The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Fate of the Forsaken Brother Chapter 7

~Kaden~

We bring our bags up to the rooms we are staying in. All our rooms are beside one another. Devin's is next to mine and I seriously hope the walls are soundproof cause I have a feeling he won't be alone tonight.

I look around the room as I place my bag down. This place is nice. I think Mercury has better taste though. The rooms back home are decorated minimally, making them 'clean and elegant' as she calls it.

I open my bag and pull out my nicer clothes. Black dress and a black button-down shirt. I get dressed and head to the bathroom to fix my hair. I like to keep my black hair short. It's curly like Arthur and Elliot's. They told me keeping it at a reasonable length helps with the upkeep. You can style it without it being in your face. Max got Mercury's hair. Dark brown and wavy. But other than that, he looks exactly like his fathers, which makes it easier for us to pass as brothers instead of uncle and nephew. We all just look so much alike. My eyes are from my mother though. Mercury said she only met her once, but her grey eyes weren't forgettable because they were so similar to hers. Again, another reason she could pass for my mother. Same grey eyes.

I finish fixing my hair and roll my sleeves up to my elbows. I get my black dress shoes out and my watch. I take one last look in the mirror before I open my door to head over to Max's room. When I shut the door, the sweet smell of cinnamon and apples floats through my nose. I turn to where the smell is coming from and a girl is standing with an older man at the end of the hall. She looks over to me and I freeze. Galahad is yelling at me to go to her. No, this can't be happening again.

The man looks at me oddly then walks over to me. The girl follows behind him.

"You look a lot like the alphas at Red River, Arthur and Elliot. You wouldn't happen to be Maxton, would you?" He asks me. I look at him, still in shock. I clear my throat.

"No, sir. I'm not Maxton. I'm Kaden, Arthur and Elliot's younger brother." I answer. The man's eyes go wide with a smile.

"You don't say? I was there the day everything went down at the rogue pack. I watched Luna Mercury save everyone, including you. It was amazing. It's crazy to see you after all this time." The man says. "I'm Mike, by the way. I'm the beta here at Silver Moon. This is my daughter, Aubrey." Mike motions to the girl. Aubrey has shoulder-length brown hair and the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. Brighter than Elliot's. She's really short too. She looks like she would only come up to the middle of my chest. She's smiling at me. She knows. This girl is my second chance mate. But her father knows about my past. She probably knows as well. This can't be happening.

"It's nice to meet you both, but I must be getting to Alpha Maxton." I say, giving a curt nod before walking around them. Aubrey looks hurt that I'm walking away, but I have to. I can't go through that again. It hurt too much.

As I'm walking away, I hear Aubrey ask her father if only one person can feel the mate bond. Crap, crap! I walk faster and basically throw myself into Max's room. He looks at me started as I lock the door.

"What's gotten into you?" Max asks. I look at him with wide eyes.

"I can't have another Jaclyn." I say. Max gives me a confused look.

"What are you..." Max starts but realization washes over his face. "Did you find your second chance mate? What are the odds you AND Devin get mated both on the same day." Max laughs and finishes putting his shoes on.

"It's not funny, Max. I can't have another Jaclyn. I won't. I refuse to put myself through that again." I say. Max looks up at me.
-Kaden-

We bring our bags up to the rooms we are staying in. All our rooms are beside one another. Devin's is next to mine and I seriously hope the walls are soundproof cause I have a feeling he won't be alone tonight.

"Kaden, not every mate is like Jaclyn. Just look at Devin. His mate seems really nice. Possessive, but nice. And I'm pretty sure Devin likes possessive. I mean, did you see the permanent blush on his face when Kai growled 'mine' at us?" Max says to me. "Maybe give this girl a chance. She could be amazing. What's her name? Unless you ran before you could talk to her."

"Aubrey. And I did. Her dad told me her name."

"Her dad? You met her dad already?" Max asks.

"Her dad is Beta Mike of Silver Moon. He thought I was you and came up to me." I say.

"I don't know why he thought that. We look nothing alike." Max smirks and stands up.

"Haha, very funny. We could be twins if our hair was the same color." I say.

"Besides the point. Why are you so sure Aubrey will be like Jaclyn?"

"I don't know. I guess the whole situation affected me more than I thought. I felt nothing for Jaclyn, other than the bond. But it still hurt, physically, when she rejected me. Emotionally, I couldn't care less." I say.

"And what did you feel when you saw Aubrey?" Max asks.

"Besides fear?" I ask and Max rolls his eyes. "She felt like the light at the end of a dark tunnel. That makes no sense but it's the only way I can describe it."

"Then maybe your second chance mate is supposed to give you hope. The moon goddess doesn't give second chances to everyone. Take this and at least give it a try. You'll never know unless you do." Max says to me. I nod and turn towards the door. When I reach for the doorknob, I stop.

