CHAPTER TEN
1534 Words
IVAN
I watched my twin brother claim my mate, and something inside me snapped.
Caleb stood there looking calm and collected like he always did. Like this was just another business meeting. Like he wasn't destroying everything I'd been working toward for the past week.
The woman I'd been trying to win over. The woman who'd been driving me crazy with her rejections and her stubborn attitude. The woman who made my wolf howl every time she walked away from me.
She was mine.
I'd found her first. I'd claimed her first. I'd announced to the entire pack that she was my mate.
And now my own brother was standing there telling everyone she belonged to him too.
How could the Moon Goddess do this to us? How could she give us the same mate?
It didn't make sense. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair either.
Alicia was staring at the floor like she wanted to disappear. I could see her hands shaking. She looked pale and scared and overwhelmed.
The servants around us were whispering. Their voices were getting louder and more excited.
"Two mates?"
"Is that even possible?"
"What are they going to do?"
"This is insane."
I'd heard enough.
One look from me and the entire room went silent. The fear in their eyes was instant. Good. They should be afraid.
"Everyone out," I said. My voice was deadly quiet.
Nobody moved.
"Now!" I growled.
The servants scrambled toward the door. Even the Alpha of this pack hurried out of his own office. Within seconds, it was just the three of us.
Me, Caleb, and Alicia.
The silence was heavy, and dangerous.
Caleb was still looking at her like she was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. Like he was studying her. Learning her. It made my blood boil.
"You need to leave," I told him.
"No," he said simply.
"This is my territory. My pack. My mate."
Caleb finally looked at me. His golden eyes were calm, but I could see the hardness underneath them.
"Your mate?" he asked. "Because from where I'm standing, she doesn't seem to want you."
My hands clenched into fists instantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you've been here for a week and she's still working in the kitchen. It means she runs away every time you get close. It means you've been treating her like a conquest instead of a mate."
"You don't know anything about it," I snapped.
"I know enough, Ivan," Caleb said. "I know she's scared. I know she's been hurt. I know she doesn't trust you."
"And you think she'll trust you?" I questioned.
"I think she deserves better than whatever you've been giving her,” he retorted.
That was it. I stepped forward as my wolf pushed forward. "You've been here for five minutes. Don't tell me how to handle my mate."
"Our mate," Caleb corrected.
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Our mate. Not mine. Ours.
I'd never shared anything with Caleb. Not really. I mean, we'd shared women before, sure, but that was different. That was just s*x. Just fun.
This was different. This was everything.
"I'm not sharing her," I said.
"You might not have a choice."
We stared at each other across the room. Two Alpha Kings. Two brothers. Two wolves who'd never fought over anything before. Until now.
Suddenly, Alicia made a small sound that sounded like a whimper. We both turned to look at her immediately.
She was moving toward the door. Her green eyes were wide with panic.
"I can't do this," she whispered.
She turned and ran for the door, but Caleb moved faster than I'd ever seen him move. He reached out and caught her hand.
The moment their skin touched, I saw it. The electricity that went through her. The way her knees nearly gave out from under her. The way her eyes went wide.
Sparks. Sparks that could only be caused when you came in contact with your mate.
The same ones I'd felt when I touched her for the first time.
Suddenly, a growl burst out from my throat before I could stop it.
Caleb's eyes snapped to mine. "Ivan."
"Let her go," I said.
"She's shaking," he said quietly. "She's terrified."
"Let her go,” I repeated.
But he didn't. Instead, he turned back to Alicia. "It's okay, love. Nobody's going to hurt you."
She was staring at their joined hands like she couldn't believe what was happening.
"This isn't possible," she whispered.
"I know," Caleb said. "But it's real."
She looked up at him with those green eyes that had been haunting my dreams. "Why is this happening to me?"
"I don't know," he said. "But we'll figure it out."
We'll figure it out. Like they were a team already. Like I wasn't even in the room.
"I'm taking her back with me," Caleb said suddenly.
My wolf roared to life instantly. "What?" I growled.
"I’m taking her to my kingdom. She'll be safe there."
"She's safe here," I said.
"Is she?" Caleb asked. "Because it looks like she's been living in a servant's room and working in the kitchen while you've been playing games."
"I wasn't playing games."
"No? Then what were you doing?"
I didn't have an answer for that. Because the truth was that I had been playing games. I'd been trying to win her over slowly. I'd been trying to prove that I was different from my reputation.
But maybe I'd been going about it all wrong.
"She stays here," I said.
"She comes with me," Caleb said.
"Over my dead body."
The words hung in the air between us. They sounded heavy and final.
Caleb let go of Alicia's hand and moved toward me. "If that's what it takes."
My heart was pounding. Not because of fear, but because of rage. Because of possessiveness too. And because of the need I had to fight for what was mine.
But she wasn't just mine anymore, was she? She was his too.
Alicia gasped. "Are you really about to fight because of me?" Her eyes were moving from me to Caleb.
We both turned to look at her. She was pressed against the door, and her face was pale with shock.
"You're going to fight each other?" she asked. "You're brothers."
"Not when it comes to you," I said.
"Ivan," Caleb warned.
"What? It's the truth. You think I'm going to just step aside and let you take her? You think I'm just going to let you waltz in here and claim what's mine?"
"What's ours," Caleb said.
"There is no ours!" I shouted. "There's only mine!"
Alicia flinched at my tone. I saw her hands shake. Then I saw the fear in her eyes.
And I realized I was scaring her. Again.
Just like I'd been doing for the past week.
Maybe Caleb was right. Maybe I had been handling this all wrong.
But I didn't know how to handle it any other way. I didn't know how to be gentle. I didn't know how to be patient. I only knew how to fight for what I wanted.
"I'm taking her home," Caleb said quietly.
"No," I said.
"She needs time to process this. She needs space to think."
"She needs to be with her mate."
"Mates," Caleb corrected. "And right now, she's afraid of both of us."
I looked at Alicia. She was still pressed against the door. Ste was still shaking. And she was still looking like she wanted to run.
Caleb was right. She was afraid.
She was afraid of me, of him, and of this whole impossible situation.
"Please," she whispered. "Just let me go."
"We can't," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because you're ours," Caleb said gently. "And we're yours. That's not something you can just walk away from."
"Watch me," she said.
She placed her hand on the door handle, but I stepped in front of her.
"You're not going anywhere," I said.
"Ivan," Caleb warned.
"What? She's our mate. We're not letting her run away."
"You're scaring her."
"She's scared of you too."
"But I'm not blocking her exit."
I looked at Alicia. At her wide green eyes, and the way she was trembling.
Maybe I was making this worse. Maybe I was pushing her away instead of pulling her closer, but I didn't know how to stop.
"I'm taking her back with me," Caleb said again.
I stepped forward. "Over my dead body,” I said again. And this time, I meant it.
Alicia's heart was pounding heavily. I could hear it from where I stood across the room.
"Are you really about to fight because of me?" she asked again.
Her voice was so small. She sounded so broken.
But the answer was yes.
Yes, I was about to fight my own brother. Yes, I was about to risk everything.
Because she was worth it. And because she was mine.
Ours.
Whatever this was, whoever she was, she was worth fighting for.
Even if it meant fighting the person I trusted most in the world. Even if it meant destroying everything.
She was worth it all.
- Writer
