Chapter Chapter Forty-Four - Alpa Twins P.O.V (Rayne)
The moment Ashley and Kane were out of sight, I shifted, letting Jax come forward with a vicious snarl launching myself at the asshole pup. To my surprise, he had already shifted and was waiting, ready for my attack his head down low with a deep growl escaping his chest. It seems he comprehended what was inevitably coming his way, and I had to reluctantly hand it to the pup; he didn't seem to be backing down.
I almost felt sorry for him. I would fight for Ashley too. Hell, that is precisely what I was doing. There was no hope in hell that Ashley would be mated to anyone other than Kane and me. She is ours and ours alone. Fuck the fucking Moon Goddess. She can shove her third mate up her arse, I thought bitterly as I snapped my jaws viciously and snarled at the arshole standing before me.
I knew from previous experience that Zac was a skilled fighter and that it would not be an easy fight. I wanted to feel the pain, though. I needed it to take away the ache in my chest before it threatened to consume me. The terrible thought of losing Ashley was too much. But so was the idea of another man having his grubby little paws all over her. The mental image making a violent shudder run through my entire body, fueling the rage that was simmering under my skin.
"This shit ends today," Zac roars via mind-link. "You know I could just give you an Alpha command, little pup, and banish you, just remember your place in the pack," I spit back with a contemptuous sneer. The idea had more than once crossed my mind to give the command since learning that he was mated to Ashley, but I thought I could give him a death sentence instead of taking the trash out for good.
If it hadn't been for Ashley and her unwavering devotion to Zac, I would have happily snuffed his life out. Banishing him seemed like an excellent idea, but I didn't want to push Ashely away, and after what she had just suggested, I knew that it was not up for negotiations. It didn't mean I had to like the situation or Zac, though. I don't know if I will ever like either, to be honest.
Circling each other warily, jaws snapping viciously, we come together with an almighty crash. Fur flying everywhere as we take nasty bites out of each other, going for the throat. "Maybe I should brutally kill you and Kane and take over. Being mated to Ashley, I will become an Alpha to her Luna. She doesn't need three mates. Shame is I kind of like Kane," he snarls in my face while snapping at my hind legs in a desperate frenzy.
"Do you sincerely think Ashley would ever forgive you pup if you killed us," I spit back, grabbing a mouthful of his hide in my mouth and ripping a hefty chunk off with a sickening wet smacking sound as skin and muscle come with it. The smirk on my face didn't last long when I felt the sudden sting of Callan's fangs sinking into my back leg, his jaw working to produce maximum damage. His jaw locked tight, and I knew thrashing about would be futile. He would snap my leg and leave me unable to defend myself properly.
"GIVE IN", Zac roared, "Or I will snap your leg and then tear your fucking throat out, Rayne. I don't want to, but you are not leaving me with many choices here. I will always fucking fight for Ashley" His words bounced around my brain, and with a frustrated sigh, I merely nodded my head. The fight went out of me.
It was humiliating that a Beta could best me, especially when I was fighting over my mate. MY FUCKING MATE. I felt Callan's immense body physically relax before his powerful jaw reluctantly released its death grip on my leg. The second my leg was out of his grasp, I spun around and clawed him deeply across the face. Callan let out an almighty howl before shifting back to his human form, a smug smirk lifting the corner of my mouth as I took in the sight of the huge gashes running down the right side of his face, spewing out red hot blood.
Despite loving the pretty boys face being ruined and the various other wounds he was now sporting, my heart was still heavy, the fight doing nothing to soothe my soul. Huffing and puffing, I felt all the anger drain from me. As much as I want to slaughter Zac, I know that it would not solve anything deep down. Whether I liked it or not, Zac was going to be a part of my life, in one way or another.
"Which one of you arseholes bit, Ashley," Zac says while gradually approaching me, the muscle in his jaw ticking. I try and keep my eyes on the fuckers face, trying to focus on the slashes that now adorn his pretty boy face, but since he is stark naked, I have the stupid urge to look at his dick. Some absurd part of me wants to see what he is packing so that I can be smug that he doesn't compare to Kane and me.
