***Ace Amarok***
Ace's P.O.V
All of my senses were on high alert as I carried the unconscious form of my mate under the coverage of the trees. The rigid form of my brother was indication enough that he too was on high alert as he walked close in front of Blocking the sight of our mate, his head whipped back and forth, scanning the perimeter for any potential danger.
After the close call with the mountain lion, he was ready to take on anything, as was I if the situation called for it.
I couldn't even allow myself to think for a moment what could have happened if we hadn't showed up when we did. Right in the nick of time. If we had been even a second later...
I held my breath, hoping that there weren't any animals passing by. If anything made so much as a peep my brother would go absolutely ballistic. I didn't want to risk the sleeping girl in my arms waking up to that.
My guard was only let down when we rounded the familiar entrance of our bunker, located deep within the woods. With one last perimeter check Archer removed the objects covering the hidden door, quickly replacing the pile of brush in order to camouflage the passage.
We began descending down the dark staircase that led into our hidden home, passing through the stone walls that held the joint together. From behind me I could hear the clicking sound of Archer sealing the door behind us, before flicking on the light inside.
Emerging from the stairs into a medium sized room that held our living area partnered with the kitchen just across. It was furnished with the basic essentials; a couch and tv, a dining table with a set of four chairs, a few cabinets and shelves placed throughout.
For the past four years this is where we had called home. Before this, it was a long forgotten safe house remembered only by our mother.
Despite the disdain that we faced from our father and pack I knew that our mother still cared for us. She was only following my father's wishes, as she had always done. The both of us knew this even before she had pointed us in the direction of this place.
The hidden shelter wasn't much when we first came across it, but my brother and I had rebuilt it from the ground up, and no one has since come to bother us.
The three of us walked further into the living quarters. The room seemed brighter, homier. I knew the reason was because I was holding the brightest light in my arms. The missing piece of the puzzle.
Careful not to wake her I brought her to the largest room in the house. The only room that was left virtually untouched by my brother and I. Everything was systematically placed, the large king-sized bed neatly made, the furniture organized and unbroken.
We hoped that one day one of us would at least find our mate, and if we did she we made sure that she had a place to stay until she grew comfortable. Never would I have thought that I would be having to share my mate with my brother. It was unheard of to have two lupins find the same mate, but so was having twins born from the bloodline.
Slowly, I walked over to the bed, gently placing her under the covers. It physically pained me to see her like this.
Without waking her I pressed my lips to her forehead, brushing away her wet hair. An unspoken promise that I would always take care of her. That she would never have to worry about being in this state again.
I turned to my brother, motioning him out of the room. We stopped just at the threshold, unable to let her leave our sight> We whispered as we talked, careful not to wake her, still monitoring the soft beat of her heart.
"We should get her out of those clothes. They're drenched and filthy." Archer said, clearly as disgusted of our mate's attire as I was.
She was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on. I knew that was true as I saw beyond the grime.
Due to her malnourishment, and her lack of proper clothing it was obvious that she had been out there alone in the forest for quite some time. Just knowing that made me feel sick to my stomach. How long had she been out there? Why was she out there? Had she been abandoned? Endless possibilities of what she may have gone through swarmed my mind.
I was torn at Archer's statement. I wanted nothing more than to take her out of those wretched garments and place one of my shirts over ahead. She should dry her off before the cold settles into her skin.
That water was as cold as ice. If I had been human I would have been a shaking mess by now. She was human, and in her weakened state risk for hypothermia was still a possibility
My eyes stayed fixated on her sleeping form. Despite having only her best interest at heart I knew that most likely wasn't the wisest decision. If she had gone through half of what I think she had... Goddess only knows what else had happened to her. The thought alone was enough to put a sour taste in my mouth.
We would never hurt her, or touch her without consent, but we couldn't do something like that while she wasn't awake. I didn't want to give her any reason not to trust us, to fear us.
Our minds were open to each other and as soon as the vile thoughts started to cross my mind to what could have happened to her a deep growl sounded lowly beside me. The thought of something like that happening to our mate was enough to send us reeling.
"Shhh." You'll wake her." I whispered, motioning to the sleeping figure on the large bed. She looked so small in comparison.
Grabbing my brother's arm I pulled us farther away, but not far enough so that she was out of sight. I could feel his anger bubbling to the surface, threatening to spill over.
