My Twin Alpha Mates

Pisces' POV Life. It's such a precious thing. Something we should cherish and value every day. But of course, many take advantage. Many neglect to spend time with people around them with this idea that there's no possible way their time with that person is limited. "Pisces, how are you doing?" My father's croaky, gentle voice spoke, snapping me out of my train of thoughts. I looked at his solemn, slightly wrinkled face. His grey-blue eyes bore into the new headstone in the small fenced garden. The headstone read: Elena Rivers Wife, mother, friend. The garden we stood in was atop of a large grassy hill, to the right of us and behind us a forest surrounded us. I glanced out at the forest and sighed. "Fine." I shrugged. I watched as a few of the villagers and farmers entered through the wooden brown gate, among these was my best friend, Felix. My eyes bore into my mother's headstone as Felix approached me. I felt his hand on my shoulder. I leant into his side and rested my head on his shoulder. A couple tears rolled down my cheek, but I wiped them away and blinked furiously, determined not to be a crying wreck. People clouded my vision; I was surrounded by the farmers and villagers paying their respects and apologising for the loss I was feeling. To be honest, I could barely hear a word around me. I felt numb, I wanted to be alone with my jumbled thoughts and feelings of despair. I wanted to go back to bed and never wake again. This day did not feel real.  The sound of a car engine caught my attention. I looked up to see a flashy black Mercedes roll up followed by a red 2021 Mazda SUV. I watched in dismay as the Royal Werewolf family got out of the two cars. Rage filled the pit in my stomach, my hands clenched into fists. My eyes snapped in the direction of my father, demanding him for an answer. He only offered a comforting smile, "Because they care. They want to pay their respects." He answered my unasked question. I glowered; I could feel heat rushing to my face. Felix jumped, startled by the heat and the flames that now engulfed my fists. He jumped to the side, standing a good metre from me, slightly panicked by my outburst. "They killed her." I seethed through clenched teeth. "No," my father shook his head and walked closer to me. He didn't look scared like Felix was. He only looked sad and concerned for me. "Your mother was injured in an attack; it wasn't their fault." "She was fighting for them. Sacrificed her life for nothing!" I yelled, ignored the stares from the villagers and the royal family. They continued to stand by their cars, a few metres from the garden we stood in. I ran towards the fence line, and jumped. As my feet pushed off the ground, air gushed from my feet, pushing against the ground which allowed for me to jump a couple metres in the air, before gently landing on the other side of the fence, on the grassy surface. I sprinted into the forest, ignoring my father as he called my name. Third POV Kind Drago, his wife Maive, and his seven children watched as the twenty-year-old, blonde-haired witch ran into the woods. Drago almost appeared impressed by her outburst and her gifted use of the elements. He held his cane in his right hand as he walked towards the entrance of the garden. He walked up to Eric, a saddened, middle-aged man who bowed at the presence of his king. Drago shook his head with a small smile, "Please, there is no need for your curtesy today friend. I can't imagine the pain you must be endearing." He spoke calmly and clearly and he extended his hand. Eric shook Drago's hand with an appreciative small smile, tears fogged his eyes. "Thank you, Alpha. I apologise for my daughter's outburst and now.. disappearance. She's having a difficult time dealing with her grief." "I understand." Drago nodded, he then waved a hand to one of his eldest children, his twenty-two-year-old twin son, "Xavier, and my other first four children struggled just the same as their mother passed away. I'm sure Xavier might be able to offer some support and advice to young Pisces. Xavier will you go find her and see if she needs some comfort please?" "I can go check on her." Felix cut into the conversation. The King looked down at him, a little surprised, but also annoyed. Felix then bowed his head and backed away a few steps, regretting speaking out of turn. He glanced at Xavier, as did Eric and Drago. Xavier stood tall with his hands clasped behind his back, he had short brown hair and soft brown eyes just as his sombre looking twin did. He wore a suit and black leather shoes, just as his four other brothers did. Xavier nodded and exited the garden through the wooden gate. He followed the cobblestone path to the forest where the path disappeared. He entered and headed to the area where Pisces had entered. He sniffed the air and looked for a trail, until he found the unmarked path she took through the forest. Drago turned to look at Eric once again, "I know this is not the best time for this conversation, I'm sure it is the last thought on your mind right now, I would