CHAPTER TWO THE TWO ALPHAS
1636 Words
CHAPTER TWO
THE TWO ALPHAS
Mia couldn't move.
The words kept replaying inside her head.
She's our mate.
Mate.
The word meant nothing to her.
But the way everyone reacted to it made one thing painfully clear.
It meant everything to them.
The injured stranger was the first to move.
He stepped between Mia and the two identical men, his body tense despite the blood still staining his shirt.
“Adrian,” he said coldly. “Aiden.”
The twins didn't look at him.
Their eyes remained fixed on Mia.
Mia's pulse hammered.
“Would somebody please explain what is happening?”
The twin on the left finally spoke.
“What's your full name?”
Mia frowned.
“You already heard it.”
“Your full name.”
“Mia Carter.”
The man's face changed.
Aiden.
She somehow knew which one he was.
The other twin, Adrian, looked at his brother.
Neither spoke.
“What?” Mia demanded. “Why does my name scare you?”
Adrian's gaze returned to her.
“It doesn't.”
“Then stop looking at me like I've just crawled out of a grave.”
Aiden's mouth twitched.
For the first time, something almost like amusement appeared in his eyes.
“She has a temper.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“So did her mother.”
Mia went still.
“My mother?”
Silence.
The injured stranger cursed under his breath.
Adrian looked at him.
“You knew.”
The man's jaw tightened.
“I suspected.”
“You knew enough to recognize her.”
“I recognized the name.”
Mia looked from one man to another.
“My mother died when I was six.”
Aiden's amusement disappeared.
“How?”
“My parents died in a car accident.”
“Both of them?”
“Yes.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“That's what you were told.”
Mia felt something cold settle in her stomach.
“What does that mean?”
Before anyone could answer, the wolves in the forest growled.
The men surrounding them immediately reached for their weapons.
Adrian raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
“Get Mia into the car.”
Mia stepped backward.
“No.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I wasn't asking.”
“Well, I'm not going.”
His eyes flashed.
“You have no idea what is coming.”
“And apparently neither do I, because nobody is explaining anything!”
Aiden walked toward her.
Adrian immediately caught his brother's arm.
“Don't.”
Aiden looked at him.
“She's terrified.”
“She's also unpredictable.”
Mia stared at Adrian.
“I'm standing right here.”
Aiden smiled faintly.
“I like her.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“You don't know her.”
“I know enough.”
“You've known her for thirty seconds.”
“Thirty-one.”
Despite herself, Mia almost laughed.
Almost.
Then another howl tore through the night.
This one was closer.
Adrian's entire demeanor changed.
“Enough.”
He turned toward the forest.
“Everyone inside the vehicles. Now.”
The men obeyed instantly.
Mia didn't.
She stood her ground.
“I'm not getting into some stranger's car.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're coming with us.”
“Why?”
His answer came without hesitation.
“Because something has been hunting you for twenty-two years.”
Mia's breath caught.
“What?”
Adrian took a step closer.
“Your parents didn't die in a car accident.”
The world seemed to tilt.
Mia stared at him.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“My parents died when I was six.”
“Yes.”
“In a car accident.”
“No.”
Mia shook her head.
“You don't know anything about my parents.”
Adrian's expression was unreadable.
“I knew your father.”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
Aiden looked sharply at his brother.
“Adrian.”
But Adrian didn't take his eyes off Mia.
“Your father saved my life.”
Mia's voice dropped to a whisper.
“Who was he?”
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the dark forest.
“Not here.”
“Tell me.”
“Mia—”
“Tell me!”
Her voice cracked.
For twenty-two years, she'd lived with questions she had never been able to answer.
Why had her parents died?
Why had nobody ever explained the accident properly?
Why had her childhood memories been filled with strange nightmares of wolves and a woman screaming her name?
And now a stranger was standing in front of her claiming he knew her father.
She couldn't walk away.
“I want the truth.”
Adrian stared at her.
Then he said quietly:
“Your father was a werewolf.”
Mia laughed.
It wasn't because she found it funny.
It was the sound a person made when reality became too ridiculous to accept.
“A werewolf?”
Aiden stepped forward.
“Mia—”
“No.”
She backed away.
“No, this is insane.”
The injured stranger suddenly grabbed his side.
Blood seeped between his fingers.
Aiden looked at him.
“Damon.”
The stranger shook his head.