"How long do you think she's been out there? How long do you think she's been alone in the fucking wilderness while we were looking for her? She is human for damn sake. She could have died and we wouldn't have even known about it. I could have protected her." The rage in his voice wasn't directed at anyone but himself. Like usual he tried to be the sole carrier of guilt. He blamed himself for her condition, for not finding her sooner. As if I wasn't doing the very same thing to myself. But guilt shaming wasn't going to get us anywhere.
"Look, I don't know. I know just as much as you do. I don't know why she was out there, or why we didn't find her sooner. The only thing I know is that it doesn't matter now. We're here for her now. We're going to get her healthy again, and we're damn sure never going to let anything like that ever happen again." My eyes shifted to the girl that I had been looking for my entire life.
"What color do you think her eyes are?" I couldn't recall a time when Archer's voice sounded so silvery. Glancing at the usually aggressive, bilious face, I witnessed his very demeanor begin to soften as he looked to her, longingly.
I myself had been wondering that very same thing. I thought about my grandfather's stories, about how our ancestor saw the future just by looking in his mates eyes. I desperately wanted to know what that felt like. What was the most perfect color to go with the world's most beautiful human? Chestnut brown, ocean blue, olive green, none of what I thought of seemed to fit perfectly enough.
She began to stir in her sleep, her breathing gradually picking up. We walked over to her slowly, with silent steps. The both of us were afraid to get too close and spook her.
More than anything, I wanted to wrap my arms around her, to assure that she was safe now, that her mates were forever there to protect her. But she was human. The chances of her knowing anything about this, about our world... the chances were slim to none.
A part of me wondered if she would even feel the mating bond at all. Would it be one sided? More often than not in a mating pair one was human while the other was lupin, and all of the ones that I had known about resulted in them loving each other unconditionally.
I couldn't help but fear that this might be the exception. It took time for humans to accept the mating bond, and with two mates... something that had never before occurred in our history... it was going to be overwhelming to say the least.
Her eyes fluttered before she opened them. I was left completely awestruck as I stared into the most beautiful set of emerald-green eyes that I had ever laid my eyes upon. They reminded me of the bright lively grass found at the peak of spring. The golden flecks that swirled between the emeralds were yet another reason as to why she looked so enchanting.
They raked with confusion, but soon widened with fear, as she frantically looked around. In an instant she tucked her knees closely to her chest. Even from this far I could hear her blood pumping fast as her heart pounded wildly. My heart clenched as she began to hyperventilate.
Archer stepped forward, wanting to go and comfort our trembling mate, but I shook my head, urging him not to. I wanted nothing more than to do the same, but if we pushed her too far I was afraid that she would break. I couldn't risk us losing her, especially because of something that we had done.
"How-how are you feeling? Are you okay?" I asked. I couldn't believe how nervous I felt, tripping over my own words as my heart raced.
She trembled as she glanced wide-eyed at the two of us. Observing the goosebumps that spread along her skin I wondered if they rose from the cold, or from fear. I hated the idea that it was more than likely from both.
"You-you saved me." Her voice was hypnotic even though it was just above a whisper as her words came out somewhat strained.
I nodded my head, motioning over to my brother who gawked at her. Words seemed to be caught in his throat. In our entire twenty-two years of living never had I seen my brother look vulnerable, completely speechless as he was right now.
"We both did." I answered.
She looked down to her bruised feet, her bony knees still huddled close to her chest. She seemed to be deep in thought, like she was having an internal conversation.
"Why?" Her voice sounded broken as the word came out almost as a whimper. As if she didn't see a reason that she should have been saved.
"Why wouldn't we?" Archer asked, finally speaking up. She shrugged her shoulders, once again shifting her gaze down.
How I wanted to lift her head back up and explain to her just how special she really was. I knew noting about the beauty in front of me, but her presence alone seemed to make the world brighter. Her energy felt kind and pure.
"I'm Ace and this is my brother Archer." I told her, pushing back all of the things that I really wanted to say. She nodded in acknowledgement but stayed quiet.
"What's your name?" Archer asked, seemingly breathless. Her eyes flicked up, then back down. It was quite a while before she answered, and for a time I didn't think she would. It was almost as if she was searching for something that she hadn't heard in some time.
It pained me to see her like this. Shivering in fear and cold, trembling from a past that remained unknown to us. I wanted to take her pain away. I would do anything to transfer her suffering to myself if I could.
I felt helpless as I watched her visibly shaken. How was I supposed to hold back my brother from pushing any of her boundaries, when I could barely control myself from doing the exact same thing?
Only when I was about to repeat the question did her soft, angelic voice appear again, though her head was still angled down.
"Rose. My name is Rose."