My Twin Alpha Mates

Chapter Four

Pisces’ POV

Music sounded through the room, I swayed to the beat. I felt Xavier’s warm, firm hand move from my lower back to my waist. I felt safe and comfortable in his arms, and we were having a lovely time dancing and chatting. Out of curiosity, I asked; “How did those Alphas claim the title at such a young age? I mean, one of them, Asher I think it was looks around your age, but the other two look closer to my age, maybe even younger.”

Xavier’s smile shrunk a little. “Are you familiar with the first great war?” He asked.

“A little. It started about four years ago and only ended a few months ago. My mother barely escaped with her life, but with a life-threatening injury that ultimately killed her.” I instantly felt resentment build in the pit of my stomach, I felt uneasy and a little sick. Here I was, having a fun time, hell I had even forgotten that she had passed away, for the first time I have been happy, and I couldn’t feel guiltier than I did right now.

“We lost a lot of good men during that war. Three of them were Alphas of the Red Moon Pack, River Pack and Crescent Pack. Being Asher, Thomas and Hendrix’s fathers. Hendrix is probably the youngest Alpha we’ve had in a long time, he’s only 19.”

“So many deaths.” I shook my head. And all for the quest of power. We were told that the Shadow Wolves Pack started the first war, because they disagreed with how Drago wanted to rule. They turned four of the other packs against the King’s Alliance. Two of those four packs were wiped out in the war. It’s not even been three months and the Shadow Wolves are back, causing havoc and destruction. I was scared out of my brains knowing that this time I would not only be fighting my first battle, but I would be on the front lines for it! Probably due to receive the same fate as my mother.

Tears sprung to my eyes and I let go of Xavier’s hand and backed up a couple steps. He looked at me a little startled and very concerned, “Are you okay?” He asked, sincerity and worry in his tone. I nodded and looked away, I didn’t want him to see me cry.

“I-I just need some air.” I stammered and hastily walked off the dance floor and towards the back door I could see in the near distance. Once I reached the door I ran outside, down the cobble path and towards the flower and rose bushes. I stopped by a stone bench that faced the entrance of a large hedge maze, and I sat down and buried my face into my hands. Why is grief so difficult to deal with?

I cried into the palms of my hands for a few minutes before I heard the door open and close in the near distance. I really hope that’s not Xavier coming to look for me, I’d hate for him to see me as a crying wreck. I looked up to see Elijah staring at me a little awkwardly. He had almost reached me by the time he noticed I was here. He went to back up, as though he might turn around and go back inside. He could clearly see I came out here to be alone, and I felt kind of grateful that he didn’t want to ask me about it, it would only make me cry more.

I nodded at his drink that was almost filled to the brink, “Can I have some of that please?”

He glanced down at his drink then his forest green eyes met mine. I couldn’t see a hint of emotion behind them. But he nodded and walked towards me, he passed me his drink and I thanked him quietly before sculling half the glass, consuming probably around four or five standard drinks. He watched surprised. The back of my throat burned, but it was a distracting pain so I didn’t mind all that much. I passed him his now half-full glass, he took it and placed it on the edge of the stone bench. He then pulled a cigar out and lit it.

“How do you do it?” I asked randomly. He looked down at me and arched a questioning eyebrow. “Not feel anything.” I clarified. “Is it easier? How do you turn them off?” By them, I was referring to emotions, he seemed to catch on. He exhaled a breath of smoke and was silent for a few seconds.

“I stopped caring about things a long time ago.” He said as he averted his gaze to the entrance of the hedge maze ahead. “I stopped caring about anything that mattered. I focused my thoughts and energy onto the pack and onto the war that was coming.” He paused before sideways glancing at me and he answered, “It’s easier… for me.”

I nodded silently and processed what he had said. “So, you stop caring about the good things too, in order to not feel at all?” I asked and he nodded once. My eyebrows furrowed slightly, “How did you stop caring about Cleo?” I noticed this question seemed to catch him off guard. He didn’t look like he knew how to respond, so I spoke again, “This pain… It never leaves. Everyday hurts. And then when I somehow find one simple, happy moment, it feels like I’ve betrayed her, by being happy, by not thinking of her. I hate this feeling, I’d give almost anything to not feel it, but I could never turn my back on my dad.” I said a little sad. I then started to think of Felix and started to feel horrible for shutting him out. In my defence, it was only because he abandoned me first.

“I haven’t stopped looking out for Cleo.” He said, “I just keep distance between us.” He then took another drag of his cigar and remailed silent. So, he cares just enough then? This is confusing.

I heard the glass door open and close again, we both looked in the direction to see the three young Alphas walk outside, laughing and chatting amongst each other. “Alright, here it is,” Alpha Thomas said in a boastful tone and pulled out a hand rolled joint. He then froze when he saw Elijah and myself and instantly regretted pulling out the joint. My guess is that it’s weed, otherwise I don’t understand why he now looks so nervous. “Ahh Prince Elijah, we were just…” He stuttered and thought of an excuse, “Coming out to smoke some cigars.”

