Alpha's Choice

| 16 | Second Chance |

| Madison Cloud |

I was terrified. More like shocked, confused and angry. No — No words could adequately explain what I felt at this moment. It was a mess, static. I thought I had gotten over this, that I was prepared or that I knew how I would handle the situation if I were to ever meet him again, but why? — Why is he here?

"Hey! Your ba—"

"What are you doing here?" I stumbled, cutting off Emmett.

That caught both of their attention. Once he looked at me, his eyes widened and growled as I held tighter onto Emmett.

He stared at me. "Whoa there, what's wrong? What's going on?" Emmett asks me.

"Mate —"

"Cole —"

He and I say at the same time. Emmett's eyes widen.

"What are you doing here? What do you want!" I stated.

"Cupcake —" Emmett called for me as he turned and held my arm, but was cut off by a growl. We looked up to see Cole, but Emmett continued. "Cupcake, I think you're misunderstanding something. This is Kyle, my Beta."

Everything stood still. It was as if I was burning and had water thrown on me, but it had no effect. For some reason what he said made little sense in my head and it was only after he nudged me a bit that I responded.

"What?" I say in a whisper as low as I could, though I'm pretty sure they heard me. "No, that can't be true!" I look at him and pointed. "That is Cole. Its the same face, hair, eyes. I think I would remember my mate, Emmett. He even smells like chocolate..." I trailed off.

After a couple of minutes, Cole speaks up. Looks like he calmed down. "Emmett — what's going on?" Emmett sighs and motions for him to sit. He sat back down in his chair and sat me on his lap, only to be rewarded with another growl. I rolled my eyes.

"Kyle," Emmett said, "I'm glad you're back, man. It's been a while. I hope you and Jason have settled in properly." He nods, but keeps his eyes trained on me. That's when the room fell into an awkward silence. "Kyle, this is Madison, the one I've told you and Jason about, my girlfriend —"

"What? That's her? No, she's mine." He said, "She's my mate." that last part, growling, which sent shivers down my spine.

"I'm not your mate anymore, Cole." I say, staring back at him. "Stop playing around, Emmett, I'm not liking it." I say, looking back at Emm. He passes his hand on my cheek. "Maddy, I'm not playing. This situation is something I never thought of or saw coming—" he says poignantly. I frowned. "This is my Beta." Emm says.

"And I'm not this Cole person." Kyle adds.

"But — the — How, how but; you look — just like him!" I murmur, jumping off of Emmett's lap, running a hand through my face, confused.

"Look like who? What does she mean?" He asks Emmett who's only looking at me intently, then shakes his head. He looks at me with — sorrow? Then looks at Kyle.

"Cole is Madison's mate — he rejected her and did some things. She couldn't take it and ran away only to end up here where she has stayed ever since — and apparently, you and him look identical."

I swallowed. Hearing my story again from someone else is something I will never get used to, but the hurt is still there. I turn my gaze to Kyle; he was staring at me with soft, concerned eyes that held a hint of anger in them.

"Madison — if what Kyle says is true, then... he's your mate as well." He said with sadness dripping from his tone.

"No, but how can that be? I already have, well, had a mate?" I ask.

"If you say Kyle and your Cole look exactly the same, then that just adds another part to the puzzle we have."

"Puzzle? Ugh, Emmett just spit it out. Stop prolonging the situation, not in the best mood here." I told him back. I was edgy. I was so not in the mood for this. I mean come on, it's my birthday and some guy who looks exactly like Cole comes in and says he's my mate — well, I guess he is too, because I can somehow feel him. My wolf keeps purring at him and I keep being swayed by his scent. This is so confusing.

"Right. Humm. Kyle isn't from here. When my parents were acting Alpha and Luna, they were out on patrol when they were attacked by rogues. Luckily for them, they had a couple of their friends with them and they fought them off. There was one that had a baby in their arms. When he saw he didn't stand a chance, he abandoned the baby and ran away. They tried going after him, but had no luck in tracking him. My mom picked up the baby. It was Kyle — they did not know where he was from or who he rightfully belonged to, so she took him in and raised him as her own. Kyle and I grew up as adoptive brothers, alongside Jason and Amanda. We had no leads as to who he was or where he came from. We don't know if those rouges that abandoned him were his real family or not. So we named him, took him in and raised him, but what you just added is a crucial piece to the puzzle. If you say Cole looks exactly like Kyle, then that means..."

"Twins —" I say lowly "They're — twins? A-and that explains why h-he's also my m-mate?" I stuttered.

I've read about this before. Twin mates or being a mate of twins. Since they're born from the same egg, they share many aspects of themselves. Obviously, their physical features are similar or identical, their faces, hair color, eye color. Most times, similar personality traits and characteristics are also similar and shared between the two. As for mates, I don't really recall what's said exactly. All I can remember is that the twin mates eventually find different mates, for one can only have one mate, but I can't recall how they come up with the conclusion. It looks like I just found myself in a situation I never thought was possible.

"Okay so — I have... two mates, and they just so happen to be long lost twin brothers that have never met?"

They look at me with worry, and I just roll my eyes.

"If the Reed Family had twins, we would have known. I would have known our families were close. How can your Alpha not know about another Alphas child?"

"Madison, Alpha's are very territorial and possessive creatures. You know this, and having too many Alphas in close proximity for too long can lead to all sorts of problems." Emmett says. "Alphas only gather once every year or two at the grand council organized by the Royal family and only the Alphas are to attend. Alphas-to-be are not allowed to attend for several reasons. Alphas are extremely protective of their pups, which mostly are their soon-to-be-Alphas or the Alphas in training, if they don't choose a separate successor. Also, for protective reasons, not everyone has a moral compass, unfortunately. There have been instances in the past where rival packs attack heirs and everything escalates from there. I have never gone with my father to a meeting either and as Alpha now, I haven't been summoned yet. The most people know is if whether or not the Alpha has a child and how many if they do. So I'm not sure my dad would have known unless someone said they lost a child, and that's if the child was of Alpha blood. This is still something we have to ask him and my mom, though." He explains. I stayed quiet.

"Maddy?" Emmett says.

"Madison... I-I know this is hard, but you are my mate." Kyle says standing up from his seat. I jump back as he reaches for my arm. Just feeling the heat radiating off of him makes my heart shutter and my body react — I look back at Emmett, but he just shows no emotion while he stares at me. Oh gosh, Emmett. I felt my eyes well up. This is happening so suddenly. We were supposed to go our separate ways when he found his mate. We spoke about this, we planned and prepared for this. Not me. I was prepared to set aside everything for him to choose and be happy, but I'm not ready. I need him. I can't just push him aside because a so called second chance opportunity has arisen for me. I don't know him, I don't know Kyle. I don't trust him. He looks too much like Cole. All my emotions are all a mess. What am I supposed to do? What should I do? I don't want to hurt anyone.

"I-I.... I can't do this right now — "I say as I run out of the office, hearing Kyle scream my name.

"Madison!"

What was I going to do now!? Tears started swelling in my eyes as I ran. I bump into someone, but he catches me before falling. "Whoa — you alright?" He asks.

I nod quickly, without looking up. "Yeah, sorry — I just have to go." And with that, I ran straight into my room and locked the door.