Chapter 2: Three Alphas, One Forbidden Mate
1614 Words
Three Alphas had just called me their mate when a Mooncrest howl tore through the forest behind us.
Fear shot through me.
I turned toward the sound, and another howl answered from somewhere closer.
They had followed me.
Of course they had.
Draven couldn’t let me escape after I heard what he and Vaela were planning.
“Mate.”
The word came again, this time from the black wolf standing closest to me.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“No.”
The answer left my mouth before I could stop it.
My wolf reacted differently.
Mate.
Her excitement pushed against my mind with such force that my knees nearly weakened.
Not one, she whispered.
Three.
“No,” I said again, louder this time. “That’s impossible.”
The black wolf shifted first.
Bones cracked, fur disappeared, and seconds later a tall man stood beneath the moonlight. He reached for clothes hidden near a tree and dressed without taking his eyes off me.
My breath caught when I recognized him.
Rhaen Veyrick.
The exiled Alpha.
Every wolf in Mooncrest knew his name.
Draven had described him as dangerous, ruthless, and unfit to lead a pack.
But Draven had also planned to use me in some kind of ritual, so I no longer trusted anything he’d ever told me.
Rhaen’s dark eyes moved over me.
“Who are you?”
Anger pushed through my fear.
“You called me your mate before asking my name.”
His expression didn’t change.
“Your name.”
“Avelyn Morcant.”
For the first time, Rhaen reacted.
His jaw tightened.
My stomach dropped.
“You know who I am.”
Before he could answer, the silver-gray wolf shifted.
The second man dressed quickly, then pushed his light brown hair away from his face.
Kaelor Veyrick.
Unlike Rhaen, his expression wasn’t cold.
He looked curious.
Almost amused.
“You’re shaking,” Kaelor said.
“I’m surrounded by three strange Alphas while my old pack hunts me through the forest. Forgive me for not being relaxed.”
His mouth curved slightly.
Despite myself, warmth moved through me.
Attraction.
The realization made irritation flare inside me.
How could I feel desire after what Draven had done?
Only hours ago, I had walked into the room where my mate was supposed to be preparing to claim me and found him with Vaela.
My best friend.
The memory still carried heartbreak sharp enough to make breathing hurt.
I glared at Kaelor.
“Don’t smile at me.”
His eyebrows lifted. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
That made his smile worse.
“Kaelor,” Rhaen warned.
Kaelor raised both hands. “I’m behaving.”
The third wolf shifted.
Soren Veyrick wrapped a dark cloak around himself before approaching. His eyes immediately dropped to my arm.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re still bleeding.”
There was genuine concern in his voice.
I stepped backward.
Soren stopped instantly.
“I won’t touch you without permission,” he said quietly.
Something inside me softened.
Relief was the last emotion I expected to feel tonight.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Another howl echoed through the trees.
Closer.
All three brothers changed.
The teasing disappeared from Kaelor’s face.
Soren turned toward the forest.
Rhaen stepped between me and the direction of the sound.
The movement startled me.
He didn’t even think about it.
He simply placed himself between me and danger.
My chest tightened with an emotion I didn’t want.
Hope.
I crushed it immediately.
Trusting Draven had nearly destroyed me.
I wouldn’t make the same mistake with three men I had just met.
“How many?” Rhaen asked.
Soren tilted his head.
“At least seven. Maybe eight.”
I stared at him. “You can tell from here?”
Kaelor glanced at me. “You really aren’t from around here, are you?”
“I know how wolves work.”
“Apparently not Veyricks.”
“Should I?”
Rhaen gave Kaelor a hard look before turning back to me.
“Why are eight Mooncrest wolves chasing you?”
I crossed my arms.
“Maybe they’re very protective.”
“They crossed into Black Veil territory,” Rhaen said. “Packs don’t risk war because someone wandered away from home.”
His words erased what little humor remained.
He was right.
Draven hadn’t sent them because I caught him cheating.
He wanted me back because of the ritual.
“I was supposed to be marked tonight,” I admitted.
All three men looked at my neck.
No bite.
No mark.
Kaelor’s voice became quieter.
“You ran before the claiming ceremony?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
My throat tightened.
Humiliation burned through me even though I knew I shouldn’t be ashamed of someone else’s betrayal.
