Two Mated Alphas

Equals

James’ POV

After my father finished explaining I sat back in the armchair in my hotel room. My nose twitched as I thought about what he had just told me.

Apparently, it’s as simple as us merging the packs. We undergo some ancient ceremony to unite our packs, and we both remain Alpha. My pack will still be my pack, his pack will still be his pack, but we will have authority as “Luna” to the other pack. But we will be Alphas in title to each pack. Our packs will then be divided amongst our children through a ceremony and return to separate packs. The ceremony hasn’t been performed in centuries, but it has been taken from the rituals of our ancestors, the wolves.

Apparently, we have to fight the strongest warriors from each other’s packs, the Gammas and Betas. If we win against them, we fight one another. We have to fight to a draw in order for the ceremony to be complete. One cannot dominate over the other, or there will not be a balance of power between us. We have to be complete equals. The ceremony for our children is different: they undergo a series of tests and in time one child is drawn to one pack, and the other is drawn to the other. It is also almost guaranteed that we will have twins as our firstborns because of this.

I was hesitant to accept that I could indeed have a mate, but Ember was howling with excitement. Some small part of me was thrilled that I could potentially accept Sebastian as my mate.

“Can I wait to accept Sebastian as my mate until after the ceremony?” I wasn’t sure what I wanted the answer to be.

“No. To initiate the ritual, you will have to be marked. The two of you will mark one another as part of the ceremony”

I gulped. Marking can be a pretty intimate moment between wolves that usually happens during mating. My father seemed to recognize the look on my face and what must be going through my mind.

“Relax my darling, the marking is less about mating and more about the two of you becoming one. You can actually mark one another prior to the ceremony. But you have to mark one another again during the ceremony, but with no mating involved. Thankfully” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes at my father. So old-fashioned.

James! Let’s go find our mate and tell him what Alpha told us! Ember excitedly wagged her tail.

I let out a long sigh and stood up. I thanked my father for the information and gave him a kiss on the forehead when he left, making my way to the bathroom. I peeled off my sweaty running clothes and hopped in the hot shower. I scrubbed my hair and body, thinking over everything my father told me.

So, it could be possible that Sebastian and I can be mated, and I don’t have to lose my birthright. Is this something I wanted? Is this something he would want?

From the moment Mason and I realized we weren’t mates, I blocked any sort of hope or thought that I would find my mate from my mind. I had, at times, resolved myself to reject him immediately. I could be Alpha without a mate, I could certainly be a mother without a mate (thanks to modern werewolf medicine), so there was nothing I needed a mate for. But when I met Sebastian, it was impossible to say the words to break the mate bond. It was like I was fighting every cell in my body to tear myself away from him. There was no way I could find the strength to reject him.

When I had finished showering, I stepped out and wrapped the white fluffy towel around my body. I stood in front of the steamy mirror and wiped it to look at my reflection. My fathers dark brown eyes stared back at me, with slightly dark circles under them from my tossing and turning. My nose and cheeks had the lightest dusting of freckles, just like my mother. I also had her full lips and unruly hair.

I pulled out my makeup bag and began my skincare routine and then proceeded to throw on some light makeup, mascara, and lip balm. I then ran products through my hair and decided to let the curls air dry. Looking in the mirror and satisfied with my appearance, I stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to my suitcase.

I threw on jeans and an oversized sweater, and as I dressed I made up my mind to find Sebastian and tell him about the ritual. I looked at myself in the mirror before walking out and said to my reflection: “If he doesn’t agree to the ceremony, I will reject him”

Ember winced at my words and began to whimper. Just saying that thought out loud made my heart twist in despair and a lump to form in my throat.

I swallowed the lump and made sure to tuck my room key in my pocket. I started to walk down the hall and was soon walking arm in arm with Irina skipping and smirking at me.

“I told you” she said in a sing song voice “you can be both”

It never ceases to amaze me how she seems to know everything. No doubt she knew all along that our father would come talk to me this morning, and then he told her how it went. Those two are the same freaking person.

“It would have been nice to know what you two were up to” I mumbled as we waited for the elevator.

“Right, because you so would have been all about finding your mate if you had known?” Irina snorted.

“Well..”

“JJ don’t even try to bullshit me. Daddy and I knew that the only way was to wait until AFTER you felt the mate bond. And from what I’ve gathered, you have really felt it” she said, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes at her and shook my head.

“Unbelievable. My Beta female keeping secrets from me” I said with a slight curl of my lips.

“Beta female, Shmeta female. I don’t care, I’m going to make sure you don’t ruin this beautiful gift from the Goddess” she said waving her hand dismissively.

I remained quiet and stared at the screen, watching it count the floors.

“JJ….” Irina said, grabbing my hand and turning me to face her “I know you have made yourself be fine with the idea of not having a mate, and I know why you have. I even in a way get it. If the Goddess is so cruel that she didn’t choose Mason as your mate, then who did she pick? He could definitely thirst for power, take away our family legacy, not just even yours, but my destiny and Inez’s!! But I really believe that the Goddess pairs us with the other half of our soul that is to make us a better and stronger wolf. A mate is someone who completes us in every way, and you of all wolves deserve that!!”

Tears prick at the back of my eyes as she pulls me into a hug, tears already spilling down her cheeks.

“Dammit JJ, my mascara! Ugh. I love you so so much Sis. I just want you to have all the happiness that comes with finding your mate. And I just know that the two of you will change our world. You’re destined for big things JJ. You’re special”

I blinked back the tears before any could fall and smiled at my sister. In moments like this I felt like she was the big sister, but that’s just Irina.

She’s so much like our father, and such a big believer in love and fairytales. She always begged to hear bedtime stories about the Moon Goddess, the first mates, and any other stories about mates finding one another and true love prevailing.

A tiny cynical voice in the back of my mind nagged that she was silly, and that she and Wren were an anomaly. But I pushed that thought from my mind and tried to believe that we were going to be a fairytale too.