not bring it up if there were no serious matters arising but..." "Alpha, what troubles you?" Eric asked, his voice turning serious and concerned. Drago sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head slightly. "The Shadow Wolves descended on the Valley Villagers in the south last week, 41 deaths before my warrior wolves arrived." "That's almost the entire village!" Eric looked alarmed. Drago nodded solemnly. "We need the power of magic on our side again, now more than ever. This new threat is just the beginning." He paused to look at Eric's concerned face. "How much had Elena trained Pisces before..." He glanced down at her grave with saddened eyes. "She's helped her to master the elements, but spell casting is something she's never gotten close with. I've noticed her sense of premonition has heightened since her mother's passing, she's been having dreams – I believe she had one that predicted the attack on the Valley Village, now that I think about it. It was a very disorientated dream, she said it was demons or something of the like, so we thought it was just a nightmare. But now..." "I think you and Pisces may benefit from moving into the castle. We can give her the training she needs and prepare her for the new threat." Eric pressed his lips into a flat line and thought. It pained him to put his daughter onto the same line of work that got his wife, her mother, killed. He hated the idea of putting her into danger's way, but he couldn't refuse the order of his Alpha. "Is there a way we can leave her out of this, just for now?" he asked tentatively. The king shook his head, "My scouts tell me the Shadow Wolves fled and were headed in the direction of the Desert." Eric's eyes widened. "They're heading towards here, the kingdom." Drago nodded. Eric looked at him with questioning, stern eyes, "how long do we have?" "Two weeks if we're lucky." Eric nodded, "I'll pack our things today." "I'll have Seth and Jax help you. Xavier can bring Pisces back with him to the palace." Drago turned to his wife who held a bundle of roses. He took one red rose and placed it on the freshly laid dirt, atop Elena's grave. He kissed his fingertips and placed them on the stone before leaving the garden, walking passed the villagers and farmers who each had their heads bowed in respect. Maive passed a rose to each of her two blonde-haired children, who also appeared to be twins, Milo and Seven. Milo took the rose from his mother and then turned to the grave to place it down next to the rose his father left. The six-year-old then hastily walked out of the garden. Seven then took a rose, she sniffed it for a second before her mother nudged her arm. Seven then placed the rose on the grave and followed after her twin.  Elijah, Seth, Jax and Cleo each took a rose, they along with Maive placed their roses on the grave and all but Seth and Jax left the garden. Felix walked back up to Eric's side, "You can't be serious." He whispered. Eric arched a questioning brow. "About sending Pisces into training the day that we buried her mother!" he whisper-yelled. Eric frowned, "Be mindful of how you speak to me Felix." "Sorry Beta, I mean no disrespect." He quickly apologised and bowed his head. "I offer only care and concern for my best friend's well-being." "As do I." Eric snapped. Felix nodded silently and moved away from Eric.  Pisces' POV Water thundered down the waterfall and into the small, clear lake. I sat on the flat, large stone, my legs crossed beneath me, my eyes trained on the streaming water. I smelled the fresh scent of water mixed with forest and sighed calmly. My eyes closed and I continued to meditate. Memories of my mother flashed through my mind, one in particular relayed on repeat, her voice saying "Our emotions are connected to our powers. When our emotions control us, they too control our powers." When she first told me that, she was teaching me how to meditate. We were in that garden, where she's buried now. God, I miss her. A twig snapped and my head too snapped in the direction of the sound. I froze when I saw Prince Xavier. He too had frozen, I guess he hadn't expected to make such a loud entrance. "It's not smart to sneak up on a witch." I sighed and turned back around to face the waterfall. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him continue to walk again, he approached the stone I sat on, and stopped about a foot from me. He too looked at the waterfall, taking the view in. "Six years I've been patrolling these woods, and I've never come across a spot quite like this one." He stated, content. The land of the Kingdom must have stretched over 200 acres, so I suppose that was a bit surprising to hear. As the Prince, you would be expected to know every inch of the lands they own – Me, I've only lived here my entire life. The castle grounds are the only other place I've ever wondered through, and that was when I would follow my mum around the markets looking for particular imported herbs. After my continued silence, he spoke again, "The weight that you feel crushing you right now, it