He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

Denied: Aly

A few hours later, my dad summons us to his office, presumably to meet with Elder Norissa. Matt is a bundle of nerves, as expected, but the real surprise is Tyler, who is outwardly jittery and nervous for the first time that I’ve seen. I’m more used to seeing him playing brave when he’s nervous, but this time it seems to be getting to him as much as us.

“Guys, stop,” I say quietly just before we make it to the door of my dad’s office. I tug on their hands to stop them in their tracks so we can chat for a minute before we go in.

I pull each of their hands toward my face, resting them against my cheeks. “I just need to tell you something. I’m not going to lie, I’m nervous too, but I can feel that the two of you are downright scared, and I just want you to know there’s nothing to be scared of. Nothing on the other side of that door can hurt us.”

“What if the answer is no,” Tyler worries. “I just have this feeling, from how your dad was acting earlier when he found out about Matt’s dad. They’re going to say no.”

“Then they say no. But my answer will still be yes,” I promise. “They’ll only be saying no to me if that’s the way this goes. They’ll say no, I can’t take you as my mates and still be Alpha, but there are almost no rules about who I can mate with and still be a normal member of this pack. It’ll be okay.”

I say that, taking my turn playing brave like Tyler normally does, but the truth is that outcome would be pretty devastating. I’ve spent my entire life preparing to take over as Alpha. A decision like that would leave me reeling. I also mean what I say, though. Even if taking them as my mates means giving up on that, I still want them above all else.

Tyler sighs, bringing his forehead down to meet mine. “Okay. Let’s just take this a step at a time, see what they say and then decide what to do next. No final decisions yet.”

Matt stays quiet but forces a brave smile when I look at him. I feel bad for the emotional rollercoaster he has been on for weeks straight, ever since we left campus, and even before that. The poor guy can’t catch a break.

I feel him wind his fingers in my hair as he leans in to kiss my forehead, and Tyler squeezes my hand. Since no one seems to have anything else to say, he turns and leads us to my dad’s office door.

I’m surprised by how many people are already inside once he opens the door. In addition to Elder Norissa, Elder Gerard has returned along with another Elder I’ve never met before. They are seated in chairs across from the sofa, and my parents are on either side of them in their own seats. The couch is available, so the guys and I quietly make our way inside and sit there. Though I can tell the others notice us come in, they continue with their conversation.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t really speak on that,” Elder Gerard is telling my dad. “When it comes to things like that, I’m just a pack member. That’s all up to the Alpha unless it is specifically brought before the Elders. And considering that it would involve my pack in this case, I would have to sit it out anyway.”

“I see. I figured as much,” Dad responds, turning his attention to us. “And it’s not really why we’re here today anyway.”

“Yes,” My mom agrees, grabbing my attention. “Aly, you probably remember Elders Gerard and Norissa from when they were here before.” She gestures to them respectively. “And on the end there is Elder Stirling, who I don’t think you have met yet.”

I stand and make my way to shake all their hands politely. Elder Stirling is interesting. I realize when I get up close to him that he is extremely old. Werewolves don’t acquire that many wrinkles until it is getting to be quite late in their lives.

“So good to meet you, Elder Stirling, and to see you both again,” I greet them all in turn. “And these are my mates, Tyler and Matt,” I turn and gesture to them each in turn.

“I remember Tyler,” Elder Norissa says pleasantly, her eyes sparkling with appreciation. “And we’ve been hearing so much about Matt lately I feel like I already know him too,” she adds with a chuckle.

“Yes, well, now that we have all that out of the way, let’s have our chat, then,” Elder Gerard suggests. I remember from when he was here before that his tone always sounds flat and uninterested and try not to let it get to me.

I return to my seat between Matt and Tyler and take their hands in mine. Elder Norissa clears her throat and takes out a notepad, flipping it to a certain page before beginning.

“Alright, well Alpha Kane and Luna Andrea have been filling us in on all that you have discovered on your own, so it seems that many of our talking points have already been taken care of. I’ll just go down the list here and you stop me when I get to something that’s news to you or that you would like me to speak more about, okay?”

She proceeds to tell us that during the process of reviewing Tyler’s trials, the Elders concluded that he had performed as well as a true mate should. Elder Stirling proposed a theory about how a true mate bond could fail to be recognized initially, which led them to investigating Tyler’s background further to confirm. In the process, they discovered that he had a twin and had been surrendered to the hospital where he was born and put up for adoption. Then they unveiled the truth and determined that Matt was that twin brother, and they uncovered his family’s history.

“Any questions?” she asks finally.

“Just one,” I tell her, and then explain, “I get the part about how they’re both my mates because they’re twins, but I don’t follow the part about the true mate bond only manifesting with Matt initially. What was the theory about that, and did it turn out to be true?”

