The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Fate of the Forsaken Brother Chapter 21

~Aubrey~

It happened so fast. Blake was talking to me about Kaden. I told him to tell me stories to get his mind off the situation. While he was talking, he was looking down at Rhett. He was mid- sentence when Rhett's shallow chest movements suddenly stopped. Blake's eyes went wide and he immediately started to freak out. Tears streaming down his face, he wailed for his brother to wake up. I tried to coach him through CPR but after about ten minutes of nothing, I told Blake he had to let him go. There was nothing we could do. It was too late.

That was about three hours ago. I'm only guessing, since I don't actually know, but that's what it feels like. Blake cried for a long time after. When he finally stopped, he sat next to Rhett's body, holding his hand. He's still there, staring off into nothing. He's gone numb.

I'm absolutely heartbroken. I've only known these boys for a little over a week, but their high- energy spirits made me laugh every day. They just love to be alive, happy to just be. They didn't deserve this. Rhett had so much life ahead of him. He was barely even a teenager. Now Blake is left without his brother, his twin. The one who has been with him since day one. Blake told me they've never been apart. Ever. They've always shared a room, they eat together, have the same friends, and were always in the same classes at school. The only time they were apart was to use the bathroom. They've never been apart. But now Blake will have to live the rest of his life without that piece of him. This will change his life forever. He may never get over this.

And what about the rest of the family? Kaden and Max? How will they react? And their mother? Goddess, I cannot imagine the pain she will feel when she finds out her pup has died. This family is forever changed because of one greedy, manipulative man. I hope he suffers. Kaden had better give him what he deserves.

As I'm sitting here, I remember something. Kai was taken down before the twins and I. I hope he's okay. I didn't get to see him properly before I was knocked out. I just know he went down.

A loud bang from the door snaps me from my thoughts. Someone is coming down here. Probably Jerald. Prick. I look over to Blake and he hasn't moved. He's so still.

Two men round the corner and come into view. I've never seen them before. I move back from the cell door as they approach. One of them is older, mid-40s maybe. He's tall and has dark black hair that's beginning to get some grey streaks. The younger one has short dirty blonde hair with dark eyes. He looks like he's no older than 25. He's staring at me, smiling a sinister smile. It's making me feel uncomfortable.

"Good morning, Aubrey. How are you?" The older man says to me. I narrow my eyes at him. "Who are you?" I ask.

"My name is Ivan. I'm a friend of Jerald's." Ivan says to me. I scoff.

"You can leave. I'm not interested in anything you have to say." I tell him.

"But it's such good news, my pet." The younger man says to me. My face scrunches up at the name he just called me. "My name is Hudson, by the way. But you can call me whatever you want."

"I've bargained with Jerald. Instead of paying Hudson here for his assistance, Jerald has agreed to release you to us." Ivan says. My mouth drops open.

"Excuse me? Jerald used me as...payment?! For what?" I say loudly.

"I helped those mutts take you guys. I provided the guns and I kept watch on the house." Hudson says to me.

"It's normal where we come from. Take it as a compliment that Hudson wants you for himself instead of to sell." Ivan adds. I think I'm going to be sick. Suddenly, Hudson is slammed back into the bars of Blake's cell. I quickly stand to see what happened. Blake has reached through the bars and got Hudson by the throat, holding him in place. Blake's eyes are dark with anger.

"You kidnapped us. You are the reason my brother is dead, you bastard. I will not allow you to take my other brother's mate too." Blake growls.

"What the hell?! How is this kid so strong?" Husdon chokes out as he's gasping for air.

"You humans don't know s**t. Werewolves are much stronger than humans. Blake is an unshifted teenager, but still has the strength of an adult human man." I say, dumbing it down for them. Ivan shakes his head.

"Let him go, son. This doesn't concern you." Ivan says to Blake.

