The Twin Alphas’ Fated Mate
Fated to a Fae Chapter 21

~Selenia~

In the morning, Blake and Rhett take me down to the dungeons. I'm nervous to officially meet him. My brother. It's still crazy to think I've had a brother my entire life and I'm only just now finding out about him. I wish I had known. I would have loved to have him around throughout my life. Maybe losing my parents wouldn't have been so hard if I had someone to share the grief with. But I guess he probably wouldn't have felt the same about their death. They did toss him aside the minute they found out he wasn't an Earth Fae. I wouldn't have cared. I don't think that way about the bloodline. It makes no sense. Our elements aren't inherited. You are more likely to be born with a certain element if both of your parents are the same, but it's not guaranteed. It's completely random.

The dungeon is cold and dark. Blake is in front of me while Rhett is behind. They passed by all the guards without any problems. I guess they all must have known we were coming.

As we head down this dark hallway, I can hear people talking somewhere closeby. The voices are muffled so I can't make out what they are saying. I look back at Rhett, the nerves of seeing Jereth getting stronger. He gives me an encouraging nod and I take a deep breathe.

We turn the corner and I feel Rhett wrap his arm around me, holding me in place. Blake walks a few more steps and turns towards the cell door. I watch him as I see hands wrap around the bars of the cell.

"Which one are you?" I hear a voice say. It sounds like Jereth.

"I'm Blake." Blake says.

"You and your brothers all look so much alike, I can never tell who is who. The only different one is the black haired one. Kaden, I think he said his name was." Jereth says. I can't see his face. Rhett is keeping me out of view.

"Yes, that is Kaden." Blake says.

"He's your uncle, right? I mean, technically your uncle, but adopted brother." Jereth says. Blake takes a step back and looks at Rhett.

"How did you know that?" Blake asks, looking back at Jereth.

"Sear looked into your pack when we found out Selenia came here. Also, the werewolf girl told us a lot." Jereth says.

"Who is the werewolf girl?" Blake asks. Jereth sighs.

"I already told you I will not say unless you give me something in return." Jereth says. He's trying to bargain with them? What does he want? His freedom? Or something else?

"Yes, we are aware. We said we'd think about your request." Blake says.

"And? Did you come to a conlcusion?" Jereth asks.

"We did. Rhett and I decided we didn't want you to meet Selenia." Blake says. My eyes go wide. That is what Jereth asked for? And they decided it for me? Why did they bring me here then? What about everything they said last night about making it possible for me to meet my brother? I turn to Rhett, anger clearly written on my face, but he just smiles at me and nods his head towards Blake.

"Why not? I'm not going to hurt her. Even if I wanted to, these cuffs you had that warlock put on me make it so that I can't use my magic." Jereth says, a hint of anger in his voice.

"You didn't let me finish." Blake says. "Rhett and I don't want you to meet her. But Selenia asked to meet you. And we wouldn't deny our mate anything. So we are relenting. For her. Not for you. But you still need to tell us who the she-wolf is."

"Is Selenia here? Where is she?" Jereth asks.

"A name, Jereth." Blake asks. Jereth growls in frustration.

"Nicole! The girl's name is Nicole! That's all I know. Sear is the one that talked to her directly. I only found out about her after she had already moved into our compound. Now where is my f*g sister?!" Jereth yells, shaking the bars of the cell door. I hear Rhett suck in a breath.

"f**ucking Nicole. That b!tch is in for a world of hurt when I get my hands on her." Rhett mutters. I get it. I'm pissed at Nicole too. She hurt Rhett and almost cost me my relationship with him. But right now, I'm even more pissed that the twins decided I wasn't allowed to meet my brother. They may have decided in the end, but this somehow feels like it was only to get information and not because I asked them for it. Screw them.

I break away from Rhett's grip and walk right up to the cell. Blake turns to me in surprise.

""Wait-" Blake starts, but I shoot him a pissed off look. He looks startled for a second before composing himself.

