14

“Half-brother?” No sooner had the words left her mouth, and a low growl escaped Marcos’ lips.

His once grey eyes suddenly turned blue, and they were firmly rooted on Kiara’s face. “It can’t be,” he took a step towards her, and in running away from him, she tumbled over the soldier she rendered unconscious, and fell on her bum. Instantly, Marcos reached out and helped her to her feet. “I am not going to hurt you,” he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears, “you are my mate after all.”

The words registered late in Kiara’s head, but the second it did, she immediately jumped out of his hold; her eyes as wide as saucer pans. “That is impossible. I already have a mate.”

“But you are still my mate, I am not wrong about that.”

A forced laugh left Kiara’s lips and she shock her head. “What sick and twisted game are you playing?” anger seeped through her veins, and she balled her hands into fists, “I cannot be your mate, I already have a mate! Don’t fucking play games with me.”

The smile on Marcos’ face fell and he nodded. Stepping away from her. He knew that she was his brother’s mate, which is why he came after her, but then she turned out to be his mate as well, and he wasn’t wrong about that. He felt it, he smelt it. He has never felt like this before, it has never happened before. She was his mate, that he was sure of, and he would pry her off Devon’s hands when the time comes but for now…

“I also don’t know what is happening,” he said as calmly as possible and Kiara narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “let’s go back and wait for my brother, I am sure he is on his way back as we speak.” He tried to keep the amusement and hatred out of his voice, but the way Kiara’s eyes narrowed even more told him that he did a terrible job at that.

“Do I have your word that you won’t try anything funny?” She knew better than to take anyone’s words, but it was better than nothing. 

“You have my word, amore”

“Alright, pick him up” she pointed at the soldier that was now stirring awake, “and you and your men can walk right ahead.”

Marcos’ hand clenched into a fist, he wasn’t a man that takes orders.  But then he swallowed his pride and gestured to his men to do as she said. “I am going to walk beside you to make sure you are safe.”

The look in his eyes told Kiara that it was best to comply, so she swallowed and nodded.

Their walk back to the pack was a quiet one. No one said a word to each other till they made it out of the forest to the pack; which unlike a few minutes ago, was now extremely quiet.

“I guess all my soldiers are dead,” Marcos whispered to himself. He knew what he was getting into sending his men after Devon’s, but taking them down wasn’t his motive, capturing Kiara was. And now... his eyes found hers and he sighed heavily.

“We should go to the pack-hall and wait for him, don’t you think?”

She glanced at him and shrugged. She doesn’t care what he does as long as he doesn’t take her out of this pack’s territory. 

They continued their journey in silence and only when they were halfway to the pack hall did they bump into Luka running down with some of the pack soldiers, and both groups came to a halt.

“What do you think you are doing here, Marcos?” He seethed, eyes blazing with anger.

Rolling his eyes, Marcos threw his arm over Kiara’s neck and pulled her to himself. He ignored the jolt of electricity that passed through him at the mere contact with her and pulled a straight face, “I am sure you are not oblivious to who I am with,. To avoid your alpha killing you, I suggest you stay out of our way. And it is Alpha Marcos to you “

Luca’s eyes found Kiara’s and she just nodded at him. “I am fine,” she mouthed, and a little relief flooded Luka’s veins.

“Where are you taking her?”

“To the pack-hall, I want to wait for my darling brother.”

Luka instantly threw up a little in his mouth. “We are going with you.”

“You can do whatever you want, let’s go” he kept his hand firmly around Kiara’s neck and continued his journey.  Luka made his way over to them and stood beside Kiara - that was the safest position in case anything happens.

The rest of the walk was very silent, and only when they all made it into the hall, and took their respective seats did Marcos finally break the silence. “What did you do to my soldiers that I sent your way?”

“I sent the corpses back to your pack”

Nodding, Marcos drummed his finger on the table. “That’s impressive,” he muttered, forcing himself to not look around the hall. He harbored great resentment against this pack, but particularly against this hall. The thing that changed the trajectory of his life happened here after all.

“How long before my brother is back? Has age slowed him down?” He stood to his feet, clearly agitated and all of Akita pack soldiers took a stance, ready to strike.

“Patience has never been a virtue of yours, Marcos.” All eyes turned to see Devon, shirtless, and, Kiara’s mouth ran dry.

It wasn’t just because of how well he was built - he was built better than a freaking Greek god-, it was also the way different scars splattered all over his body seemed to make him glow.

“There is no need to ogle him like that, I have a better build anyway,” Marcos said, his voice dripping with jealousy.

Devon looked between him and Kiara, whose cheeks turned red at his words, and an unexplainable anger pulsated through him. “And why exactly does my mate -“ he added extra emphasis on mate, “-have to know about your build?”

Marcos broke out into a big smile and walked over to his big brother. “Because she is my mate as well.” 

The hall immediately went quiet as if it was turned into a graveyard, but that silence was soon broken by the sound of Marcos’ nose being broken under Devon’s fist.