Chapter 18

Archers POV

Aiden was raging when he came back from Michael’s office. We had waited for him by the stairs. He hadn’t been gone long, but the emotions I could feel coming through our bond put me on edge.

“What the hell is going on,” I ask as soon as he reaches us

“That asshole Mason, he’s accusing me of hurting Ayla!” Aiden spat. He was seething with anger. He didn’t know what to do with himself.

“WHAT THE FUCK” Axel shouted; everyone stared at us.

“Keep your voice down”, Aiden growled. “I know; I’m going to fucking kill him when I get my hands on him. Michael wants us all to stay in the house until Ayla wakes up and either denies or confirms it’s me!” he told us.

He was beside himself, sinking onto the step of the stairs; he hung his head, still sat in his wet jeans. He hadn’t changed since he had gotten back. He was a mess, and I didn’t blame him; I felt it too.

“I told him I wouldn’t hurt her; I told him I’m in love with her!” he all but whispered the last part. Looking at us, I could see he meant it. “I told him she is my mate, even before she knows it herself.”

“See! I told you, she is our mate!” Titan pointed out, “How can she be our mate if Aiden says she’s his mate too?” I was so lost.

“Aiden, wait, Ace says Ayla is our mate too?” Axel says, sounding just as confused as I felt.

“Yep, Titan says the same for us!” I confirm.

Aiden raises his head and looks at us. Confused but yet not.

“I kind of had a feeling you would both say that. At the waterfall, I felt it. I have felt she was special all along, but then I felt the mate call, yet I wasn’t jealous or worried when she would touch you or you both touch her!” I confess, “Yet if anyone else touches her, I wanna rip their heads off.”

“How does this work, though? I have never heard of this before,” Axel adds

“No, neither have I?” I don’t know what to make of it. Am I meant to share a mate with my brothers? Yet Aiden was right; I wasn’t jealous of them being with her; it didn’t faze me.

“I don’t know; I think we need to give father a ring, see what he makes of all this”, Aiden suggest.

“You need to change too; you stink” Axel smiles.

“It’s not like we can go anywhere right now, I’ll go change, and I’ll come to your room Axel; we can all ring father together.

“Fine by me”, I answer. “We might be in for a long wait.”

Aiden’s POV

I couldn’t believe this was happening; I was pretty sure I had just found my mate, only to find out she was mated to both of my brothers as well? My head was a massive mess. Full of confusion and worry. This girl I had only just met, yet I was mad about her.

I had always wondered what it would feel like to find your mate, to love someone so entirely from the minute you set eyes on them. It’s insane; I literally would kill for her. Yet she still doesn’t know. I have to wait for her to feel the mating call and hope she accepts me.

Walking up the stairs to the guest wing, I let everything run through my mind.

“Who had attacked Ayla?” I thought, then I remember seeing that female figure. Could it have been her? Whoever it was, I would find them and make them pay for every mark they left on her body.

“Mason better watch himself”, I send the thought to my brothers. I was going to teach him a thing or two about respect and manners. But if he had anything to do with what happened, Ayla, I would destroy him, risking a clan war; I didn’t care.

I knew my brothers would back me one hundred per cent. They felt the same way for her that I did. I felt sorry for the person who had to deal with us for a second. They never had a chance. They signed their death warrant when they decided to place a hand on our girl.

“Give me ten minutes; then I’ll be with you,” I tell them.

Closing the door to my room, I locked it. I didn’t trust many in this house; I wasn’t going to allow anyone to get me when I was distracted. I tugged my still damp jeans off my legs and threw them in the corner. An ugly-looking black bruise had formed on my left hip. Thanks to the massive drop, I had smashed into a rock when I landed in the water.

“Shit, that hurts”, I mutter.

Stepping into the shower, I turned on the hot water; I stood under the steaming stream for a while, allowing the hot water to work out my aches and pains. Jumping from a height of over fifty feet was going to leave a mark, and I felt it. Yet I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was get changed and find out what was happening. I knew I wouldn’t be allowed near Ayla until she woke up and cleared my name. So I needed something to distract myself with.

Finally, I turn; turned the water off; I couldn’t spend all day in here, it did feel nice, though, but we had way too much we needed to do right now.

I dried quickly, minding my newly acquired bruise. Throw on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt; I grabbed the hoodie I had been wearing and jammed my feet into my dry pair of trainers.

Leaving my room, I made sure it was locked and headed two doors down. I could hear my brothers before I reached the room.

“I’m just saying; I have never heard of this before. Aiden seems the closest to her so far!” Archer’s voice drifted out to me.

“How do you know, though we haven’t had much time with her, it’s only coz he was the one to find her, that is all; I wouldn’t say he’s closer to her; he’s just been around her a tiny bit more than us!” Axel says

“I guess Titan is mad about her too; he is doing my head in!” I laugh hearing this as Blaze is doing the same to me.

“What if we are wrong, and she only chooses Aiden and rejects us? I don’t think I will handle that!” I hear Archer confess. He never spoke about his feelings like that. I had to get in there and do something.

Walking straight in, I don’t wait to knock. Looking my brother in the eye, I see his pain.

“Don’t think like that, Archer. I can’t see she will reject us, any of us!” I reassure him.

