The Alphas & The Heiress

Kat

The kitchen staff have gone all out for my birthday breakfast, all of my favorite foods are being served today. Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs, buttered toast, and hash browns. Not to mention an endless supply of fresh fruits, juices, teas, and coffee. Every pack member I pass wishes me an emphatic happy birthday.

My brothers haven’t come down for breakfast yet. Nor have Incandis and Syble. I become mildly agitated at this and decide to round them up myself. I have been looking forward to this day for a long time and I want everything to be perfect.

I run up the stairs, a heavenly smell catching my attention. Like a campfire and roasted almonds. The scent gets stronger the closer I get to Incandis’ door, my heart beats out of my chest. I lift a hand to knock on Incandis’ door when a noise from Syble’s room roots me in front of her door.

“Come on, we don’t have much time, we gotta be quick.” Syble says.

“You sure you wouldn’t prefer having your little wolf twins do this?” I recognize Incandis’ voice. He’s in there with her. My heart is in my throat.

“Don’t be petty. You know I’m particular about this, I don’t have time to teach them how I like it done.”

“Alright, grab on tight this is going to be rough.”

There’s a series of loud, rhythmic banging noises. Tears prick at my eyes as my heart shatters into a hundred pieces, but I can’t bring myself to move.

“Ow, Fuck!” Syble cries out.

“Shit sorry, did I hurt you?” The care he has for her is so clearly evident in his voice, pain radiates through my chest.

“I’m fine, keep going, almost there.”

I can’t take it anymore. I run down the hall, down the stairs, not really sure where I’m running to. I crash into Rohanor as he is leaving his office.

“Hey birthday girl, where’s the fire.” He chuckles at first but his face falls when he sees my bloodshot eyes and tear stained cheeks. He growls and pulls me into their office.

“Hey Kat, what’s going on?” Varian asks, quickly assessing the scene before him.

I throw myself into Ro’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.

“He’s - my - mate,” I heave out between sobs.

“Who is?” They ask softly.

“Incandis.” I breathe his name and another sharp pang pierces through me.

“I heard - them - upstairs.” I sniffle, hiccuping between cries. “He’s f-fucking her as we s-speak!” I burst into sobs again.

Varian flips his desk over sending its contents flying around him, several items smashing as they fall to the ground. Ro is still holding me tightly as his desk bursts into flames, reducing the papers and books on it to ash.

__ __ __

Syble (Magnolia)

I don’t know what I was thinking, trying to finish her birthday present in less than 36 hours. I’m not used to the wood they have down here, it’s much harder than in the grove and I’m afraid it’ll snap if I let go. I need more hands.

I peek my head out in the hall to make sure no one is around and bang on Incandis’ door.

As soon as he opens the door I pull him by the collar into my room. “I need your help, I’ve been making a set of twin blades for Kat for her birthday, but I can’t hold the arch and set the blade on my own.”

“When did you have time to make these?”

“I’ve been working on them the last two nights, can you help me or not?”

I pass him a mallet and position the steel for the blade at the head of the glaive. Once he hammers it down, it’ll lock into place and I can flash heat it to embed it with the wood permanently

“Come on, we don’t have much time, we gotta be quick.”

I know Kat must be up by now and I want to make sure these are done before she comes looking for me.

“You sure you wouldn’t prefer having your little wolf twins do this?”

I roll my eyes at him. He’s not blind to the time I’ve been spending with Ro and Varian. I don’t think it actually bothers him but it means he’s been on his own more.

“Don’t be petty. You know I’m particular about this, I don’t have time to teach them how I like it done.”

Forging blades is an art, it took me almost a decade to perfect. I certainly don’t have time to explain to the twins what I need done.

“Alright, grab on tight this is going to be rough.”

I secure the glaive at the middle hilt, holding the braided branches together as Incandis begins to hammer the blade down into its slot. His hits are sure and steady, forcing the blade down further with each strike.

I lose my grip momentarily and slice my thumb on one of the thorns.

“Ow, Fuck!”

“Shit sorry, did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine, keep going, almost there.”

I suck on the cut to stop the bleeding, it heals pretty much instantly. Incandis hammers the blade in completely with five more hits. I flash flame it to set the steel and finish by sharpening the blade by hand with a sharpening stone.

They’re perfect. White oak wood braided and brambled intricately to create a jagged inner edge that could maim any enemy, with a sleek steel blade adorning the outer edge for easy slicing. I even bedazzled the middle with pink and purple crystals, Kat’s favorite.

“Thanks for your help, D.” I beam up at him. “Shall we go down and see the birthday girl?”

He tries and fails to hide a shy smile. I wrap the blades in burlap and secure it with a leather string. Then Incandis and I make our way downstairs to find everyone.

__ __ __

Kat

I collapse onto one of the couches in the middle of their office. They’re both pacing the office, eyes black with rage.

“Good morning Al - phas… what the fuck happened in here?” Runidar walks into the office probably for their morning briefing.

“Nothing, it’s fine, we’re handling it.”

“Of course you are, your desks are destroyed and Kat is in tears, everything is under control.”

Ro growls. “Don’t get cute with us, Beta.”

“I can’t do my job, Alpha, if you keep me in the dark. The two of you have been increasingly agitated the last few weeks, then Syble and Incandis show up and you’re blowing off training, choking out warriors, not letting her go anywhere without security detail. What the fuck is going on?”

Ro and Varian give each other a look, I’m not sure if they’ll tell Runidar, – not now. But someone has to.

“We found our mates.” I whisper softly, not looking up from my hands in my lap.

Runidar’s head turns wildly between Varian and Ro.

“That’s great news, isn’t it? Who are they? Will you be accepting her as your Luna?” Runidar fires off questions in quick succession, clearly not reading the room.

I scoff. “Not when they’re mated to each other,” I whimper and the tears start falling anew.

Varian runs his hands through his hair, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stares out the window. Ro places his hands on the back of the couch behind where I’m sitting, and hangs his head down so he’s staring at the floor.

“Forgive me, I don’t understand. Your mates…are mates? Who?”

“Syble and Incandis.” Ro growls deeply, the kind of growl that reverberates through the floor and up your legs, raising the hair on the back of your neck.

“Syble is our fated mate. We’ve found ourselves spending more and more time with her, trying to get her away from Incandis so we could get to know her more. Figure out if we wanted to claim her as ours.” Varian’s words are calm and even…and cold, like he’s talking about the weather and not who is supposed to be the love of his life.

“Kat discovered today that Incandis is her fated mate,” he looks at me with sad eyes, his heart breaking as much as mine though he does a better job of hiding it. I don’t know how they’ve gone an entire week without completing the mating process. One whiff of Incandis and I was salivating on the spot. They may have talked a big talk over the years about not wanting or needing a mate, but I know they were falling for her, have fallen for her.

“I heard them… this morning… he was in her room and they were…” I can’t finish the sentence. My chest tightens again at the thought of them together.

“So, but, how does that even happen? Do they know you’re their mates?” Runidar asks.

“Well, no, thanks to Kat’s shopping trip.” Ro hisses angrily.

“You’re saying this is my fault? What does me going shopping have anything to do with you telling her the truth?”

“We wanted to take her to the lake…to get to know her… to make a final decision. Had she said yes yesterday we’d all be happily mated right now.”

I storm over to Ro and slap him across the face, the impact stinging my hand. “Fuck you. You know damn well that you decided the moment you set eyes on her that she was yours. How can you act like the pull doesn’t affect you? How dare you blame me for your insecurities.”

I walk briskly out of their office, my heart crushed not only by my mate but my brothers as well. I shift into my white and gray wolf and run off into the woods.