The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Fate of the Forsaken Brother Chapter 18

~Kaden-

Rage. That's all I feel. How could I let this happen? Not only was Aubrey taken, but the twins are gone too. This is so f****d up. I can't stop pacing in Arthur's office after what happened outside in the courtyard. I yelled in a pack member's face. I've never done that before. I usually keep to myself and let them walk all over me. But Aubrey is gone and I couldn't hold back my anger. I even threw my title in his face. I haven't done that yet. I know it's only been a few weeks since Devin and I were told Max chose us, but we haven't corrected anyone who didn't use the title. But I guess now, since so many people saw and heard me yell at Dakota, the pack will start using the titles.

"Kaden, calm down. We will figure this out. We still don't know where the rogue pack is. And how they managed to get in and out of our pack undetected." Max says to me. We've been sitting up here for an hour, waiting for everyone else.

"I can't calm down, Max! My mate and our brothers were taken! How are you not completely pissed right now?!" I yell back at him.

"I am pissed! But we need level heads to figure our s**t out! We can't rush into something without knowing everything and having a plan. We don't know the size of their pack or what they're capable of. How did they manage to sneak into the pack grounds, knock out Kai and take three whole people without anyone seeing or hearing? The twins definitely wouldn't go quietly unless they were also unconscious." Max says.

"Get Ned up here. We need to know if they can be seen on his cameras." I say. Max nods before his eyes go cloudy, mind-linking Ned. I continue to pace the floor as the door flies open. A very pissed off Devin storms in.

"Who's idea was it to have Dakota guarding Aubrey? And can I f*g kill him?" Devin says angrily.

"Don't get pissed at me! I didn't want her to have a guard, I just wanted her with me at all times, but obviously, that can't happen. Elliot chose Dakota, but it was Max and I that went to him to tell him. Elliot said we should do it since it regards me. And I don't think Max would like it if you killed him. Trust me, I've already thought about it." I say.

"Kai almost died. He had wolfsbane in his blood. They knocked him out, injected him, and left him to bleed out. Suzi said he would've died had Mercury not been there to help heal him. And she barely could because of the state she's in. I only left Kai because I want to know how those fuckers managed to get the jump on him." Devin says. I finally get a good look at him. His eyes are all red and puffy. He was crying the whole time he was with Kai. Just then, Ned comes into the room, followed by his mate Caleb. Devin turns to look at them, immediately relaxing. Ned opens his arms and Devin falls into him, sobbing.

Devin's dad Daniel and Caleb, were both originally with the rogue pack 19 years ago. But they decided what they were doing was wrong and switched sides. Daniel was here in our pack with Elliot and Arthur while Caleb was working with Ned at Half Moon, where Ned was the future beta. After the packs were defeated, Daniel, Ned, and Caleb were officially taken in to pack as a thank you for helping rescue me and Mercury. When Devin was born, Ned and Caleb became Devin's uncles basically. He calls them uncles because of how close their families are. Devin always said they're like another set of parents to him.

"He almost died. I almost lost him before we could actually be together. We've been less than two weeks and I already almost lost him." Devin sobs as Ned hugs him.

"I know Dev. I know what it's like to feel this way." Ned says to him.

"How do you know? Has Caleb almost died on you right after you met him?" Dev says rudely. Ned smiles.

"I know you're hurting right now, so I know you're not trying to be mean. But yes actually, that did happen." Ned says. Devin pulls back and looks at Ned and Caleb, confused.

"What? You never told me this." Devin says.

"Ned doesn't like telling the story because it reminds him I almost died." Caleb says.

"But I will tell you now because you need to hear it." Ned says. He moves over to the couch and Devin sits next to him. "So, you know how we met. We were working together to take down Half Moon and the rogue pack. Caleb was found out and I told him to escape but he came back for me and it happened to be my 18th birthday that same day. We found out we were mates while I was lying in a hospital bed after Lyle beat me to a pulp for protecting Mercury." Ned says.

"And I was pissed when I saw all your bruises, even after all that healing time." Caleb growls. "Yes, I remember that. Anyway, we were in the middle of a war and had to get back to Red River to warn Alpha Elliot and Arthur that Lyle had moved Luna Mercury. We were in a rush and obviously couldn't officially mark each other yet. Everything happened so quickly. We went to the rogue pack house and the fighting started. I was told to stay back in the van by Caleb and Elliot. Caleb didn't want me fighting for his own reasons, but Elliot wanted me to watch the drones from a safe space. To keep an eye on Mercury and baby Kaden. He had Sylvie stay behind with me because, even at 17, she was a much better combat fighter than me." Ned chuckles and Devin smiles.

"You're horrible at fighting." He says through his laughs.

"Yes, I'm very uncoordinated. I trip over my own feet. That's why I'm the tech guy. Anyway, Caleb was in a group with your dad, Arthur, Elliot, Jack, and Ethan. While I was watching the drones from above, I saw the rogues sneak up on the group while they were distracted by Garret. They injected them all with wolfsbane and tied them all up. I was so upset and worried, I dropped everything and ran towards the packhouse before even thinking about what I'd do once I got there. I knew Mercury was in there. Sylvie ran after me, yelling at me to come back. She was supposed to be protecting the guy who can't fight and I willingly ran into the battle because I say my mate was hurt. I didn't feel what he felt because we weren't mated yet, but my own pain was enough to send me off the edge. I found Mercury and she gave me Kaden to hold so that she and Sylvie could protect us. The rogues had the alphas tied to poles and everyone else hog-tied behind them. Garret said he was going to kill the alphas and then everyone else. When they came to, I could see how pissed Caleb was when he saw me."

