Mated To The Alpha Brothers

CHAPTER 4

“Ah!” I groaned in pain as another round of sharp heat flared through my veins like fire coursing beneath my skin. My body trembled, my vision blurred, and sweat ran down my face. My legs gave out beneath me. A strangled gasp left my lips as I crumpled to the ground, every muscle in my body weakening until I could barely lift a finger.

The world around me came in and out of focus. I barely registered the figures moving toward me, their towering forms casting long shadows across my fading vision. Voices swirled around me and I wasn’t sure if I was only hallucinating.

“You’re in heat,” one of them explained, causing me to realize I wasn’t dreaming. The brothers really were there. “Come with us. We can help you.”

I barely managed a nod before darkness pulled me under.

~

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the arms of Caius as I felt him walking forward. The warmth of his hands on my skin found a way to clash with the heat in my bones and relieve me. The scent of pine and something else underneath made me want to bury my head even deeper into his chest.

When my vision cleared enough to take in my surroundings, my breath hitched. I was sure I was in Moonstone Pack, which was unlike anything I had ever imagined. I had expected small huts for them to gather, but what I didn’t expect was an entire system of houses spread out in a structured community, lanterns casting golden light against the dark sky. Caius stopped walking when we got to what seemed like a grand estate, one that I had only seen in books.

Stone towers rose high behind the gates that we just entered, their windows gleaming with the glow of light.

“How do you feel?” Caius asked, the bass of his voice rocking in his chest and making it vibrate against the side of my head.

“Mm,” I responded weakly, hoping that he would realize that was a signal that I was doing better.

It was only when I craned my head to the side that I realized we were being followed by Rafe and Elias. They led me into one of the massive buildings, the warm air greeting us as I was carried up the stairs and placed on the softest bed I had ever been on.

“You need complete relief,” Elias said, his sharp dark eyes locked onto me. “And the only way to get through this is with skin-to-skin contact with your mate.”

I looked at each of them, wondering what that meant for someone who had three mates.

“You have to choose,” Rafe murmured as if he could read my thoughts.

I looked between them, and it was not a hard decision as I had thought it would be for a moment. Caius was the Alpha, so he held more answers to whatever questions I had.

“I choose Caius,” I said, my voice hoarse from all the shouting I had done.

The tension in the room thickened. Elias’s jaw tightened, and Rafe’s gaze flickered with something unreadable, but neither of them argued. Without a word, they left and closed the doors.

“Is this necessary?” I asked, my voice growing quiet when Caius sat beside me and took off his shirt. “You don’t have to—”

“Don’t worry about anything. It’s for your own good,” he said as he led me to lay down, placing his strong arm around my waist and laying beside me. The relief was instant, as if I had been doused in cool water after hours of running under the sun.

I turned my head toward him, ignoring how my pulse quickened. “How did you find me in the woods again? How did you know I had returned?”

“We’ve been watching you for a while.”

“Why?” It was only after the question escaped my lips that I realized how foolish it sounded.

“Because we wanted to keep you safe. We knew who you were from the start.”

I frowned at how vague and short he kept his answers, but before I could push further, he continued. “You need to know the truth if you’re going to stay here. My brothers and I… we’re cursed.”

“What do you mean cursed?” I turned to face him fully, seeing the distant look in his eyes.

“ Our sister was taken from us. She was murdered by the Umbria clan.” Something in his tone unsettled me. It seemed like there was more he wasn’t saying.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your sister, but what does that have to do with you thinking I’m supposed to be your mate?” I challenged.

His dark eyes flickered as they finally focused on me. “It’s not a matter of thinking, Elara. You feel it, don’t you? I know there’s something drawing you to us. Why else did you go into the woods?”

I swallowed hard, looking away. I did feel something. Something unexplainable. But I wasn’t ready to admit it.

“Tell me everything I should know,” I whispered.

“I’ve told you everything you should know. We were cursed by a witch from the Umbria clan who made sure we all share the same mate, wanting it to cause a rift in our family,” he said.

“No.” I shook my head in disbelief. “That’s not everything. You’re hiding something from me.”

A shadow passed over his face, but he said nothing.

“Caius.”

“That’s enough,” he snapped as he rose from the bed. The moment the warmth of his body left me, the heat returned. I managed to bite back the discomfort as it had gotten more manageable than before.

“You want me to stay here with you while hiding things from me?” I scoffed.

His eyes darkened, but instead of arguing, he turned and strode toward the door. The last thing he muttered was, “ Rafe will take my place” before he walked away.

Moments later, Rafe entered. He didn’t speak or even my eyes. He simply sat on the edge of the bed, his presence as brooding as always since the moment I met him.

Before I could say anything, the door burst open.

A man stood there, his face pale with alarm. “The unmated males... they’ve caught her scent. They’re losing control.”

A chill of terror washed over me as Rafe stood up in alarm, his fists clenched. What did that mean? When they said her scent, who were they talking about?

Before I could ask, another figure appeared in the doorway. It was wolf with wild eyes and a ragged appearance. His pupils were blown wide, his breath coming in heavy pants.

Neither Rafe nor the man who had come to report the wolves going feral had enough time to react before the wolf lunged.

“No!” I screamed as I watched the room tip over. I didn’t have to be told that I was the one being talked about as the wolf was now on top of me.

A scream tore through my throat as I felt a sharp pain in my neck, where the wolf had sank its teeth into.

I was being marked.