I glanced at Elijah; I was surprised to see he had a small knowing smile. He turned to me and said; “I know something that will help temporarily distract you from the grief.” He then turned to Thomas and took a few steps towards him whilst holding out his hand. Thomas tentatively placed the joint in Elijah’s open palm. Elijah passed him his cigar in exchange, copping a weird and confused expression from Thomas as he hesitantly took the burning cigar. Elijah held the joint to his mouth and lit it, he blew out a small puff and then held the joint out to me. I looked at it hesitantly, the smell of m*******a lingered in the air between us.

Thomas, Asher and Hendrix watched in amusement, all very surprised by Elijah’s lax view on it. I lifted my gaze to meet Elijah’s questioning and curious eyes, I could tell he was debating about what my reaction would be. “I’ve only smoked this once before, and I sort of become a couch potato. I don’t think that would be the right… uh.. vibe to have at a ball event.” But my gaze dropped back to the joint, a little eager to smoke it and have the numb and relaxed feeling wash over me as it did last time.

“You’ll be alright if you don’t smoke too much.” He shrugged. I took it from him shyly and held it to my lips before inhaling deeply. I felt the hot smoke hit the back of my throat and I started to cough. I passed the joint back to Thomas who gave a large grin of approval. He took the joint and took a drag.

We continued to pass the joint around the circle, sharing it between the four of us – Elijah declined to smoke so it was just the Alphas. After ten minutes I started to feel a little buzzed, and then it started to hit faster and harder. The glass door opened and closed again, we all jumped, startled when my father called out.

“Pisces? Are you out here?”

“Shit.” I mumbled and glanced at Elijah. Elijah gave a small wave to my father, while Thomas dropped the last couple centimetres of the joint and stepped on it to put it out.

“Hi beta, yes she’s here.” Elijah called to him. My father strode over with a smile, he greeted everyone and then turned to me with a concerned expression.

“You’ve been missing for a while, Xavier mentioned you stepped out for some air. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He said with a comforting smile. I returned a smile and nodded,

“Yep, I’m fine.” I said, my heart thumping away furiously in my chest. I assumed my father could hear my heart beat as I watched his eyes remain concern-filled.  I glanced at Elijah to see a small smirk creep onto his face. Glad he finds this amusing… Not.

“Are you going to come join us back inside?” My father asked. “Drago is giving a toast in a few moments.” He said with a knowing smile. I gritted my teeth before nodding,

“Sure.” I said, wanting to be polite and not cause further confusion as to why I would prefer to stay outdoors. I felt a little light headed, and figured some food from inside could help diminish a bit of the buzz I was feeling. I followed my dad and the other young Alphas inside. I glanced back to see Elijah still smoking his cigarette, not interested at all in coming back indoors.

As we re-entered the room, I immediately regretted not stalling a few seconds so that the Alphas could enter well before me and keep the attention just with them. But because my father and I walked directly inside behind them, many eyes were on all of us – and many girls sent daggers with their eyes at me. My false smile faltered a little. I walked straight over to the buffet table and busied myself by looking between the different mini foods available. Most of it looked so fancy. I ended up choosing a small finger slice sandwich that had cucumber, ham and camembert cheese inside. I almost moaned at the gooey goodness of the camembert.

Moments later, I hear the sound of metal lightly clanking glass, echo through the large room, the music came to a halt and everyone looked at the top of the grand stair well entrance to see King Alpha Drago, standing beside his wife, Queen Maive. King Drago gave a large toothy grin, and a confident stare out to the crowd. You could tell he really enjoyed the spotlight, he enjoyed being admired.

“First of all, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for attending this glorious event tonight. As you all know, this ball was held in honour and to welcome our newest front-line members, who will be aiding us tremendously in the battle against the Shadow Wolves in less than two weeks’ time.” He then waved a hand to the right side of the room where a suited man who looked to be in his late thirties, stood smiling proudly. “Our new commander of the E-section of our Warrior Wolves, Brenton Barks!” He cheered and the crowd erupted into a series of claps. I squeezed my eyes shut as Drago then looked at me.

I opened my eyes again to see my dad walk over to me with a delighted smile, as King Drago then introduced me as the new pack witch. I felt my face flush red as the attention averted to me and another series of claps echoed through the large ballroom. I really regret sharing that joint now.

Luckily the attention was short lived. Drago returned to his speech about the battle. “As many of you know, the Shadow Wolves Pack are on their way here, tearing through many villages as they go. We’ve offered as many resources as we can to help these villages get back on their feet, but there are just too many to cover. Which is a part of the reason as to why I have invited you all here tonight. The Royal Wolf Pack honours each of our allies for standing by our side, offering support to fight against the Shadow wolves in a couple weeks’ time, and we also wanted to thank each and every one of you for volunteering your life to protect all those within our lands. So, a toast, to the Silver Claw Pack, the Crescent Pack, the Forest Valley Pack, Red Moon Pack and the River Pack!” He held his glass up, everyone in the room followed suit by raising their glasses. “Cheers to you all.” He smiled and held his glass to his lips.

The ball went on as it had after Drago’s toast. Xavier momentarily walked over to my father and I with a smile, “Hey, how you feeling?” He asked me. I nodded and forced a smile,

“Much better.” I assured him.

