6 New Mate...s

Unknown Alpha’s POV The staircase creaked beneath our boots as we climbed together, each step in sync. The packhouse was silent, servants already in their rooms, warriors assigned to distant posts. None of them mattered tonight. We came for one reason only.We were here for her.A trace of her scent lingered in the air, it faint, taunting, as if challenging us to keep chasing. And we did. From the lake where moonlight touched her skin, through the forest that tried to shield her, all the way here, to the very center of her home.My brother’s shoulder brushed mine, a silent reassurance. He felt it too — the pull, the certainty that fate had laid her bare before us for a reason no one would dare question. Not even the Moon Goddess herself.Twins, bound to one mate. Rare. Forbidden, some would whisper. But the bond does not ask permission. It demands.We paused outside her door, breathing her in like dying men starving for air. On the other side, her grief radiated through the wooden barrier, sharp as a blade against my wolf’s throat. Rage snarled in my chest, vicious and restless. I wanted to tear down the door, gather her in my arms, and promise her that the pain would end, because I was ready to end it.Beside me, my brother’s growl was low yet loud enough to catch my attention. I caught his wrist before he could move.“Not yet,” I murmured. “She doesn’t know us.”He bared his teeth at the door, but didn’t argue. We had waited years. What was a little longer?We would wait. But not for long. Because soon she would know. She was ours. And this pack, this entire realm would kneel before the truth of it.Aria’s POVI pressed my forehead to the cold glass of my window, my eyes fixed on the moon hanging heavy over the forest. Somewhere out there, something watched me. I felt it as surely as I felt the steady beat of my heart.I should have been afraid. Maybe part of me was. But mostly, I was tired. Tired of pretending the whispers didn’t matter. Tired of forcing myself to smile for my father, for my brother, for a pack that couldn’t decide if I was a tragedy or an embarrassment.Lucas had ripped out something I didn’t know could break. And now, every step I took in this house reminded me that I was no longer whole.My wolf, restless and wounded, prowled inside me. She was done crying. She wanted to run. To taste the wind and forget the scent of betrayal clinging to my skin.‘Run,’ she urged. ‘Breathe. Live.’I turned from the window and gathered the few things I needed, my boots, a coat, the old leather satchel my mother once carried on patrol.My father would argue, I knew. He would say I wasn’t ready to leave. That a young she-wolf, rejected and raw, shouldn’t wander off alone. But I wasn’t alone. Not anymore. Not in the way that mattered.A whisper brushed my mind, a warmth I didn’t recognize. I tried to ignore it for now, pushing the feeling deep down as I stepped into the hallway.The house was quiet. My father’s office door was ajar, lamplight spilling out onto the polished floorboards. I braced myself, squared my shoulders, and pushed inside.He looked up from a stack of reports, exhaustion was written all over his face. The worry lines had multiplied in three short days. Seeing them made the guilt sting sharper than any rumor.“Aria,” he said, voice soft but strained. “Come in, sweetheart. Are you hungry? You should—”“I need to leave for a while,” I said before he could finish.His brows drew together, mouth opening to say something,to protest maybe, but I pressed on. “I can’t breathe here, Dad. I can’t think. I know everyone means well but… they look at me like I’m broken. And I can’t stand it.”He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled under his chin, watching me like he was trying to see the little girl I used to be. I almost wished he could. It would be easier than seeing me now — bruised by a boy I thought was my forever.“Where will you go?” he asked quietly.“Uncle Ronan’s border cabin. It’s far enough for space but close enough for warriors to patrol. I’ll be safe.”I saw a muscle twitch in his jaw. He hated it. But he knew he couldn’t cage me here like a wounded bird. Not if he ever wanted his daughter back whole.“Alright,” he said at last, voice rough. “But you will check in every night. And you take warriors with you.”I shook my head. “I need to be alone.”He exhaled a slow, defeated breath. “Fine. At dawn. Take your brother’s Jeep. And Aria… if you see Lucas—”“I won’t,” I cut in, my tone sharper than I meant. “He doesn’t exist to me anymore.”Something flickered in his eyes. Pride, maybe. Or sorrow. It didn’t matter. I turned to leave before I could break my own resolve.But halfway across the room, the air felt different.At first it was a tickle, a ghost of warmth wrapping around my senses. Then it hit me full force.Two scents. Neither one familiar, yet somehow so deeply right. My wolf went still, ears pricked, breath caught in her throat.One scent smelt like raw power, dominance woven through every part of my being, curling around my spine like a leash I never wanted to escape. It stripped away the fear, the pity, the shame, replacing it with something hungry and primal.The other scent was warmth itself. Steady, grounding, an anchor to keep me from drifting too far into the storm. It filled the hollow places Lucas left behind without asking permission.My vision blurred. My heartbeat roared loudly like thunder in my ears.I could hear my father's distant worried voice, but I couldn’t answer him. I couldn’t move.Deep inside me, my wolf unfurled,teeth bared, tail wagging, singing one word that cracked through my pain and filled the emptiness with fierce, undeniable certainty:Mate.No — not mate.Mates.The word settled in my bones like a promise. A threat. A future I hadn’t dared to dream of.I stumbled back a step, gripping the doorframe to keep myself from falling. The scents pressed closer, crowding my senses until there was nothing else but them.Outside the office, I felt them. Waiting. Watching. Two shadows bound by the same hunger.For me.And for the first time in days, the ache in my chest didn’t feel like drowning.