The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Chapter 17

ROSE'S

POV

"Do you still want to leave?"

Cali's voice flashed through my mind as my eyes slowly fluttered open. I could hear Josh's strong heartbeat. I could perceive his strong aura and intoxicating scent as he held me like a fragile flower. Like I was his Rose.

I could feel him all around me as I bounced out of my sleepiness.

"Will you prefer I stay?" I responded to my wolf as I enjoyed being in Alpha King Josh's arms.

Why not enjoy this while it lasted?

I have never been held so tightly yet so gently before by any man. He was my first... In many ramifications, Alpha King Josh was my first.

"You have to begin as soon as you open your eyes..."

Alpha Richard had said to me before he beat me into a pulp and threw me where he knew the Alpha King would find me.

"I have opened my eyes, Cali. Staying will mean I agree to spy on and stab the Alpha King in the back. Is that what you want?"

I explained my fear to my wolf beast, hoping that she would understand me.

"I don't want us to betray him or spy on him. You can hide here and tell him everything. You can be protected by him and we won't have to worry about Alpha Richard." Cali expressed. Truly, my wolf felt some form of connection to the Alpha King. I could feel it now.

Being in his arms after the rough ordeal with Alpha Richard, caused the connection to grow within me.

I could feel the connection blooming and to be honest, I loved it.

This forbidden connection was fascinating and compelling. A part of me felt like I needed this connection. However, a bigger part of me couldn't help but fear... Tremble.

"He can't protect us, Cali."

I chimed to my Wolf just as Alpha King Josh pulled me closer, pressing me against himself.

"Think about how happy you would be with him, Rose. Where would you go if you leave here? You have nowhere to go."

Cali urged. She had made herself believe that Alpha King Josh was the best for me. As a partner and as a means of escaping the Alpha I had been mated to for three years.

"I don't have anywhere to go but I would be out of sight and reach. If Alpha Richard sent me here, he must have eyes and ears everywhere. He must be watching and planning on how to use me." I retorted.

Cali countered, "But you can't just give up-"

"I have given up already, Cali." I cut in. "Do you remember how I asked for a blood oath and Alpha Richard accepted?"

Cali didn't respond immediately. It was obvious that she had realized the reason I was adamant about leaving.

"Was that the pull you felt earlier before you became breathless and eventually collapsed? Was that the effect of the blood oath?"

Cali asked fearfully. She already knew the answer.

"Yes..."

Still, I answered, recalling how I felt before I slept off. I have lost track of time but from the look of things and how I was feeling, I wanted to believe that the shortage of breath happened yesterday.

I remembered the sharp tug I felt when I almost let out the truth and betrayed the agreement between Alpha Richard and me.

"I was a fool to suggest the blood oath, Cali." I lamented and strangely, Alpha King Josh patted my back as if he could feel my despair.

I continued after confirming that the Alpha King was still sleeping, "I should have known better, Cali."

"This is a trap, Rose. You have to leave now. You can't stay with the Alpha King now that you carry a ticking time bomb within you. You can't be with him-"

Although I was hurt that my wolf beast was more worried about the Alpha King whose hold hadn't loosened around me, I agreed with her.

But why does my heart hurt? Why was my inside twisting painfully at the mere thought of leaving this particular man?

Was the sex that good? Good enough to make me want to spend forever in his arms?

"Why is sorrow rolling off you at an alarming rate?" His voice vibrated through my body and I became tense in his arms. "It's too early for this, Rose, or do I perhaps make you sad?" His questions transmitted his emotions to my ears and down to my spine.

The moment would have been more emotional if I didn't begin to struggle against his hold.

If he was awake, then it was time for me to get back into my reality. There was no time to daydream about what could have been.

"Some of us aren't living the life of an Alpha King who has nothing to worry about."

I whispered and Alpha King Josh released me. Ouch! My heart clenched as I missed the heat and comfort his body had provided.

I missed having him around me immediately.

"Don't start, Rose. Let's leave now and live a lonely and miserable life somewhere..."

Cali murmured sadly.

Alpha King Josh voiced, "You simply assumed my life is a bed of roses. Great." He didn't seem pleased though.

"How hard could your life be?" I uttered, sparing him a glance before saying to myself, "From this distance, I can tell it isn't a bed of thorns either,"

Alpha King Josh's heated gaze was felt but I ignored him, getting ready to leave his home and life forever.... Perhaps I was moving to my grave but my mind was made up.

"You aren't the only one going through a rough phase, Rose." He said gently, causing me to pause. "And from someone that is also dealing with his fair share of challenges, I want to help you. If you let me." He stretched one of his hands to me, urging me to take it.

It was tempting... But after the blood oath, I would be stupid to take his hands.

Sooner or later, the oath will take control of me, and as much as I didn't care about the Alpha King, he had shown me enough kindness.

"I can't let you get involved-"

I started saying but He raised his voice, "Just take my hand and I will deal with that later!"

"You promised you would let me leave. Why are you holding me back now!" I cried.

He walked towards me slowly and said, "I am obviously not holding you back. You said I shouldn't leave you and that's what I am doing."

I frowned. When did I tell him not to leave me? Shaking my head, I assumed he was making that up to keep me as his sex toy or even worse, his s*x slave.

"If you insist on leaving, I might just have to restrain you."

Alpha King Josh added sternly as he stood before me, towering and letting me see that he wasn't cracking a joke.

What the hell was his problem? How could he be adamant about keeping me here? He doesn't even know me enough to care.

"He feels connected enough." Cali defended him.

Alpha King Josh and I stood in the middle of the plain room, staring at each other without batting our lashes.

I didn't know what to do at this point. To be honest, he wasn't holding me back. I was holding myself back because I feared that I would end up dying slowly in the middle of nowhere.

"Do you want to be restrained or are you taking my hand?"

Alpha King Josh's dark eyes pierced into mine as he let out those words.

For over two minutes, I didn't reply, and when I eventually summon enough courage to stand on my word, a knock on the bedroom door interrupted.

"My King. You have a visitor."

An unfamiliar voice announced from the other side of the door. My eyes widened and my lungs tightened because I could feel it in my guts that the man behind my misery was the so-called visitor. What do I do now?

I started panicking when the Alpha King asked, "Tell whoever it is to wait in the-"

The unfamiliar voice behind the door interjected, "It's important, and he wouldn't wait without causing a scene, My King."

Now what?

What does Alpha Richard have in store for me this time!

I might just have to find out myself...