My Twin Alpha Mates

Chapter Five

3rd POV

"I can't remember the last time I saw you ride a horse, let alone Sharky." Cleo laughed as the brown thorough bred tugged hard at its reigns, demanding free reign from Xavier. Xavier rolled his eyes at his sister and pulled his horse into a tight circle before halting and patting him calmly. 

"Come on boy," he tried to assure his horse. 

"I think he's angry that you haven't ridden him in.. I don't know, two years has it been?"

"Shut up." Xavier muttered under his breath. 

"Why has it been so long since you've ridden him?" Pisces queried. Xavier shrugged his shoulders before nudging his horse on again, he now rode beside her. 

"I got busy with training for a war and I lost interest I suppose."

"Speaking of war, what's the main battle plan? I heard this morning that the Shadow Wolves have advanced much faster than anticipated and will be here within the week."

Pisces' eyes widened slightly, her stomach tightened with knots. Xavier grimaced, "We're sorting it out. But I think Brenton will be leading the E-Section while I'll be leading the scouts. Elijah will be leading the A-Section and our father leading the front-line of course. I think he plans for Seth to take B-Section and Jax to take C."

Cleo frowned, "So He's decided Jax is ready now, but still not me? f*****g of course, sexist asshole. Wait, what about Section-D? Who's leading that group?"

The corners of Xavier's lips curled upwards and a quick look of surprise washed over Cleo. "No way. He finally thinks I'm ready to lead?" She beamed and Xavier nodded. "Well, it is about time, I was born ready to lead Werewolves to their deaths. Just kidding, calm down Xavier." She then rolled her eyes. She glanced back and passed Pisces an excited grin, "This is exciting!"

"I think Dad wanted to surprise you with this so maybe don’t let it slip before he surprises you with it himself, hey?” Xavier hesitantly glanced at Cleo. She nodded, unfazed by the remark, and nudged her horse on into a canter. Pisces and Xavier’s horses followed suit.

An hour later, the three arrived at the training grounds and split off into pairs. Xavier and Pisces fought in human combat form for twenty odd minutes, both giving it their all, neither willing to admit defeat. Pisces landed two quick j**s to his lower stomach and then did a backwards handspring to evade his kicks. Sweat dripped from both of them while many of the others had decided to take a short break and watch Xavier and Pisces train. As they fought against on another, it looked almost as though they were dancing. They were in sync, both evading most hits but both striving with force.

After another ten minutes Pisces held up her palm, facing towards Xavier who stood two metres in front of her. She panted heavily. “Draw?” She offered. Xavier puffed and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. He nodded and shook her hand.

“Well done,” Drago interjected and clapped his hands. He had an impressed look. “It’s been a while since my son has found his match for combat.”

“She didn’t beat me.” Xavier quickly defended. Drago laughed,

“No, but I’d say she’s you’re equal.” He winked and headed back to his training partner, Diego.

Pisces collapsed onto the ground and extended both her legs. She leant forward over them to rest her forehead on her knees while she caught her breath. “Can’t we just skip human combat form? It’s not like we’ll be battling the Shadow wolves without magic anyway.” She breathed heavily still and glanced up at Xavier who stood tall, he was stretching from side to side. He grabbed his water bottle and gulped from it before offering it to Pisces. Pisces took it and drank greedily.

As she drank, Xavier answered her question, “In most cases we would fight in our wolf form, or in your case, using your witchy powers. But it isn’t always possible. If a wolf is injured, it takes a lot of resilience and resistance to not cave and turn back into our human form. Pain makes us human. For witches, if there’s another witch around, who knows what sort of binding spells they might know. It’s just always good to be prepared.”

“If my powers are bound and I’m up against a powerful witch, what good will fighting in human form do?” She countered. “With the wave of a hand they might be able to pin me to a wall.” She pointed out.

Xavier scowled, “Just stop arguing.” He laughed. “It might come in handy. Hopefully you’ll never need the skill, but one day you might. Okay?”

