The Bride Games

The Council Meeting

James:

Lucas strides into the meeting late, nodding his head in my direction in apology. He must think I’m an i***t that I don’t smell Ember all over him as soon as he enters the room. It makes my body

heat uncomfortably, imagining why he would have her scent all over him. I stuff

down the anger rapidly brewing in my chest. I don’t want to keep having the

same fight over and over, especially when I have so many things going on right

now. Our pack has grown, and we are finally moving forward; I love seeing all the

new families coming together. I don’t want to spoil all the progress we have

made together with this battle between my brother and me.

Maybe they just ran into each other. I know

she has been thinking about Ava and wanting to see her, but that still doesn’t

explain why he would be touching her. There had to have been quite a bit of

contact for him to carry her scent all the way here. The thoughts of his hands

on my mate clog up all my rational thoughts and drown out what is being said by

Titus about border security. I don’t want to accuse him in front of the council

members when I don’t know all of the facts, but that doesn’t take away my deep

desire to rip his arms from his body. I also don’t want to have this fight in

front of them after what I had talked about with them earlier. The elders and I discussed the possibility

that Ember might have two mates before the rest of the council arrived. I told

them about the connection that they seem to share and Lucas’s repeated

declarations that she is his mate. He is typically my biggest supporter and

quick to let me have my way. That’s why his insistence about her is so strange,

Ember is beautiful, to be sure, but would he lie to have her when he knows I

have felt bonded to her?

The elders told me that this had happened

before, though rarely. In the past, when two men shared the same fated mate, it

was when there were a large number of males and few females or when the

populace was struggling to grow. I don’t think that can be our situation

because we have so many new females making our numbers quickly soar. The other

instances have been when twins have shared a single mate, but that also doesn’t

apply to our situation. I am two years older than Lucas. After talking, we

decided to keep it quiet for now and continue to live as we have been. That’s the

only solution that made sense until I can better understand what is happening

and why.

I have also been hoping to postpone making any

kind of new decisions about the possibility of having a shared mate in hopes

that if Ember gets pregnant, maybe her feelings and connection to my brother

will fade. This is my greatest wish, which I know is selfish, but who knows, perhaps

I’ll even get lucky, and Lucas will fall in love with Ava or fill her with a

child of their own. Nothing would make me happier than to move past this with

my mate at my side and my brother happy with a woman of his own. I shake the

unease filling my brain and get back on track with our meeting. We discussed further

fortifications on our borders and the new families in our community. So far,

thank the Goddess, we don’t have any problems, which is much better than I

anticipated when we planned to bring the women here. We discussed the new school plans Ember, and

I drew up, and everyone was excited. I’m filled with pride that Ember is

already enriching our community. We end with a discussion about boosting up our

security; with the women in our pack now, we have a lot of fear if the hunters

return. I want to keep my people safe above all else. People start to flow out

of the room as things die down.

“Lucas, could you stay behind? I

wanted to talk to you for a few minutes alone.” He simply looks at me and nods.

The light, easy relationship we have always enjoyed is strained, and we both

feel it. “What can I do for you, brother?” “I just wanted to check in with you;

you are still my Beta and my brother. I don’t want things to continue to be

difficult between us.” “I love you and am happy to be your Beta; I love this

pack and will always support you. With that being said, I don’t want to mislead

you into thinking I have forgotten about Ember or that my feelings have

changed, I love her still.” I work on calming myself because I am so sick of

having the same fight. Knowing he feels no guilt in wanting my mate infuriates

me. Lucas has always been so easygoing and has never fought me like this on

anything. I rub my eyes, trying to relieve the ache that is building. I really

didn’t want to have this conversation, but I feel like my hand is being forced.

I want him to know that I have heard him, even though he isn’t necessarily

getting what he wants. “Since you brought up Ember, I wanted you to know I

spoke to the elders about our situation. Although it is very uncommon, it isn’t

impossible that she may be mated to us both. When it does happen, it is usually

to brothers and almost always twins.” I hate the hope that fills his eyes. The

thought of having to share her makes me sick. I have no idea how it would even

work. “That said, I have decided to keep things as they are. We don’t know if

that’s the case, and the elders said they’d continue to look into it. Who knows,

maybe you will feel the pull to Ava, or she might bear you a pup soon, and all

this mess will take care of itself?”

“I can guarantee you that Ava will

not bring a child of mine into this world. The only woman that will carry my

child is Ember.” That sets it off, and we both turn and begin to tear each

other apart. His wolf is so similar to mine that it feels like I’m fighting

myself, and neither of us is leaving this room unharmed if this continues. Just

as I pin him down, ready to tear at his throat, Ember bursts into the room.

“Please stop!” She charges at me, trying to pull my large wolf form from atop

my brothers. A lot of the women have had a hard time adjusting to shifting, but

not my brave Ember. She is foolish to charge into our fight, but part of me

loves that she knows I would rather die than harm her. Lucas and I both shift

back, standing before her, panting and naked. Her heart starts racing, and I

can smell her pheromones, perfuming the air in the conference room. The need to

throw her down and f**k her has never been stronger. Her reaction to our

apparent need tells me nothing would make her happier. Her pupils dilate, and

she starts panting as she looks us both over. The small moan that escapes her

as she rubs her legs together tells me I need to get her out of here now, or

Lucas and I will kill each other to bed her. The whimper from her and the growl

that rips from him as I throw her over my shoulder and leave are devastating.

Can she really be both our mate? f**k I hope not, I just need more time to make

her mine. As I bring her into the house, her desperate little cries continue.

“Ember, baby, are you okay?” “James, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on; I

just feel awful. My body feels like it’s burning; I think I need a cold bath.”

I carry her upstairs to our room and begin to strip her down as I do; she

starts panting again, her scent making my d**k ache with need.