Caught between the three Alpha Kings.

CHAPTER TWO

CARRIE

When I wake up, it is in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. I hear several loud beeping sounds and I find some machines beside my bed, several wires on by body hooked to the machines. I note the disinfectant smell, the white sterile sheets, and gather that I’m in a hospital room.

I try to move my hands but something holds them back. I look at my hands and see that they are chained to the bed, same with my legs. At this, my panic increases. I remember a bit of what happened before I passed out. Did those guards bring me here? Why am I chained? What are their intentions for me? And more importantly, where am I?

My panic spikes as I struggle against the chains to no avail. The beeping sounds on the machine become faster, more rapid, and this must send an alert because not long after, a doctor comes into the room.

“Where am I?” I ask, cringing away from the approaching man.

“Relax,” he says. “There’s no need to panic.”

“I am chained to a f*****g bed!” I scream at him. My heart rate rises even more.

The doctor raises his hands over his head in a sign of surrender. “Believe me, I’m only trying to help you. This wasn’t my decision and I tried to convince them against it, but they wouldn’t listen. But I need you to calm down a bit, or I’d have to sedate you.”

I stare at him, his eyes wide and pleading. I decide to calm down. The beeping sounds of the machines slow down to normal.

“Thank you,” he says. “Now I’m going to tell you why you were in the hospital. You were severely dehydrated and worn out which was why you collapsed. But we managed to resuscitate you just in time before any permanent damage could be done.”

I do feel a bit more rejuvenated than before. He had helped me, but for what purpose?

“Now, I’m going to call in some guards. Nothing to worry about. They’ll just take you to see the kings.”

The kings? What does the doctor mean by that?

The guards come in and unchain me from the bed but still chain my wrists and ankles together. They escort me to see these kings the doctor had spoken about.

The doors open and I’m escorted into a large chamber. My eyes immediately go to the three men seated in the centre of the room, like kings on their thrones. The kings. Now I understand.

But it didn’t even take me three minutes to feel it. Feel the mate bond that drew me. It came on to me with a shock. The mate bond is the last thing I expect at this dark time. I am supposed to feel overjoyed, happy that I had found my mate. Instead I feel indifferent.

The mate bond snakes out of me and connects to not one, not two, but three of them. This is another shock. It isn’t unheard of for a wolf to mate with more than one person but it is extremely rare. The fact that it is happening to me blows my mind.

One of the guards explain the situation to the brothers. The one in the middle—the oldest—looks at me intently before saying, “Take the chains off of her.”

I am relieved at this. Maybe this will actually go well for me.

He also tells them to escort me to a guestroom to get cleaned and dressed. Relief washes through me at the fact that I am now receiving such warm treatment in spite of the chains of earlier. My mates will take good care of me, I think hopefully. They will protect me and make sure nothing bad happens to me. I really need that in this time. My thoughts flash to the events of before, to my father, and all joy dries up in me. Despair and sadness flow from me in spades.

A long while later, I am fully showered and properly dressed. The guestroom is luxurious, with a closet filled with clothes. Some maids came in to help me shower and dress up. Now, I am being escorted to the dining hall where food has already been set out for me.

The eldest brother watches me as I sit. “I’m Terrence,” he says. “These are my brothers Troy and Tariq.”

“Carrie,” I respond, giving him a small smile.

“Carrie,” he says slowly, savouring my name. “Have a bite to eat. You look exhausted.”

I immediately dug into the food on my plate. Bread with cheese and meat and some fruit. The brothers watch me while I eat, Terrence the most intently.

“You eat like a person from a high background,” he observes. “That is interesting.”

“I learned everything from my father,” I say. “He taught me everything I know.”

“How did you get into our territory,” asks the Troy. “We are very curious.”

I take a deep breath then spill everything out to them, not leaving out a single detail.

“Oh,” Tariq says. He looks confused, mirroring the expressions of his brothers. “We haven’t heard of any packs being under any attack or siege.”

“Who is your father?” asks the second brother.

“My father is the Alpha King. Was the Alpha King,” I added with grief.

But then I look up as Troy stands up from his seat so fast that his chair crashes to the floor. He has a look of rage on his face as he storms out of the dining room.

I am shocked at this sudden shift in emotion. Do they know my father? Why are they reacting in such a manner to the words that I had said? I expect a better reaction to this reveal, but I am not given one.

“What’s wrong,” I ask. “Did you know my father?”

Terrence and Tariq have the same expressions of rage that Troy had. I begin to feel the slight tendrils of fear creeping up my body. Why am I beginning to sense that things might go very wrong from here on out?

“Of course you wouldn’t know, you dumb b***h,” Terrence spits out at me. I am in shock. What have I done to deserve being spoken to this way? His demeanour is the exact opposite of how he was when we first saw each other.

“Get the hell out of here,” he says with venom in his voice. “Get out of this pack.”

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