The Price Of Connection

"Astrid..."

The name was an involuntarily broken whisper, yet the contortion of her face into a scowl told me she'd heard.

As expected for a werewolf.

"You!"

She spat in disgust and I unconsciously took a step back in fear.

It was taking me a great deal of courage not to convulse in panic.

What was she doing here?

Wait, that was a stupid question.

Where else would she be?

This floor of the pack house was meant for the higher ranks. Of course, the daughter of the previous beta would be here.

It was no news in Bloodmoon that Astrid had a special relationship with the Alphas. She grew up with special privileges as their childhood friend but to me,

She was nothing more than the author of my sufferings.

The very beginning of it all.

One of my numerous nicknames was 'Astrid's doll'.

My first duty in this pack was to be her plaything, and I did it for a few months... until she got tired and decided to discard me.

Judging from the fading bruise below my rib, my guess was she still didn't understand what it meant to toss out something.

Or someone.

At first glance at the tall woman a few feet away from me, the first word that would come to mind was "Lucky".

She had it all.

The fame... the connections... the beauty every female dreamt of...

The beauty I could never compare to...

And as icing on the cake, she came from a lineage of Betas. Just like her elder brother was the current Beta, Astrid was the best female fighter in Bloodmoon.

An attribute that earned her a position as one of the warrior elite of the pack.

It was why people like Chloe and other wannabes traced her footsteps and acted like her minions.

Everything in me screamed to turn back.

It was the sensible thing to do.

The joy of seeing my mates wasn't as overwhelming as the fear of an encounter with this woman.

But the fear of defiling their orders was. They were still the Alphas after all.

So, with my heart in my mouth, I stood still, my hands clenching into trembling fists as I spoke,

"H... Hi… Hi—

"A runt in the upper quarters?"

It wasn't a question.

The sound of her cruel dry, unamused laugh told me exactly where I stood. It was a cue to defend myself... if I were wise enough to.

And my first thought was to state the truth.

But I couldn't.

Another important piece of information all the members of this pack were unofficially aware of was Astrid's crush on the alpha.

Which one of them?

We had no idea.

But since both were unmated, the sensible survival skill was to stay clear of either of them.

And that was where the problem lay.

Both Alpha Dax and Damon were my mates.

There was nothing I could say that wouldn't give me away.

Omegas were banned from being in this part of the pack. Seen as worthless, they were never to present themselves before the Alphas except during work and had to go through Delta Raph for any pressing issues.

My heart skipped a beat.

I wasn't even an Omega. How was I going to defend myself?

Wiping the sweat that trickled down my forehead, I tried again.

"I... I...

"Are you still having speech problems?" Astrid snarled. Her voice rising, "Can't you speak? Why are you here?"

She took a step forward, her scent, a mixture of citrus and strawberry overwhelming my senses and filling the already tight air around me, causing me to take one back.

No one in the pack apart from Ralia knew about me being the Alphas' mate, and I didn't think announcing to the world through another broken rib would be ideal.

I swallowed, breathing heavily.

"I'm here to... To see...

"Hold on—" She interrupted.

—I was at the Omegas quarters last week. You weren't there. Why?"

"Err... I now stay... stay... in the storage room."

Astrid's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and she took another step forward.

"Really? And who authorised that?"

Before I could think of a reply, the door behind her opened. A wave of cold authority washed over me, instantly making my knees tremble as a shirtless Dax stepped out.

"I did."

Even in my life-threatening situation, I couldn't stop my stomach from clenching in satisfaction.

He threw a quick glance at her.

"I believe training starts in five minutes. Go on. I'll be down soon."

"But—"

"Leave us, warrior." Damon's deeper, equally authoritative voice cut in from behind, and I got a glimpse of the six-foot-one man standing just behind his brother.

A look of confusion crossed Astrid's face, but she knew better than to argue.

"Fine."

Her lips twisted into a pout as she stormed off, yet her gaze was enough to tell me that our conversation wasn't over.

"Come in," Alpha Dax commanded, and without wasting any more time, I trotted in, the door slamming shut behind me as though it were sealing my fate.

The room was just as I remembered it from my last visit.

Extravagant...

...even for an office, the decor was as expensive and luxurious as the other rooms on this floor, but it bore a stark difference from the rooms on the floors I was used to.

Before attaining my new status, I had only been here once, and that was when we had guests from other packs; other than that, this was my third time in general.

The air in the room, unlike the corridor, felt thick, and heavy with their presence, a scent I could only describe as raw power and possessive desire.

"What did we say about your attitude in here?"

Dax was the first to speak, snapping me out of a daze.

"As the mate of an alpha," I started softly, "I need to show my submission,"

He nodded, taking a seat beside his quiet brother.