“Shall we dance again?” He asked and held his folded arm towards me. I looped my hand around it and nodded,

“Sure.”

This time I was a little slower and clumsier with my steps, but luckily Xavier didn’t seem to take too much notice, although he did c***k the odd small joke about it. “Are you nervous about the battle?” He suddenly asked. The battle was to take place in the forest that surrounded the castle. Our scouts told us it appeared the Shadow Wolves were heading to the northern side and would be attacking from there and would be arriving within the next ten days. There were forty of them. This pack was known for their agility and strength, but more for their brutality on the battle field. The Alpha could apparently rip another Werewolf’s head clean off in one bite. The thought was unsettling but I remained composed by it.

I could handle myself. My ability over the elements would be enough to protect me. So, I shook my head, “I know I’ll be fine.” I told him, but my confident smile wavered, “I worry more about you, and my father, the other pack members…” I trailed off. Xavier only smirked, confident in his ability too it seemed,

“No need to worry about me, sweetness.” He smiled sweetly at me. “I can take care of myself. I’m sure your father will be okay too. He’s led many battles by my father’s side, and never once been injured terribly. He’s a strong man.” He nodded with a refined look of admiration.

His confidence helped to keep my nerves at bay. His warm touch washed over me, encouraging my senses to fixate on him. His strong smell of cinnamon engulfed me. I felt very content in this moment, enough to forget I had smoked weed earlier, the effects had been minimised for now. We danced for what felt like hours, but really it was probably only around half an hour, before we swept over to the bar to order drinks. Xavier typically ordered a beer, while I ordered a glass of bourbon on the rocks. The night went on for an hour more before I felt tiredness begin to creep over me. Xavier kindly offered to walk me to my chambers.

“Would you like to be my sparring partner for training tomorrow? Sundays are always just combat in human form.” He explained as we walked down the quiet corridor. I looked around, not used to there being no hustling people racing around to complete their work. It was empty aside from Xavier and myself, and the bareness made the place feel sort of eerie.

“Sure.” I said, a questioning gaze settled on him, “Since when do the Royal Pack do anything on Sundays? I thought it was your day of rest?”

“Usually,” He nodded, “But with the battle approaching soon, my father wants to leave minimal room for rest. He’s adamant that we’re all one hundred and ten percent ready for this battle.” He explained as we reached the door of my chambers. I turned to face him as he took both my hands and held them in his. “I had a fun time dancing with you tonight,” he told me, with adoration in his eyes. “I’d like to spend more time with you, outside of training.” He added.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, the left corner of my lips curved upwards, my eyes peaked with interest.

“Come riding with me in the morning instead of my annoying sister?” He suggested. I chuckled, and he knew it wouldn’t be likely that Cleo would stay behind. Riding together had become our thing.

“I’m not sure Cleo would appreciate being ditched from our new tradition, but she might be okay with you tagging along.” I shrugged casually before I winked at him.

“That’s good enough for me.” He smiled. The tension in the air thickened a little. Ahh, the old awkward doorway moment. I glanced between the closed wooden and iron door and back at Xavier. His gorgeous brown eyes stared back at me, with a glint of happiness.

“Do you want to come in? We could chill in the hot tub or something?” I offered. He smirked,

“How could I turn down an invitation to see you in a bikini?” he gave a short chuckle. I felt my cheeks flush red. I opened the door and Xavier followed me inside. I wondered off to my draws and pulled out a pair of white bikinis that Cleo had leant me and then disappeared into the bathroom.

My makeup had been caked on a decent amount, so it took a good 10 minutes to wipe it all off. I winced as I peeled off my false eyelashes. I hate those things, but damn they did a good job with emphasising my look tonight. I stripped down and changed into the bikinis. I then grabbed two spare towels out of the cupboard and exited the bathroom. I headed over to the left side of the chambers, near the balcony doors, to see Xavier, shirtless in the hot tub. He wore only his boxers, which were barely visible under all the bubbles. My gaze halted at his defined six pack and v-line. His physique was that of a Greek God’s.

“You going to hop in, or do you need another minute to perve?” Xavier arched a brow and gave me a cocky smile. I rolled my eyes and placed the towels on the table beside the hot tub before climbing in, also noticing his eyes wondering over my body. I raised a brow back at him,

“Back atcha with the perving.”

He laughed. “Alright, we’re even then. What did you think of the ball?” He changed the subject. I shrugged,

“It was… extravagant.” I nodded. “It looked like a lot of effort and detail went in to everything. The music was nice too.” I said while scooping some bubbles up in my hands. “Did you have a nice time?”

“I did.” He nodded. We continued to chat about the evening and then our plans for the next day. Before long we had started to talk about our favourite TV shows – his was surprisingly Teen Wolf at the time as apparently he had a new favourite quite often. He thought Teen Wolf was hilarious, but agreed with me that Styles was the best character. Our night carried on for another hour before he eventually kissed me on the forehead goodnight and left my chambers.

I crawled into my bed and snuggled under the silk duvet, sighing contently and drifting away asleep.