Chapter 3 3

EMILY

What?! I turned to my side to see who had growled out that same word beside me, my eyes widened in shock. Reece? I swept my gaze to see the person who had also spoken, whom Ilaya had perceived to be our mate. I was hit aback by the view before me.

He had silver hair that caught the beam of the young morning sun, it was shoulder-length long and held in a small elastic band. His green eyes- the shade of forest- were striking but cold; I wondered how something that was so beautiful could house such iciness and ominosity.

My gaze slowly went down, taking note of his every feature; his delicately pointed nose, chestnut lips that were curled in disapproval and surprise, a fine chin that had a day or probably two-day-old stubble. The muscled, evenly toned biceps added to the allure of the man. He was wearing a black shirt that did little to hide the rock-hard body beneath. My gaze wandered back to his face, his expression was formidable and there was this dark aura that oozed from his presence.

"Ilaya, calm down," I told her firmly, she would not stop prancing in my head.

"We have not one, but two mates, Emily!"

She was full of glee. My wolf was the definition of happy and bubbly, no matter what we might have gone through in the past, or even now, she never let it affect her personality, which was why I was blessed to have her. She cheered me up. Every werewolf could communicate telepathically with their wolves.

"You two are my mates?"

The dangerous guy who looked young but was obviously older than Reece stepped forward, his expression darkened more, if that was even possible. He looked from me to Reece, back again to me and then to Reece.

Reece, on his own, was beyond stunned. He looked at me and I saw the obvious question; why had we not recognized each other as mates until now? And his question was valid, we had grown up together, did everything together yet our wolves had never reacted this way around each other.

"Look at me, the both of you,"

His tone was calm but I did not miss the steel underneath. The forest green orbs flickered to a darker shade, and an involuntary shiver raced through my spine, causing the hair at the back of my neck to stand stiff.

I was commanded to attention not just by his voice but the mate bond was at work here. From my peripheral vision, Reece was affected too. We could both do nothing but stare at our third mate.

"Do you both know who I am?"

As though on cue, Reece and I exchanged curious gazes, I was hoping he had a clue and from his expression too, he was thinking the same thing.

"Who are you?" Reece asked, his countenance changing to a serious, mildly curious one. And from his stance, he was trying not to be intimidated by our mate's unfriendly, hostile persona.

"You murderer!" Someone cried from the crowd of captives already in shackles.

I whipped my head to see who had dared utter those words, my heart pounding in fear for that werewolf. It was an elderly man, he was from my pack...or what used to be my pack.

"Bring that man to me!" this strange mate commanded, the steel in his eyes was still there and his words dripped with dispassionate frigidity.

"Yes, Alpha!"

Alpha?

Reece and I met each other's gaze again as though it was a rehearsed thing. He was an Alpha? Not just any Alpha but the tyrant, evil one who had ruthlessly pillaged our pack, murdered innocent lives and taken the rest of us who were alive captive?

This Alpha was our mate? The shock and absurdity of the situation were boldly written on our faces. How could such a mean werewolf be our mate?

"What did you call me again?"

This Alpha roughly handled the man when he was brought to him by one of his men. The poor man visibly shook in fear, unable to speak. I saw him bring out a knife from the small sheath attached to the waist of his trousers.

"Please don't..."

"Don't kill him!"

I cried out before I could stop myself, only to realize Reece and I had spoken at once.

The Alpha raised his eyes to both of us and smiled, but there was nothing sweet or sunny about it. There was a dark, dismal doom about that crook of his lips. "Oh, my mates have spoken," His gaze went back to the man. "They are begging for your life. They are your pack members and my mates, what a cruel twist of fate!"

He sneered derisively. Seeing him raise his knife, I screamed, refusing to watch him kill that man in cold blood. But all I heard was a grunt. I turned to see that he had merely used the edge of the weapon to hit the man's head.

"You have my mates to thank for saving your life,"

The way he'd said mates was unkind. He clearly detested the Moon Goddess's choices for him, and honestly, I was the same.

He was the enemy. How could I be mated to the enemy? Was the Moon Goddess blind?

"Our mate scares me, but he excites me too," Ilaya commented from her lying position in my head.

"I hate him, Ilaya. Look what he has done to our people!"

"I know, but we cannot hate our mate. The mate bond is too strong to allow it," she sighed. She was torn between the evil this Alpha had done and the bond that held us so strong.

I sighed too, unable to argue with her.

"Let's go." He ordered.

The men began to take the captives away. Our captors pulled us behind.

"Leave those two to me. I will lead them myself,"

He advanced towards us, took a long thick rope and tied Reece and me. I winced when I saw his mean, wily smile. He had purposefully tied us painfully tight. Reece had his face contorted but did not make a sound, he knew it was an intentional act on the Alpha's side.

"There, my mates, walk with me," he flashed an evil grin and brutally dragged us along.