"If you don't find your mate tomorrow, you know that's just going to be another thing Devin and I bother you about." I say, smirking.

"Shut up and go get your mate." Max says, smiling. I nod and leave his room.

I go down to where the ceremony is being held. I look around but I don't see Aubrey anywhere.

I see Devin standing with Kai and decide to make my way over.

"Hey Dev." I say to Devin then turn to Kai, "Hi, I'm Kaden. We didn't really talk before." I hold out my hand for Kai. He takes it, smiling.

"Kai. Devin has already told me a lot about you. You guys really are close."

"Well, that tends to happen when everyone else in the pack hates you. You kind of drift

together." I laugh and Devin joins.

"You got the worst of it, though. Whenever kids were picking on me, you'd direct thier anger onto you so that they're beat you up instead of me." Devin says.

"You were literally a runt. They would've broken you. Plus, Max always got them back for beating on me, so the cycle worked out." I say. Devin smiles and Kai puts his arm around Devin.

"Not a runt anymore." He says to Devin.

"Oh goddess, no. Just don't piss off his wolf, and you'll be good." I joke. Kai gives me a weird

look.

"What do you mean?" He asks. I look at Devin.

"His wolf is feared among the warriors in our pack. He's a brutal fighter. He does not hold

back." I say. Kai smiles.

"I look forward to meeting him." Kai says to Devin and Devin blushes. I smile at them. It's good to see Devin so happy.

"Hey, Kai." I say, getting Kai's attention. "You're from Silver Moon. Would you happen to know where Aubrey would be?"

"The beta's daughter?" He asks and I nod. "She's probably with her brother or boyfriend. Her brother is Andrew, Alpha Austen's beta and her boyfriend is Nick, Austen's gamma. You actually met them earlier. They were with Austen and I at the shop and Nick hung outside with you guys

to wait for Devin and I."

"K

I look down at the ground and sigh. Devin looks at me.

"What's wrong? Why were you looking for her?" Devin asks.

"It's nothing, I just met her earlier and she's...I think I may have been a bit rude to her and I was going to alopogize." I say. If Aubrey is happy with this Nick guy, I don't want to ruin that for her. I met him and he's a decent guy. I guess I'll just leave her alone. "Aubrey's a tough girl. I'm sure she wasn't hurt by it." Kai says to me and I nod. Devin is looking

at me with narrowed eyes like he doesn't believe me. He can see right through my lie. I shake my head slightly, letting him know now isn't the time to call me on my bullshit. Devin eases up

and turns back to Kai.

"Can you get me a drink? Mine's finished." Devin says. Kai smiles and kisses him on his forehead. He takes Devin's cup and walks away. Devin grabs me and pulls me off to the side of

the crowd.

"Spill." Devind demands.

"Aubrey's my second chance mate and I ran away from her out of fear because of what Jaclyn

did. Max convinced me not all mates are as bad as her and used you as proof and told me to give her a chance so I came out here looking for her but Kai just said she has a boyfriend so now what do I do?" I say all in one breathe. Devin looks at me with wide eyes.

"I knew it was something, I just wasn't expecting that." Devin says, He sighs and looks over the crowd to the front where the stage is. "If her brother is getting promoted to beta tonight, she will probably be up at the front. Maybe you should head up there and look."

"She has a boyfriend. I don't want to interfere with that. What if she didn't even want me to begin with? What if her and Nick wanted to be chosen mates?" I say.

"Kaden-" Devin starts but I cut him off.

"No, Dev. It's fine. Really, it's fine." I say, waving my hand. I look over to see Max headed toward

us and sigh. I already know he's going to ask.

"So? How'd it go?" Max says. Damn, the first thing out of his mouth.

"She has a boyfriend. End of story." I say.

"So what? If they're not mated, go get her." Max says. I roll my eyes.

"It's not that simple-"

"It is that simple. You are the one making it harder. If she was mated to this boyfriend, you

wouldn't have felt the mate bond with her. She's not marked, which means she's still your mate. If you want her, go tell her." Max says. "Now, I don't have time to babysit you because I'm supposed to be mingling and making friends with the other alphas and future alphas. Behave." Max points at me before he turns and walks away. Devin looks at me with wide eyes.

"He's so serious when he's in alpha mode." Devin says. I chuckles and shake my head. "He always has been." I say. Kai finds us and joins us again, holding onto Devin. After about ten more minutes, Alpha Duncan steps on the stage and announces the ceremony

is about to start. Max joins us again and glares at me. He knows I didn't find Aubrey. I just shake my head and look back up to the front. The families of the ranked members are all getting up on stage. That's when I see her. Aubrey. She's sitting next to an older woman who I assume is her mother. Alpha Duncan keeps talking but all I see is Aubrey. She's so beautiful. It's like she knows I'm staring at her because she turns and looks right at me. It's then I decide I'm going to do it. I'm going to talk to her after the ceremony.