"This does concern me, a*****e! I know exactly who you are! Ivan, the human trafficker. My parents told me and Rhett all about you. You kidnapped my mom too. But she escaped by knocking everyone on her a*s with her magic. My dads took down your trafficking ring, but you had disappeared before they could kill you. You traumatized her. She still has nightmares about your warehouse. And now you've kidnapped not one, but two of her children and the mate of one of her other kids. You killed Rhett! You're going to burn in hell after she kills you." Blake yells, tears streaming down his face. He's in so much pain from his brother's death. I can't help my own tears forming. My heart hurts for Blake and what he's going through right

now.

"Wait. Is your mother Mercury, by chance?" Ivan asks with a smirk. This pisses Blake off more. "Keep her name out of your filthy mouth." Blake growls. Ivan starts to laugh.

"Oh, this is just perfect. Perfect revenge for ruining my business. Two of her kids dead. Amazing." Ivan sighs, almost like he's relieved. "Now, let go of my right-hand man."

"No." Blake says sternly. Ivan sighs again, reaching behind him. He pulls out a handgun and points it right in my face. I still, frozen in fear. Blake's eyes go wide. He releases Hudson and Hudson falls to the ground, coughing.

"Good. Now, let's get on with it, shall we?" Ivan says, putting the gun away. Hudson stands, glaring at Blake. He pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and hands them to Ivan. "Just as a precaution, I need you to put these on." Ivan reaches into the cell and hands me a bag. I take it and open it, looking inside.

"Are these silver handcuffs?" I ask. Ivan nods. "They'll burn my skin if I put them on. They'll leave marks."

"That's the point. They'll keep you weak." Ivan says.

"Then why would I put them on?" I ask.

"Do I really need to threaten the kid with the gun too?" Ivan asks, clearly annoyed. I clench my jaw, looking over at Blake. If I let them take me, Blake will be alone with his dead brother's body and Jerald will be by later to kill him. But if I refuse, Ivan will just shoot him now. There's no good option here.

"Just go. Kaden will know where you are." Blake says. I look over at him. "You're marked. He can follow that. He will find you."

I look down at the cuffs again. He's a smart kid. Kaden will find me by the mark. But he won't find Blake.

"Let's go. We need to get a move on." Ivan says. He's rushing us. I wonder if Kaden has already found us and that's why he's rushing. I take the cuffs out, hissing from the pain of the silver on my skin. I place them on my wrists.

"There. Happy?" I ask. Hudson smirks at me.

"You're feisty. I'm going to have fun with you." Hudson says. I cringe at the thought of his hands touching me. Ivan opens the cell door and pulls me by my arm out and down the hall towards a large metal door. I look back at Blake as he stands at his cell bars, looking after us. I mouth 'I'm sorry' at him and he gives me a weak smile. The large metal door opens and I'm blinded by

the bright sunlight.

~Kaden-

"Are we almost there?" I ask Max from the back seat of the van. Max looks back at me.

"Yes, we're coming up on their driveway." Max says. We pull in and start down the driveway. I notice some wolves in the trees watching us.

"Are we just driving up to the front?" I ask him. Why would we do that?

"Yes, we are. They're expecting us to come for them. You are going to talk to Jerald. Say anything to him to get them released. Promise to do everything he wants if he lets them go. But be convincing." Max says.

"Wait, you're putting this all on me?!" I ask, shocked. I wasn't expecting this.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about this either, Max. Jerald told Kaden to not mate with Aubrey and he

did exactly that. They're bonded now and Jerald wanted to pick Kaden's mate. You think he's just going to let her walk out of there?" Devin points out. I turn to face Max, but notice some people come out of the side of the packhouse as we get closer. Two men and...

"That's Aubrey!" I point towards her. Max and Devin turn to look where she is. "That has to be Ivan. I don't know who the other guy is though." Max says. I don't wait for the van to stop before I open the door and jump out, ignoring Devin and Max calling after me. I run at full speed towards Aubrey, not caring about the wolves coming at me from the sides. I hear the vans stop on the gravel and people running behind me, still calling me. The two men notice me coming, making Aubrey turn towards me. Her eyes go wide as my name leaves her lips. I can barely hear her, but I know.