"Selenia." Jereth breathes out. I turn to him. He's standing behind the bars, but I can still see him clearly. His face relaxes and I feel the happiness and relief coming off him.

"Do you wish to hurt me?" I ask Jereth.

"No. Of course not." Jereth answers and I feel his truthfulness. I nod in approval and tun to Blake. I snatch the keys hanging from his pocket and turn to unlock the cell door.

"Selenia, no." Blake says, grabbing my arm. Rhett comes up on my other side. I turn to face both of them.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves. I asked you to bring me to meet my brother. I wasn't asking permission. I didn't know where the dungeon was so I needed you to bring me. And here I find out you didn't even want to bring me in the first place. You were going to keep me away from my brother. But you needed information. That's when you decided it was acceptable for me to meet him. Well, guess what? It wasn't up to you in the first place. It's my decision if I want to meet him and you two have no right to make that decision for me. Just because you are my mates, doesn't mean you get to make decisions for me."

"We understand that and we are sorry. We will make that up to you. But you can't let him out." Rhett says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because he's a prisoner." Blake says.

"He gave you the information you asked for. And you said yourself, he didn't attack yesterday." I

say.

"This is more than just that. There are other things we need him for." Blake says. I huff in frustration before turning back to the cell door.

"Selenia." Rhett says sternly, but I call my magic and make the ground shift under them. Lucky for me, the ground is made of stone. The twins stumble back as I open the door and step

inside. I lock it again and throw the keys at them.

"What are you doing?" Rhett asks, grabbing the keys.

"If he isn't allowed out, I'm going in. I am going to meet and get to know my brother whether you two like it or not. And for your information, I wasn't setting Jereth free. I just wanted to talk to him without metal bars between us. We didn't have to leave the dungeon." I say.

"How did you do that to the ground? We're not outside." Blake asks.

"The ground is made of stone. Stones are from the earth, therefore, I can make them move.

Now leave."

"He could hurt you." Blake says.

"I already asked him if he would and he said no."

"He could have been lying." Rhett says.

"Are you doubting my gift?" I ask. Rhett looks at me shocked for a minute before sighing.

"No. I'm sorry, sometimes I forget."

"I need some time to talk to him. Alone." I tell them. They hesitate before nodding. They both leave, but I know they won't be far. I turn back to Jereth and before I can say anything, I'm

engulfed in a hug.

"I've been waiting for this for so long. Sear always prevented me from ever coming to see you.

He said it wasn't time yet. After our family was killed, I wanted to find you, to see if you were okay. I had heard you had survived and I wanted to bring you to live with us, but Sear's father refused. He said you'd be just like them. Our parents just tossed me aside. But I knew you were good. I knew it in my heart from the moment I met you as a baby. You're not like them."

"Jereth." I whisper. Jereth pulls away just enough to look me in the face.

"Selenia. My baby sister." Jereth smiles and leans in. He kisses my forehead. It reminds me of how Reef does it. Loving and brotherly. Makes me feel warm and safe. Like I can trust him. "Listen. I want to trust you. I want to get along with you. I haven't had family before except for Reef. Now I have the twins. I want to make it clear that I have no intention of leaving them. If you can't respect that, I can't have a relationship with you." I tell him.

Jereth sighs and takes a step back. "Sear wants to marry you. For your gift. He thinks having the last two Greythorns at his side will make him unstoppable. His father raised me from the time I was five. Sear is like a brother to me in some ways, but he always makes sure to let me know my place. I didn't even know he knew about you, but I guess that's my fault."

"How is it your fault?" I ask.

"When the Greythorns were being wiped out, I knew about it. I was young, but I still knew.

Sear's dad made sure to keep me safe because he didn't want them to think I was one of them and kill me too. I knew you were out there somewhere and I wanted to make sure you weren't killed. So I left home and hid among to Western Fire Tribe, the ones who killed the Greythorns. When they got to your village, I snuck ahead to get you out of the house." Jereth says. I gasp. I think back to that day. When my family was killed.

