Chapter 4

Oliver stood in front of the bed, staring at the brushed up woman that lay there. Inside of him was like a damn volcano waiting to explode.

What had the moon goddess been thinking setting him up like this?

A mate?

Who said he wanted a mate?

That was the last thing on his mind as it was. He didn’t want her. Period!

But he couldn’t help himself as he drank in her features.

Full curly mass of brown hair, smooth face, not so straight but cute nose, and a lip to die for. Heck it was the first thing that had healed, and he had been forced to acknowledge just how plump they were. And red too.

His wolf seemed to approve as it continued to prance around restlessly.

Despite himself, Oliver tore his gaze away from her face and let it roam, down her body, feeling something tighten inside of him.

When he had carried her inside, she had been completely naked, and it had taking all the reserve he had to take her in, through the back, in his equally naked form, and straight to his bedroom.

The skin to skin contact had been too much for him. Too much that he had clamped down hard on his tongue, just to bear what he was feeling,

“She seems to be healing quite quickly for a small woman.” Lucas’s voice came from behind, tearing him away from his thoughts and making Oliver flinch a little as he adjusted his stance so he could turn to his brother who had just walked into the room and stood close to him.

“Yeah. She is.” He replied nonchalantly, trying not to let Lucas feel that anything was off with him, since his brother loved to pry. “Did you find out who she was?” He asked, folding his arms over themselves.

Lucas had come in just a few moments after he had had a pack healer attend to the woman. The faster she healed and they found out who she was, the faster she left.

He didn’t want a mate.

A heavy sigh from behind, made him turn around fully to look at his brother who looked really stressed out.

Oliver cocked his head to the side as a thought suddenly occurred to him. He had been so engrossing his situation that he hadn’t really asked about the wedding and had just told his brother to find out who the woman was…

“Wait…you cake back so early from the wedding. What happened?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at his brother who looked from him to the woman laying behind, and then back to him.

Lucas sighed again and shook his head. “I don’t know exactly, how to say what I am about to say, Oliver.” He looked even more stressed with each word. “But the woman on that bed, is the bride. Or should I say, was supposed to be the bride.”

Wait..what?

Oliver turned to the woman behind him with his mouth wide open, then back to his brother. “What do you mean by that?” He asked, trying to comprehend what his brother was saying.

“Well, I do not know the whole detail. But it seems like the marriage was called off over infidelity on her part. And Dean, the groom, rejected her.” Lucas said with a frown etched on his face as he looked straight at the figure on the bed.

Oliver on the other hand, didn’t even know how to react to what his brother was saying to him. How? Infidelity? Where?

How was she even the bride when she was his mate? Just what was this whole bullshit of a nightmare?

“Are you sure? Because when and where I found her, she was surrounded by rogues? How did she even get there?” He asked before he even knew what he was saying. The words just seemed to find on their own accord.

He was beginning to sweat in his palms from nervousness.

Lucas shrugged. “We had just gotten there, when all hell broke loose. I tell you, I haven’t witnessed a rejection before, but I heard this one. Clearly. And it was the most heartbreaking thing ever. I and Damon were still contemplating on whether to come back, or still pay homage. We decided on the latter, and were on our way out, when heard someone say she ran into the woods, so we followed.” He let out a breath. “That’s why we were minutes away from you bringing her inside.

Oliver frowned. “We? Do you mean you and her family? Are they looking for her?” He asked in a rush. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to come banging in his territory for their lost bride.

But the look on Lucas’s face made his frown deepen. “No one is looking for her, Oliver. In fact, as we speak now, her father literally said that she would come back when she is done with her tantrum.”

Wait…what in the messed up fuck, was that?!

~

It was already dark, and the woman, Kayla, wasn’t awake yet. Although she was breathing okay, and the pack healer, Tamara, had said she would be fine.

Kayla.

It was a perfect name for her perfect face. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman on the planet. But she was definitely beautiful. Intact, Oliver had stared at her for so long, that even as he stood by the river bank, looking at the water as it flowed by, he still had her face and features imprinted in his mind. Try as he might, he couldn’t let her out of his head, which irked him to the very bones.

“Why? Why did you bring her here?” He questioned both himself and the empty openness that surrounded him.

A mate.

But one who had cheated on her mate, and also been rejected. One who it looked like she was spiked to the extent no one was looking for her.

Even if he wanted a mate, that wasn’t the kind he wanted.

He didn’t want to ask, neither did he want to know why or how it had happened. He simply wasn’t interested.

Lucas may not have experienced rejection. But he had. And he knew exactly what it looked like. Even if she was a cheat and a brat, Oliver didn’t wish such on anyone.

When he had seen her, she hadn’t even put up much of a fight against those rogues, and back then, he had questioned it.

Now though, as he picked a rock and threw it into the river, he understood very well, what had happened. She had been too broken to put up a fight.

He knew how that felt. And it was something he had vowed to forget.

It was one more disadvantage for her. He didn’t want someone’s who was going to make him remember something he had vowed to take to the grave.

The moment she opened her eyes, he was taking her back to her pack. Or rather, Lucas was taking her back. He didn’t want to be near her.

~

Kayla opens her eyes, gasping as she felt her claws retract painfully, back into her hands and feet.

Wait…

She had had the wildest dream ever.

In that dream, she had been attacked by rogues, and just when she had thought she was going to die, Dean had come to save her.

Dean.

“Dean?” She croaked as she forcefully pulled herself up from the very soft bed she lay, and instantly regretted it when pain tore through her body, causing her to convulse and fall back to the bed.

What was happening?

Why was she in so much pain?

