Chapter 2
Two
KNOX
“What the fuck did you do?” The roar released with those words rattled the windowpanes, enhanced by the slamming of the door.
I had tried to catch Ares by hitting the stairs, letting my wolf through enough to aid my speed, but once outside, her blockers concealed her escape direction. Not enough to cloak her honey-caramel scent during our accidental encounter—a scent that wrapped around me like the long-lost lover she quite literally is. Mate . She’s our fucking mate, and she was right under our noses this entire time. Not to mention the baby. Our baby! Ice-blue eyes, meaning one of my brothers, my pack knew about her, and I’m almost positive I already know who the culprit is.
My brothers startle from their positions around the living room in our country-style home. We’d moved further away from the pack, wanting to branch out on our own and tired of Tamera trailing after Hendrix, still hoping for the bond we’ll never offer.
Kato is in the kitchen—the chef of the family—preparing dinner, while Maddock works on his laptop, and Hendrix lounges on the couch. The latter seems annoyed, huffing, put out that his day was interrupted—an attitude that has gone on far too long, one I’m eager to rectify with my fists.
Kato is the first to notice my barely restrained form, practically salivating to rip our little brother’s throat out. He quickly shuts down his dinner operations and rounds the counter into the living room. His hands raise, as if trying to calm a wild beast. “Whoa, bro. Your skin’s rippling—your wolf’s seconds from bursting through. What’s going on?”
A deep rumbling growl forms words through my elongating fangs. “Our mate.” Coherent thoughts are hard to form with my brain slipping into wolf-mode. My eyes close tightly, willing patience into my veins, pushing back the full-on alpha mode that wants to shred my human skin.
“Our mate?” Kato whispers, eyes widening with excitement and anticipation. “You met her?” He glances behind me at the door, as if expecting her to walk in right behind me. “Where is she?” His brows furrow, puzzled about why I’m angry if I just found our mate.
“You mean, who is she?” My glare slides to Hendrix. His brows furrow similarly, his expression thick with concern, confusion, and darkening the lighter shade of his eyes.
Maddock stands, inserting himself into the conversation, sensing the heightened emotions ricocheting off the wooden walls. “Explain.” His alpha command brooks no argument, demanding immediate facts so he can figure out how to quickly solve whatever issue we're about to face. There is no easy fix for this. We're fucked.
Suddenly, all of the fight leaves my body, and I’m left with an overwhelming sense of sorrow and longing. When I engage their eyes again, mine are shining with unshed tears, and I only stop when they lock with Hendrix. “Our mate… it’s Ares.”
The devastation in Hendrix’s expression as he closes his eyes and shudders, a tear slipping free from the pain, conveys his lack of shock. He knew.
This motherfucker!
Maddock, not expecting the traitor in our midst, tilts his head in confusion, sidetracking my lunge towards my brother. “Are you angry because we didn’t realize it when we were younger? I’ll admit, I watched her, but she was always so reclusive, I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. Then she disappeared…” His eyes widen, realizing she didn’t report her departure to the pack, which caused a small uproar. He studies me, seeking the truth with his next question. “Is she well? Does she need us?”
His sincerity breaks my heart when I know I’ll have to shatter his. “She’s well, but she most definitely doesn’t need or want us, if her running away from me was any indicator.” My anger has cooled but begins to crawl up my spine again as I growl and pose the next question. “Does she, Drix?”
Two huffs of confusion emit from Kato and Maddock as I direct the question to Drix, but when they glance at him and see his forlorn reaction, they wait for an answer too.
“I…” His voice cracks after the first word, then he clears his throat to try again. “I thought it was all a dream—a nightmare, really.”
“What the fuck did you do?” Maddock’s words echo mine from earlier, but the authority of his alpha command overshadows mine.
“I’m not entirely sure…”
Maddock crosses the room, pinning Hendrix by the throat against the wall, having broken the couch, crushing it as he walks through the leather material to get to him. “You better get entirely sure when you tell me about what you did to my mate.” Saliva drips from Maddock’s very real fangs as he leans toward Drix’s neck.
“I’m sorry,” Hendrix’s lips quiver again, seconds before tears begin to fall earnestly. “I didn’t think it was real. The dreams started before she disappeared—a couple of weeks before graduation. They only turned… turned dreadful after she left. I didn’t think…”
“You must have suspected something since the guilt is eating you alive. The timeline matches your shit attitude change,” Kato, always the one to call you on your bullshit, blows his excuse wide open. “What’d you do?” Now my twin's voice deepens, joining our alpha’s threatening tone. Maddock is the levelheaded one, while Kato loses his temper like the drama queen he is, putting Hendrix in a hell of a lot of trouble.
“Graduation night, there was that party in the woods on the outskirts of town. Ares came. I noticed her right away because she never comes to parties. There’s something about her that’s always demanded I track her, but she’s a loner and likes it that way.” He hangs his head, resigning himself to continue the story. “Anyway, I’d come home completely out of it the next morning and couldn’t remember what had happened or where I’d been for almost the entire night before.”