A soft knock at the door makes me look up from my book. Mommy and Daddy are out in the

garden, so I get up from the floor. I open the door and a boy stands in front of me. He looks older than me, maybe a young teenager. He has a cloak over his shoulders and a hood covering his head. I can sort of see his face. He has light freckles across his cheeks, like me. His

blue eyes look into mine.

"Selenia?" The boy says. "That's me." I say.

"Wow." The boy says quietly before shaking his head. "I came to ask if you want to come play

with me."

"I don't even know you." I say to the boy.

"Umm...you can call me Jay. Now you know me." Jay says. I smile.

"What game are we going to play?" I ask.

"Whatever one you want. We just have to go play in the forest. Away from here." Jay says.

"Okay. I love the forest! Can we play hide and seek?" I ask him excitedly.

"Of course we can. Let's go." Jay says. I place my book down and grab my cloak too. It's starting

to get colder as the autumn weather moves in. I tie the cloak around me as I follow Jay. He turns to look at me and pulls my hood over my head. I look up at him.

"Don't want your little ears to get cold." He says, but he's looking around, as if to make sure no

one is looking at us. I can feel his worried emotions. I wonder why he's worried. "Let's go. I'll race you to the forest."

"I'm so fast! You'll never beat me!" I laugh as I take off toward the trees. I feel Jay close behind me as we run. I make it to the trees first and laugh as Jay comes up beside me. "I won!" "You're right. You are fast. Okay, I'll count first. You go hide. Go as far into the forest as you want. I'm going to count to fifty." Jay says.

"Fifty?! Wow, I'm going to find the best hiding spot with that much time." I laugh.

"Okay, go. I'm starting." Jay covers his eyes and starts counting slowly. I run into the forest and

search for the perfect hiding spot. After a few minutes, I find a hole in a tree far away from where I left Jay and I climb into it. I guess this is a perk to being small for my age.

I've been sitting in this hole for awhile. I haven't seen or heard Jay in awhile. Maybe I should

get out. Maybe he can't find me.

I climb out of the hole and float down off the tree. I start walking back to the edge of the

forest. I don't see Jay anywhere. I keep walking until I smell smoke. Where is that coming from? Is something on fire?

I look up and see smoke filling the sky in the direction of my village. I take off in a run, hoping

nothing serious happened. I get to the edge of the forest and see a house on fire. My house. The house I was just in.

I go to run to the house, but someone grabs me and pulls me into the bushes. I scream for

them to let me go, but they cover my mouth. My back is to his chest as we sit in the dirt. He

holds me tightly.

"Shh, Selenia. Quiet down. You can't run out there. The Fire Fae is here." Jay whispers into my

ear. I feel the tears run down my face.

"What happened to my house?" I cry.

"Your parents did some bad things. The Fire Fae didn't like it and they came to hurt them. Your

family was in the house when they set it on fire." Jay says.

"What? Do you mean...my family is dead?" I ask quietly.

"Yes, and I'm sorry." Jay says.

"The Fire Fae killed my family." I whisper.

"The Western Fire Tribe. But not all Fire Fae are bad." Jay says. He holds out his hand in front of

me as small flames come from his palm. I look at the flames in awe. It's beautiful.

"How can you do that?" I ask

"Magic." Jay whispers. He turns his hand over as the flames follow.

"Jay, I'm scared. What will happen now? Will the Fire Fae come for me?" I ask.

"No, they won't. You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you. Ever."

I look at Jereth. The boy that came to the door that day. The one who brought me into the

forest to play hide and seek while my family was killed. It was Jereth. He lead me into the

forest so that I wouldn't be home when the Fire Fae scorched my house. He saved me from the same fate as my parents.

"It was you? You're Jay?" I ask. He smiles.

"Yes. I couldn't sit back and let you die. I had to do something." Jereth says. Tears fall down my

cheeks as I pull Jereth in for a hug. He's been looking out for me my whole life and I didn't even know it. Jereth wraps me in his arms and strokes my hair. This feels right. I need my brother in my life. Now that I know him, I can't be without him. I hope this all works out. Because now, Jereth is my family too.