The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Fated to a Fae Chapter 8

~Laurel-

It's been two days since the wolves left. Their Alpha, Maxton, had asked me about taking two of my fae. He did not give names, but I have not seen Reef and Selenia since the meeting yesterday. Reef means nothing to me, he was merrily a warrior and we have lots of those. But Selenia is a different story. Sear has expressed great interest in her. He has offered protection and peace for my village in exchange for Selenia's hand. I was hesitant to lose her, as she was an asset to me and the village with her gift. It was one of the reasons I've turned a blind eye to her unwillingness to be married at her age. I offered Sear one of the other unmarried girls, but he was insistent it had to be Selenia.

I have no idea what I'm going to tell Sear when he comes today for his bride. He wants to take her immediately, wants to get the formalities over with. He is coming to take her and she's not here. This girl is going to cause all sorts of trouble. Sear will be furious if he finds out she ran off with that young Alpha boy. The Alpha's younger brother. What did he call him? Blake I believe his name was. Sear doesn't like to be lied to and I told him she'd be here today, ready for him. How could she do this to me? She knew she was promised to Sear. I sent Reef to tell her so. I know he would have told her, they are best friends.

I'm pacing in my office when one of my warriors, Teir, comes in.

"Laurel, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have visitors from the Southern Fire Tribe." Teir says.

"s**t! He's early." I mutter to myself before turning to Teir. "Let Sear know I'll be down in a minute."

Teir nods and leaves. I continue pacing, gaining my composure before going to meet him. The most feared fae leader there is. I have no idea how he even knew Selenia was here, but he knew and I couldn't lie to him.

I take a few deep breaths before exiting my office and heading down the hall to the front doors. Once I open the doors, my eyes immediately land on Sear. How could they not? He's huge. The man has to be at least 6'7. And to add to it, he's got thick leather boots on, giving him even more height. His midnight black hair is loosely tied in a braid and falls to the middle of his back. He has piercing grey eyes and is wearing all black clothing. He has some muscles, but isn't overly built like those wolves were. Beside him stands another shorter, yet equally intimidating man. He's about 6'2 and the same build as Sear. He has dark ginger hair tied back into a bun behind his head and blue eyes. He looks oddly familiar, but I shake it off. I notice his hand gripping the long sword attached to his hip as he glaces around, looking uncomfortable.

"Laurel." Sear addresses me, making me snap my attention to him. His eyes are staring me down. "Good to meet you. This is my second-in-command, Jereth." Sear motions to the man next to him with ginger hair.

"Likewise. Welcome. I'm sure this seems small compared to what you are used to. Rumour says your village is very large."

"I don't have a village. This is a village. I run a compound that houses over 700 fae. You have, what, 50 people here?" Sear states in his gruff voice, his hand motioning to my village.

"65. Well, 63 now, I guess." I mutter the last part to myself, but Sear hears this and bunches his eyebrows.

"You had two leave?" Sear questions. I take a breath and muster up the courage for what is about to come.

"Unfortunately, yes. We had visitors from a nearby werewolf pack. Apparently, they took them back with them after I had told them no. One of them happened to be Selenia, your bride-to- be." I nervously shift on my feet as Sear takes in what I just told him. I can't tell if he's angry or indifferent. His expression hasn't changed. But the man next to him snaps his eyes to me, a wave of anger taking over him.

"I'm sorry, what? Are you saying the wolf pack kidnapped my-" Jereth stops himself and takes a breath, "...kidnapped Sear's future wife? And you didn't tell us?"

"I don't believe she was kidnapped. One of the fae boys here came to me and told me he saw my fae climbing on the backs of their shifted forms before they took off. I believe they went willingly." I tell them. Sear narrows his eyes to me.

"Was Selenia aware of her betrothal?" Sear asks.

"Of course! I had her informed immediately after I received your letter stating you wanted her and her alone. Selenia has always been against marriage. She has always refused any potential partner. She ran off the same day she was informed she was promised to you. This is clearly her just trying to defy me in anyway she can, as usual. She is quite the handful. Never wants to follow the rules." I tell them, trying to make them see Selenia running off was not my fault. She's an adult, I shouldn't have to watch her like a toddler.

Sear glances over at Jereth with a small smirk on his face. "Doesn't like to follow rules, huh?"

Jereth smirks with a small shrug. "Must be a family thing."

This exchange has me confused. What are they talking about 'family thing'? Sear looks back at my confused face.

"Jereth and Selenia seem to share a lot of traits. I've seen her pictures and the likeness is uncanny. And the defying authority figures is up to par. Seems like they are more alike than I thought they'd be." Sear explains, but I'm still confused. He sees this and continues. "Sorry, I should have explained better. My second-in-command, Jereth Greythorn, is Selenia's older brother."

My jaw nearly hits the floor. I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"How is that possible?" I whisper.

"When I was 7, a boy at the young age of 5 was dropped at our compound gates. My father was in control of the compound at the time and took the boy in. We had never had that happen to us before. We had heard of newborn babies being dropped off at other fae communities, but never a older child. He was old enough to tell us his name and my father was enraged. Another Greythorn baby just left in the hands of complete strangers. Obviously Jereth is a Fire fae, but he gained his marking late. He said he hurt the new baby and that's why his parents gave him away." Sear explains.

I think back to that time. I would've been a young teenager when Selenia was born. I was so focused on my schoolings to become the next leader, I can't remember Selenia's parents ever having a child before Selenia. My father would have known, but he's been dead for some time now.

