Mated to the Alpha Twins

I was ripped from what might’ve been the deepest sleep I’ve ever experienced to the shrill sound of an alarm coming from the tablet. It vibrated against the Persian rug on the floor, making me scramble even faster. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes roughly, tossing the blankets from my body in a rush. The tablet had fallen over while I slept, and I practically threw myself from the couch to grab it in time.
I cringed at the harsh light from the tablet, but forced myself to look until the splotches cleared and I could finally see what the h**l was happening. My stomach sank and relief flooded me all at once.
“We know someone’s there–let us in!”‘ Tori’s voice wasn’t full of panic and fear, but aggression and determination.

For a moment, it surprised me. She’s always been confident and strong, but this was the voice of a Luna.
I tapped furiously on the tablet, scrolling through the oddly in-depth security measures that encompassed the house. The boundary line within the forest that would set an alarm should something too heavy come crossing through. The cameras that surrounded the house and even peered off into the trees. Every single window, vent, and doorway had a sensor. Either Jaspar Fox was paranoid, or he truly had some serious enemies to worry about.

Finally finding the sensor for the main door, I turned it off and listened to the light whirr of locks sliding out of place. The front door was wrenched open, and I watched in stunned surprise as Tori, Ava, and an unconscious and half-d**d looking Zayne Novak tumbled inside.
Neither Tori or Ava, who was pale and wobbling on two legs, could carry Zayne’s weight anymore. The three of them fell to the ground in a pile of limbs, and quiet groans. Ava was first to remove herself from the wreckage, sitting with her back against the wall. Her onyx hair was a wreck, knotted and matted in places. Her thick eyeliner was smeared down her face, though not from crying. Tori looked much the same, haggard and tired, but still with that fierce light in her eyes.
“The man could stand to skip a few f*****g meals.” Ava hissed, clutching at her head. “First baby sitter for sleeping beauty, and now rescue party. Not only does he owe me a new phone, but he better make sure his insane father doesn’t k**l my family for my involvement. The s**t I get myself into.”
“Thank you, Ava. I might not know all that you risked, but I appreciate it.” Tori said firmly, her eyes unwavering as they looked towards Ava.
That seemed to smooth out some of Ava’s anger, even though she did nothing more than shrug and grumble. I made sure to set the locks for the front door and came over to help the two of them.
“I’m glad the two of you are alright, but I’m assuming you didn’t just stumble across Zayne.” I said, trying to lighten things, but it was hard considering he was currently bleeding onto the floor. I offered out a hand to Tori, “Let’s get him on the couch, I think I saw a first aid kit in the kitchen. You can tell me all about this while you patch him up.”
“Hope Jaspar doesn’t mind some blood on his couch.” Tori murmured, grabbing a pair of scissors to cut the shirt from Zayne’s body.
Her emotions were surprisingly under wraps as she focused on peeling the soaked fabric from any wounds he had. She wasn’t doing this out of love or affection, but because we actually needed him. He was too great an ally to throw away, a child turned from his dictator of a father.
“I’m sure there’s at least ten other couches in this house.” I commented, earning the smallest of smiles from her.
The first aid kit was more like a first aid suitcase. I hauled it out of the walk-in pantry in the kitchen and brought it over to where Tori sat. Ava wobbled into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl of warm water and a rag before collapsing down on the couch with a bag of chips in hand.
“All of our abilities have drawbacks.” She explained with a shrug, crunching down on a chip. “I knock people out, so if I overuse mine, it can knock me out too. You’ll find out what your drawback is, we all do eventually.”
“I devour the souls from others, and experience the emotions of everyone around me. That feels like one big drawback sometimes.” I chuckled lightly, though I had grown just a small appreciation for my magic.
“I’m sure it’s saved your a*s a time or two though.”‘ Ava pointed out with a nod in my direction.
“It has, but this world is a lot different from the one I grew up in. It’s hard to undo that kind of thinking, that everything is black and white.” I explained, with a shrug. “I’m getting there, though. Every time I use them to save a life, I can’t bring myself to regret that.”
“Aurora, could you come hold this while I stitch him up?” Tori asked, gesturing to the blood coated towel in her hands.
I was as gentle as possible, but every quiet hiss from Zayne had me stilling. There were gashes along his torso, across his chest and up to the hollow of his throat. He had clearly been punched or kicked in the face, and was sporting two black eyes. On a positive note, the damage to his face would heal within a day or two. The slices along his body, they would take a bit longer.
“Siler f*****g knife.” Tori spat, threading the needle through one of the larger cuts on his body. “It’s going to take nearly two weeks for him to fully heal.”

