TWO ALPHAS? REJECTION.

KELEIGH’S POV

“Jake,” I said softly, pain lancing through my chest as I stared at this man, the man that I loved, now turned a monster overnight. I looked into those hazel eyes flecked with blood to know if this was all an act, if there was some other motive behind him killing my father and part of my pack.

I saw nothing but darkness and hate.

I could barely see through my tears as I stumbled over the several bodies on the floor and out into the night. I took a moment to take one last look back at the warehouse, the last memory that I will have of my time in the pack, the memory that would overshadow the others and haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

Then I turned and sprang into the woods, brushes and thorny shrubs tearing at me in my haste to get far, far away.

The woods had never scared me before. I had practically grown up in the woods all my life, like the rest of the wolves in my pack. They were as familiar to me as my own skin, and how I had loved to revel in it. The freedom, the untameable quality of nature, and the solitude. It was as important to any wolf as food or water was.

Now, however, it felt like anything but that. Instead of being comforting and familiar, the woods  suddenly seemed very sinister with maleficent intent. The darkness only seemed to make this feeling of dread and fear in me grow. For all I knew, Jake could have already had some of his people stationed anywhere in the forest, laying in wait for me to run straight into their traps where they could finish me off once and for all. Every single twitch, every moving branch, every animal sound, made me jump in fear, sure that I was found, and that I was already done for.

It also didn’t help that I could barely see through my tears.

I had to stop for several intervals because my sobs came from deep within me, and they came hard. My father. Oh, my poor father. He was dead. He was dead. The news was finally sinking into me that I would never see him again. Never cringe at his awful jokes, never hear his rumbling laughter. Never feel him again.

He was right all along and I was so wrong and so damn stupid and gullible. I had been so naive to think that any form of peace could be brokered between my pack and Jake’s. And Jake had seen that weakness and taken advantage of it. Played me like a fiddle, strung me along for years. Gods, how he must have made fun of me, mocked me in my absence, in his mind. I wondered if I revolted him when we had made love countless times. If he had had the urge to kill me with his hands during our numerous secret meetings.

That was probably the case. And now I was carrying his child. Rage and fury burned through me, pure and unadulterated, along with my grief and betrayal, stirring up a tempest inside me. I wanted so badly to go back. Go back and kill that rotten bastard. Destroy him just like he had destroyed my life. But I knew that wouldn’t be smart. I was pregnant. My child. I wouldn’t let them die. They were the only family I had left now.

Eventually, I was too exhausted to continue. I slumped at the foot of a large tree. My body ached all over, throbbing spots that flared up when they made contact with the ground. But that physical pain paled in comparison to the pain I felt in my heart. I was exhausted, but sleep wouldn’t come. My mind was very clear, I would not be given the small respite of sleep, despite everything that had happened. So I just sat with my back against the tree trunk, sniffling into my hands till the tears wouldn’t come anymore, and my eyes were hurting along with the rest of my body.

I remained in that shell shocked state for several hours, before I heard a crack among the trees.

My eyes darted in the direction of the sound as my heart rate increased. What was that?

It took all of my strength to keep still as my the gears in my head spun overtime. Goosebumps broke out on my arms as an uneasy feeling settled over me.

I was not alone.

I had probably not been alone for several minutes now, I realized. I just hadn’t realized it until I had heard that noise. Now, the feeling was too hard to ignore. I was being watched from all angles.

I saw the individual shadows creep towards me. I lost count after six. Who were these people? I wondered in my panicked state. They crept closer faster and faster, making only shuffling sounds. I was against the tree, nowhere to move, surrounded from all sides.

“Who are you?” I said in a very hoarse voice. No response. “Stay away from me. Stay back now.”

A distant suggestion of trying to fight them off passed through my mind, but what was the use? My life was already gone. I had nothing left to lose.

Your child, a voice whispered in my ears. And my body snapped to attention.

If I wasn’t pregnant, maybe I wouldn’t have attempted to fight them off. But I had a child growing in me, a child that depended on me completely, and I would not let them down.

The first person leaped at me and I rolled over, getting to my feet in one fluid motion and landing a punch in their chest. Five more people jumped on top of me, holding me down and preventing me from doing any more damage. I groaned and struggled against them, but there was no way I was overpowering six people.

Eventually, they had me tied down, blindfolded and gagged. However, before they could blindfold me, I caught a glimpse of some of the rogues that had captured me. They were not dressed like the Moonlight pack, who favoured very militaristic style of dressing. These people were dressed very casually. They could have been going for a jog the way they were dressed.

Who were these people?

“Take off her blindfold,” I heard a voice say.

We must have been traveling for about a day now. I was very hungry and the rogues had offered me water only twice throughout our long journey. I felt like I was going to die.

We were in a small settlement, or maybe a pack, I guessed. I could hear voices of people going about their various businesses. I could hear laughter, discussions, a few shouts. I heard a distant howl. I knew for sure then that we were in a pack.

A hand came up to the back of my head and roughly tugged the blindfold off my face.

I blinked, my eyes getting used to the light in this place.

I had never seen this place before, and I had a feeling that I was very far from my home. It looked like we were in a compound with several buildings occupying it. We were standing in the middle of the compound so this must be the courtyard. Several people—wolves—were gathered around, all of them giving me wary looks and whispering amidst themselves, not knowing what to make of me.

The man that had tugged off my blindfold also removed the cloth keeping my mouth gagged and pushed me to my knees.

“Kneel before the Alpha’s,” he said.

The Alphas?

I stared in front of me at two huge men that walked towards me. The crowd that was gathered around me parted in two to let them pass. They were so tall they towered over most of the people in the crowd. They were also twins, identical in all aspects, from their intimidating posture to the glares on their faces.

They were also the most beautiful men I had ever seen.

My heart sped up a bit by just looking at them and their outstanding physiques. I was mesmerized by them for some unknown reason. A second later, I knew why.

Then I felt something explode in my chest, a very peculiar feeling that I had never felt before. One that was very pleasurable and at the same time very excruciating. I felt my exhaustion ease from my bones, like a force passed through me, eating it all up.

What is happening to me? I asked myself.

Before my eyes, I felt two strings of pure energy pulse from my chest and attach itself to the chests of the two Alphas. The pulsing of the thread of energy was so strong it felt like a second heartbeat.

I had heard it explained countless times by several wolves for me to know that I was currently experiencing a mate bond.

I wanted to laugh. Now? Of all the times to meet my mates, it had to be now? This had to be some sick cosmic joke. There was no way this was happening.

The Alphas both gasped in unison as the mate bond crashed into them, making them clutch their chests as their eyes zeroed in on me. Their eyes widened and they stared at each other, a silent conversation passing between the two. They could feel the mate bond beating strongly between each of us.

Then the men turned to look at me, but something was different now. Only one of them was scowling at me, and his scowl was even deeper now. The other looked at me in awe, his eyes practically sparkling. He took a step towards me, mouth open in preparation to say something.

“No!” I said, cutting him off blandly. There was no way I was going to have a mate. I just lost my father and my entire pack. This was the last thing on my mind.

“I reject the mate bond,” I said without flinching. “I reject... whatever this is.”

The gasps spread through the crowd as every single person stared at me with wide eyes. I pretended like I could see it, staring only at the Alpha’s, watching their reactions.