We grunt our agreement, remembering the day well. We were scared shitless because he came stumbling home with slurred speech and hasn’t been the same since. We’d tried to figure out what he’d been through since he also smelled like someone had dumped a bottle of perfume all over him. The floral scent gagged us for days. We ended up having professional cleaners come and scrub the place from top to bottom, but we never got a clear picture.
“In my dreams, I see her. Sprawled out before me, a buffet of the best kind. Her honey-caramel scent coated my skin, my tongue, engraved itself in my sinuses, fuck , I could taste her on the air.” My breathing increases, because the little I do know isn’t going to match well with this version. “The night comes in snippets, us kissing, touching…” His guilty gaze meets ours when he whispers, “knotting.” He closes his eyes tightly, as if the words physically pained him. “Hours passed. She was beautiful.” His hands shake as he combs them through his hair. “It was like being a passenger in my own skin—an out-of-body experience, which is why I was convinced it was all a dream, just like the rest.”
“You figured out she was our mate that night?” Maddock asks, clenching and unclenching his fists.
Without meeting our eyes, he nods. “We share a birthday. Her scent called to me. One second, I was next to Tamera and the bonfire, and the next I’d traced this magnificent scent through the forest. The most mouthwatering aroma I’ve ever come across and it reached in and grabbed hold, leading me subconsciously to her. I remember her eyes being wide, skittish, but happy.” A sad smile tips his lip for a moment before it disappears as he continues. “We ended up in Old Man Randy’s barn. I… I… We had sex. Lots of it. She was sweet, hot, slick, everything we’ve ever dreamed of in an omega. Perfect.” His last word cracks on a whisper as his fingers glide through his hair.
“Then?” I demand harshly.
“Then… I rejected her.” His grip tightens against the strands of his hair, surely tearing them away with self-loathing.
A pregnant pause weighs heavy in the air before all hell breaks loose, and Kato’s battle cry preludes his fist connecting with Hendrix’s face. It’s a melee of insane alpha proportions. We’re each trying to reach Hendrix to gash his throat but also protecting him from each other, as if our sane and insane moments swing on a pendulum of chance. Whatever it is, Hendrix should count his lucky stars because he’s only bloody and bruised, not dead like our alphas demand.
We’re all pacing and growling, but Kato’s eyes are crazed when he turns back and roars, “You rejected our mate. My mate!”
My heart constricts, knowing they don’t have the entire picture—not yet. “There’s something else… or someone else, I should say.”
Maddock’s pupils are blown, overwhelming the ice, and transforming to pitch-black fire. Spittle flies from his mouth when he growls, “Who the fuck is with my mate?”
Shit. Probably should have worded that differently. “Not what I meant,” I correct, shaking my head. There’s no easy way to say it, so ripping off the bandage it is. “She has a baby.” I continue, before they can jump to conclusions, thinking it's not ours. "She’s about the right age and has ice-blue eyes." Hendrix’s gaze snaps to mine, silently asking the question he already knows the answer to. "Yes. She’s yours. Ours." I pause, giving them a moment to let the news sink in before continuing. "She practically climbed me at the library, like she already knew we were kin—could sense it. She called me 'dada.'"
A keening whine erupts from Hendrix as he crumples in on himself, tears flowing freely. " Fuck ! I’m so fucking sorry, guys. I don’t know what happened. Seriously. I’ve been losing my fucking mind, thinking about her, questioning whether it was real or not. Wondering if I was the one who drove her away. Now I have my answer. Fuck!" He stands suddenly, panting, before turning back to us with all the sincerity in the world. "I swear to fuck, I have no idea why I behaved like that. Drugged or... something. I would have never turned her away. I wanted her even before I found out we were mates. I hoped we were mates. Now she’s out there alone, raising our child." Suddenly, he bends at the waist. "I think I’m going to be sick."
Kato is quick, snagging a bowl from the counter just in time for Hendrix to hurl. "Easy, brother. We’ll figure this out."
My twin may be the drama queen but is also the most compassionate of us, calming and protecting our brother. I still have the urge to slap some sense into him instead of coddling him. We all know he would never reject our mate, let alone without discussing it with us or letting us know it was Ares. This whole ordeal turns my stomach, even thinking about the upcoming meal.
"This is what we’re going to do," Maddock steps closer, having regained his composure during our brother’s confession. "First, we’re going to find out where our mate lives. Then we’re going to try to explain the situation. I’m sure it’ll be an uphill battle of epic proportions since this whole thing is a clusterfuck. But... we believe you, Drix. We know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt her."
Hearing our eldest brother's understanding completely breaks Hendrix. He sobs, clinging to Kato like the lifeline he clearly is right now. "I’m so sorry," his words garbled, directed more at Ares than at us. "Fuck. I’m so sorry. I’ve just fucked us over. Maybe she’ll let me explain. You three had nothing to do with it. Maybe she’ll accept you if I were to leave, or?—"
"Shut your mouth," I growl, my irritation palpable. Yes, he messed up, but there’s also unclear elements at play. "We’d never leave you behind. Understand?"
He nods, but I can tell he’s not entirely convinced. Stubborn, as always.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We’ve got a baby and an omega to find."