position in my head.

"I hate him, Ilaya. Look what he has done to our people!"

"I know, but we cannot hate our mate. The mate bond is too strong to allow it," she sighed. She was torn between the evil this Alpha had done and the bond that held us so strong.

I sighed too, unable to argue with her.

"Let's go." He ordered.

The men began to take the captives away. Our captors pulled us behind.

"Leave those two to me. I will lead them myself,"

He advanced towards us, took a long thick rope and tied Reece and me. I winced when I saw his mean, wily smile. He had purposefully tied us painfully tight. Reece had his face contorted but did not make a sound, he knew it was an intentional act on the Alpha's side.

"There, my mates, walk with me," he flashed an evil grin and brutally dragged us along.

EMILY

"Why did our wolves never recognize each other as mates until now?" Reece inquired, his serious gaze on me.

"I don't know," I replied, idly playing with the small stone I had picked in the cell.

Since we arrived at his pack, he had the others thrown in different cells but had personally thrown us in a different cell. So it was just Reece and I in this cell.

"But mates are meant to recognize each other,"

I sighed defeatedly, "I do know of that. But why we could not recognize each other? I don't know,"

Silence folded in on us. We were drawn into our respective world of thoughts. I wondered what life had left for me, what my future would be like. I had lost the only home I ever knew, lost the only family I had, even though they had hated me when they were alive.

"I'm sorry,"

His tone was low and defeated.

"For what?" I asked, my brows furrowed.

"Your father and your brother, Julian,"

I sighed. An indistinguishable mixture of feelings swamped me, my eyes stung and my head pounded. I tried to swallow the tears but they fell before I could even stop them.

"It's okay," I say in a quivering voice.

"It's not okay, Emily. It's okay to grieve,"

Since our hands were no longer bound, he moved closer to me and held my hand, squeezing in comfort. I dropped my head on his shoulder and bawled my eyes out.

The thing was; I did not know how to react to their deaths. I was sad that I was never going to see them again. Also, I was angry over how they'd treated me badly while I held on hope that they'd someday change and begin to treat me as a member of the family rather than an annoying stranger, they had died.

They died without love for me in their hearts. They died still remaining who they were to me. I did not know if I should mourn them or be angry and disappointed.

"I don't know if I'm grieving or just plain angry," I finally told him when my sobs had died down a bit, enabling me to talk.

"What do you mean?"

"Unlike you, I am not sure which to do." I sniffled and wiped my cheeks. "You know how they were with me. How they both treated me like a stranger than family. Maybe I never was to them. I accepted and cared for them still, hoping that someday they'll finally regard me as a Langston. But..." I broke down again and sobbed louder.

The werewolf who was ordered to guard our cell gave me a strange, irritating look. I paid him no mind. Reece did not either.

"But they died without ever loving you,"

Reece completed for me, totally getting my point. This was why he was my best friend. He knew everything about me. Understood my feelings better than my own family.

"Am I a bad person for not fully grieving as I should? I mean, they were family, regardless,"

"How you feel is entirely normal. Anyone in your shoes will feel the same. They never treated you as a Langston which I always say was a very cruel thing to do. Don't blame yourself, Emily,"

"Okay, I guess I needed to hear somebody say it,"

"I'm glad I'm that person," he nudged me, in an attempt to cheer me up.

I passed him a teary smile of gratitude, "I'm sorry about yours too. You were close to him,"

He gave a small sombre nod. "Yes, I was,"

"I'm sorry,"

"It's okay. You didn't kill him. Our mate did,"

The last sentence came out dripping with venom, especially when he mentioned mate.

"I wonder how the Moon Goddess could fate us to such a despicable werewolf?"

"I don't know too. I mean the guy's evil," Reece's vein popped from his neck, showing how enraged he was. It was my turn to squeeze his hand to calm him down.

"It's okay, Reece. Let's just think of our future and what would likely happen to it,"

That was a very heavy thought that I could not decipher at the moment and I saw from his expression that he was also skeptical about the future. We were imprisoned by our mate who was the worst Alpha in the history of Alphas. So young, yet so mean. So handsome, and yet so vile!

"What is your wolf saying about our mate, Reece?" I resumed, placing my head on his shoulder, our hands still clasped.

"He is angry but he thinks he's attractive,"

"Ilaya thinks so too,"

He chuckled, "How much more can our wolves betray us?"

I spread my lips in a smile. "They're shameless!"

"Having a cuddle session without your mate?"

There he was, his presence overwhelming the cell, even when he was not yet in it. My wolf reacted to the strong pull of the mate bond, and so did Reece's wolf from the way he was staring at the Alpha.

How did he get here without giving away the sound of his footsteps? And how did he act so aloof and distant while Reece and I almost drooled at his presence? Was he not feeling the pull of the mate bond as we did?

"Do you have no regard for an Alpha?"

That shiver that came from hearing the dark tone coursed through me again and instantly brought me to my knees.

"Alpha!"

"Alpha!"

Reece had joined me too. Was this how the mate bond worked?

"You may rise, my mates!"

There was the taunting again as if he was mocking us for being mated to him. As though we were not worth being his mates.

He opened the cell and came in as soon as we rose. He strode towards us, slow and somewhat threatening. I gulped, unsure of what to expect. Ilaya was doing a mad prancing in my head as his scent filled my nostrils. He was close, so close!

"Do you want to know why you both never felt the mate bond until I came into the picture?"

How did he even know about what Reece and I had discussed? Has he been here the whole time?

He raised both mine and Reece's chins, staring intently at both our faces. I was hot all over from his touch on my skin. There was nothing sensual about it but I tingled all over.

This mate bond was stupid.

"Because a triple bond needs the third person to be activated. So, without me, you both can't be mated,"

And I couldn't hate the haughty, smug expression on his face any more than I already was.