“I found Draven with Vaela.”
Soren frowned. “Who’s Vaela?”
“My best friend.”
Silence followed.
I looked away.
The image returned anyway.
Draven’s hands on her.
Vaela staring at me as though I was the intruder.
The man I’d loved for years choosing her on the night he was supposed to claim me.
My sadness sharpened into anger.
“I gave them both my trust,” I said. “Apparently neither of them deserved it.”
Soren’s expression softened.
“Trusting someone isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
I looked at him.
“It’s what they did with that trust that matters,” he added.
His words hurt more than I expected.
Because part of me desperately wanted to believe him.
Rhaen’s voice pulled me back.
“An unfaithful mate still doesn’t explain the hunters.”
“No.”
“What aren’t you telling us?”
I hesitated.
Another howl sounded.
Much closer now.
My fear returned.
“I heard Draven and Vaela talking after I found them.”
“About what?” Rhaen asked.
“A ritual.”
The three brothers exchanged a glance.
My pulse jumped.
“You know something.”
“Continue,” Rhaen said.
I hated how calm he sounded.
“They said Draven had to mark me first. After that, the Council could transfer something from me into him.”
Kaelor’s face hardened.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Soren looked at my chest.
More specifically, at the faint crescent-shaped mark glowing beneath my collarbone.
His expression changed.
“What did they call you?”
My hands went cold.
“Eclipseborn.”
Every trace of amusement vanished from Kaelor’s face.
Soren went completely still.
Rhaen cursed under his breath.
Surprise turned quickly into anger.
“You know what that means,” I said.
Nobody answered.
“Tell me.”
“Avelyn,” Soren began.
“No.”
My voice cracked with frustration.
“I’ve spent my whole life being told almost nothing about myself. Tonight I discovered my mate was betraying me, my best friend helped him, and the Council planned to use my body in a ritual I never agreed to. I’m done letting people decide what I deserve to know.”
Rhaen stared at me for several seconds.
Something in his expression shifted.
Respect, maybe.
Then he approached slowly.
My wolf surged toward him.
Heat spread through me.
I hated that fear and desire could exist together.
Rhaen stopped close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body.
“Give me your hand.”
I didn’t move.
His voice softened.
“Please.”
That one word surprised me.
I slowly held out my hand.
His fingers closed around my wrist.
The bond exploded.
Heat raced through my entire body. My breath caught, and a fierce longing spread beneath my skin as if some missing part of me had suddenly recognized where it belonged.
Rhaen inhaled sharply.
Then a dark crescent appeared on his wrist.
He released me.
“What did you do?” he demanded.
“Nothing!”
Kaelor suddenly swore.
A matching crescent was forming on his wrist.
Soren looked down.
His appeared next.
Shock silenced all four of us.
Three marks.
Three Alphas.
One mate.
“No woman can carry three true mate bonds,” Rhaen whispered.
“Apparently I can,” I said.
The words should have frightened me.
They did.
But beneath the fear was something warmer.
Something dangerously close to belonging.
My wolf was almost joyful.
Then branches cracked in the darkness.
Rhaen spun toward the sound.
Seven wolves stepped through the trees.
Mooncrest.
And behind them walked Draven.
My heartbreak turned instantly into fury.
His gaze moved from me to Rhaen, then to the matching marks glowing on the brothers’ wrists.
Draven’s face went white.
“No,” he whispered.
Rhaen stepped in front of me.
Draven’s eyes burned with rage.
“Give her back.”
Kaelor moved to Rhaen’s side.
“She’s not property.”
Draven ignored him.
His attention stayed on me.
“Avelyn, come here.”
Once, that voice would have made me obey.
Tonight, it only reminded me of betrayal.
I stepped closer to the Veyrick brothers instead.
Draven saw it.
Pain flashed across his face, followed quickly by hatred.
Then he said the words that turned my anger into terror.
“If those three complete the bond with her, the Eclipse seal will break.”
Rhaen froze.
I looked at him.
“What seal?”
Draven smiled.
It wasn’t loving.
It wasn’t apologetic.
It was the smile of a man who knew something about me that I didn’t.
“The one keeping you alive.”
My blood went cold.
And beside me, Rhaen whispered the words that frightened me even more.
“He’s telling the truth.”
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