Fated for Two

Brenton growled as he watched the woman fall to the ground in a faint. He was a terribly busy man with a lot on his plate. Finding a rogue on his land wasn’t on his “to do” list today. Stepping closer toward the car, he saw Everard step closer also.

“Rogue,” Everard muttered after sniffing. “A good smelling one, though.”

Brenton frowned and took a whiff too. She did smell better than the usual rogue, odd.

Everard looked up at him, a sad look on his face as he said, “She’s on the boundary line, so which one of us takes her?”

“I don’t have time for this,” Brenton growled, now extremely annoyed, but he knelt next to the woman all the same. Grinding his teeth in his irritation, he thought, I should give her to Everard and let him deal with her, but there is something about her that calls out to me, and I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Everard had knelt also, and they both peered down at the woman, waiting. The woman’s eyes suddenly fluttered open. Both the men stiffened as they became caught in her gaze, like a mouse on a sticky trap, and they couldn’t look away.

Farrah gazed up at the two men who watched her. She noticed the heavy frown on the dark-haired man’s face, the burning anger in his dark blue eyes, and felt the urge to ease whatever burden had caused him to be so angry. So, reaching up, Farrah cupped his cheek in her hand. She whined, her wolf awakening at the warmth that flooded her body just by touching him.

He is my soulmate. Yet, even as the thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t help but turn her gaze toward the second man.

His hair was light sandy blond with golden streaks through it, his green eyes holding nothing but deep sadness. His sadness called out to her, almost begging her to ease it. It was odd to feel so strongly for a second male, knowing the first was her mate, but she couldn’t deny that she did. So, she reached out toward him also, placing her hand on his cheek. The same warmth now flowed from him to her, and she felt her eyes widen as her wolf howled inside once more.

How is what I’m feeling even possible? She thought, I’ve never heard of the moon goddess giving a she-wolf two mates except in the rare case of twins, but that’s like “once every hundred years” rare.

Yet here she was, looking at these two gorgeous men, who were her mates. She also knew that having two mates explained the extreme emotions that had been filling her heart and mind for the past few weeks. The dark-haired man was filled with anger, and the sandy blond-haired man was filled with sadness. She had been feeling the emotions of two men this whole time, not one.

It explains so much. Farrah smiled, happy to have finally solved the puzzle and whispered, “The fact that there are two of you explains so much, and I’m so happy to meet both of you. I’ve traveled a bit of distance, and I never dreamed that at the end of my search, I would find not one handsome man but two. The moon goddess has blessed me this day.”

She pulled the men closer so she could nuzzle her cheeks against both of theirs. Doing that would put her scent on them as well as their smell on her. Her wolf sighed happily inside at the scent of her mates as she filled her nose with it, asking, “May I have your names?”

When neither man spoke, she stopped her rubbing to pull back and look at them. She asked, “Well? You know it isn’t polite to ignore a lady, but if you don’t give me your names, I’ll just have to name you myself.” Then, just because she wanted to, she kissed each of their cheeks. “Come now, my handsome men, tell me your names. Mine is Farrah Hemmings.”

The dark-haired man growled low before saying, “I’m Brenton Phillips.”

“Now see, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” She teased before kissing him on his cheek as a reward. She then turned and looked at the other man expectantly.

“My name is Everard Steward,” he said softly.

Farrah smiled at him and rewarded him with a kiss to the cheek also. She happily hummed as she wrapped her hands around their necks and pulled their heads into the crook of her neck.

“So, I’m going to guess that the two of you are alphas of two separate packs.” Feeling both their nods, she then said, “I’m also going to assume that there is some bad blood between the two of you.”

They both stiffened at her words.

Farrah huffed, saying, “I’m going to warn you two right now. You will have to get over whatever the problem is. Talk it out, fight it out, then get up and get over it because I won’t let you play tug-o-war with me as the prize. I am a mate to both of you, and somehow, we will work through this.” After making that statement, she pulled back, gazing at their gorgeous faces once more. “Now, which one of you can fix my car?”

Brenton glared, and Everard swallowed hard before saying, “I can.”

“The engine half of the car is on my land,” Brenton growled, his eyes narrowing as he continued to glare at Everard.

Farrah narrowed her own brown eyes at Brenton as she asked, “Did you not hear what I said? If it bothers you so much for him to cross onto your land, you could have offered.”

Brenton growled again, and she smacked his chest lightly. This caused him to turn from glaring at Everard and look at her once more.

“Don’t growl at me, or him,” she ordered sternly.

“I don’t know how to fix it, but I don’t want him to…” Brenton began.

Irritated now, she pulled Brenton over slightly, so he was straddling the pack borderline and held him there. She wanted him to feel the same nausea she’d felt when she straddled the line that caused her to pass out.

Brenton quickly pulled back, his face looking a bit green.

