Brian watched his mate, no their future mate, struggle with the concept that they both wanted her permanently. They weren’t keeping her to keep the pack, but because they felt their possessive natures kick in at the thought that she wasn’t safe and protected. It pleased him and displeased him. She was so focused on the belief it wasn’t right for them to take the burden of the target Clarence pointed at the leadership of this pack. He was happy she thought to protect them, but it displeased him she felt the more acceptable thing was for her to be that target. He and Chris would never find that acceptable. They possessed the skills to take a creep like Clarence down. She didn’t, plain and simple in fact.             After more persuading and some arguing, she relented. With her heat coming on like this, she’d be a ha

             The low hum of the crowd in the meeting hall kept Helena from falling asleep before her coffee could do its magic. Brian and Chris directed people and answered questions before their grand announcement. She, though, was a bundle of nerves. How would her pack take to the announcement of having two alphas? What would they think of her for accepting two mates? This was what she dreaded. She could hear the old women tittering about who would become their next alpha. There was even a small betting pool going on in the back corner, if she wasn’t mistaken. Helena could bet they missed the option of both taking the mantle.             Finally, it seemed everyone sat down, and their attention focused on the stage where the twins stood. They looked like brothers, though at first glance no one would realize they were twins.   

             Chris sat on their bed watching Helena get ready to sleep. Brian finished up in the bathroom and all Chris could think about was in the morning they would set up for the celebration that would bind the three together for the rest of their natural lives. He’d share this woman with his brother forever. He’d never admit it, but it scared him a little. Though the thought of satisfying her by himself alone scared him more. Now, he wondered if that was part of the twins of midnight prophecy. “So, Helena, what type of ceremony did you want to have? You haven’t told us yet.”             “We haven’t found the spare time to discuss it. But if you must know, I don’t know. Jillian and I really didn’t talk about it because Jillian was afraid of finding a mate. She always claimed she didn’t want one

             Helena found breakfast sitting on a table in her apartment and her two mates gone when she awoke. A small vase of flowers and a note lay beside a covered plate. The note read, ‘See you at the ceremony. Don’t be late or we’ll do this the old-fashioned way and hunt you down. Love B & C’. The two sentences were in different handwriting. She just knew that the last sentence was from Chris and the first was Brian’s. Now she could see the yin and yang of the two in their writing. Their clothing, their stance on issues. It’s amazing they didn’t fight more. Chris was the fighter. While he may threaten to hunt her down, Brian was the hunter and tracker. Brian possessed the caregiving nature, but Chris cared about laying down the law. One would kiss the bruised knee and the other would ground the child. Both would be good fathers. She was sure of it.   

             People began arriving at the ceremonial meadow. Helena watched to see how they reacted to the sudden changes in the pack. First, the attack, dealing with her father’s death, not just a new alpha but two, and now a mating ceremony between three people.             The two men stayed close to her but mingled in such a way that she didn’t need to deal with any unsavoury questions or demands. It unnerved her to some extent that people wanted to know things about their relationship, others wanted to know if they abused her, and yet others wanted to know if they could get in on the action. It was an invasion of her privacy, to say the least. The only question she saw as valid so far was one person asked about how communicating with the two alphas manage it.             Ot