Bound to the Twin Wolves

Callie´s POV Mom was drinking again, and when she was like that, it was best to stay out of her way because anything could set her off—even a smile—since she might take it as mockery. So I grabbed the keys to her truck, an old Bronco that, with the weather that night, probably wouldn’t even start. I prayed it would and climbed in. My prayers were answered on the third try. I was heading to Martin’s house, my boyfriend of three months, ever since the school year had just begun. He was the most popular guy in school, so it surprised me that he had noticed me at all, considering that during all the years we’d attended the same high school he had never once even turned to look at me. Lila, my best friend since we were little, said it was because over the summer I had “changed a lot,” while staring at my chest. I immediately knew what she meant, because I had always been a 34A and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, I was wearing a 34C. So I drove to his house that Christmas night because I was finally going to give Martin what he had been asking for since the day we shared our first kiss. “Don’t be shy, babe,” he had said that time. “I know you’re a virgin, but I’ll teach you.” Even though I wanted to experiment, I refused because I thought it was too soon. But over those three months Martin had behaved well. He had been sweet and patient. He didn’t pressure me again, even though sometimes he touched me and I allowed it. He never pushed it too far, and when I stopped him, he obeyed. So that night I had decided my virginity would be a good Christmas present for him—the best one he would receive that night. I parked near his house, which was nothing like mine. Martin’s house belonged to a prosperous, wealthy, united, and highly respected family, while I lived alone with my mother in something that looked more like a trailer than a real home. It had been that way ever since we had to move after my father abandoned us the day after I turned four—an age when you already start forming memories. Damn him, his face is carved into my mind, along with that fateful day when, instead of showing up with a gift—the tricycle I had wanted so badly—he simply got into his car and drove away, never to return. I had hated him ever since for that, and for waiting long enough to leave so that his face and that moment would stay burned into my memory. I checked my lip gloss and adjusted the panties I had bought for that special night—a purchase I made with my waitress salary. I had been saving that money to buy something for my mother, but when she slapped me during her latest drunken episode because I hadn’t bought her favorite brand of cigarettes, I told her to go to hell and went out to buy those panties instead—the ones I was now going to give to Martin. I stepped out of the truck, wrapped myself in my raincoat, and, slipping through the darkness like a thief, approached his house with the intention of climbing onto the roof, reaching his bedroom window, and hiding there to give him the surprise of his life. Of course, his parents didn’t like me. They had looked down on me the day Martin had the kindness to introduce us. After not even greeting me, I heard his mother refer to me as “that little slum girl. I just hope Martin doesn’t get serious about her. Much less get her pregnant.” So they certainly weren’t going to open the door and welcome me with freshly baked turkey and an invitation to receive my gift under the tree. That was why I had to sneak into my boyfriend’s room like a ninja. I was good at climbing, and I went up the tree next to the garage. I reached the roof and brushed off the freshly fallen snow. I walked carefully so I wouldn’t slip, and when I got to Martin’s bedroom window, I saw shadows moving inside. So it wasn’t empty. I leaned closer to look, just in case it was his parents or some guests from his huge family—whose luxury cars I had seen parked along the curb. But what I saw inside, illuminated by the streetlamp, took my breath away. Martin was lying on his bed, and on top of him, naked, was Stefanni, the captain of the school cheerleading squad, while Martin was grabbing her breasts. It didn’t take much imagination to know he was screwing her. I stepped back and almost slipped off the roof, but I managed to grab hold, making the shingles clatter. Martin jumped up and, naked, leaned out the window. “Callie?” the i***t asked. “No, I’m Santa Claus, and I’ve come to bring you a little gift, you damn dog,” I wanted to say, but I was too scared of falling, so I just looked at him and told him what I had just seen. “Wait, let me help you,” he said while getting dressed. I wasn’t going to accept his help for anything in the world, so I let go and closed my eyes when I knew I was falling. I was lucky—I landed on a fluffy, snow-covered hedge that took the full weight of my backside. But when I stood up, I saw Martin doing the same thing, sliding down the roof. I realized he also knew that route into his house. I started running before he could catch me. “Callie, wait, don’t run. Let me explain,” he said as he tried to catch up. But I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I didn’t want him to catch me, didn’t want to see him ever again. Still, he was an athlete—the football team’s quarterback—so he eventually caught up despite the head start I had. I dodged him when he tried to grab me and ran a little farther, until I reached an alley where I hoped he wouldn’t see me. But he did and followed me there. “Callie, wait, please. There’s an explanation.” I had no choice but to face him—it was a dead end. I turned around. “Pig! I saw everything! You don’t need to explain anything.” “But that’s exactly what I want to do, because I swear there’s an explanation. Stefanni came to my house talking about her boyfriend, Michael—remember him? The one on the softball team.” Every word he said tasted like crap, and the last thing I cared about was his excuse. “Michael cheated on Stefanni, so she was really upset, and I tried to comfort her—” “So you decided to do the same thing and cheat on me!” I exploded. “I didn’t mean to, but Stefanni looked so bad, and I just wanted to make her feel better. And I had been drinking a lot at the party earlier, you understand?” “And I was coming so we could be together. You’re pathetic!” “Really, babe? That’s why you came?” “Don’t call me babe.” “But you are, sweetheart, my beautiful girl. We can still go back to the house and you can give me what you told me you were going to give me. I’ll tell Stefanni she has to leave.” How could that i***t think I would sleep with him after what I had just seen? “Don’t even think about it, Martin. We’re not dating anymore. We’re nothing.” “But baby, it was just a mistake. Come on, show me a little of what you came to give me.” “Martin, no.” He slipped his hand inside my pants and felt the new panties I had bought, but I didn’t want anything with him anymore. He was starting to disgust me. His hands even smelled like Stefanni’s perfume. But he didn’t stop. He was no longer the patient, polite Martin I had planned to give myself to. He looked desperate—Stefanni must have left him heated, unfinished, and now he wanted to finish with me. But I wanted nothing to do with him. “Martin, no. Stop. I don’t want you touching me.” He kept going and started pulling my pants down. I began to panic, because everything suggested he had no intention of stopping. “No, Martin, stop! I don’t want this!” He didn’t stop. He would have continued if not for a man’s voice behind him. “Hey, the girl said no. Didn’t you hear her?” Martin turned, and I looked over his shoulder. At the entrance of the alley, I saw two tall, broad young men staring at Martin with contained rage. “Stay out of it. She’s my girlfriend. It’s a couple’s issue.” “We’re absolutely getting involved if you don’t take your hands off her, because we already know she doesn’t want you touching her.” But Martin ignored them and touched me again. The next thing I saw was one of the young men stepping forward and grabbing him from behind. He was so strong he lifted Martin like a rag doll and shoved him away, nearly to the other side of the alley. Martin crashed into a trash can, and I saw such fear on his face that he ran off. “Are you okay?” the young man who had lifted Martin asked. His companion stepped closer, and in the light of the streetlamp I saw that not only were they handsome—the most gorgeous men I had ever seen in my life—but they were also twins. “Asher, wait a second. Don’t you feel the same thing I do?” one twin asked his brother. “Yes. I know. I feel it too. She’s our mate.” A chill ran down my spine. I pulled up my pants and wiped away the tears I had shed. I felt so embarrassed that, even though I knew the twins deserved all my gratitude, I avoided them and ran toward where I had parked the truck. When I got inside, I turned and saw them in the distance. They hadn’t stopped looking at me, and I couldn’t get them out of my head because from the very moment our eyes met, I felt a magnetism from another world—one I had never felt for any man, much less two. And what the hell did they mean by saying I was their mate?