“I can answer that,” Elder Stirling cuts in, sitting forward with interest. “There was another case I had seen before that also involved twins and their mate, though like with the three of you, only one of the twins was recognized as a mate initially. That twin was claimed by his mate and they had their bonding ceremony, and then once the mate was brought to their home, she started to develop a connection to the other twin as well. It was weak at first, but hard to resist whenever the two came within close proximity, until finally one day she recognized that the second twin was also her mate. After reviewing every bit of information we could discover about the twins to try to determine why, the other Elders and I who served at that time determined the most likely cause to be the fact that one of them had been born without a heartbeat, but was revived immediately after delivery.”

“That’s what happened to me,” Tyler blurts out excitedly.

“We know,” Elder Norissa responds to him, chuckling. “And I would suspect that Alyssa’s wolf will eventually recognize that you are as much her mate as your brother is.”

“She already has,” I confirm. “She recognizes them both now and is getting more impatient to claim them because of it.”

The three Elders share a look between them, and it isn’t the sort of look that makes me hopeful about their decision. It’s a knowing, “well isn’t that a shame,” sort of look, with a hint of no one wanting to be the one to tell us the news.

Elder Stirling clears his throat. “Everything about your situation fits with the other instance I’m familiar with, even that you, Alyssa, were born slightly before your mates. It is when the last mate is brought into the world that the bond is said to be forged, and in this case, that was Matthew. When Tyler was born, the bond skipped over him for he had no heartbeat to support it. However, that does not change the fact that he was created specifically for you, in the same way that his brother was, and your bodies, and your wolf, recognize that.”

“That’s romantic as hell,” Tyler blurts out, and then immediately looks like he regrets it.

I don’t, though. He makes us all smile and Elder Norissa and my parents even laugh about it.

“I did not mean to say that out loud,” he admits sheepishly.

Elder Stirling smiles at him appreciatively and gives a look and a nod that tells him he has already been forgiven for his lapse in manners.

“That’s the sort of enthusiasm I have come to expect from you, Tyler, and quite honestly, it warms my heart,” Elder Norissa compliments him.

“I am assuming that we have more information about your situation than perhaps any of you do, so I would be happy to leave my notes with you if you would like to review them,” Elder Gerard offers, only the smallest hint of a smile on his lips in response to Tyler.

Considering that I have never even seen that from him before, I would assume he kind of likes him, which is impressive.

“I appreciate that so much, Elder Gerard. Thank you,” I tell him sincerely, eager to get a look at those notes and see if there is anything in there that will help Matt and Tyler bridge the divide with the Taylors. Well, that and to learn more about my mates, which is exciting in itself.

“But of course, our little investigation was a bit of a side project from the matter at hand, and although we felt it relevant to the decision, I’m sure it’s not what you’re mostly interested to hear about,” Elder Stirling begins to segue into the next part of our discussion.

I feel Matt tense beside me, and notice Tyler’s breathing start to become a little choppy. My own heart is pounding from the anticipation. I wish I could speed his speech along, but I also want him to take his time and not break my heart just yet.

“After a great deal of deliberation, we have reached a decision about what had begun as a query about Tyler’s suitability as your mate, but of course, has now turned into a question of whether these two men and brothers would be an appropriate match for an Alpha,” Elder Stirling continues.

“I would personally prefer to start with the good news,” Elder Norissa cuts in. “If I may, of course, Elder Stirling. With your permission.”

He gives her a frustrated look, pursing his lips together as though he is annoyed at how she jumped in, but nods and waves her on.

“The good news is you are an impressive young man, Tyler,” Elder Norissa compliments him with a smile. “It was easy for the seven of us to come to an agreement about that. You excelled in all the characteristics we look for, and though we generally would prefer for an Alpha’s mate to be a werewolf, just simply because of how it makes things easier in the long run -”

“I want to be one,” Tyler blurts out, cutting her off. “A werewolf, I mean,” he clarifies with a blush. “I want Aly to turn me. And I’m not just saying that. I asked her before we even started the trials. She said no then, but I’m not done begging her. If she does, then you won’t have to worry about me being human.”

I turn my head to look at him, stunned. I do remember having that conversation, but he hasn’t said anything about it since. I didn’t know it was still a concern of his.

“Tyler, that is … uh, good to know,” Elder Norissa responds awkwardly, seeming to struggle to choose how to say what it is she actually wants to say without upsetting him.

“It’s just that it won’t make a difference,” Elder Gerard adds, apparently deciding he should be the one to deliver the hard truths. “It’s not whether you are a werewolf that is the problem here. As she was saying, you on your own without the context of your history and the twin bond with Alyssa was an easy yes for us, despite your human condition. The problem, or rather I should say problems, are that there are two of you, plus the two of you are linked to others of questionable circumstance. That’s not to say that I personally agree with any of that, but that was the majority consensus that was reached.”

