ARNOLD’S POV
I stared at the girl, my eyes widened. I was stunned by her audacity, if not for the fact that things were normal one minute and the next everything began to spiral. I had been in bed, finally getting ready to get some sleep after working hard all night and then Ryker had come in like the kill joy that he was and told me that there was something that needed attending to.
And that ‘thing’ that needed attending to was this girl, apparently.
“The fuck is going on here?” I muttered to my twin after the girl had just rejected the two of us in front of the entire park.
Ryker looked at me, his eyes gleaming. “Can’t you feel it? The mate bond is strong between us. We’ve found our mate, brother.”
I understood that. But what I didn’t understand was her rejecting us, humiliating us in front of the entire pack by just taking one look at us. Who did she think she is, as tattered and dirty as she was, that we would want her in the first place?
“Yeah, I know that,” I replied to Ryker, but my eyes were on the girl cowering at our feet. My voice began to rise. “But apparently she doesn’t think that we are good enough for her, does she? Tell me, how can someone so haggard possess such entitlement? Is—”
“Arnold stop it,” Ryker mildly chastised me like an older brother. Well, I guess that tracks because he’s a few minutes older than me. “Now is not the time for this. Kara, you and the others take her and freshen her up. Dress her up in something nice. Then arrange for a small dinner to be made for her in the main hall.”
Kara, the matronly wolf that had been an adult when we were boys bowed and snapped her fingers at the young girls under her. They escorted the girl out from the courtier and into the quarters.
“I think we need to talk,” I told Ryker. He rolled his eyes at me and followed me inside to the main hall. He knew me well enough to know what was on my mind.
“Do not tell me that you’re already taken with her,” I said immediately we were in the hall. “You can’t be taken with her.”
“I’m more concerned with why she rejected us though,” Ryker said, which was most definitely not what I was talking about. “I mean, she doesn’t knows us. It’s not... It’s not like she knows.”
I shut my eyes tight, blocking the memories that threatened to come bubbling up. “You know we’re not supposed to talk about that. Drop it, and answer my question.”
“You’re always so intense, brother. Try not to sound like you have a stick up your ass for once.”
“So you do like her. One look and you’re already taken with her? I can’t believe it. You don’t even know her.”
“Don’t you like her?” Ryker asked, raising an eyebrow. “You felt the bond the same as me, didn’t you?”
“We already have a mate for goodness’s sake. Selene is more than enough for the two of us—”
“But she’s not our true mate,” he cut in.
“Well thank goodness she rejected us anyway,” I shot him a smug look. “Nothing we can do about that now, is there?”
Ryker was about to respond when we both heard footsteps approaching. The girl entered the hall surrounded by Kara and the other maids. She was a lot cleaner than before, even though she still had that haunted look on her face. She refused to look at any of us in the eye.
Yes. She better be afraid of us.
“Hello there,” Ryker said to her in a tender voice. I wanted to gag. “Are you feeling better now?”
She didn’t respond. She just stared at the floor.
“What’s your name?” he tried again. “Where did you come from?”
Still no response from her. The silence in the hall stretched for close to a minute.
“It seems she’s gone voluntarily mute,” I say to Ryker, my voice dripping with acid. “She’s practically useless to us.”
“Kara, thank you for your help,” he said. “We’ll be fine here.”
Once Kara and the maids were gone, he said to the girl, “You’re free to sit. A meal is being prepared for you.”
She shuffled towards the chair nearest to her at the table and took a seat.
“At least we know she isn’t deaf,” I said. Ryker shot me a glare. I shrugged.
Ryker has always had a soft spot for strays, lost creatures, broken things. He liked to see if he could fix them, put them back together again. It was quite an admirable trait, but it could get very ridiculous and dangerous. There were people who would seek to take advantage of that kindness in him.
That was why he had me, the more logical and hot-headed brother to check his excesses and make sure he’s never taken advantage of. And he, in turn, checked my own excesses. Stopped me from going to far, doing too much. Like the last time.
I blinked, focusing on the girl.