But I don't want to look down, so I keep chanting, don't look down, don't look down in my head over and over as he approaches. Fuck, I look down despite my best efforts not to and realise bitterly that not only is the pup a more skilled fucking fighter, but he is cock is bigger than mine.
Fuck. My face instantly heats, and I pray to God that he didn't notice where my eyes had wandered, but I catch a quiet scoff and am distracted long enough by the sight that I don't register until the last second that his fist comes slamming into my face, whipping it sideways. Fuck.
"Next time either of you lay a hand on Ashley, I will kill you", Zac spits as he shoulder barges me and heads towards the packhouse. When he is gone, I allow Jax to come forward once again, and despite my numerous injuries, we head deeper into the forest. A run seems like an excellent way to distract me from the fight and the inevitable of what is about to come in the following days. What a shit show this has turned out to be.
After running aimlessly for hours until the point of exhaustion, we stop in a clearing to lick our wounds and then start the long journey home. When I get back to the packhouse, it is dark, so I slip into the shower and then head for bed. Walking down the hallway, I come across Kane sitting with his back against the door, snoring softly, so I kick his foot, startling him awake.
"Why are you out here in the hallway and not in bed with Ashley?" I question him as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. Getting to his feet, his shoulders seem to slump as he replies, "Ashley has banned us from our bedroom until we sort our shit out. I don't know, brother, I don't think we can blame Ashley or Zac for the Moon Goddess giving him a second chance mate" His words spark a new wave of petty jealousy in me and thoughts of his dick fill my head again.
"Where is Zac, I say through clenched teeth. That fucker had better not be in there with her," I think bitterly. "He is in his quarters", Kane replies."Ashley had a meeting with her parents this afternoon along with Zac's and has informed them of the mate bond. They were all in disbelief but have come around to the idea of Ashley having three mates along with having a ceremony this weekend to welcome Zac as the third Alpha of Blood Moon, Midnight and River Run pack, along with marrying the four of us. As much as I don't like it, Brother, Ashley is right. We need to show unity and will have to work out our personal problems behind closed doors. Besides, I don't want to push Ashely away from us. I love her too much to lose her."
Listening to my brother, I know it is the right thing to do. "Come on", I say as I kick the bedroom door in, "We have a Queen to beg forgiveness from." Kane's face lights up as we prowl through the darkness, stalking our mate, who is crouched down low in a defensive stance, obviosly startled awake by the door breaking. She looks adorable trying to pull her wild bed hair from her eyes to focus on the intrudors in her room.
After a few seconds Ashley's sexy, sleep-filled voice fills the night air. "What do you two want"?. "To apologise", I say quietly as Kane and I both reach for her clothing, working as a team to undress her slowly before peeling our clothes off and gently directing her back on to the bed. "But first, let's get some sleep" My dick is hard as steel but I know Ashley is still hurting, so instead Kane and I engulf her in-between our warm bodies, and soon we are all sleeping soundly. Her soft body and presence soothing my tired soul.
I am woken by hushed voices in the morning and roll over in bed to find Ashley is gone, and Kane has one leg tossed over mine. Shoving him awake, I sit up in bed and survey the room, early morning light filtering in through the slightly parted curtains shine on Ashley sitting under a blanket on the lounge in the corner with Zac.
Jealousy simmers instantly as I cross the room. "What is he doing here," I snarl, not taking my eyes off of him. "We are discussing arrangements", Ashley replies."I am glad you are both awake. We need to discuss the mate bond, marking along with sleeping arrangements." "Sleeping arrangements", I grit out "You sleep with Kane and me Ashley.
"Rayne," Ashley warns, rising from the lounge much to the apparent disappointment of the pup as he pouts at the loss of her body pressing into his. A big smirk crosses my face as Ashley approaches me and threads her arms around my neck, peppering gentle kisses along my jawline. Zac's eyes narrow at the display, but he wisely doesn't say anything. My triumph is short-lived when I feel Ashley being pulled out of my arms to be embraced tightly by Kane.