will get easier." He spoke softly. He passed me a sideways glance, with semi questioning eyes, I guess to check that I was actually listening to him. I looked down at the cold, smooth stone beneath me. I carved and created this stone seat a long while back. It was one of the first times that I learnt how to Earth bend. I lifted my gaze to meet his eyes, "No offence pretty boy, but you and I aren't the same. Just because you lost your mother too, doesn't mean we have anything to form some special bond over." "Oh... Well, this is awkward." He rocked back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels. He then cracked a cheeky smile. I furrowed my brows in confusion. Why can't he just leave me alone? "Wanna go for a run?" he suddenly asked. I glanced back at him. I noticed his forehead and palms seemed a little sweaty. Huh. I wonder what he's nervous about. "I uh..." He stammered, "Running used to help me deal with the anger." I pursed my lips to the side as I thought about his proposal. "Fine, I'll race you around the boarder of these woods." I stood and jumped off the rock. The northern point of the woods was only a couple hundred metres from us. Xavier smirked, "How are you going to beat a Werewolf?" "You'll see. Now catch me if you can, pretty boy." "Why does that sound like insult every time you call me that?" He laughed half-heartedly. I only rolled my eyes and began sprinting north to the boarder, I pushed my hands down and the ground beneath my feet rose a couple metres, I then pushed behind me and the block I stood on moved forward fast. "Hey! That's not running!" I heard him shout with another small laugh before each of his bones snapped, his clothing ripped to pieces and he shifted into a large, black wolf. His paws thundered on the ground as he raced after me.  ... After our race – and yes, I won – we headed back to the funeral garden. Everyone except for Felix had left. Felix looked alarmed, yet relieved when he saw me. He jogged over to us, "Pisces! Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." I said calmly. Why the hell is he worked up so much? Felix looked between myself and Prince Xavier. "What's he doing in his wolf form?" he asked sternly, yet cautiously. "Is he bothering you? Are you in trouble?" I sighed. "No, he's actually been trying to help." "Him? He's been helping?" A low, warning growl came from Xavier. "I don't think he likes you talking about him in that tone." I said to Felix. Felix's eyes narrowed at me. "I've been worried sick about you for the last hour, I thought something had happened. Your dad already left for the Palace, so I couldn't ask him if everything was okay and-" "What do you mean?" I interjected. Felix's brows furrowed into a look of confusion. "What do I mean that I've been worried about you?" I rolled my eyes, "No you goose. What do you mean about my father? Why's he at the Palace?" Felix paused and looked straight at Xavier. "You didn't tell her?" I then turned to look at Xavier, by brows furrowed. "What didn't you tell me?" I noticed the sudden flash of guilt in his eyes. "Prince Xavier?" I questioned again. He sighed and looked down. I turned to Felix, "Well is somebody going to tell me what I'm missing or not?" "The Alpha asked your father to move into the Palace with you, so that they could start training you for some new war that's brewing." My eyes fell to the garden and my mother's stone that stood behind Felix. She had been dead for all of four days and they were wanting me to dive straight in, take off where she left. Unbelievable. I felt the fur from the side of Xavier's head brush against my arm and side. I side-stepped away from him, then noticed a look of hurt flash through his eyes. I frowned, confused. He's acting kind of like... No, surely not. I started walking down the hill in the direction of the village, towards my home. Both Felix and Xavier followed me. "If you're going home you won't see anything there. It's empty. Prince Jax, Seth and your dad packed everything up and left about half an hour ago." I ignored him and started running, faster and faster. My lungs began to burn, so I used my earth block tactic, I lifted a block of earth below me and used the platform to sail me down the hill and into the village. I hopped off the rock and waved my hand to flatten it into the ground again, before sprinting to my cottage house. I raced around the house to find all of our things were gone, only the beds and furniture remained. I ran into my parents room and climbed into the bed. I curled up in a ball on my mum's side of the bed and cried. This pain, it was choking me. