How The Night Moves

Settling In

Getting settled in with the new pack was easier then I expected. They were so nice and I made a lot of new friends, which is something I didn't have much of back where we had lived when Alpha Vaughn was the leader.

Here, there were new faces that didn't necessarily know about my unfortunate habit of sleeping around. I had to say, when you weren't pissing off people's girlfriends, life was a lot easier.

As mate of both the alpha and beta I am required to spend time with them in order to decide which one I will choose. Let me tell you, it wasn't going to be easy.

Apparently, the only times this happened was in folklore about wolves. It didn't happen in real life. Nice to know. Now I'm considered a freak.

In the folklore, it said that when a female had two mates, that meant that one was going to die, and that one had the blood of both werewolf and angel in him, making him the stronger man.

I had scoffed when I read that. Angel? Well they have the bodies of one, but I wasn't sure that either of the two were pure.

The librarian said that wasn't real. The part about death was only speculation, but having angel blood was just an old wives tale. That one wasn't true.

Seth and Archer.

I wasn't ready to have two mates. Honestly, why does everything happen to me.

And to make matters worse, Tasha the pack slut is all over the two. So what if I don't necessarily want them. It doesn't mean she can put her filthy paws all over them.

She was a grade A bitch. We had too much history to forgive her now. She flirted with all the men, put her claws on them, even if they didn't want her.

I just slept with them. It was different.

Well, not really. But at least I could tell when I wasn't wanted. She was always trying to compete with me, like I was somehow a threat to her. 'Scuse me, Tasha, I'm not trying to date them.

She got on my nerves so much though. I wanted to just throw her out of the pack, but I didn't actually have the power to do that.

Only Archer did. And that didn't matter because from across the room I could see her getting cozy with him. My wolf surged, 'Get your paws off him!'

'Sorry, I'm not stepping in on this one.' I replied to her.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much of a choice when she pushed outward and I stumbled forward. I had to keep walking for fear of falling on my face and making a fool out of myself. Making my way threw the crowd of dancing people was easier said than done.

I kept bumping into the couples and drunk men slurred compliments at me. We had gathered for a party to celebrate the new Alpha's domination of Vaughn. Now that we were in one pack, I could mind link many people, and the druken men seemed to have open links and I could hear every thought.

Especially the thoughts about how smokin' I was looking tonight. I rolled my eyes in disgust. They couldn't have kept that to themselves.

When I finally pushed my way towards Archer and Tasha, Seth had joined them. "Tasha," I said fakely, "How nice to see you."

And see I did. She had the bare minimum of clothing on. A crop top and a very miniskirt, out of which her butt was hanging. That was not something I'd like to see again.

"Kat," Tasha glared at me. "Come to take away my fun? I thought I'd introduce myself to our new Alpha and Beta. Have you come to do the same?"

I smirked, "Well actually, these are my mates."

"Both of them?" Her mahagony coloured eyes turned into a more red than brown and she half snarled at me.

Archer stepped in, curling his arm around my waist. "Yes, unfortunately. I would have liked to have her all to myself. So if you will excuse us..."

Tasha's eyes were now a blood red, "Of course, I'll just hang out with Seth."

Seth's eyes widened in horror. "Um, actually-"

"C'mon baby, let's dance." Tasha towed him away.

He looked back longingly and I sent him a sympathetic glance, 'Sorry!' I mind linked him.

"So Kat, how do you like your new home, so far?" Archer asked me, pulling me outside where the moon shone brightly and the nearby river rushed over the stones.

I look at him. "Apart from the fact that I have two mates?"

"Well yeah. Apart from that."

"Then I like it. It's really nice here. It's so beautiful. My old home was nothing like this. It was all clean cut and perfect corners. This has a natural charm to it. It's beautiful."

My wolf purred, 'I like him.'

'Yeah well, there's two. What's a girl to do?'

'You can't pretend you don't like this man. Even if you say you hate all men, maybe there are some, like Archer that are perfect for you.'

"You look confused." Archer tilted my chin with two fingers so that I was looking at him.

I shrug and shake my head.

"Kat, I'm your mate. I can tell when there's something wrong."

So I lied and told him it was because I was still adjusting to my new home.

It physically hurt me to lie to him. My wolf snarled at me and snapped her teeth. I told her to bare with me and cut her off.

Archer nodded, but didn't seem convinced. He held my hand and pulled me onto the grass. We walked hand in hand for a little while until he stopped. "You're going to have to choose, you know. You can't just have two mates."

I sighed, 'I don't even know if I want one mate.' I whispered to my wolf. To Archer I said, "I know. How do I pick though?"

"On the next full moon, which is in thirty days, if you haven't chosen your mate, one of us will die. The moon will know which one of us you love more, which is somehow impossible because we are both your soul mates, but it will know and the other will die."

I sucked in a breath. I hadn't been expecting death. Even though I'd read it with the librarian, neither of us had really believed it. Then again, neither had seen this actually happen.

Truth be told, I was terrified. What if the heartbreak of losing one of my mates killed me?

I voiced my opinion to Archer but he shook his head. "It shouldn't. You will still have one of your mates, and eventually, before the next full moon, your pain will have diminished and you will be able to return to the pack."

What did he mean 'return to the pack'?

My wolf explained, 'the heartbreak will almost kill you, but as long as the mate who is still living stays by your side, you will be okay. As for return to the pack, he knows that you will have to stay away fro everything for a while.'

I nod slowly and look up at Archer, I was honestly terrified. I hated men, but talking to this one didn't feel forced. It felt right. Still, my heart ached dully, wanting both of my mates at my side.

My friend Tess told me that when she was away from her mate, Thad, she didn't feel whole either.

I didn't even realize how cheesy that sounded until now.

"Archer, can I ask you something?"

He nodded so I continue, "What would happen if I do choose before the full moon? What would happen to the man I don't choose?"

He frowned and turned his back to me, his muscles clenching. "They would most likely fall into a coma, or die."

So it was death either way.

Oh how I hated love triangles.