"Good. Now get to work."

In less than five minutes, I was stripped of my clothes, leaving only the thin lace of my panties.

The command hadn't been spoken, but it didn't need to be.

I dropped to my knees before them, my movements stiff with the shame of unfamiliarity.

Yet, this was the second time so it felt easier.

Being nineteen and a virgin wasn't something I was ashamed of.

Studying the people around me, I'd noticed that saving yourself for your destined mate was only something about 1% of them did.

They were basically animals with ravenous needs.

I'd seen more naked bodies than I could count and walked in on a lot of people engaging in sexual acts at different times and places, so sex or nudity wasn't a foreign term to me.

My chest, a simple B, stood proudly under their heated stare.

To someone else, this might be weird.

But to me?

It was the closest thing to attention a runt like me could get. A part of me— the honest part knew this was another one of my desperate traits.

The raw, desperate craving for even this twisted form of attention, for the fleeting pleasure that would come after.

My body was battered with bruises.

Some, already healing. Others, a dark purple colour, yet the way they gazed at me made me feel like they were invincible.

It was as though they were searching for something else, and they didn't even care about them.

"I see you have more bruises than the last time... You didn't fight back?" He noted, eyeing the fresh one on my chest.

"I... I can't. I'm not as strong as they are." I replied honestly.

"And that's why I permitted you to leave the Omega's quarter, right?"

My lips curled up in a grateful smile, but I refused to meet his eyes. "Yes... thank you for that."

Alpha Dax waved me off.

"It's the least we can do. We can't protect you from their schemes. You said so yourself. You're a weak runt... If you're challenged during the mating ceremony, you'll die. Just like our father's mate did."

The thought of ever having to go through such a gruesome battle sent a shiver through me.

The story of Alpha Lucien's destined mate was another well-known tale in Bloodmoon.

Due to his enforced theory, the mate duel was very active, and she died during the challenge. The rules prevented him from saving her, but after the duel ended, he killed the female who won and mourned the loss of his mate for years.

He didn't choose a new mate until 300 years later, hence, his sons were so young.

"I know," I whispered. "I'm grateful."

"If you really are, turn around." His brother cut in.

It was the first word he was speaking to me since I walked in, and if I didn't know better, I would've been worried.

Although Alpha Damon looked almost identical to his brother—

Black curls, black eyes, a small stubble and the same height. The only thing that individually characterised them was the slight difference in physique and personality.

Unlike Dax, he was quieter and preferred to remain in the shadows.

Some said it was because he had a soft heart. The trauma of helplessly watching his father die in a battle and assuming the position of alpha at eighteen must've been too much for him, they said.

Yet every time our eyes mistakenly crossed, something kept telling me there was more to it.

Ignoring the way my chest bounced, I rose to my feet, spreading out my arms in the air as I slowly did a turn around while they scrutinised every inch of my body.

Finally satisfied, they exchanged a brief knowing look before stalking towards me.

"I heard you had the dream again..." Alpha Dax grunted. "Can you tell us about it?" Damon continued.

"Yes, I... "

I paused. Then tried again.

"I... It was... as... I..."

I paused again.

I couldn't remember.

This was the second time it had happened.

What's going on?

They gently closed in on me, a rough calloused palm sliding down my chest.

"You can't remember?"

"Yes... I don't kn—

A sound, between a gasp and a moan, slipped out of my lips at the foreign sensation of another hand slipping into my underwear.

"It's fine." A gruff voice whispered in my ears.

Alpha Damon's.

"We don't want our mate suffering from nightmares anyway."

Alpha Dax.

Before I knew what was happening, my back was laid on the desk, my legs on the ground to support my waist.

Both brothers took either side, still working ministrations on me.

It felt so intense... I was yet to be marked. I'd never felt the mate bond... still, it felt this good.

Would I be able to bear it if I was finally marked? Would it even make a difference? They said I was human and would never feel it. Shouldn't I be questioning whatever it was then?

But I didn't care.

Right now, this was my only option. I would take any excuse I could to escape my reality.

Even if it was just for a few seconds.

Their eyes glowed a bright yellow as they commanded.

"Open."

And without another word, their mouths and member replaced their hands.

They consumed me, taking every gasp, every shiver, every ounce of resistance I might have held.

It was as though they were carving a new memory for me to overwrite the terrifying, unreal dreams that haunted my nights, a new reality of sensation meant to replace the past.

By the time evening came, and I found myself still gasping as I lay on my bed, I knew they had succeeded.

So when I woke up in the middle of the night, damp and panting a name that tasted of blood and terror—

The name of a man whose face wasn't Dax's or Damon's,

I knew something was utterly, and terrifyingly wrong.