Orion
A click. A creak.
Then the sound of feet running along the concrete floor.
I barely had time to stand, before I saw Radley running towards my cell.
Wait ... Radley?
What was he doing here?
I rushed towards the bars, just as Radley reached them.
"Orion!" He cried, a big smile on his face as he gripped on to the bars, then screamed as he pulled away.
"Radley!" Alaric's voice boomed through the cells and he was there in an instant, kissing Radley's head, holding him close.
"Is he okay?" I asked as Alaric pulled back a little.
He gently took Radley's hands into his own, turning them over to look closely at them. Tears fell from Radley's eyes and he whimpered as Alaric kissed his palms.
"His skin is burned from the silver bars." Alaric cast a quick glance at me, before drawing Radley close again.
"How ..." Radley hiccuped. "How is that possible? I've never been burned by silver before." He buried his head in Alaric's neck, his shoulders shaking.
I frowned, confused. Radley was a werewolf - he would have always been burned by silver.
Alaric must have caught my confused look as he held up a finger in my direction, then answered Radley's question. "You've never come into contact with silver before. All the metal in your house would be steel. Not even silver plated."
Radley raised his head to look at Alaric. In the dim light of the cells, I could see a sheen of fresh tears coating his eyes. Alaric glanced at me from over the top of Radley's head, an unreadable look in his eyes.
What was going on?
Shifting my gaze back to Radley, I felt my chest squeeze and my heart ached. I wanted to touch him. Hold him. I pushed my arm between two of the bars as far as it would reach, my fingertips brushing against Radley's t-shirt.
"Let's have a look at your hands," I muttered gently to him. Alaric loosened his hold, throwing me a warning look as he did, so that Radley could turn to face me. He held out his hands tentatively, his arms shaking.
Ignoring Alaric, I held Radley's hands gently, glanced down at them ... and tried not to gasp. Blisters were forming on the palms of his hands, the skin red raw, his fingers shivering.
"Oh my god," I murmured, wanting to bring his hands to my lips to kiss away the pain.
"His wolf will help heal the burns," Alaric said softly. He hooked a finger under Radley's chin and turned his face towards him. Alaric frowned a little. "No more gripping the bars of the cells. Okay?"
Radley nodded, then turned to face me.
"Why did you grab the bars?" I asked, letting his hands go. "You must have known they were silver. I mean, they're designed to keep wolves under control while being kept prisoner."
Alaric gave me a hard look, then rolled his eyes.
"He's only just learned that he's a werewolf," Alaric muttered. "This morning, in fact."
What?
My gaze darted to Radley's face, and I noticed the lost look in his eyes, the confusion etched into his cute face, the quiver of his bottom lip.
"How?" I breathed.
Radley hadn't known he was a werewolf? But ... how? He lived in a pack of wolves. They shifted and ran through the woods behind his house. I'd seen it with my own eyes. Was even caught by a wolf myself.
How the fuck did this even happen?
Alaric sighed. "There's more."
I looked over Radley's shoulder to gaze at Alaric's handsome face. His blue eyes bored into mine. "Both of you are mated," he explained. "To me." He shrugged. "I'm not sure how all of this works, to be honest." He chuckled. "I guess that means we're all mated to each other. I think."
I felt my mouth drop open.
What?
My gaze fell on Radley's face as he looked at me innocently, his emerald eyes wide.
"I'm sure that's why we're all ... attracted to each other." Alaric leaned forward and buried his nose in Radley's hair as Radley offered me a soft smile, his nose scrunched.
I looked at him, then to Alaric who was watching me over the top of Radley's head, his blue eyes unblinking.
The fuck?
I gripped onto the bars of the cell as I stared at the two of them. My heart was leaping in my chest, and I wanted so desperately to get out of this damn cell and hold them. Both of them.
There was no denying that I was deeply attracted to both of them, but I'd been attracted to different people at the same time before.
So, why was this time any different? Was it because I was feeling the mate bond, too ... even though I was human? Was that how this worked?
I had no fucking idea.
Alaric hooked a finger under Radley's chin to turn his face towards his own, smiled, then ran his nose along Radley's. My heart clenched. I wanted to do that, too. I reached forward once more and gripped onto Radley's t-shirt. He turned to face me, another soft smile on his face.
"What does all this mean?" I watched as Alaric pulled back a little and heaved a sigh. He ran a hand through his thick hair, my fingers itching to do that to him, too.
These feelings were starting to get a little confusing.
"I have no fucking idea." He stepped away a little from Radley and held his hand out to me. Reaching my other arm through the bars, I slipped my hand into his, feeling his warm fingers squeeze mine.
Radley untangled my hand from his shirt and I turned his hand over, to see that the burns had started to heal. He sighed as he laced his fingers with mine, gently, tentatively. Alaric wrapped one arm around Radley's waist and pulled him close to his body once more.
I looked from one wolf to the other, feeling my heart beat strongly, and my breath hitch.
Both blonde, yet completely different. Alaric stood tall and strong, his powerful body and stance told everyone he was an Alpha, that he asked for respect.