“You mind explaining this mess without me?” Ava grunted from the other side of the couch. She was currently lying on her back, with a pillow over the top half of her face. “I think I’m going to check out for a few hours.”
“Yeah, I got it.” Tori murmured, not turning her eyes from the task at hand. Nearly ten whole seconds later, Ava’s light snoring filled the living room. Tori glanced at me before returning her eyes to Zayne. “I didn’t exactly mean to leave them, y’know. Thing’s kind of changed at last minute.”
“I know you wouldn’t have split if it weren’t important.” I told her with a small smile, though it was difficult to feel happy while I waited for the twins to arrive.
“The kid Jaspar sent gave us the address. I’m lucky I managed to memorize it or we would have been s**t out of luck.” She laughed, but the sound was brittle. Zayne groaned under his breath, which made Tori flinch softly. She ignored the reaction and continued stitching him up. “We were running down the hall and I caught his scent. It was so strong; I knew he was close. I split off down another hall and could hear him as I walked further down. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one lurking. I found Ava snooping from just a few doors down.”
“What was she doing over there?” I asked, guilty that my tone was just a tad suspicious.
Tori didn’t seem to mind and replied without skipping a beat, “I don’t know all of what he does in his father’s pack, but some of these white wolves are actually loyal to him. Ava acts tough, but she was there to try and help him. She’s actually the one who knocked the guards out.”
“And what about his wounds?” I questioned with a frown, not willing to believe his own father’s guards were torturing him.
“The men were acting under his father’s orders.” Tori replied darkly, her emerald eyes turning to a deep shade of moss.
I’m not sure why this surprised and revolted me so much, but it did. I suppose I wanted to believe there was some kind of limit to how cruel another person could be.
Tori finished patching up Zayne and washed the remaining blood from his face and torso. His skin was angry and red, puckered around the slashes on his chest. The stitches would seal the wounds and help them heal just a bit faster and neater. I paid close attention to how Tori moved, with sure hands that lacked even the slightest tremble.
Something about watching Tori close up the wounds on Zayne made a question form in my mind. A theory that I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually test. I wondered if since I could steal the life force from someone, could I give it as well? That train of thought was derailed when Tori flicked on the television and thrummed through the channels at random.
“Without some noise, I’m going to fall right asleep.” She sighed, brushing some crimson curls away from her forehead.
“You don’t have to stay up with me.” I urged, more than understanding considering the three of them had quite literally fallen through the doorway.
“Nah, I’m not leaving you to stay up alone.” She shook her head, her lips set in a way that I knew meant she wasn’t changing her mind. “I know you won’t sleep until they get here.”
I settled into the couch beside her, snorting when Zayne began to snore softly. Some family television show was on, one where that cheesy background laughter sounded every time someone said something mildly funny. Halfway through an episode, Tori’s quiet words caught my attention.
“You do understand why I went back for him right?” She asked, her eyes still locked on the tv screen. “Regardless of what Ava says, I didn’t save him because of the d**n bond. I did it because it was stupid not to.”
“Believe me, I understand.” I replied, letting her tell me what she wanted.
Things between Zayne and Tori were beyond complicated. Tori knew what she wanted, and wasn’t afraid to go for it. Zayne had to live in the shadows, splitting who he was and who he needed to be into two different people. There was a wall inside of him, one constructed by his father’s cruelty and hate. It barred his emotions, forcing them away from me and himself. The glimpse I had allowed me to understand how she felt, and I knew that pressing for information was the last thing she needed.
“We broke into the room that they had him in. Ava knocked the guards out and I went to unlock his cuffs.” Her voice grew softer, and her eyes darted over to where Zayne laid. “He wasn’t completely lucid, but he was mumbling. He was saying a lot of things, and when he saw it was me, it got worse.”
I wanted to ask what he had said, my own curiosity brimming, but I suppressed the question even as it bubbled on my lips. I let her take her time, mulling over what she wanted to say and omit.
“He said it was too dangerous for him to have a mate, that he never was meant to have one.” Her voice was whisper-soft, to the point where I thought I might’ve imagined the entire thing. “He also said that–that he needed to protect me, even if it meant crushing my heart.”
The conversation shattered, and that cheesy laughter trickled in the background, as I found myself completely speechless. I had never been one to give advice of any kind. Even though I could feel her emotions like they were my own, I had absolutely no clue what she should do next. Clearly, Zayne had made up his mind, but he also firmly believed we would lose against his father.
Minutes faded into hours, making my eyes sore and dry from staring at the brightly lit tv screen. I had thought the family tv show might grow on me, but it actually had the opposite effect. I sighed in relief when Tori changed the channel to some alien movie.
“A little fantasy might do us good.” She muttered, snorting when a grotesque looking alien popped onto the screen.
“Speak for yourself, werewolves were fantasy up until a few months ago.”‘ I chuckled quietly, needing just a moment or two of normalcy before reality seeped back in. “For all I know, those slimy things are real.”
“Believe me, if they were real, I would’ve told you by now.” She managed a small but genuine smile, while wrapping a fur blanket around her shoulders. “I would have told you while Alec and Kade were–pursuing you, for lack of a better word, if they hadn’t made me keep my trap shut. They wanted to be the ones to break the news to you, but Garrett got there first.”
“Good old Garrett.” I snorted, even though I truly did hope he and Julian made it out of the hotel in one piece. My nerves were still frayed from Alec’s capture, and the last thing I needed was another family member gone missing. “Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have listened to them either.”
“Stubbornness is not an attractive trait, Aurora.” Tori teased, sounding just a little closer to her usual self.
“It’s a good thing my best friend is twice as stubborn as me, then.” I shrugged, snickering when her eyebrows lifted.
The tablet began blaring, spewing its shrill sound into the air. Ava let out a raspy grunt and flung herself to her feet. Her hazel eyes were darting around the room frantically, her hands splayed out at her sides as she readied to use her powers.
“Don’t you dare, Ava! It’s just the stupid tablet!” Tori hissed, giving her shoulders a little shake.
“S**t, thanks for that. I nearly put you all to sleep.” Ava grumbled, rubbing at her eyes.
I scrambled for the tablet, sliding it open a little easier this time. I visibly jumped off the couch when the sound of a fist against metal thrummed through the house. I broke out in a full sweat when the exhausted faces of Alec and Kade filled the screen. I unlocked the front door as I had the first time and sprinted over.
They opened it before I could reach for the handle. At the sight of Alec’s haggard face, my muscles coiled, and I leaped forwards. Both men staggered as I barreled into them. Alec steadied himself on Kade, who braced a hand against the wall.