“It’s just, she seems to be around you a bit more than us, and I just worry”, he admitted.

“Look, let’s ring father; he might know what to do,” I say, trying to distract him. He all but looked crushed, and she hasn’t even said a thing to us yet.

Taking out my phone, I find our father’s number. Knowing him, he would be working and not be able to answer. But he picked up on the third ring.

“Aiden, what’s wrong” my dad’s voice was worried.

“Hi, Dad,” I say, “I need to ask you about something

“Okay, what is it?” he questions

“Is there any chance someone can have more than one mate at a time?” the question tumbles out of my mouth so fast.

“Well, not usually no, but a few old stories say there can be multiple mates at once. They are nothing more than myths and stories, though; why?” he answered; my heart was pounding.

“I think I have found my mate, and so have Archer and Axel”, I slowly say

“That’s fantastic news, so; I’m beyond overjoyed for you all”, he spoke, a smile was definitely on his face.

“No, dad, it’s with the same girl,” I tell him; I was met with silence

“Dad”, I try again.

“Clearly, you’re all wrong, and you just think the same girl is pretty son; it’s not what you think it is”, he sounded annoyed.

“It’s not dad, I’m sorry, but all of our wolves say she is our mate also,” I tell him; I hear him growl down the phone.

“Aiden, I’ll call you back later, okay, don’t do anything stupid,” he tells me before hanging up.

He hung up on me! I couldn’t believe he would do that and leave me hanging here with all these questions. I didn’t even get to tell him about what was going on.

“What did he say” I was asked

“Huh? oh, well, he seemed happy until I said we all think we’re mated to the same girl, then he seemed annoyed and hung up on me,” I tell them.

“No, you idiot, did he say It was possible” Axel clipped me around the head, earning himself a glare; he knew I would get him back later.

“Ow, well, he said it’s not how things work usually, but there is mention of it in old stories!” relaying what my father said was harder to hear the second time than I thought.

“Guess we need to do our research then”, Archer states.

“It’s not like we can go anywhere, so why not” I reply.

Tristan’s POV

I thought I had come out on top when I saw one of those giant triplets carrying that girl out of the forest; I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with her after all.

I was wrong, much to my dismay!

She did look pretty bad, though; someone had done a right number on her, but who? This was the question I kept asking myself. At first, I thought it was possibly Mason, as he hates the girl. Honestly, though, I don’t think he has the guts to kill anyone, I was hoping he would be an easy option for me, but I need to rethink now.

The party has all but ended, thanks to this. I didn’t care; I just wanted to meet the other representatives to see who I was dealing with. Right now, they are all in Michael’s office. Something to do with housing them for their stay. The last I heard, the she-wolf from the Black Storm pack is not happy and refuses to stay anywhere other than the pack house. It looks like the Alpha has some rearranging to do. I won’t give up my room for anyone, though, so she can think again if she thinks that’s an option.

“Mason. Hold up, what’s going on” I call out.

“Oh, hey mate, looks like someone put a hit on the silly bitch. I got to play like I care, catch you later, yeah!” Mason smirks as he walks off. He Is a piece of work, but better to stay on his good side for now.

I think I’ll go and call mother; she will know what to do! And if I don’t, she will only be mad at me for that, so I might as well get in there first.

Michael’s POV

How could something like this happen right under my nose! On the grounds of my own house. In front of everyone.

“What a mess”, I sigh.

Mason was adamant it was one of the chase Brothers. Yet Ayla is adamant it wasn’t, don’t even get me started on what Aiden said himself; how can he be mated to her?

“I don’t think I was ready for her to be mated to anyone. But I was going to have to come to terms with it soon; it is her birthday in the next few days; well, I guess she already had her birthday now!” I tell myself, “If he’s right and he is her mate, then I will have to work out a way to deal with it.”

I thought she would be out cold for a few more hours, so I won’t lie when I say I was surprised to hear she was awake and requesting to see me. It had only been a little under two hours. Mason walked in and told me his mother had sent him; I knew better than to keep my mate waiting.

I was following my son back down the corridor. He seemed on edge. I assumed he felt the same as me. I won’t settle until I know what happened to Ayla; it was probably the same for him.

“Mason, wait outside, son; I’d like to talk to Ayla with your mother,” I tell him. He didn’t look impressed, but at the end of the day, what I say goes, and he knows better than to try and defy me.

Ayla was propped up on the sofa; she had a few cushions behind her back and a blanket across her lap. She looked so drained, so battered. It tore at my heart. I loved this girl like she was my own, and to think someone had hurt her made my blood boil.

“Why can’t I see the Chase brothers” she demands the second I enter the room. The look on her face was one of anger and impatience. I knew this was only really going to go one way. I couldn’t deny it, could I? If it had been the Chase boy, she wouldn’t be asking for them. She would be terrified, and she most definitely isn’t.

Eventually, I gave in; I wanted to ensure she knew what she was getting into. If Aiden is right and she is his mate, now she has had her first shift, the mate bond will hit the instant she sets eyes on him.

I couldn’t believe what I was about to do; I could lose my little girl within minutes. Of course, I wasn’t going to mention what Aiden had confessed to me; it wasn’t my place.

“Okay, I’ll go and get them.”