Alaric
Fuck!
Fuck!
Fuck!
Running both hands through my hair, I paced up and down outside of the bunker where the hunter was being held.
My mate.
My human mate.
Fuck!
"Alaric, calm down." Dad's voice was steady, almost soothing. My wolf was pacing in my mind, urging me to go back into the bunker, back to the handsome human tied to the chair in there. To see him. To smell him. His scent was gorgeous ... like the woodlands. Pinecones. Bark. Earth.
Fucking perfect.
Fuck!
My footsteps crunched on the woodland floor, my shoes stepping over twigs and fallen leaves. Although I was still dressed in only my shorts and t-shirt, I didn't really feel the cool wind as it blew between the trees, brushing against branches and teasing my hair.
How the fuck could I have two mates?
Two?
What the actual fuck?
Was the Moon Goodess having a fucking laugh right now? Not only did she give me a mate that my father wouldn't approve of, she had to go and make it two!
Raising my eyes skywards, I silently cursed Selene and her twisted ways. She may find humour in all this, but I certainly fucking didn't.
My wolf started panting, howling, pacing ... he wanted to get to his mate. Any one of them.
Taking a deep breath, I ran my hands through my messy hair once more, feeling my heart beating fiercely against my ribs, trying to ignore my wolf making loud noises in my head. He really wasn't helping.
"Alaric." My father stood next to me, his hand squeezing my shoulder. "It's going to be alright, son."
Was it?
Dad thought I had only one mate. This human.
He didn't know about Radley.
Oh, Radley.
Earlier, I hadn't wanted to leave him at the mansion. I had loved having him on my arm, in my arms, this morning. Enjoyed giving him all of my attention. I had wanted to show him off, walk around the pack with him. My lips tingled with the memory of our kiss, with my wolf urging me to run to him for a repeat performance.
After speaking with Claudia and with Radley ... I believed that they hadn't had any visitors last night. And the relief that had coursed through my body after finding this out ... Only a short time ago, I had thought that the pain in my chest was caused by Radley ... pleasuring himself. Experiencing an orgasm without me.
My wolf panted at the thought and I felt a hard throb shoot through my body as an image of Radley, stroking himself, flitted across my mind.
Shaking my head, I cursed my wolf. Fucking horn dog.
Concentrate.
Could that chest pain have been caused by this human instead? Now that my wolf thought he was my mate, too ... did this guy have sex with someone last night? He was human, after all. He wouldn't be expecting to meet his soul mate. Humans weren't taught that. Not like us wolves.
Wait ... did that mean that Radley had felt the pain last night, too? Well, I guess he would have if he had a wolf. I still hadn't had that clarified.
Fuck!
I was so fucking confused.
Gripping my hair in my hands, I pulled at the strands and let out a growl.
"Alaric!" My dad stood in front of me, both hands on my shoulders, a stern look on his face. "Calm down. We'll work this out."
"Work out what?" I dropped my hands and sighed. "I've met my mate." Both of them.
"And he's a human." Dad frowned. "A human hunter. He was in this pack, obviously wanting to hurt one of us."
"How do you know that?" I took a step away from him. "Have you asked him if he was here to hurt someone?"
"I don't need to." Dad took a couple of steps to the side and ran a hand through his hair. "I've come across my fair share of hunters while running this pack. They don't just enter pack lands to say hello."
"So, what should I do?" Because I had no fucking idea. I was confused as fuck.
Dad sighed, then rubbed a hand over his mouth. "Selene has paired you with him. She chose him for you. I can't go against what the Moon Goddess has dictated."
Placing my hands on my hips, I watched as my father walked towards the nearest tree, placed one hand on its trunk and leaned forward slightly. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths and I noticed he briefly closed his eyes.
"I told myself that, no matter who your mate was, I was going to love them like my own child." He pushed himself off of the tree to stand up straight. Running a hand down his face, he shook his head. "Now ... I'm not so sure." Turning his head to me, I saw sadness in his dark blue eyes. "When I found out your chest was hurting last night, and what it could mean ..." His voice trailed off as he rubbed his eyes. "Your mate, being with someone else ... I was ready to advise you to reject them. To tell you that they were deliberately hurting you. But now ..." He gestured towards the bunker a few feet away. "Now, knowing your mate is a human ... he wouldn't have known what he was doing to you." Dad shrugged.