Pisces frowned but nodded. “Fine. Well, I think we’ve done enough human combat anyway, want to shift now?”

Xavier laughed. “Because you asked, no.” He poked his tongue out. Come on, let’s get back to it.”   

...

The days seemed to pass faster and faster. It was now Thursday and the impending battle was growing closer and closer. Drago was finally starting to feel the tension and this rippled through the family.

The iron knocker echoed through the empty hallway as Eric gripped the iron knocker in his hand and banged it on the King Alpha’s office door. He let go of the knocker and stepped back to wait patiently. “Come in.” He heard Alpha Drago call. Eric pushed the door opened and entered the room, closing the door behind him again.

“You asked to see me, Alpha?” Eric spoke and bowed his head respectfully. Alpha Drago sat in a large, comfortable chair behind his glass desk and computer. He waved a hand at the two chairs in front of his desk that face him, then looked at Eric expectantly,

“Please, take a seat.” Alpha Drago instructed. Eric nodded and approached the chairs before taking a seat. Drago spoke again, “You’re daughter has shown amazing strength and power in her training this week. Unless the Shadow Wolves have their own Witch, I’d say we’re a sure win. However, last time we were assured these wolves did not have a witch, but then they surprised us… And we all know the result of this, for us being so unprepared, was catastrophic. I’d like for us to increase our chances.”

“How do you propose we do that?” Eric asked.

“I’d like for our nursery witches to train Pisces with some spell casting. They obviously won’t be able to teach her like her mother would have been able to, may she rest in peace, she was a very powerful and knowledgeable witch that our nursery witches simply can’t compare to. But We’d love to try and get Pisces some of the way there. I’d love for her to learn strengthening spells that can make our wolves temporarily stronger. Would this be something she would be okay with learning?”

Eric thought hard as he listened to Drago speak with such intensity in his tone. He nodded, “I’m sure that will be fine. And I’m sure Pisces would love to learn.”

Drago smiled, “Great. Would you like to chat to her about this, or should I? I’d like to get her started today, considering the Shadow Wolves will be here within the next three days or so.”

“Or so?” Eric repeated.

Drago nodded; a look of uncertainty crossed his face. “I sent Elijah out with the scouts again last night to check on their location. He hasn’t returned yet, but I am expecting their return later today with clarification on a date and time or the Shadow Wolves arrival.”

“Right,” Eric nodded, understandingly. “I will go chat to Pisces now and have her meet the Witches… where exactly?”

“The Nursery is probably best. They can show her the different herbs and how  they can be used to help.” Drago nodded. Eric also nodded and stood back up. He bowed his head again then strode out of the room. He wondered down the stairs and into a busy corridor, in search of his daughter. 

In the courtyard, Pisces was playing a game of four square with Cleo and two teenagers. Each stood on the large brick surface, four large squares had been drawn with chalk, and each person stood in a square, with three other teenagers standing in a line to the side, waiting for someone to make a mistake so that they could jump back in the game.

Cleo stood in the King’s square and served the ball with a hit to Pisces who stood in the Queen square. She hit the ball low and fast into the Jack square, it double bounced before the boy could hit it, causing the fourth boy in the last square to kick him out of the jack square, and another person in the line jumped into the last square. The game went on for another seven minutes before Pisces name was shouted from the entrance of the building behind them. Pisces looked over her shoulder to see her father fast approaching them. She leapt out of her square and hurried over to him with a look of concern,

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” He quickly smiled, not wanting to stress her. “Alpha Drago has suggested that you start learning how to cast spells today. So that you can help the pack more directly during the battle.”

Pisces grimaced, “I can’t.”

“Of course, you can. I know you’re nervous, you’ve never done this before, but he has witches that can teach you the basis-”

Pisces shook her head, “No, you don’t understand.” She paused and looked around to make sure the passing people weren’t eavesdropping, while Eric looked at her with puzzlement. “Just before Mum died, she made me promise I would never learn how to cast spells. It was her dying wish for me.”