"You ran into battle when you can't fight. Not only did I have to worry about myself and the guys around me, I then had to think about you when you were supposed to be safe in the van! Of course I was pissed." Caleb says.

"Well, I held Kaden and protected him with Sylvie while Mercury fought. Then the rogues got out the knives and I thought for sure they'd all be stabbed. Mercury took everyone down and you know the rest of the story. But I was terrified. Caleb was taken by the rogues and drugged with wolfsbane. It seriously f***s with you. And if you're given too much, it can be fatal. I didn't know if he'd wake up." Ned finishes his story.

"My dads told us this story, but hearing from a different perspective is different. My mom can't tell the story because it's all foggy to her. She was in a coma after she saved my dad, so she can't remember much from that day after fighting with Lyle." Max says.

"I brought my iPad so that we could check the cameras. We'll then know how they got into our pack." Ned says to Devin. He nods and wipes the tears from his face. Caleb hands the iPad to Ned and he starts tapping away at it. Before long, he finds the feed from when Aubrey was taken. He turns to show us. They took down Kai first from behind, then got Aubrey and the twins together. They hit Aubrey too, like I thought, but they just injected the twins. That rogue pack really likes their wolfsbane. They better not have given them too much. They don't have wolves yet, so they can't heal like we can. A normal dose for us can be lethal for them.

Ned takes the iPad back and switches the camera. He finds where they came into the pack.

"They took out all the guards at the southeast border tower. I think they might have killed most of them." Ned says, looking horrified. I walk over to him and take the iPad. Looking at the screen, I see the ground littered with the bodies of our warriors. It looks like they didn't even

see it coming.

I rewind the camera to watch how they did it. I'm shocked by what I see.

"They're not all rogues." I say. Max looks at me confused.

"What do you mean?" Devin asks.

"Only half of them are shifted into their wolves. The rest are in human form and have guns. Werewolves don't use guns. We fight with our wolves. So who would bring guns to a werewolf pack?" I say, already knowing the answer.

"Humans." Max says.

"Probably loaded with silver bullets." Caleb says. Silver is like wolfbane, it is poisonous to werewolves. Any silver jewelry would burn our skin. A silver bullet would kill us, burning our

insides instantly.

"It's a good thing they didn't take Kai out like that." Ned says.

"I don't think the humans went that far into the pack. None of the people from the clip of Kai getting hit had guns. They hit Kai with a heavy branch from the ground. I think the humans stayed at the border and waited for the rogues to grab Aubrey and the twins. I have a feeling the humans are probably with that Ivan guy." I say.

"Do you think they meant to take the twins?" Max asks. We all look at him. "Well, if this is Jerald's doing, he probably wanted to take someone who would piss off Kaden the most. That would be Aubrey. They wouldn't have known the twins would be with Aubrey at that exact moment. Maybe they just came for her and took the twins because they happen to be there and they're small with no wolves to fight back. They probably didn't mean to take the twins, but since they're here, why not, right? Kai is too big and too strong to take, so they left him to bleed out. Plus, Kai is special to Devin, not Kaden, and they probably thought he was just a warrior. The twins may be my brothers, but they're Kaden's brothers too. Having all three of them taken was probably convenient to take them. If not, why didn't they just kill them right then and there?" Max says.

He's right. There's no way they would've known the twins would be with Aubrey because it was a spur of the moment thing. Jerald knows about our family dynamic. He knows how much I care for and love Rhett and Blake. Maybe he won't hurt them, but use them and Aubrey against me in hopes of making me come over to his side. Who knows, I guess. We just have to get them out of there before Jerald decides to kill them.

"Alright. So what's the plan?" We all turn to see Mercury, Arthur, and Elliot standing in the doorway. Mercury looks exhausted. She probably used a lot of energy to heal Kai. He was so

close to death.

They all file into the room and coming in behind them are Beta Jack, Gamma Ethan, Daniel, and

Paige, Devin's mom. She rushes over to him to soothe him. Arthur sits at his desk while Elliot takes a seat in a chair across from him. Mercury comes over to me and wraps me in a hug. I just sink into it because we both need this right now. She only just met Aubrey, but she couldn't stop talking about how she loved her already. I know she's just as upset that she's gone as the twins.

"I think I have an idea." Caleb says. Daniel sits next to him and nods for him to continue. We spend the rest of the day planning out what to do, from how we will scout the rogues, who

will go, and what to do once we find where they are. Ned says he has small cameras he's going to try to get inside their packhouse or hideout, whatever they have. Once we're finished, I go up to my room, alone for the first time since Aubrey came to Red River. The room smells like her. All the emotions I've been holding in besides anger all get released as soon as I'm alone and I fall to my bed in tears. We need to get them back. All of them. I don't know what I'll do if any of them don't make it back.

I cry so hard I end up falling asleep in my clothes on top of my sheets.