“Don't tell her everything yet.”
Mia turned toward him.
“You knew my father too?”
Damon looked at her.
Something in his eyes broke.
“Yes.”
Mia's throat tightened.
“What was his name?”
Damon hesitated.
Then he answered.
“Ethan Carter.”
Mia closed her eyes.
Her father's name.
A name she'd heard thousands of times.
A name that suddenly felt different.
Adrian spoke again.
“Ethan wasn't only a werewolf.”
Mia opened her eyes.
“What was he?”
Adrian's gaze darkened.
“He was the last Guardian.”
A cold wind swept through the trees.
Mia frowned.
“Guardian of what?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Because something moved behind him.
Fast.
A shadow crossed the road.
Damon immediately shouted.
“DOWN!”
Mia barely had time to react.
A creature launched itself from the darkness.
Adrian moved faster.
He grabbed Mia around the waist and threw her behind him as claws ripped through his coat.
Aiden transformed.
Mia screamed.
Bones cracked.
Muscles shifted.
The human body disappeared beneath dark fur.
In seconds, a massive black wolf stood where Aiden had been.
Mia stumbled backward.
Her mind refused to process what her eyes were seeing.
The wolf attacked the creature.
A second wolf joined the fight.
Then a third.
The forest exploded into chaos.
Growls.
Claws.
Blood.
Mia pressed herself against the vehicle, trembling.
Adrian stood in front of her.
“Don't look.”
“I already saw!”
“Then close your eyes.”
Something slammed into the SUV.
The vehicle shook.
Mia screamed.
Adrian grabbed her.
His arms wrapped around her protectively.
And then she heard it.
A heartbeat.
Not hers.
His.
Fast.
Powerful.
Almost furious.
Adrian looked down at her.
For one strange second, everything around them disappeared.
His eyes softened.
“Mia.”
She couldn't look away.
“What?”
His hand slowly moved toward her face.
Then he stopped.
His fingers trembled.
Adrian Blackwood—the man everyone seemed terrified of—looked frightened by his own desire to touch her.
Aiden's voice suddenly echoed from behind them.
“Brother.”
Adrian turned.
Aiden stood in human form again, blood running down his chest.
His eyes were fixed on Adrian's hand.
“Don't mark her.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“I wasn't going to.”
Aiden stepped closer.
“You were thinking about it.”
“And you're jealous.”
“Of course I am.”
Mia stared at them.
“What does 'mark' mean?”
Neither answered.
Mia's stomach dropped.
“WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”
Adrian looked at Aiden.
Aiden looked back.
Then Aiden whispered:
“If she really is our mate, someone will come for her.”
Mia's voice shook.
“Who?”
Adrian answered.
“The same people who killed your parents.”
Silence.
Mia felt the blood drain from her face.
“Who killed my parents?”
Adrian looked toward the forest.
His eyes became cold.
“The Blood Moon Council.”
Mia swallowed.
“What do they want with me?”
Adrian's answer came slowly.
“They believe you inherited your father's power.”
Mia shook her head.
“I don't have any power.”
Aiden stepped closer.
“You don't know that.”
Adrian suddenly looked at Mia's wrist.
A tiny red mark had appeared there.
It hadn't been there before.
His face changed.
“Mia…”
“What?”
“Show me your wrist.”
She lifted it.
The mark pulsed beneath her skin.
Once.
Twice.
Then a thin red line spread across her wrist like a vein of fire.
Adrian went completely still.
Aiden's eyes widened.
Damon whispered from behind them:
“No…”
Mia looked at all three men.
“What?”
Damon's voice trembled.
“The mark of the Guardian.”
Adrian grabbed Mia's hand.
“Everyone into the cars.”
“Why?”
His eyes met hers.
“Because they know you've awakened.”
A distant howl answered him.
Then another.
Then dozens.
And this time, the wolves weren't coming from the forest.
They were coming from every direction.
Mia looked around in horror.
“How many of them are there?”
Adrian pulled her against his chest.
“Too many.”
Aiden stepped beside them.
His eyes turned gold.
Then the darkness beyond the road suddenly lit up with hundreds of glowing eyes.
Mia stopped breathing.
And one voice rose above the howling.
A voice that sounded almost human.
Almost.
“Give us the Guardian's daughter…”
A pause.
Then the voice laughed.
“…or we'll bury another Carter tonight.”
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