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. I wanted to scream but only cries escaped. Mum, how could you leave me here all alone?! About twenty minutes later, I heard two voices arguing by the front door of my house. It was Felix and Xavier. Can't they just leave me alone? Today has been challenging enough. "You should wait out here, I'll go talk to her." Felix said. "I don't think so. I'll go talk to her." "I think she'd prefer her best friend over a total stranger." "You don't know anything." Xavier snapped back at him. "Boys, seriously? You sound like children." A new, feminine voice cut in, catching me off guard. Who is that? "Cleo, what are you doing here?" Xavier asked, also surprised. "Dad sent me to see what was taking so long. Where is Pisces?" "Inside." Xavier answered. "Like hell you're going in there." Felix growled. "Get out of my way peasant boy." "Mate, calm down. If you shift, she will beat the s**t out of you." Xavier tried to calm Felix down. "Get off me!" Felix yelled at him. I sighed and dragged me feet out of the bed and stood up, stretching. I walked out of the room and towards the front door, I opened it to see Princess Cleo, and Prince Xavier, both their eyes darted towards me. "Where's Felix?" I asked, looking around. I frowned when in the near distance I saw a pile of his ripped clothes on the ground in the mud. Well, I guess he ran off then. "He needed to cool off." "Hey I'm Cleo," Cleo stuck out her hand with a friendly smile. I looked down at it hesitantly before shaking it. "Pisces." I answered. "Do I have a choice?" "What do you mean?" Xavier gave me a puzzled look. "A choice in whether or not I want to stay here or live at your stupid Palace?" A knowing smile cracked across Cleo's face. "I like her." She whispered to Xavier. Xavier rolled his eyes in response. "Of course, you have a choice." He said sincerely and looked into my eyes. His large, brown eyes looked so gentle and caring. "Good. Then I'm staying." I folded my arms over my chest. Xavier sighed and looked at Cleo. She shrugged, "You were the one that said she had a choice." Cleo then turned to face me, "Let's go for a walk? Just us girls." She smiled. "Xavier tells me there's a cool waterfall somewhere around here, want to show me?" I brought my fingertips up to my mouth and started chewing my nail. "Not really. I just want to be left alone." "Sure, I respect that. How about I show you where you'll be staying at the Palace and then you can have some alone time in your new room? There's a hot tub in there, so its super relaxing." I frowned and glanced back inside the house. There was no clothes or any of my things here, but on the other hand, this house had a smell that just reminded me of mum. I didn't want to leave it. I also didn't want to piss the king Alpha off; my dad would suffer the wrath being the second in command, and me being the point of interest. "Fine." I closed the door after taking one long look. Memories flashed through my eyes as the door shut. I followed Cleo and Xavier to the Castle grounds, kicking at the rocks and dirt as we walked, my hands stuffed into the pockets of my jeans and my eyes mostly glued to the ground. We reached the walls of the castle grounds and entered through the roll up / down iron gate. Inside were brick apartment buildings, a large grassy courtyard with benches and trees around. The Palace way ahead had a more modern, but still traditional vibe, and the outdoors were very much connected to nature with all the trees and plants around. Kids played soccer on one end of the grass, while some adults sat and read books or had picnics on the other side. Everything felt harmonic and peaceful here. Cleo sat down on the bench and patted the bench beside her. I sat down next to her and watched as Xavier passed Cleo a look before walking off towards the Palace. "I think my father's an asshole for making you guys come here on the day of your mother's funeral." I gave a short, cold laugh and nodded in agreeance. "He sure is." "I hope you don't think all of us are like him and my wretched step-mother." "Maive surprisingly always comes across as a nice person?" I said a little confused. Cleo laughed and shook her head, "Oh boy, you are in for a treat. Wait until you see how she treats the servants." "The people that your father captured and enslaved you mean?" "Yes, we all know my father is the worst." Cleo laughed. "I'm just saying his darling wife is no better." "Fair enough." I nodded. "It's amazing her children have turned out as well as they have. Anyway, there's going to be a ball on Saturday, it's in honour.. welcome of you and your father. I thought maybe we could go together so you have a friendly face. Our events can be a bit overwhelming sometimes." "Oh, uh, I don't have anything to-" "You're my father's guest, he'll make sure you have something to wear." Cleo smiled and begged me with her eyes. "Also, I think my brother has a crush on you. So, dancing could totally be in the picture there, you won't be a loner or anything." "A crush hey." I nodded and looked in the direction of the Palace. Thank you Cleo for summing up my suspicions there. "I'll have to see how I'm feeling, but you know, it could probably be a good distraction for me." I nodded. Besides, the king probably won't let me say no to attending anyway. "Yes! That's the spirit." She grinned. A yawn slipped my lips and she looked understanding. She stood up, "Come on, let me show you to your new room." I nodded and followed her to the Palace.