“Now, that is what I felt every time I went over this boundary line, it wasn’t an enjoyable feeling to have, but I think you know that now,” Farrah stated. She turned toward Everard and smiled at him. “Be a sweetie and go look at my car, please, Everard. I love that car, and I’m hoping I haven’t torn it up beyond repair.”

Everard gave her a nod and stood, then hesitated.

Farrah stood up also, along with Brenton, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Go on, Everard, don’t worry about him; he’s staying with me.”

Everard glanced at the wolves at the edge of the trees. The front of her car was on Brenton’s land, and it worried him.

“They aren’t going to do anything either because if they do, their alpha is the one who will suffer for it,” she said lightly. “I may be small and female, but my mom taught me all about how to bend a man if I need to. Plus, I had two brothers I had to learn to stand up to, or they would have run me over.”

Brenton looked down at her. Farrah grinned and winked before watching Everard walk away.

Once Everard had walked off, Farrah gave Brenton her complete attention. She began unbuttoning his shirt as she said, “You know, I thought wolfmen were supposed to walk around shirtless most of the time, so the fact that you’re wearing a shirt is highly disappointing.”

“Really?” Brenton absently questioned as he watched Everard.

“Mm… really. Don’t worry, though; I’ll remedy that, at least when we’re all alone,” Farrah murmured as she began to rub Brenton’s bare chest. “I don’t want to fight all those other she-wolves because they’re lusting after what is mine. So, yeah, only in private.” Still rubbing his chest absently, she turned to look toward Everard as she asked, “Is it bad?”

Everard looked up and said, “Not exactly. I mean, the car can be fixed. However, I’ll need some parts and some tools to do it.”

Farrah nodded, and after grabbing Brenton by his belt loop, she dragged him closer to her car, asking, “Okay, so whose pack is closer?”

The two men looked at her.

“Well?” Farrah asked, tapping her foot impatiently. It had been a long trip, and she wanted her car fixed so she could relax and kiss her men.

“Why do you want to know?” Brenton asked, his angry frown back.

Farrah huffed in exasperation and poked him in the forehead as she grumbled, “Stop frowning. You’ve frowned so much in the short time I’ve known you that I’m getting wrinkles, and I’m too young for wrinkles!”

Everard snorted, trying to hide a laugh behind his hand. Brenton growled again.

Farrah turned and cupped Brenton’s cheeks in her hands, drawing his head down to her. Placing their foreheads together, looking him straight in the eyes, she said, “Sweetheart, seriously. We are mates, all three of us, this anger cannot go on, and we will be sitting down to discuss it soon. For now, I need my car fixed. To do that, we’ll need a car to get us back to the city for parts. Now, whose pack is closer?”

Brenton closed his eyes, answering, “His.”

Farrah smiled and kissed his nose, rewarding him once more before murmuring, “See, that wasn’t so tough to do, was it?”

“It was tough,” Brenton grumbled under his breath.

Farrah ignored Brenton’s grumbling. Instead, she just turned and grabbed Everard with one hand while taking Brenton’s hand with her other. She then began to pull them both quickly toward the borderline, where five of Everard’s wolves stood to wait for them.

Brenton refused to move over the border, and she turned to ask, “What?”

“I am not going to step foot on his pack lands,” Brenton growled.

Farrah took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she counted under her breath. “Brenton, you are at least as old as I am, which is twenty-two. You are not five. Now, put on your big boy shorts and act like the alpha you are instead of a petulant child. We are going to Everard’s home and getting his car, or truck, or whatever he drives, and we are all going to the city together. Then he’s going to get what he needs there, and if you argue with me, I’ll make you pay for everything. Then we’re coming back here so he can fix my car.”

By the time she finished, she could almost feel the anger rolling off him in waves, but she refused to back down. He was her mate, but so was Everard, and they had to learn to live with each other, to get along. She wasn’t much for anger, and it took a lot to get her there, but she was sure even angry, she didn’t want to have to take him on. She would, though, if that was what it took to get through to him.

“We have been enemies for a long time now, almost four years,” Brenton told her in an angry voice. “You may be his mate too, but that doesn’t change the way things are between him and me.”

“Maybe not yet, but it will change,” she informed him sternly with a low warning growl of her own. “Now, since you are also my mate, I expect certain things from you both.”

Brenton pulled his hand from her to cross his arms over his chest. The sight of bulging muscles had her almost salivating. With a snarl, he asked, “And what would those things be exactly?”

Pulling her gaze from his muscular arms and back to his eyes, she said, “I expect to have your love. I expect the two of you to work together to give me that equally as I will equally give love to the two of you. I also expect the two of you to always have my wellbeing in mind, whether it be making sure I’m fed, clothed, have a roof over my head, or whether it be that my car is running in top shape so that it doesn’t leave me stranded where I could be harmed, or even killed.”