At least it isn't Zac's arms, I think. "As far as I am concerned, we can either share a room, or we can make a sleeping schedule between the four of us. You can all suck it up and share a bed with me nightly, or you can all have separate rooms. I can rotate," she says softly, in between kissing my brother.
The sight has my cock hardening at the display until I remember that Zac is in the room with us. Fucking cockblocker. "Well, what is it going to be? We need to sort everything out today, and that is final," she continues as she eyes each one of us. "Separate," I say, even though it would be cutting my nose off to spite my face, detesting the idea of only feeling Ashley's delectable body beside mine every three days.
To my bewildered surprise Kane and Zac both say "Share" at the same time which earns my brother a sharp look and Zac a curious one, cocky bastard. "Rayne," Ashley says,"I think you have been outvoted. Either you can learn to share a room with us, or I will rotate between my room and yours." Her arched eyebrow is a challenge, along with the slight smirk twisting her lips upwards. "Fine," I huff notvreally knowing what I am agreeing to. "Still, he is sleeping in another bed" I motion with my chin towards Zac's scowling face. Ashley disregards my comment and Kane laughs from behind me in amusement.
"Ashley and I will finalize our mating tonight and then make the announcement to the pack tomorrow morning at a meeting." Zac's statement has me closing the distance between us, my fists clenching at my side. "Like fuck," I roar furiously. Before I can punch his smug fucking face in Ashley is between us, pushing gently on my chest. She grabs my chin in both of her hands forcing me to look at her "Rayne, please don't make this any more difficult than it already is. Do you think I enjoy hurting you and Kane? You are my mates, and I love you with all of my heart," she says with a choked sob, tears starting to slide down her attractive face making me reign my temper in.
"I'm sorry," I say, pulling her into my arms. "I truly am sorry. I never meant to hurt you yesterday, and I don't want to continue to hurt you. I can't make any promises, but I will try. For you, I will try." I feel Kane's hand on my shoulder, reassuring me that I am making the right decision. My words pull more tears from Ashley, and it breaks my heart knowing that I am the one who has caused them.
Turning to my brother, I let him know via mind-link that it is time to leave Ashley and Zac alone. "See you tomorrow morning, sweetheart," I say via mind-link to Ashley as we pull the door closed behind us so that they can have some privacy.
"We are doing the right thing," Kane says as we walk away. "I hope so," I reply, hoping to God that it is as my heart feels heavy. Leaving Ashley with another man goes against every instinct in my body.
"Why are we leaving Ashley with that pathetic pup" Jax roars at me. "She is OUR mate. We should have killed Zac," he spits in pent-up fury. "If we eliminate Zac, we will be killing a part of Ashley, you know as well as I do, Jax, what happens when your mate dies," I say hotly, bitterly hating that I am defending their unison but knowing I am right. Not that it makes the emotional turmoil in my head any easier. I still despise Zac. I still hate that he will be forever a part of Ashley's life.
"What do you think of the situation?" I ask Kane even though his answer before gives me an indication of where his head is at. "I don't like the idea of sharing Ashley, and at first I wanted to rip Zac's head off, but then I realised that he had no more choice in this than we have. And if it makes Ashley happy, it can't be a bad thing. They were inseparable for most of their life, and we took her off him," he replies.
"I wanted to kill him too, but I don't want to lose Ashley. I thought scaring his face yesterday would make me feel better about the situation, but as soon as I did it, I felt like shit. I think you are right, brother, and I am just going to have to learn to deal with it." "What is the deal with agreeing to share a room with the pup, though. I don't want my dick anywhere near his." At that, Kane snorts, "I don't want to touch his dick either. Still, you know me. I love watching Ashley being fucked by you. I am kind of curious to see her coming undone under his touch," he says, waggling his eyebrows at me.
I want to hate the picture he is painting, but a small part of me is excited at the idea of watching her being fucked by him and his stupidly large dick. "I still think he needs his own bed though," I say before walking away. As much as I want to continue talking about Ashley and sex, there is so much that needs to be sorted now that we have become four, I think with a grunt. ARGH. Could our lives get any more complicated?