Radley was tucked into Alaric's side, his frame slimmer, his muscles not as bulky. Alaric stood proud, chest puffed out, whereas Radley looked up at everyone from underneath his long eyelashes, giving off an air of innocence.
Complete opposites, yet they looked like they fit together. Like two pieces of a puzzle. Stood side by side, they turned their attention to each other, their eyes boring into the other, the heated look that passed between them ... then they turned their gaze to me, sending a fire coursing through my body. Alaric looked as though he could eat me, whereas Radley stared at me in awe.
I gulped as I felt the weight of their gazes, my skin prickling, my heart thumping strongly. I felt their hands in mine, the heat of their skin ... and a shiver ran along my spine as I let out a shaky breath.
Fuck.
"Are you a hunter?" Radley's soft voice caught my attention and I focused on his face. "Do you really hunt ... werewolves?"
The look on his cute face ... my heart squeezed. As if I could hunt him. Hurt him.
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. "No. I'm not a hunter." I looked over at Alaric. "Not any more."
Alaric nodded, understanding flashing across his face. If only it was going to be this easy to convince his father ...
"Will you live here now? In this ... town?" Radley cocked his head to the side. "Instead of in the city?"
I glanced over at Alaric, unsure how to answer.
"We need to get you out of this cell." Alaric surveyed the door, the bars, his eyes calculating.
I sighed, resting my forehead against the bars. "I'm not allowed out. Not without your dad's permission."
Alaric nodded, heaving a sigh of his own. "He's the Alpha. His rules. I need to talk to him."
"You'll need to do more than just talk to him," I muttered. "He needs convincing that I'm not a threat to this pack."
"You're not," Alaric stated.
"I'm not," I agreed.
"Is your dad still speaking with Claudia?" Radley tilted his head to look up at Alaric.
Alaric threw me a quick glance, before squeezing Radley tighter. "Yes, he is." He closed his eyes briefly. "This whole situation ... it's ... confusing. We still have so many questions. About ... well, everything. And I think Claudia and my dad can answer some of them."
"Does Claudia know I'm a ... werewolf?"
Alaric kissed his hair as I looked at him. Radley hadn't known he was a werewolf. That fact still floored me.
How the fuck had he gone his whole life without knowing?
How?
"Radley." I tugged on his hand a little, pulling back to me. "How did you not know you are ... a wolf?"
"I just didn't." He shrugged. "I never ... experienced anything like I did before this morning. I used to see wolves in the woods ... at night ... in the day ... but Claudia told me to keep away. They were always bigger than normal wolves, and I knew they were different, but when I told her ... she never listened." He sniffed and rubbed his nose. "She told me to keep away from everyone in town." He smiled softly. "Everyone in town looked like they were always having fun without us. Always doing something that I didn't know about."
Alaric's arm squeezed Radley's waist and I saw him bury his nose in Radley's hair once more.
Frowning, I looked up at Alaric. "How was Radley not told about werewolves? About what you all were? Why was he made to think this was a small town rather than a large wolf pack? How the fuck does this even happen?"
Alaric sighed, pulling his face reluctantly out of Radley's hair. Tears shone in his eyes in the low light of the cell.
"We were always told to keep our distance." His voice was raspy as he took a shaky breath. "My dad instructed everyone to be nice to Radley, but not to engage him with too much." He swallowed, his throat working. "I only found out this morning that it had something to do with my grandfather. Something about a decision that was made when Radley was born."
Radley looked up at Alaric. "I didn't know that." He sniffed. "I didn't know that's what you were all told. To keep away from me. I was always told to keep away from you."
"Hey." Alaric kissed his forehead. "We're going to work this out. Everything's going to be okay."
He pulled Radley closer to him, squeezing my hand at the same time.
Something was tugging at my mind ... something about Radley's house that had seemed strange at the time ... odd ... out of place ...
Something that I knew I'd heard ...
"Claudia." Both wolves looked at me as I spoke. "One night, when I was ... hiding ... under Radley's bed ..." My cheeks heated up as Alaric's stare bore holes into mine, so I averted my gaze to Radley. "The other night ... I tucked you into bed after we ... uh ... saw each other. Then Claudia came into your room, so I hid under your bed." Radley cocked his head to the side.
"Claudia came into my room? While I was asleep?"
I nodded. "And I heard whispers. Talking quietly. I didn't hear what was said." And I remembered being confused about it back then. Wondering why Claudia was talking in hushed tones. I mean, it wasn't like there was anyone in the house to wake up.
Unless ...
"She was whispering because she didn't want to wake you up." I looked at Radley as his green eyes widened. "She was in your room, but she didn't want you to know about it."
Alaric growled, startling us both. I stared at him as his eyes flickered between silver and blue.
"Claudia has a lot of explaining to do," he huffed, then cocked his head to the side, almost as if he was listening, then turned his attention back to us.
"And it seems that now is the time to get some answers out of her." He glanced between me and Radley. "My father and Leo are back at the mansion. And they've brought Claudia with them."