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.

Reece

Emily was my childhood bestie. We'd done everything together, from causing mischief to playing in muddy water that had our parents grilling us and almost forbidding us from being close to each other. We had cried together, laughed together, endured bullies and bullied right back.

Pack members knew us, they said our friendship was marked in stone and sealed by fate. As youngsters, we never really understood them, only that we enjoyed each other's company and the fact that my father was the Beta of her father who was an Alpha, made things easier for us.

Emily saw me as the brother she wished for but could not get, her own brother was more or less a nightmare to her. She was treated like an outcast by her family, rather than the true daughter of an Alpha and the little sister of a future Alpha.

But I had no issue filling the gap; I was older than her anyway, so there was no trouble there.

I was lucky to have had a father who cared for my well-being, and my elder sister, who was now the wife of a Beta of another pack, did her best for me, especially in trying to fill up the role of our late mother. My family was nicer than Emily's had been and it made me proud of how she'd turned out regardless and I had sworn to never let anything or anyone hurt her.

Even now, staring in the face of the pillager of our pack, who was shockingly our mate, I was ready to make sure no harm came to her, especially not from this devil from Hades who had ruined the good life we had. I wondered why the Moon Goddess gave us this hateful person as a mate.

Ilan - my wolf - was also under the binding mate bond, and I wanted him to snap out of it.

"Ilan, get over it. Stop acting all affectionate toward this varlet," I communicated telepathically to him. I wanted to give this ruffian a piece of my mind, not drool stupidly at him but I would be helpless, unless my wolf was able to pull out of the mate bond.

It worked and Ilan growled and it resonated through me. "Let us go, you evil being!"

"Allow you to go where, my dear mate?" He sneered when referring to me as his mate.

I sneered right back. "Back where we belong," My hands soon balled into fists.

I caught Emily's pleading look; she was still under the mate bond's pull. I ignored her, Emily always wanted peace. She was too quiet and too cheerful to want confrontations. In fact, she hated conflicts. But this was our lives at stake here and I was not going to let go so easily.

He cocked his right brow, an annoying smirk formed on his lips, "You mean you want to return to the ruined and now-desolate pack land?"

"Who made it so?" I gritted my teeth, "Who came into our pack in the early hours of the morning to kill and plunder? To maim and destroy? To keep some alive as slaves, who did all that?"

He merely regarded me with indifference and it vexed me more. I wanted him to react, I wanted him to get incensed, so I could challenge him to a duel.

"Mind how you talk to an Alpha," He spoke in a tone that would normally cause chills to spread along the spine of anyone and make one go reasonably quiet but I was far from being reasonable. He was not reasonable when he trespassed our pack and left it in ruins!

"Or what? What will you do?" I challenged spitefully, "If you were so powerful, you'd not have done what you did the gutless way. You would have challenged the Alpha of my pack to a fight. You'd have declared war on us and seen us defeat you to shame!" I spat at him.

He grabbed my jaw and pressed harder. I pretended it didn't hurt, I refused to let him see my weakness. I would not let him see how much he has broken me.

"Please, let him go," Emily beseeched.

"Don't implore him, let him do his worst! This is what he does, rather than fight like the Alpha he is, he prefers the cowardly way," I said to Emily while staring defiantly at the vile man before me.

Yes, he was getting irate, just as I'd wanted. But the anger soon dissipated, and he let go of my jaw. Amusement filled his eyes instead, and I wondered what was funny.

"You think killing my people and taking the rest of us as slaves is funny? You think it is?" I growled, wishing I could tear this bastard into a million pieces and feed him to snakes!

He rested a hand on my shoulder, looking rather entertained, "I like your fierceness, mate,"

Then he rose, put his hands in his pants' front pockets and turned to walk out of the cell, much to my dismay. This wasn't how things were supposed to pan out. I wanted to fight him and send him to hell, even if I had to go down there with him!

Why was he laughing? Did he see me as a wimp or just some buffoon who provided amusement?

The nerve!

"Get back here! How dare you walk out on me like that, you clod?" I yelled, rushing towards the gate that a guard who just arrived had already locked.

Still undeterred, I shook the bars of the gate hard, my eyes filled with fury.

"Come back here! Are you deaf?"

"You, go and sit down and stop yelling. This isn't a market square!" the glowering guard warned me but I didn't care.

"Tell your coward of a leader to get back here. I'm not yet done with him. How dare he walk out on me?"

Now the guard looked amused, "Because he's Alpha, the most powerful one in existence. An entity you are destined to bow to, till you expire. If it doesn't settle well with you, that's none of our business. If you miss your dead relatives too much, there's always another option. Bite your tongue and go to hell,"

The guard flaunted the huge golden key in his hand at me, a mocking grin surfaced on his face. Then without another word, he left arrogantly.

"Damn it!" I spat through clenched teeth.

Even a mere Omicron wolf looks down on me? How pleasant!