He walked towards me, stopping a couple of feet away. "He wouldn't have known he was hurting you when he was ..." He waved his hand as he shook his head again.
"So, what now?" I needed my dad's advice. Not just as my father, but as my Alpha, too. I was confused. Beyond confused.
And a little scared.
Dad closed the distance between us and wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug.
"Now, we speak to him. Find out what he's doing here. And then we'll take it from there."
Resting my head on his shoulder, I sighed. "Do we question him in the bunker?"
Dad pulled back, holding me at arms' length, his hands squeezing my shoulders. He peered into my eyes, a frown on his face.
"Yes, son. It's best we keep him out here. Away from the pack. He is a hunter, after all. He could be dangerous."
My wolf growled, not liking the fact that one of his mates would be kept away from him. I wasn't keen on that idea, either. My body seemed to ache, and I wasn't sure if it was because I wanted to hold the hunter or Radley.
Radley.
He was still at the mansion.
I had told him to wait for me. That I would come back for him. But at least I could go back to him. Hold him. Take in his scent.
My wolf wagged his tail happily, rubbing himself against the edges of my mind, at the thought of Radley.
I glanced over at the bunker, at the guard standing outside, keeping an eye on his Alpha, watching to make sure he was safe.
Pulling away from my father, I nodded my head to the side, walking Dad away from the guard and his ears. What I was about to say ... I didn't want anyone else to hear it.
Dad followed me and we walked a few feet further into the trees. Choosing a tree with a thick trunk, I leaned my back against it, folded my arms over my chest and heaved a sigh.
My father stood in front of me, hands on hips, his head cocked to the side. He knew I wanted to say something, and was waiting for me to spit it out.
Here goes nothing.
"The hunter ..." I looked off to the side. "He's ... uh ... not my only mate."
"Huh?"
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. "I'm ... uh ..." Feeling my heart beating harder, I could see my wolf standing up, his ears twitching. "I'm mated to Radley, too."
The wind blew past us, pushing dead leaves along the woodland floor. A few birds were chirping overhead and I could hear the rustle of branches.
But I couldn't hear my father saying anything.
Opening one eye, I looked over at him as he stood there, statue still, his mouth open, a look of surprise in his eyes.
Yeah, Dad. I'm surprised, too.
I turned my head and averted my gaze to the floor, watching as twigs and leaves bushed against the ground.
"Radley?" My dad's voice was laced with shock. "Radley Lyall?"
I nodded, keeping my eyes on the floor.
"Radley's your mate?"
Yep, he is. I nodded again.
"As well as this human hunter?"
Yeah, you're catching on.
Another nod.
"You have two mates?"
I felt the skin on my scalp prickle and my wolf bowed his head, shame rolling off of him in waves. It wasn't his fault. He was only acting on instinct. He sensed his mates and wanted them. I couldn't blame him.
My father's breath came out in a whoosh and I peeked up at him, my head still ducked.
I watched as he ran a hand down his face, his eyes gazing off into the distance.
"I'm not sure what this means, Dad," I murmured, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes. "I'm so confused."
Dad turned his head, his shoulders sagging. He walked over to me once more, pulling me into another hug. "It's okay, son," he muttered into my hair, while I rested my forehead on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Alaric. Having two mates isn't unheard of. It can happen. And it just so happens that it's happened to you." I felt his lips brush my hair. "We'll work this out, son. Somehow, we'll work this out. "
I hoped so. I had always thought that wolves with two mates were stuff of folklore, fairy tales. I didn't actually think that they would be real. Never once thinking it would happen to me.
"Come on." Dad pulled back and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Let's get back to the mansion. There'll be some information about having two mates in the library."
"Are we not going to question the hunter?" I looked over my shoulder as we walked in the opposite direction, my wolf howling, wanting to see his human mate again.
Dad sighed. "Not right now. I think ... I think we need to clear our heads before we go back to him. He'll be alright in the cells."
My wolf growled at that thought, but I threw him an image of Radley to appease him.
Radley.
Who was waiting at the mansion for me.
How the fuck was I going to explain this to him?