There was no Dean. In fact, she felt so cold and alone, in wherever it is, that she was.

Despite the pain, uwanted memories came at her, causing her more pain. She could remember all that had happened that morning, and once again, tears begun to fall from her eyes.

This time, it wasn’t just the pain she felt physically, but emotionally.

Just how had she gotten to this point?

She was still questioning herself when she went under, embracing the darkness as it pulled her under once again.

~

When she woke up the next time, Kayla felt a little bit better. And not only that, she felt the presence of two men in the same room with her.

Kayla opened her eyes but this time, she didn’t get up as fast as she did the last time. Instead, she rolled her head to the side in the direction from where she felt their presence. What she saw, or rather who she saw was not what she was expecting.

“ where am I? Who are you? What’s going on?” How she found her voice to ask such questions were beyond her. But for some reason, she could speak a little bit clearly.

Kayla sat up slowly on the bed, staring intently at the men who stood just a few feet away from where she was laying. She could feel her heart pound really hard. Even her wolf had taken a defensive stand within her.

A quick scan around the room, told her that she was in a bedroom. But whose?

Everything was painted either black or grey. There were no in-between. Well, apart from the occasional brown wood on the furniture.

Where was she?

One of the men cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to them.

“I don’t think that is the way to say thank you for saving your life.” Said the man who stood by the right. One look at him, and Kayla could swear he was probably one of those magazine models that she usually saw on TV or well, magazines. From his really dark hair that was slicked down into a low ponytail behind his head, so his green eyes, to the straightest nose she had ever seen, and down to his full lips, there was no denying that the man was good looking as fuck.

Get a grip on yourself! She scolded, groaning within her she looked at the man who stood to the left. How in the world where these two gorgeous men standing in the same room with her?

The only difference between the two was the fact that, while the first man had a sleek ponytail, the second had rich brown hair that sat in messy waves on his head. And his eyes were the richest shade of honey.

She could see all of these because the room was well lit up, and despite feeling like a train wreck, she hadn’t lost her ability to see clearer that the average wolf.

And why the fuck was she thinking about how good looking they were, when she could have been very well kidnapped?

“Uhmm…I…” she stammered, as she thought of the best way to reply to what he had said. “ so it hadn’t been a dream?” she asked a bit calmly, as she steered her attention from the men to the matter on the ground.

The one with the sleek ponytail narrowed his eyes at her, scratching his nose, as he seem to observe her. Kayla could tell that she was in a room with werewolves just like her. But for some reason she wasn’t scared, not even the slightest bit.

And if that wasn’t weird, she didn’t know what was..

“What dream? It’s a miracle you are even alive with all that you has gone through in the hands of those rogues!” The other man hissed, running his hand through his already messed up hair as he looked at her with what she could only discribe as concern.

Who were these men, and why had they saved her?

She had wished it was all a dream, and that Dean had saved her. But here she was, looking at two really identical adults, who looked concerned, and at the same time, looked like they wanted to be anywhere else, but with her in the same room.

It wasn’t a dream. And she knew that, because the very scene of Dean rejecting her in front of her family was beginning to replay in her head all over again.

There was a part of her that actually wished she had died in the hands of those rogues. The more she thought about it, the more she remembered what had happened.

Kayla cleared her throat. “Thank you for saving me…” she said in a really small voice as pain began to creep its way into her heart once again.

She could feel her eyes burn as she thought about just how meaningless life was going to be from then on.

“Well, technically speaking, it was our brother, who saved you. So I guess you should say that to him instead.” The sleek ponytail guy said, eyes soften as he walked closer to the bed. “I’m Lucas, and this is Damon, my brother.” He said with a smile that definitely did something in Kayla’s mind.

Their brother?

“I’m Kayla.” She said, mustering a smile that was actually genuine. She sat up fully, muttering a thank you as Damon rushed to her side with a speed she recognized, and helped her stack some pillows behind her so she could rest her back.

Where she should have had cuts, the skin there was replaced with purple and red streaks that she knew were going to fade eventually. On a normal day, she would have healed faster, but the rejection had zapped all of her strength away, and made her weaker than an omega.

Damon straighten and looked back at Lucas, before looking at her. “Actually, we know who you are, Kayla.” He said, sighing as he sat down on the side of the bed, inspecting her with a critical eye. Kayla frowned in confusion. She could see his eyes flash red as he stared at the areas where her wounds were supposed to be. “How are you feeling?”

She was about to answer him when something clicked in her head.

Lucas and Damon.

Although she had never met them before, she definitely knew who they were. And if she was correct, then the other brother, was…Oliver. Alpha Oliver Bernardi.

Her eyes widened as she looked at Lucas, who had brought out his phone and was currently typing away at it, with a frown of concentration etched on his face.

If they knew who she was, then they certainly knew what had happened to her. Both Dean, and her father had insisted on inviting them to the wedding, since they were about to form an alliance with them.

Oh dear.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Damon asked, still staring intently at her.

Kayla found herself nodding quickly. “Yea, in fact, I am. You said your brother was the one who found me? Where is he? What’s his name?” Maybe she was mistaken. Maybe she was wrong and these were done random Lucas and Damon, and not the Betas of the number one pack in the werewolf food chain!

“That would be me. Oliver.” Came the most calm, and deep voice she had ever heard in her entire life. In fact, she felt and heard him, even before he entered the room.

Kayla let her eyes raise slowly from Damon who was sitting on her bed, to the man, who drilled in through the entrance, looking like something out of her dreams.

Her good dreams.

Alpha Oliver Bernardi.

Oh dear…