"Stop." The older man, who I assume is Ivan, calls to me. The younger one is holding onto Aubrey. He looks like he's enjoying that a bit too much. That pisses me off more. I run faster toward them before I see something shiny get pulled out. I stop in my tracks.

"Listen, she's very pretty and I really like her. But I don't feel like dying over her. If you take one

more step, I'll blow her pretty little head off." The young one says, holding the handgun up to Aubrey's temple. Aubrey huffs out.

"How many times are you going to point that thing in my face?" She asks quietly. Ivan looks over to her and the young guy.

"Hudson, I think they get it. You can lower it." Ivan says. The guy named Hudson rolls his eyes.

"Fine, but I'm not putting it away." He grumbles. Ivan turns back to us.

"You came at a terrible time, honestly. We were just leaving." Ivan says.

"You are not taking her anywhere. She's mine." I growl.

"Not anymore." Hudson smirks, lifting his eyebrow. I just about run at him when Max and Devin

grab ahold of me, holding me back.

"I don't want to get mixed up in all of this. But we provided services for Jerald, he didn't want

to pay this time. So, we're taking the girl." Ivan says. "But if you're dead set on having her back,

you can take her. We'll just take the boy instead."

My heart stops. The boy. He said the boy. Meaning there's only one boy.

"Why did you say boy? You took two boys from our pack. Twins." Devin says to Ivan. Aubrey

looks down at the ground, tears in her eyes. I already know what that means.

"But I wanted to keep her, boss." Hudson whines. Ivan rolls his eyes.

"I don't have time for this. I wanted the boy dead for my own personal reasons, but young boys

like that can go for a lot of money. So if you want your girlfriend back so badly, I'll just be

taking him." Ivan says, shrugging his shoulders, as if what he's saying to us is so casual. "So. What's it going to be?"

"What kind of fucked up question is that? We came for all three of them. What did you do to

my brothers?!" Max yells from beside me.

"Stop it!!" Aubrey yells from where she's standing. The tears are leaving stains on her cheeks

from crying so much. My chest hurts seeing her like this. "All of you, enough! They will be

taking Blake. That's it. End of discussion."

"Aubrey!" I call to her, but she stops me.

"No Kaden. Blake needs you right now. Take them home." Aubrey says.

"Good enough for me." Hudson says before shoving her towards the field. Suddenly, a portal opens where they are walking and a man steps through. "Took you long enough. Was wondering if you were still coming." The man says.

"Yeah, whatever, old man. Do the thing to make her forget so we can get out of here." Hudson says. Wait, what is he doing?

The man holds his hands over Aubrey's head as magic flows out of him. Aubrey's head goes back as I hear her moan in pain. I feel our bond strain before snapping completely. I grab my chest, breathing heavily. What the hell is going on? She's not dead, so how did the bond break? I look up to see her standing up straight again. She has a blank look on her face. Hudson smiles and pushes her through the portal, disappearing into the smoke. The old man follows

and Ivan turns toward us.

"I don't really care what you do to Jerald. He was a pain in my a*s anyway. The boy is in the cellar." Ivan turns back and goes through the smokey portal and disappears too. The portal

closes and we are all left standing there.

"What the hell? Only women can be casters." Devin says.

"He's a warlock." Max says quietly.

"I thought warlocks got wiped out hundreds of years ago." I state.

"How else would you explain this?" Max asks angrily. I look at him. He's crying. I don't blame

him. This is a lot. We weren't expecting to show up and be told one of the twins was dead. And

now Aubrey is gone. Pretty sure she's not even my mate anymore. I have no idea what is going

on.

"Guys, we should go. Jerald's pack is closing in on us." Devin says. Max just stares at where the portal closed. Devin sighs, frustrated. He starts giving out orders to the warriors we brought with us. He grabs both me and Max and drags us towards the packhouse.

"I get both of you are upset. Hell, I'm upset too. But now is not the time to be f*ucking shutting

down!" Devin yells at us. We both look up at him. He's in full-on gamma mode right now. Not to be fuckd with. I look at Max and he nods. "Let's go rescue our brother and take that fucker out."