“Listen,” Ryker said to the girl. “I know that you don’t want us. You don’t want to be mates with us, and I can quite understand that. You don’t know us. But it’s not in good form for you to just reject us like that, without any preamble. Don’t you think that there is a reason why we have the mate bond? I think you should give this a chance.
“So I propose that you stay here for six months just to get to know us better.”
I banged my hand loudly on the table. The sound boomed, making the girl jump and Ryker give me an irritated look.
“What is your problem?” he hissed at me.
“What is my problem? My problem?” My voice was rising. “You don’t even know who this bitch is. You don’t know if she’s good, or if she’s a spy, and you just want to let her stay here for six months? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“I see nothing wrong with that. And besides, as I have already said earlier but it seems you refuse to hear, she’s our mate. Get that into you goddamn head. Will she be our mate if she was harmful to us?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I sometimes wonder how you can be so naive.”
“What if I don’t like you after six months?”
The girl’s voice rang in the hall. We both turned to look at her, surprised. We were definitely not expecting her to say anything.
She was now staring at us directly, her eyes red and slightly puffy from tears, some tears streaked on her cheeks. Her hair was damp from her shower and she had on a slightly rumpled dress. I couldn’t deny, despite all my qualms about her, that she was beautiful. But those haunted eyes, the darkness behind them, they made me wary.
“If, after six months, you still don’t want us, then you are free to go,” Ryker said.
I remember thinking, This is going to be the most trying six months of my life. And it would turn out to be true.
KELEIGH’S POVI stared at the brothers, and they stared back at me. One face welcoming and pleasant, the other scowling and hateful. Two faces so identical, and yet so different. I wiped my cheeks and thought through my decision.If I rejected the pleasant brother’s offer, I would be out on my own with nothing to my name, and no property of mine. Not to mention the risks of running into Jake and his henchmen out in the wild was very high. But if I stayed, then I could be protected—for six months, at least. I had no intention of accepting either of them as my mate, but at least I could use these months to plan out my next line of action, gather enough resources to take me even farther away from Jake than I already am. I would be free of all my shackles then. “I accept,” I said, my voice hoarse from disuse. “I’ll stay here for six months.”“Motherfucker,” muttered the unpleasant twin. He banged his hand on the table again, but this time I wasn’t caught off guard. I noticed that his bro
KELEIGH’S POVI couldn’t leave the hall fast enough. Any more time spent in the dining hall and I would have broken down. Even now, I found myself hyperventilating. My head felt light and my brain was fuzzy. It was all too much. Everything was happening all at once and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I needed to get away from it all before I exploded.I had planned on going back to the room that Kara had assigned to me, but I couldn’t stay there. The room would feel too stifling for me and I needed space, I needed to breathe, I needed solitude. “Keleigh!” I turned back. It was Ryker calling out to me from the doorway of the hall. “Stay away from me!” I shouted back. “I need space.”I moved about the compound on instinct, avoiding places where people were gathered in. Eventually, I found myself in an orchard. It was far away from the rest of the buildings and was quiet. Just what I needed. I spread my arms out and took in a deep breath, the deep aroma of fruit refreshing me, calming me
KEIGEIGH’S POV:Blood. It was everywhere my eyes landed on. On the floor, splattered on the walls, and even on the ceiling.I saw my father’s corpse before me and my heightened tastebuds could taste the copper in the air, lingering like a reminder.Then I saw him.Alpha Jake, his face morphed into the semblance of a monster I didn’t know before.His face had been carved into with the dagger of darkness, revealing a hateful expression.He had found me..! How?!HOW?!I jerked awake, pressing my hand to my chest as I tried hard to take in breaths and exhale. It was such a hard thing to do that my chest hurt. My vision blurred and I reached up to touch my face. Tears.“Even in my sleep,” I whispered out hoarsely, my voice thick. “Even then, can’t you let me rest? Do I not deserve some reprieve from my mistakes?”I didn’t care for the darkness of the room, or if a monster hid beneath its depths. Memories flooded me, pushing through all my defenses that it felt like I would drown in them.I