Eric pressed his lips together to form a flat line. “I understand.” He nodded and placed a comforting hand on Pisces shoulder, “But at this time, we were all aware – including your mother – that the war had ended. She didn’t know that our lives would be in jeopardy again, and spell casting was something she used that helped us greatly to beat the first war. I’m sure she wouldn’t have made you promise this is she new the circumstances we would be in now. Perhaps you could just learn, and not worry about using them unless it’s a dire situation?”

Pisces’s brows furrowed as tears sprung to her eyes and clouded her vision. She shook her head, “Don’t make me break my promise to her.” She whispered and her gaze dropped to the ground. Eric’s eyes filled with nerves and worry. He finally nodded,

“Okay, I will talk to Alpha Drago.” He said and lowered his hand back down to his side before disappearing again. Cleo approached a few seconds later, she tapped Pisces on the shoulder causing her to jump with surprise before spinning around to face Cleo. Pisces sighed in relief and gently nudged Cleo’s shoulder,

“Don’t sneak up on me like that.” She laughed. Cleo could see straight through the fake smile,

“What’s wrong?”

Pisces sighed, “Your dad wants his witches to teach me how to cast spells.”

A small look of excitement flashed across Cleo’s face, “Isn’t that exciting? You could learn to do all sorts of stuff. Melanie says she can cast a spell and any object she wants, no matter how far away it is, will come flying towards her – of course without flying into another person on its way. It’s so cool!”

Pisces shook her head, “I think my mum thought it was dangerous in a way. She made me promise not to learn. She died before she could tell me why.”

Cleo’s smile fell and was replaced by a look of understanding. “Do you want to go for a ride?” She asked. Pisces nodded. The girls headed off to the stables to tack up their horses before going for an hour-long ride through the woods.

The two horses walked casually along the trail, almost side by side – Cleo’s horse always had to be in front. A twig snapped in the background, catching both girls’ attention. They halted the horses and looked around. “Who’s there? I can smell you.” Cleo growled warningly.

Two hands raised into the air above the bushed to the side. Pisces looked startled as Felix walked onto the trail path behind them. “What the hell are you doing here?” Pisces frowned. Cleo fell silent and rode her horse over to the side of the path.

“You’ve been ignoring all my calls.” He answered, “I had to get in contact with you, I’m scared shitless about this war. King Drago decided to surprise us with his messenger yesterday about the Shadow Wolves who are apparently only days away now? I thought we had another week. Why weren’t we told sooner? Where have you been? Have you been okay?” Questions blurted from his mouth in a hurry, his need for answers growing with each passing second.

Pisces moved her feet out of the stirrups and swayed herself over the side to dismount her horse. She led the horse to Cleo so she could take a hold of him before Pisces walked over to Felix. Felix stood still, watching her with uncertainty. Pisces flung her arms around him and hugged him, realising now just how much she had been missing him.

“I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you. I was upset that you ran away from me when I needed you.” She said before pulling away again and looking at him for his reaction. He nodded in understanding.

“If you had read any of my texts since then, you would have seen how sorry I was – how sorry I am,” he quickly corrected, “For doing that. I shouldn’t have run off that day. I’m sorry.”

Pisces gave him a small smile of thanks. She went on to answer his other queries but as she opened her mouth, she froze instead. Felix looked at her, puzzled. “What is-”

“Sh.” she said quickly. “Cleo.” She whispered under her breath.

“I smell it.” She whispered back. Felix too had now caught onto the scent.

“Blood.” He whispered.

“A lot of it.” Pisces spoke quietly. She wondered towards the edge of the trail path and looked into the dense forest. She wondered into the forest, pushing the branches to the side as she went until she came to a clearer area. Cleo had tied the horses to the tree and both she and Felix followed Pisces, staying firmly alert. 

