My Twin Alpha Mates

Chapter 5

"X-Xander. Why are you h-here?" I stuttered out. My heart was racing. I was sure that Damon and Dylan could hear it. My family never talked about Xander. He was the bad child, the screw up. He went rogue. After he left, my mom was torn to pieces. We didn't know how we could ever recover from the loss. The soon-to-be beta was gone, choosing a lifestyle that in the end would get him killed.

"Julie, you know him?" I only had enough strength in me leftover from my shock to nod my head. I was feeling overwhelmed and faint. After my struggle with the alpha, I wasn't expecting to have more emotional trauma this soon. It was all becoming too much. I remember back to when things were fine. When things were normal.

He was to be the beta, and I his right hand. We were all hoping that I would end up being the alpha's mate; well, all of us besides me. I never liked the alpha. He would constantly pick on me and push me around. Xander, of course, hated this. He wanted to destroy the alpha for harming his baby sis, but never actually had the will to go against him. He was to be his right hand, and Xander couldn't go around upsetting the alpha that easy.He was always there for me. To protect me, care for me, love me. To the very day he left, I always thought it would be him and I, against the world. The two siblings that were unstoppable.

Well, until that day.

Xander left me. Broken legs and all, on the wet ground. I passed out from the pain. My mom finally noticed her children weren't coming back inside and sent my dad out to find us. He found me laying there, my one leg with the bone pushing out, the other stiff from trying to heal itself correctly. I was bleeding out severely. Because of my condition, I couldn't heal myself as well as the others in my pack. I was taken to the pack doctor to have my one leg rebroken and the other operated on. Both were in casts for quite some day. Since that day, no one had seen Xander. I was the last person to see him. I relayed his words to my dad and the alpha. He was tried as an adult to the council and was outcast as a rogue. The order was kill on site, but no one told that to eight year old me. I didn't find out until I was fourteen and saw the files in my dad's office. No one even spoke of him after the incident.

"What, no hug for your big brother?" he asked, smirking. Behind me I could hear my parents growling, and my mates holding me tighter. I wasn't scared, just shocked. I was frozen to the ground by the crushing weight of the memories. One in particular stood out to me the most; the day he left. I could still feel the pain in my legs every time I run too much or too hard. He didn't catch me. My own brother didn't catch me.

"Why would I hug the being that I hate most in this world?" I snarled back. I wasn't going to let my so-called brother push me around. No way in hell. I remembered back to another time when my brother destroyed my favorite necklace. It was one my grandmother gave me. I had the delicate chain around my neck and Xander ripped it right off, ruining the family heirloom. I cried about it and tried to tell mom and dad, but they didn't believe me. Xander told them I broke it while climbing and was now trying to blame it on him because of my guilty conscience. He had a way with words, and it helped that he was four years my senior.

My mates sniffed the air and tensed. I knew the could smell the scent of rogue wafting off of him. A rogue in the presence of an alpha makes them extremely uneasy. Their wolves want them to kill it immediately. The rule of rogues is kill on site unless they need taken for questioning. Hell, the rogue was basically in his aura.

I'm an aura reader. Some call me a people reader. To me, everyone has a certain color radiating off of them. The color depended on their mood or personality. It's a strange yet amazing gift to have. Reading people's emotions was simple with such a gift. I enjoyed it a lot, but at the same time despised having it, because that always meant I was touched by others emotions. Being an aura reader made me extremely empathetic to everyone around me. I could feel bad for a prisoner that murdered someone if his aura was strong enough.

My brother walked over to the swing set that still sat on the woodline of our yard. He touched the very swing I jumped out of the day he left. Smiling sadistically, he turned to me. I tensed in my mates arms, and they were still completely on guard. I gulped silently, suddenly feeling like the normal oxygen intake wasn't enough. That day; I can remember it clearer than a natural spring.

The day my world changed.

From that day, I swore I'd move on. I swore I would be the best. I owed it to myself and Xander to always be my best. To do whatever it took to never get hurt again. To never let him hurt me again.

Xander walked slowly over to me. My mates growled lowly. Xander ignored them and started walking closer. Damon went in front of me in a possessive stance and shoved me behind him, lunging at Xander. I lost my balance easily, still weak from my previous endeavors. I couldn't regain my balance fast enough. I was falling. I felt it; the moment your body goes from safety to free fall. It happens in only a split second; and your world is crashing down on you and you're falling, falling...

"Catch me!" I called out as I started to fall. Except, Dylan didn't catch me fast enough, and I fell. I hit the ground hard. Looking up I could see the intensity of the sun, it's too bright, my subconscious noted. The sides of my vision were swirling, and darkness was pooling into me. A heavy weight settled on my chest as Dylan crouched down in a panic.

As I was losing conciseness, the last sentence I heard chilled me to the bone.

"History has a way of repeating itself, doesn't it little Julie?"