SELENE’S POV:Her face alone pissed me off, and though I tried to contain myself and keep my pleasantness on my face, Ryker’s reprimands as the girl had left made me furious.I remembered what happened only minutes before I left the dining hall fuming.After my comment on the girl’s disrespect, I didn’t expect Ryker to lash out in the way he did.‘Be quiet. You have no right to treat Keileigh that way, much less act like you’re better than her. She has a higher rank than you, Selene. Don’t forget that,’ Ryker had said. I was dumbfounded then. Ryker, of all people, who was so slow to anger had become that new girl’s greatest defender. His warnings had bite to it, for unlike Arnold’s anger that could be easily soothed, his was like a hurricane that swallowed everything in its path when he lost it. And very rarely did he do so.Arnold came to my defense, rising up from his seat, and pointing his fork in his twin brother’s direction.‘You’re too hung up on this girl already, huh,’ he rema
KEILEIGH’S POV:Sounds of it’s chirping and the peaceful atmosphere didn’t deceive me or stop me from feeling stifled. Not even the sight of the pleasant sun’s rays streaming in through large windows could pacify me. My mood was spoilt since I had woken up, and the breakfast I couldn’t stomach, combined with Selene’s confrontation had soured my prospects for the day.My heels clicked on the floor as I walked forward, not having a destination in mind.This place was just as perilous as a lion’s den, I thought broodingly.If only I could find some rest. I paced around the halls of the large mansion, avoiding the eyes of people as much as I could. No matter how hard I may try to find some semblance of peace in this place, all it reminded me of was how much I did not belong in here, in this pack.The only one I knew and trusted inside this place was Roman.And he wasn’t close by. Where was he? Perhaps he was busy?I tried my best to not think about how lonely I was. Or how I was a strange
Ryker:I watched members of our pack mill about from the window of our study, waiting for Kara to return.I had sent her to check on Keileigh. My worry for her was incredulous to think about, because I had formed such an attachment to her at such a short time since she was brought here.How else could one explain how protective I felt over her?I was made aware of the knock on the door and turned around just as Kara stepped into the study.“Yes, Kara?” I addressed the older woman. She was one of the only ones I could trust, as she had been responsible for Arnold and I when we were younger. Therefore my brother and I had made it clear to everyone who came in that she was of the highest rank that any servant could ever attain.“Miss Keileigh is safe,” Kara said, which made me frown at her wording. Had my concern for her shown that much? Kara stared knowingly at me as she then added, “The Beta is with her currently.”Roman?I remembered the deal I made with him and nodded. It had been wh
Keliegh“Hello, darling.”I smiled as I heard Roman’s voice as he walked up towards me, and pressed a small kiss on my temples, before taking my hand.Every day since I found out Roman was the Beta of this pack, we had spent time together. It was something i looked forward to every day, for many reasons. Whenever I would be apart from my best friend, i was always bombarded with the less than welcoming air of disdain and disgust from Selene and Arnold. They didn’t speak to me much during any meal times, perhaps because Ryker had jumped to my defense more than once in a row.But the both of them would show the hatred they shared for me through their looks and mocking smiles whenever something innocuous happened. Once I coughed lightly due to drinking water too fast and Arnold made a comment about how I lacked table manners.A part of me longed to defend myself constantly to them, to stand up for myself and make sure my voice was heard and they wouldn’t disrespect me.But just as quickly
Keliegh“Thanks,” I chirped in a little bit of amusement to my best friend, wondering how my smile made him that clearly happy.Nevertheless I enjoyed the feeling of having him next to me. If I didn’t have him around, wallowing in my deepest, dark thoughts for the entire day would have been a regular occurrence.“I’m sure you must be terribly bored here,” Roman stated with certainty, changing the subject as he sat up to reach for the sweet, non-alcoholic wine that the maids had brought in for us earlier.The wine was courtesy of Ryker, the maid had stayed. I didn’t know whether to feel flattered or uneasy by the Alpha’s actions. It was hard to figure out exactly what emotion I felt towards Ryker, especially when my thoughts of getting a man’s attention now was just a burden. I didn’t want Ryker to treat me specially and I hesitated to even partake in the wine because he might end up taking it as me accepting the attention he was giving me.“Not really,” i said whilst shaking my head a