The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Fate of the Forsaken Brother Chapter 11

~Maxton~

"Mate." A feminine voice says before jumping on me, knocking me over, and kissing me. The sparks from the mate bond erupt on my skin where the mystery girl is touching me. It's too dark, I can't see a thing. Rosco is in my head, yelping.

"Mate! It's our mate!" Rosco yells.

"Mate," I breathe out. I feel the girl get up off of me. I'm suddenly blinded by the light turning on. Long, fiery red hair catches my eye.

"Penny?" I say, surprised.

"It's you. What the hell?" Penny says, looking irritated. "Why didn't we feel the mate bond earlier when you knocked me over, a*****e?"

"Seriously? YOU ran into ME!" I huff out. This girl seriously gets on my nerves. "And we didn't feel it because I was 17. It's after midnight now, so it's my birthday."

"I guess that makes sense." Penny says. She looks at me then down at my body. I'm suddenly aware I'm only in my boxers. "Were you expecting someone?"

"No, I was in bed. Why are you so irritating?" I ask, getting annoyed. She may be my mate, but she's always full of attitude and disdain towards me.

"Am I annoying you?" Penny asks with a straight face.

"Yes. You knock on my door in the dead of night, basically jump me, and now you look like you'd rather be anywhere else."

"If I'm soooo annoying, does that mean you're going to reject me?" Penny asks. At the mention of losing his mate, Rosco goes crazy. My teeth grind together as I clench my fists.

"I didn't say that. Don't twist my words. You may be infuriating, but you're mine." I growl.

"Good. Cause I wouldn't have accepted a rejection anyway. You're stuck with me." Penny smirks and takes a step toward me.

"You're a brat." I mutter as she gets closer.

"Get used to it, Alpha." Penny whispers. She places a hand on my chest and I feel my body relax. So this is the mate bond. Feels kind of nice. But something feels off. I can't really explain it. I shake it off and smirk back at her as she leans into me. I close my eyes as her lips press to mine. I let myself melt into the kiss, grabbing Penny's waist and pulling her to me. I wrap my arm around her and start kissing down her jaw. Penny leans into me and I hear a small moan escape her lips. I find her marking spot and kiss it gently. Before I know what's happening, Penny shoves me away. I look at her confused. What just happened?

"You can't do that." Penny says angrily.

"Sorry, I thought you'd like it. I didn't mean to upset you." I say.

"I don't want to be marked." Penny says. I look at her confused.

I wasn't going to mark you right this second. We can wait till you're ready."

"Once you're marked, it hurts to be away from your mate for too long. I don't want to go through that when we go back to our packs." Penny explains.

"Yeah, I get it. We can wait till you move in with me." I say, putting my hands up in surrender.

"No, you don't get it. I'm going home tomorrow and staying there." Penny says. I furrow my brows in confusion.

"Wait, what? You're not going to move in with me? Why?" I ask.

"I don't want to be Luna. It's not me. Too many responsibilities. I was hoping I'd be mated to a warrior or even an omega from my own pack. I'm comfortable there. I don't want to leave that and all my family." Penny explains to me.

"Alright, then why didn't you want me to reject you earlier? What's the point of this?" I ask. Does she honestly think this could work between us?

"What do you mean? I don't want you to reject me. Why can't you just step down from being alpha and come live with me? You could be a warrior in our pack." Penny shrugs.

"Are you being serious right now? I'd never abandon my pack. I'm the next alpha, I can't step down. Even if I did, my parents would never forgive me and your dad, being an alpha himself, would never accept me after that. I can't believe you'd even suggest that." I say.

"Well, I don't want to be Luna. I don't want all the responsibilities that go along with it. And I don't want to move. You can't make me." Penny crosses her arms and stomps like a child throwing a tantrum.

"I'm not going to make you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. But the only solution to this problem is we can't be together. I will not live a life unmarked and away from my mate all the time. That doesn't work for me." I say blankly.

"Don't do this to me." Penny begs.

"Then what do you suggest? I refuse to live apart and you refuse to move in with me. There's no compromise." I say.

"I don't know. I haven't thought about that." Penny says.

"Then why not just get it over with now? No point in dragging it out." I say.

"No! You're my mate! I don't want anyone else to have you!"

"You're just being selfish then! You want me to yourself but don't want the responsibilities that come with being with me. You don't even want to be with me. You want to keep me as your mate, but not be physically with me. That's not fair to me. I want a relationship, not a mate who thinks she can do what she wants and claim me as her property." I say to her.

"You're my mate. You can't reject me." Penny repeats.

"Penny, you haven't given me any good reasons why I shouldn't. This isn't going anywhere. It needs to be done." I say.

"No!" Penny shouts at me, tears forming in her eyes.

"I, Alpha Maxton Anderson, reject you, Penelope Hyland, as my mate." As soon as I say it, a searing pain shoots through my chest. Crap, this hurts. Damn, Kaden, how'd you do this?

Penny stubbles backward, holding her own chest, panting. Tears are now streaming down her

face.

"How could you do this to me?" Penny sobs.

"Penny, accept it so we can move on." I say. Her cries are pulling at my heart, but it must be

done.

"No! I refuse to accept this!" Penny yells, standing up straight.

"You're being unreasonable, Penny. There's no need to drag this out like you are." I say, trying to reason with her. But Penny won't listen. She shakes her head.