“So, you’re saying that me and my dad are the problems,” Matt, who has been silent so far, speaks up. “Because of us, you would deny her the whole Alpha thing.” He shoots to his feet, letting go of my hand and wrapping his arms around himself. “But what if you remove me from the equation? You said you were okay with Tyler, so just let him be her mate. Then you don’t have to worry about me or my dad getting in the way of things.”

That hurts to even hear it or try to think about it, and it doesn’t help to see how tortured he looks.

“Matt, no,” I protest as I rise from my seat and reach out for him. He shrugs me off, though, and that cuts deep. I know he’s struggling and trying to be brave and I try not to take it as a rejection, but it definitely feels like one.

“It doesn’t work that way, Matthew,” Elder Stirling says gently. “A twin bond is different from other mate bonds. You and your brother are linked to Miss Bentley as a pair, and she cannot accept one without the other while still maintaining that bond. And if you were to reject her, it would sever your brother’s link to her as well.”

“That’s not to say that it couldn’t be done,” Elder Gerard interjects. “You could reject her, and the existing bond would be severed, and then she could take him as a chosen mate. However, your father is the same as his, at least biologically speaking. There’s no guarantee that if we took that possibility back to the others, that we wouldn’t come back with the exact same response.”

I try again to pull Matt to me, and this time he lets me. I manage to convince him to sit back down with us because right now all I really want is to hold onto them both. It scares me how quickly he seemed ready to just walk out on us. I don’t even care what noble intentions he had in mind.

I also feel a need to demand answers from the Elders, though there are only three before me now.

“I would just like to state for the record that I think this is complete bullshit,” I comment, struggling to keep a grip on my temper. I can see that my dad isn’t particularly happy with my choice to confront them, and I anticipate that he will step in at some point, but also do not care.

I feel like I still have something that needs to be said, so I continue ranting, “I don’t know what antiquated beliefs led to this decision that having two mates is somehow a problem for an Alpha, but it’s insane. Alphas have powerful personalities, so who’s to say that I wasn’t given two mates because I can be a complete pain in the ass to the extent that it takes two whole people to balance me out?”

I stand up to face the Elders, the rage rolling off me in waves at this point. “And who the hell are the Elders to even think they have the right to question the will of the Moon Goddess anyway?”

“QUIET, ALYSSA!” My dad growls out in his Alpha tone. I have no choice but to do as he says, my rant grounding to a halt with a yelp. “Sit down,” he demands, using the same tone.

That annoys me because I hadn’t even gotten to the part about how dare they come after my mates about their father being a rogue when I don’t see anyone going after the Alpha who caused it.

“I apologize for that outburst, Elders,” he speaks on my behalf.

Tyler reaches for my hand again, seeming to try to soothe me by running his thumb over my knuckles in a way that would calm me under normal circumstances. Matt remains quiet and still beside me, and it kills me that I still don’t know what all is running through his head right now. I don’t want him blaming himself for the Elders’ shortsighted decision.

“It is appreciated, Alpha Kane, though I would also like to say that I understand where she is coming from,” Elder Norissa responds amicably. Gone is her previously cheerful demeanor, replaced with an expression of sympathy and pity.

Alright, I’ll admit that my rage is probably misplaced. I don’t know about Elder Stirling, but the other two have as much as said that they weren’t the ones who decided against me. It’s probably good that my dad intervened. Maybe, anyway. I’m too upset to feel too guilty about it, though. If these Elders thought the decision was wrong, they should have continued to fight it.

“I would caution you, though, Miss Bentley, against any further outbursts. Keep in mind who you are addressing, and that regardless of whether your feelings are understandable, your behavior is inexcusable. Prospective Alphas don’t tend to get more than one free pass, if they are lucky enough to even receive that much,” Elder Stirling points out, and though his tone is neutral and informative, I recognize the threat there.

“I can sense that our meeting has started to digress past the point where anything further we have to say will be useful, so I would suggest that we wrap this up,” Elder Gerard says. “My offer to leave these with you still stands, though,” he adds as he hands his notes to my mom, who passes them on to Tyler.

He takes them and just holds them in his lap for now. I had been so concerned about Matt’s reaction that this is the first I notice how absolutely devastated Tyler looks, everything from his facial expression to the way his posture looks slumped and defeated.

We wrap up the pleasantries with the Elders, which at this point feel rather forced, and then Matt, Tyler, and I make our way to leave. My mom follows after us so that the Elders can speak privately with my dad. I’m sure the four of them will have a grand time planning my future for me and picking out suitable mates for an Alpha, since they’re all so good at that.

It’s a waste of their time now, though. Riley already has a mate.