The Alpha Twins and their Runaway Witch

42

She read her book. Did small spells. Did all her physical therapy and strength building exercises. If someone did not know her, she looked like a picture perfect patient, and aspiring witch. Could see the despair seeping into her as she was forced to constantly accept the limitations of her injuries. Binh was also reasonably certain she had not yet responded to any of the overtures from her mates. 

Binh had been busy. Researching more and more deeply into her supposed mates. He had devoured enough of her nightmares to finally see what it was they brought that she needed. A large, loving, supportive family. Security, everything Ariel desired in her life. Everything she had been missing. A large diverse pack and human village. She could practice her magic, live an open supernatural life, or more discrete human one. She could sit at a large table, full of people who loved each other and share a meal basking in the kind of love she had craved her whole life.

She needed them, and they needed her. Binh could see it now clearly. Fate was fate. He still wanted the twins to work to earn Ariel affections, and he also wanted it to be a fair fight. He wanted Ariel to be happy, and two wolves from a good family as her mates, would practically ensure she would be safe and cared for all of her days.

Ariel was stubborn and tried to do far too much on her own. Leaving her already tired when she was settled into her chair and slightly out of breath. Binh silently wheeled her to the elevator and down to his car. Ariel pulled and hopped her way from the chair to the seat of the car relatively easily with her one good arm and one good leg. Once she was safely seated, Binh put her chair in the boot and got in to drive.

As Binh had hoped and expected, Ariel had never been to a zoo before. Typically Binh found such artificial environments distasteful, preferred to have all of Cultivation's creatures living wild and free. He was making an exception considering the special exhibit on feature and the need for novelty in Ariel's life right now. This was for her, Binh told himself.

Ariel's bad mood was no match for sunshine on her skin, Three Hours Past Midnight flying overhead and keeping watch, and Binh telling her all he knew about each creature or reading to her from the plaques attached to each enclosure to improve guest experience.

Eventually after watching the river otters play and swim together, Binh finally saw Ariel smile. Saw the gloom start to dissipate from her body. "Remember Ariel, all the animals are safely enclosed in their habitats and unable to escape. The next animals are something special, but you have nothing to fear while you are with me." Ariel nodded wondering what sort of creature could elicit such a strong warning from Binh, they had already seen big cats and bears and hippos. What could be more fearsome than those creatures.

Ariel's breath caught in her throat, her arms had moved to try and lift herself from her seat in her wheelchair. Everything in her body, every nerve, every sense of self preservation said she needed to run. She couldn't. Binh was there with a hand on her shoulders. "They are being punished for the accidents they caused, they will be here for another seven days while the zoo is open. They are not able to leave, they will not shift. You are safe." Binh reiterated for her.

Realizing that she was helpless to try and escape, doing her very best to calm her nerves. Trust Binh's words. He had not lied to her yet. She was safe. They were stuck in wolf form, and could not come closer to her. She looked carefully at the two wolves in the enclosure. Giving herself a moment to really look at them. To parse through the feeling she had. She knew, she wasn't quite alright. Her history, her experiences had affected her, shaped her view of the world.

What she felt when she saw the two wolves was complicated. It was more than clear to her that they were clearly not natural wolves. One a bright shining white, the other the exact opposite with obsidian fur. They had noticed she was here, the wolves had been sleeping on the grass in the sunshine. But had awoken when she drew near. They had woken up, and pranced and leapt together when they knew she was there. Parading and showing off around their enclosure.

Ariel looked at the wolves. Still full of fear, but there were other more complicated feelings as well. She truly, took her time to safely look at the wolves. They were larger and far more impressive than the Hyena had ever looked. The wolf coats seemed to shine with radiance and health when the Hyena had almost always looked dirty and ragged.

Ariel had no idea how she knew it, but she knew, from the pictures on the messages they sent her at least once every hour that the white wolf was August, and the black wolf was Alex. She had covertly read all their messages. Every single one of them. August had apologized in various ways. Over and over. Alex had oscillated between fervent apologies and explanations, and anecdotes about his family, his siblings.

Sometimes she would check the phone screen, go in to reread a message they had sent. Only to see the tiny dots flash up under the conversation. Then stop, and start. It thrilled her a little bit to know that one or both of them were thinking about her, while she was thinking about them and everything they had said in their messages.

They were brothers. She knew they both claimed that they had been looking for her at least as long as she had been under Gisella's control. They both had told her in their own words how they had been looking for her, for years without knowing what it was they were seeking and following. How they had just been looking for a chance to connect with her and had gone about it all wrong.

Now, there they were, as their wolves. Right ahead of her. Her body too broken for her to run. Most of her body still reacted with fear. Part of her heart was considering something else. That maybe their promise of real love, and wanting to take care of her, and a goddess pairing them together to be happy was real. That mates weren't what she had been led to believe. That another lesson from Gisella and the hyena cackle had proven to be false.