The anger left Brenton’s face at her words.

“My father always said a mate’s needs were to come before my own,” Everard whispered sadly behind her. “I’ll walk back to my pack and get what I need while you stay with Brenton. It won’t take me long if I run.”

Farrah turned to look at him and saw his sad gaze focused on Brenton. She knew he and Brenton had been close at some point, and his heart broke when the male wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Wrapping her arms around Everard, she told him, “No, Sweetie, he will be coming with us if I have to knock him out and drag him there.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Brenton growled then.

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him, saying, “You want to test me? To see if I can? I’d hate to embarrass you in front of your pack-mates, Brenton.”

“You’re a rogue. You have little strength against an alpha,” Brenton claimed, sounding belligerent and almost childish.

She sighed. “I’m not a rogue by choice Brenton. Believe it or not, my father was a beta and a strong warrior in our pack. So, although I don’t have the strength of an alpha male, I’m not a wimp either.”

Brenton silently stood there. He seemed to be thinking hard about how to get out of the situation he’d walked into.

It was Everard who broke the silence by saying, “She is our mate, and it is our nature to give her what she desires. So, there is no use to fight it, or your wolf will fight you. He’ll then take over to give her what she wants anyway.”

Brenton’s shoulders drooped, and he waved a hand as he said, “Lead the way.”

“Yes!” Farrah excitedly said as she jumped up and down. She then kissed Brenton’s cheek once more before grabbing ahold of their hands. Looking at Everard, she said, “Onward, Honey!”

Everard shook his head but began to walk toward where his wolves waited. The wolves gave Brenton a wary look but turned and headed back toward the pack house; as Everard mentioned, “You said you’d come a long way. Where are you from exactly?”

“A small town in North Dakota called Willow’s End. It was more of a small community than a town. Only three hundred or so people live there,” she told them. “My parents and I were part of the Willow Pack until the pack wars happened. A greedy alpha annihilated the pack, and the few of us left became rogues because we feared trusting another alpha. Some of them left Willow’s End, Mom and I stayed along with two others that we know of.”

“So, it was easier to become a rogue rather than find a new pack?” Brenton asked.

Farrah heavily sighed as she told him, “My mom lost it when Dad and my two older brothers were killed. Dad was everything to her and more important than anything in this world. Without him, she almost gave up, except she still had me. I was just a teenager, only sixteen when the pack wars ended, and still needed a parent. Mom refused to leave where they were buried and still goes to Dad’s grave every day, even after five years. If I bring it up, she just tells me she isn’t leaving her mate and goes to her room. She rarely goes anywhere but the gravesite and work.”

“I lost my family during the pack wars, too,” Everard said softly. “I kind of know-how she feels. I didn’t have to leave them behind, but I had to become alpha because my brother was killed. It has been a hard life since the wars.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder and rubbed slightly before straightening. “The pack wars were hard on everyone, and I’m so glad they’re over. I hope I never have to go through another.”

“There is my pack house,” Everard said as they exited the woods and entered a clearing.

Farrah looked over to find a least a dozen people milling around. A few of them were on the roof and appeared to be repairing it. She watched as one man climbed down a ladder and began making his way to where the three of them stood. Just a few feet from them, he stopped and bowed his head slightly.

“Beta Mason, this is my… mine and Brenton’s mate, Farrah. Her car broke down on the boundary line, and we need to get parts to fix it. I’ll be back at some point,” Everard explained.

Mason glanced at Brenton, but only for a moment before giving Farrah a slight nod of respect. “Alright, Alpha Steward, I’ll have the workers continue on the roof.”

“Excellent, Mason,” Everard said as he began walking again. “My truck is this way. It’s old and rough looking, but it runs good enough you won’t have to worry.”

“I don’t mind old and rough as long as it runs,” Farrah informed him. “You saw my wheels. That car was Dad’s before it was mine, but it’s a good car, well, it was, until today.” They climbed into the cab of the truck and were soon on their way. “How far is it back to town?” She asked. “I didn’t pay much attention.”

“About fifteen minutes, for me anyway,” Brenton told her.

She turned and looked at him. “For you?”

Brenton chuckled and said, “Everard is a bit of a granny driver.”

“I am not,” Everard said, a pout on his face.

She squeezed his thigh, saying, “It’s okay, Honey. I tend to get lost in thought and find myself barely creeping along. I make people so mad at me, so most of the time, Mom would drive so we wouldn’t have a line behind us.”

“Brenton drives as if he’s on a racetrack,” Everard informed her.

She turned to Brenton then and shook her finger. “There will be none of that with me on board, or you’ll be in big trouble, buster!”

Brenton turned to stare out the window with a smirk but said nothing.

Farrah shook her head and began fiddling with the radio until she found something to listen to.