Pisces shrieked as she stumbled and tripped over a large object. She spun around, on her hands and knees, prepared to leap back up to her feet, only to freeze when she saw a human body, basically torn apart, his eyes frozen wide in fear, blood splattered across his face. A deep gash was across his neck, a gash made from giant wolf claws.

Pisces glanced up to see Cleo and Felix’s eyes weren’t on that one human, but on many others that scattered across the now less dense forest floor. Pisces shuffled closer to the human in front of her and she gently placed her hand over his eyes to close them. She stood up and looked around at the m******e. Both she and Cleo instantly panicked.

“These are the scouts my brother was out with.”

“And we’re only a couple miles from the castle grounds.” Felix whispered.

“Where’s Elijah?” Pisces asked and looked at each of the six dead bodies. “Weren’t there eight of them in total?”

“We have to go warn the King.” Felix said quietly.

“We have to find my brother.” Cleo grounded out through clenched teeth, rage grew in the pit of her stomach, she channelled this to mask her fear. She looked at Pisces with a knowing look, “You can find him.”

“Me? But I don’t know any spells-”

“Through your mate bond.” Cleo nodded and assured her. She turned to Felix, “Hurry up and go tell my father would you?” She snapped at him. Felix frowned at her before he shifted into his wolf form and sprinting off towards the castle grounds.

“Cleo, how do I find him?” Pisces asked with a sense of urgency in her tone.

“Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Focus on his scent.”

“I’ve seen him all of twice, I don’t really remember what his scent smells like.” She blurted out, panicked.

“Focus Pisces. Just picture him in your head. Let yourself want to be drawn to him.”

Pisces closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She then began to walk deeper into the woods. As they walked, Cleo spotted spots of blood on the leaves on lower branches. Pisces opened her eyes and began to run, “This way.” She said and the two began sprinting. A growl echoed behind them, causing them both to run faster.

“They’re here. They’re f*****g here.” Cleo gasped. Pisces began to rotate her arms in a circle, which caused the air around them to swirl and engulf them into a round ball of fast flowing air, thus creating a forcefield around them. Small rocks from the ground picked up and swirled around them also.

Another growl sounded through the air; this time much closer to them. Pisces spotted a large boulder in front and to the side of them. She squinted at it and swayed her hand at it, as though guiding it through the air and behind them. A whimper came from the chasing wolf. Pisces stopped running and turned around to see the wolf had been knocked onto its side, with the boulder crushing half of its body. The wolf began to shift back into its human form.

“Come on Pisces, let’s go.” Cleo urged her to continue to look for Elijah. Pisces however, wanted answers. Pisces walked over to the groaning human, the boulder crushed his legs. His pushed with all his might against the rock but there was no use. Pisces stood beside him and glowered at him. He raised both his hands in defence,

“P-please.” He stammered.

“Are you a Shadow Wolf?” She demanded.

“I-I am.” He nodded, “P-please, I-I’m sorry. Don’t k-kill me.”

“You killed six of our scouts. And countless helpless villagers. Why should we spare you?”

“V-Villagers?” He sputtered, and looked up at her confused. “We don’t k-kill I-I-innocent people.”

“Don’t lie! Where are the others?” Pisces waved her hand over the rock, pushing it further down onto him. He yelled out in pain.

“I-I’m telling you the t-truth. I swear.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “There were four others of my pack – they would have run off back to the others by now.”

“But you stayed behind. Why?” Pisces glared at him threateningly. When he didn’t answer she pushed down on the rock again.

“To finish the job.” He wheezed out.

“The job as in kill our scouts and my brother?” Cleo questioned and walked over to the pair. The werewolf nodded again. Cleo sighed, “Lift the rock. I’ll take him to the castle. You find Elijah.” She said. “We can’t kill him now.”

Pisces nodded and waved her hand. The boulder lifted and fell to the side. Pisces then jogged off again, this time following the blood spots rather than just her gut instincts. She disappeared from Cleo's eyesight within seconds.