Chapter 3

RYKER

"You're late again, Arnold" i watched my younger twin drag himself into the house after another late night escapade. It was beginning to get on my nerves.

"What're you getting all angry about? At least i didn't bring a woman in with me this time" he leaned on the door, while the Gammas that had dragged him in tried getting him to stand still, so they could attend to his injuries.

"You got drunk again, didn't you? Is that why you got into a fi—"

"Spare me the Ted Talk, Ryker" he put up his hand and the smell of alcohol reeked even harder. "You have your way of going about things, and i have mine. You might be older, but you're not the boss of me" he tried standing still, but Arnold could barely even raise his head to look me in the eyes. The brown-haired 6'1 was drunk beyond measure.

"Leave us" i addressed the Gamma's that had helped him in, and as quickly as they could, they left both of us in the living room. I had more than enough on my plate, and this kid was already stressing me even more. "You know the Gayatri's came to visit today?"

"Those cheap skates from the north?" He answered, still trying to shrug the drunkness off his lips. "The hell where they looking for here—"

"They came with their daughter, Mavis. And guess whose absence messed up everything?"

"God, not thins bullcrap again!" He murmured. "See, this is why i said you have your way of handling things, and i have mine."

"Your way of handling things is to sleep around with every Luna in the province and get yourself beaten to death everytime?"

"Well how has your 'matchmaking' worked for you so far? Is Mavice our mate?" He bit back, and i clenched my fists in anger. Arnold wasn't taking things serious. He never did. As twins, it was pretty obvious that our fated mates were the same person. The prophecy eight years ago confirmed it. But even back then, Arnold took the words of the mage as one would take a piece of tissue. If he wasn't frolicking with the women from neighboring towns, he was drinking himself to stupor. It made my blood boil!

"You can judge me all you want. I don't care" he read me like a book. "This little mate chase of yours hasn't worked, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it's about to clock a decade now" he pushed one leg in front of the other, and kept walking till he reached where I stood. "Why don't you try having a little fun already. This mate bond thing is all rubbish if you ask—"

The second he put his hand on my shoulder, about to walk passed, her scent trailed the air and my nose caught it almost immediately.

I felt the pores of my skin tighten up, and the scent of lilies, daffodils and warm petrichor was so strong, it stung the back of my throat. My wolf, Wes, latched on to the scent the second it trailed in, and he went bonkers over it. I knew it was her even before I'd set eyes on the owner of that hypnotic smell. "Mate" i whispered, and turned to glance at Arnold.

"Still not interested?" I muttered, and he took a deep breath to still his nerves.

"I'm not entertaining this."

"I'm not asking" i bit back, and for the first time in quite a while, he bent under my authority. So much for someone that wasn't interested in the mate bond.

"Alpha Ryker, Alpha Arnold. Sorry for barging in" an Omega rushed in and bent her head the moment she entered.

"What is it?" I asked, acting like i didn't know exactly what was going on.

"Wolves of the Western Woods just trailed across our Northern borders sir."

"Wolves of the Western Woods?" I thought to myself.

"The rogues. I'm pretty sure it was Zen" Arnold latched on to the hint.

"...and? Speak up" I added, referring to the Omega. "They dropped something sir. They said it was for you, and that you could chose to reject it if you—"

"They dropped… something?" I said, and she shook at my words, then slowly lifted her head. "It's a woman sir. Bleeding and unconscious."

…