6. KEIRAN

I stood outside the bedroom door, sucking in deep breaths.

Fighting my instincts was hard, especially since I was a man who always relied on his instincts to drive him in the right direction.

I sucked in another deep breath before I forced myself to move.

Everything was a fucking mess.

Nate and I had grown close over the years. He was like a brother, and through him I had gotten to know my half-sister. There had been no hesitation when he asked me to take Cora in if something happened to them.

But things were different.

Everything had changed because the seventeen-year-old girl in that bedroom was my mate.

Not only that, but I found out that she had already met her mate and he had rejected her.

I frowned.

None of this made any fucking sense.

Was this a cruel game? Some sort of test?

“At least she’s not blood-related to you,” Axel muttered when I entered my office.

I snarled at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be locked in your coffin?”

“Funny,” he muttered. “You forgot this.”

Axel dropped the book onto my desk.

“Thank you,” I growled. “I’m not in the mood, Axel.”

“There was no bond,” he said softly. “The rejection didn’t hurt her.”

Running a hand through my hair, I dropped down in the chair.

“She reminded me that she is human and doesn’t feel the bond like us.”

I could feel his eyes burning into my skin.

“What’s happening, Axel?” I questioned. “I found my mate only for me to lose her. She found her mate only for him to reject her because she’s human.”

“Does it bother you?” Axel asked softly. “That she’s human?”

I glared at him. “She’s seventeen, Axel! I’m sure that there must be some mistake.”

“I doubt it,” he muttered. “Talk to one of the elders. They might have an answer for us.”

I nodded.

Axel hesitated a few seconds more and then disappeared.

I stared at the spot he used to be with a frown. Sometimes, I wished I had his ability to just disappear into thin air.

He was a lucky bastard, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

I got up to put the book away and then headed out of my office. I wasn’t lying when I told Cora that I had some stuff to take care of.

The walk into town was a short one.

Stopping by the school, I picked up Cora’s schedule and the list of stuff she needed.

Once that was done, I made my way over to Demetrius’s house. He was the only elder I trusted enough to keep things between us.

He opened the door on the third knock and frowned at me.

“Alpha, what can I do for you?”

“I was hoping you could help me with something.”

He stepped away from the door and gestured for me to follow him.

Entering the house, I closed the door behind me and followed Demetrius into his living room. I declined his offer for coffee and decided to get straight to the point.

“Is it possible to have more than two mates?”

Demetrius frowned at me. “I don’t understand the question.”

My eyes darted around the room as I tried to voice the questions in a way he would understand.

“Selene blessed us with a mate. A soul that was made especially to match our own.” I paused. “Once you’ve found your soulmate and something happens to them…like they pass away, or they reject you. Is it possible for you to find another mate?”

“There is a possibility,” Demetrius muttered. “If Selene finds you worthy or believes that you are destined to achieve something great, she will bless you with something we call a second chance mate, and if you’re lucky, you might even get more than one mate.”

“If that happens, is it the same as being with your first mate?” I asked him.

He rubbed at his thick beard. “Some say that the bond is stronger.”

Getting to his feet, he made his way over to the bookshelf on the far left.

“In my younger days, while we were traveling, we came across this pack deep in the mountains. We called them the Golden wolves because their fur looked like gold. Most females in the pack had more than one mate.”

He grabbed a book and leaned down to pull another book from the shelf.

“Didn’t the males fight?”

Demetrius slowly straightened with a groan and turned around to face me. He held out the books.

“I expect them back in my hands when you’re done,” he growled.

I took the books from him. “Of course.”

“The Golden wolves are the only wolves known to have more than one mate in the world, but they only share a bond with their true mates.” He sunk down on the couch. “The males are almost always blood brothers or brothers by choice so to answer your question, there’s no fighting between them.”

“Is there a way for me to maybe get in touch with them? I want to ask them a few questions.”

“In touch with them?” He laughed. “Boy, it was years ago. Those wolves are all extinct. If you ever come across one of them, you’ll be extremely lucky.”

My eyes dropped to the books in my hand. “I’ll return them to you as soon as possible.”

I stood, ready to leave, but Demetrius spoke up again, making me pause.

“I heard you found a human in the woods last night,” he muttered. “What did you do to her?”

“We did. She's currently staying at my house,” I told him.

“You’re going to let her go?”

I pursed my lips.

“You can’t allow her to walk free after what she saw,” he hissed.

“Cora is staying,” I growled.

“A human?”

I snarled at him. “She’s Olivia’s daughter. Human or not, she’s staying.”

Demetrius stood and took a few steps closer to me. “In the olden days, she would have been killed.”

“This is not the old days. If we don’t allow change, we’d be stuck in the past like most of the packs. We wouldn’t be as strong as we are now.”

“There is no place for a human,” Demetrius argued.

“You said the same about Axel.” My eyes narrowed on him. “She grew up in a pack. Cora knows what we are. She is staying and if anyone has a problem with it, they can take it up with me. Understand?”

I allowed my wolf to surface for a few seconds.

With one last glance at him, I left and headed straight for home.

I wanted to get back to Cora as soon as possible because there was this constant need to be close to her. I was certain that it was the mate-bond, and I was trying my best to fight it because, damn it, my mate was only seventeen-years-old!

She still had her whole life ahead of her.

She just lost her parents.

Mom was waiting for me when I entered the house.

“I meant to ask you last night, but you got in late.” She reached out and placed a hand on my arm. “Is that girl really Olivia’s daughter? She looks nothing like Olivia.”

“Mom, not all kids look like their parents.”

“I know.” Her hand dropped away.

She frowned, and I waited patiently for her to get her thoughts in order.

June Garrison used to be a force to be reckoned with. She used to be a strong, independent woman. Until that bastard sunk his claws into her and tore her to pieces.

She had healed, but there was still a big part of her missing that she couldn’t seem to find.

“There’s already so much happening with the rogues and the hunters…” she trailed off. “We need to be careful who we allow into our home.”

I pulled her in for a hug and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“You know that I will never do anything to place our pack or our family in danger.”

“That’s what makes you a great alpha,” she whispered.

“Cora belongs here,” I told her.

And I meant it. Even if things had been different and she wasn’t my mate, she was still family, blood-related or not.

Pressing another kiss to her head, I stepped away from her.

“I have a few calls to make,” I told her. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Do you need help with anything?” she asked.

I thought about it. “Nothing I can think of at the moment,” I muttered.

She nodded. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

I watched her until she disappeared from sight. Shaking my head, I hurried towards my office.

It was getting late, and by now I would have expected Rowan to have called me to tell me that Cora was missing.

Why hadn’t he called? Was he even aware of what that bastard did to her? Did he even fucking care?