"I'm sorry, I was not the leader back then. I was in school at the time. My father was the leader. I had no idea Selenia's parents had another child. I don't even think she knows." I tell them.

"She doesn't. But I know her. I was 5 when I accidentally burned her. I was so confused. I had no magic before that. Selenia was only days old and I was playing with her hair. It looked just like mine. I noticed the Earth fae mark on the back of her neck and it just happened. My parents freaked out. They looked at me with such harsh glares as Selenia screamed. I had never seen them so angry. I guess they were hoping I'd be Earth fae like them, but nope. My mark appeared on the back of my neck, just like Selenia, only mine was Fire fae. My parents immediately brought me to the furthest Fire Tribe they could. They knew I was old enough to know I'd be abandoned. So they made sure I was too far to be returned. I grew up next to Sear. His father took me in like I was his own. When I had heard the Greythorns were wiped out, I was glad. My pathetic excuse for parents only deserved to suffer for that f****d up tradition of keeping the bloodline pure with Earth fae. But I had to see if my baby sister was okay."

I look up at Jereth. He has a smug look on his face.

"What do you mean? How could you see if she was okay? You have never been here before." I

state.

"This is true. But is it not true you had a recently orphaned boy show up at your gates about 3 years ago?" Sear says. My eyes go wide before I turn to see the young boy coming up to us.

Newt.

"Good to see you, Newt. How've you been?" Sear asks Newt.

"I am well, sir. How is mother?" Newt asks.

"She's excited for your return." Sear says, showing him to the horse he came on. He helps Newt

up and secures the bag he was carrying.

"Newt was 9 when he showed up here. You sent a child to be your spy and had him lie about being an orphan?" I ask, a little pissed off.

"He's the only Earth fae from my compound. And I figured a Earth fae child orphan would seem less threatening than one of my Fire fae warriors trying to enter your village." Sear says. "His job was to get close to Selenia and write us updates on how she is and if she is to take a partner or not. When he told me he was unsure if some man named Reef was marrying, I knew it was time to reach out. Newt told me all about Selenia's gift, and I have been interested in some time, but seeing as I respect the hell out of my adoptive brother here, I had to ask him first if it was okay for me to marry his sister." Sear says, turning back to me.

"Sear is the only family I've ever known. I wouldn't want my baby sister with anyone else. This Reef guy isn't going to be a problem, is he?" Jereth asks, glaring at me.

"Reef is simply Selenia's best friend. They have been nothing more than that and I even asked Reef myself if he had any intention of marrying Selenia. He said he sees her as a sister, not a wife. But Reef is the other person who left with the wolf pack." I tell them. "Selenia and Reef left together? And you're still telling us he won't be a problem?" Jereth questions. I hold up my hand.

"I'm sure you are aware of werewolves customs. They have something called a fated mate given to them by their Moon Goddess. Apparently, one of the warriors that came claimed Reef was his mate and asked him to leave with him. Meaning Reef is gay." I tell him. Jereth's eyes go wide

before he nods.

"And Selenia?" Sear asks. I take a deep breath.

"That's a little more complicated. When I was speaking with the leader, Alpha Maxton, he said his younger brother Blake found his mate here and that he wanted her to leave with him. He didn't say a name, but I told him no and he left it at that. Then I find Selenia ia missing and I put the pieces together myself. Selenia is Blake's fated mate, according to him." "Why is that complicated? We will just go retrieve her." Jereth says, looking to Sear.

"You don't understand. Blake may not be Alpha, but he is of Alpha blood. He is incredibly strong and will be possessive of his mate. He will not let you just take her. And their pack is

large. They have many warriors." I tell them. Sear looks to me.

"What pack is it?" Sear asks.

"Red River pack."

Sear looks to Jereth as Jereth swears under his breath.

"I forgot they were close by here. They're a big pack, aren't they?" Jereth asks Sear.

"Red River is known as the largest pack in the country. They have many connections and I hear they now have magic on their side. They have a strong caster who is the mother of the newest Alpha and a warlock. Not sure how they have a warlock, or if that's a rumour." Sear says. "It is not a rumour. They brought the warlock with them when they visited. His name is Silas

and he is a very powerful warlock. He told me this story of how he survived his species being wiped out and how he brought a boy back from the dead. Blake's twin brother, actually. It seems they're all family. The Alpha has many people with him who looked just like he did. Blake was the spitting image of Alpha Maxton, but had darker brown hair. And the Beta was the same, just had black hair and different eyes. Blake has a twin, I assume he looks the same. And their fathers are twins." I tell them.

"Wait what? Fathers as in plural?" Jereth asks.

"Yes, it's a werewolf thing apparently. Twins share a mate or something. So the four brothers have one mother and two fathers, who are twins."

"That's a little f****d up." Jereth says with a face and I agree.

"If twins share and Blake is a twin, does that mean Blake's twin will also try claiming my

bride?" Sear asks.

"I assume so, yes."

Sear sighs and turns to pace beside his horse, Newt just sitting listening to us talk. Sear

suddenly turns to Jereth.

"We need to go home. Newt needs to be back with his mother." Sear says.

"Sear-" Jereth goes to protest, but Sear stops him.

"And then we will work on rallying our forces to retrieve your sister and my bride." Sear

finishes. Jereth's face breaks out into a smirk before they both climb onto their horses. Sear

turns to me before they leave. "If things go south and I lose her to them, I will be coming for you. All deals will be off and I will not be happy."

Sear gives me one last glare before they take off out of the village. I'm left standing there,

terrified of what might happen. Selenia, you really screwed us all.