"I won't let you do this to me." Penny says as she runs from my room, slamming my door behind her. I'm left standing there, still in my boxers. What the hell is this day? Can things get any more insane?

The next morning, I'm tired as hell. I had a hard time falling asleep after Penny ran out of my room. That is not how I imagined meeting my mate. I thought things would be smoother than that. But that was a shitshow.

I got up pretty early, so I decide to let Kaden sleep a bit longer before waking him up. I head down to the dining hall for breakfast and, surprisingly, a lot of people are up and about. Including Penny's dad, Alpha Wade. He sees me and I sigh as he starts walking over to me.

"You. Boy. I want to speak to you." Alpha Wade says to me in an alpha command. He has to know that won't work on me since I'm not in his pack and I am also of alpha blood. I nod my head and follow him to a different room. Once we are alone, Alpha Wade turns to look at me. He's clearly pissed off. Penny must have told him what happened last night. I can't think of another reason he'd be this mad at me.

"So. Spit it out. Why is my daughter not good enough for you?" Alpha Wade asks loudly. This catches me off guard.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not sure what you mean." I say. I never said that to Penny, so I don't know

why he'd ask that.

"Penelope came into my room last night hysterical, saying something about how you rejected her as soon as you found out you were mates. So what is it about my daughter that you deemed unfit to be your Luna? Huh, boy?" Alpha Wade steps closer to me, getting in my face. I have to calm myself down to not start a fight. Clearly, Penny didn't tell him everything. I clear my throat before speaking.

"Alpha Wade, I'm not sure what Penny told you exactly, but that is not how it happened. I was thrilled to have found my mate so soon. I know some wait years before it happens, some not at all. I was a little shocked it was Penny, as she did show up to my room late at night without

warning. But I hadn't planned on rejecting her." I explain.

"Then what happened?" He asks.

"Penny asked me not to mark her because she doesn't want to be in pain when she goes home. I said that was fine and we will wait till she moves in with me. She then told me she didn't plan on moving in with me and refused to be Luna. She said she doesn't want any responsibilities and wants to stay in her pack where she's comfortable. I told her she can do what she wants, but we can't be mates if she wants to stay in her home pack. I refuse to live away from my mate and my pack needs a Luna. She then suggested I step down as alpha and become a warrior in her pack. I said I'd never abandon my pack like that."I explain to him. Alpha Wade's eyes go wide at the mention of me stepping down. He then seems to get angry again, just not directed at me this time.

"That child. She never changes, always stubborn." Alpha Wade says as he shakes his head. "I'm

so sorry she caused you all that trouble. I'm horrified she asked you to step down as alpha. That is so unlike her. I know she didn't want to leave home, she's always said how she wanted to be mated within the pack, but I thought this foolish behavior would stop if she found a mate outside of our pack. I see now it was her who put you in this position, not you deciding she wasn't good enough. I'm sorry for getting in your face like I did." Alpha Wade holds out his hand. I take it and give a slight nod.

"It's no problem. I tried to talk to her, but she just kept saying I belong to her and she doesn't want anyone else to have me. But she refuses to even live with me. Luna duties can always be compromised, but living away from each other, unmarked, is where I draw the line." I say. "I completely understand. I'll try to talk to her. If she still refuses, I'll have her accept the rejection so you both can start healing." Alpha Wade say. I thank him and head out to get some breakfast. I sigh when I'm finally back in the dining hall. I'm starving.

I load up my late and I'm about to sit down when I see Devin enter the hall from a different way than where our bedroom are. I wave him over and he comes over to me. "Happy birthday, Alpha. Finally 18! Time to get a mate!" Devin smiles at me. I roll my eyes. Devin

gives me a questioning look and I sigh before telling him everything that happened. Devin's jaw is almost touching the floor by the time I finish the story.

"s**t, man. I'm so sorry that happened to you. That sucks, but you're right. You can't just live away from your mate. And you definitely can't step down. I mean, Rhett and Blake technically could take over, but your dads would be unbelievably pissed. The pack would be too. As first born, you're the rightful alpha." Devin says.

"Yeah, I know. It's a shitty situation. But Alpha Wade said he'd talk to her. But enough about my

crap. You came from over there. Did you not sleep in your room last night?" I ask him. Devin goes all red and smiles.

"Uh, no I didn't. I slept in Kai's room. I figured it'd be fine. Plus, he's coming home with us

today, so he wanted to pack all his stuff." Devin says. I give him a knowing look and grab his chin. His eyes go wide and I turn his head to look at the other side of his neck. "There it is. We knew it." I say, looking at his fresh mark as I let him go. Devin's face goes even

more red.

"Yeah, there's that too." Devin gives a breathy laugh. I smile at him.

"I'm happy for you. As long as he's good to you." I say.

"He's been nothing but good to me so far. Really good, if you know what I mean." Devin says,

smirking. "Oh, jeez, Dev. I don't want to know about your s*x life. The guy is twice the size of you. I don't want to know what goes where or who's doing what." I say, scrunching my face.

"He's definitely doing me." Devin laughs as I make another face. I sigh, pushing my plate away.

"Now I've lost my appetite." I say and Devin takes my plate.

"I'll eat it. I'm starving after all that working out I did last night." Devin says. I sigh and Devin

laughs loudly. We just sit and talk the rest of the time before we decide to go wake up Kaden. I'm ready to get the hell out of here and go home.