2 Chapter 2 : Our Mate

“We’re new in town,” Hayden began as he opened the door for me and followed me into the back of the car. “We were just scoping out the area for some good places to eat and hang out.”

I nodded along his explanation as he closed the door to the cold air outside. Rhett got in the other side of the door, “Do you know any good places? You’re from around here right?” I nodded once again and then pulled my phone out to show them the website of some of my favourite restaurants as we drove along.

“We just moved here recently,” Hayden said to my right, “And we’re trying to figure out our way around tone but seems like we lost our way.” I gave him a light smile. He was charming—they both were.

It seemed like looking past the muscular physique, they were unexpectedly shy and composed, at least that’s what they seemed like to me. The conversation continued like that during the drive, the twins alternating between telling me about how they were students at a local university.

I wanted to ask them which one, but they spoke so fast and so excitedly all I could do was laugh and listen to them as they went on.

Suddenly a shiver ran up my legs as cold air blasted from the cooling system at my knees, when I moved to turn it down or close it Rhett’s hand shot out too. He wasn’t as chatty as Hayden, but why did I feel so much more flustered around his quiet demeanour?

I could feel my face flush as our hands brushed together. Pull yourself together! They were just boys! Two...extremely attractive boys...sitting right next to me.

I groaned at myself and just sat back in my seat to avoid any other mishaps.

Rhett laughed lightly at my actions and pushed himself back as well, but his head was still turned to me, not taking his attention from me. Moments passed like that until I turned to glare up at him and address the issue, but the look in his eyes stilled me.

He was staring down at me from beneath hooded eyes, his face set into something hard and real I couldn’t quite place. I had never seen someone look at me like that—it was so intense I had to remind myself to breathe.

“This is you, right?” Mason asked from the front seat as the car pulled to a screeching halt. Blinking away from the look in Rhett’s eyes I looked to the front of the car where the vision of my home was displayed in front of me.

I nodded quickly, now eager to get out of the quickly suffocating air in the car. But instead of turning to Rhett and waiting for him to open the door I got out of Hayden’s side, pushing him lightly to move faster.

“Okay, okay!” He laughed at me as he hopped out. “Geez if you hated sitting next to us so much all you had to do was let us know.”

My eyes widened at his words and I quickly began shaking my head, but the teasing look in his eyes had me stopping from explaining myself any further.

I squinted up at him in an accusing manner. But Hayden only laughed at my expression, and pulled me towards the door by my hand.

I was shocked at his gesture, but it wasn’t unwelcome.

“Seeing you safe and inside is the gentleman thing to do, after all we caused you some disturbance tonight showing up late and with such a ruckus.” Hayden said, and I thought it was thoughtful of him to apologize like that.

Giving him a light smile I leaned forward and did something unexpected. I didn’t know what it was that overcame me to give him a kiss on the cheek, but it was there and gone before I had come to realize what was happening.

I saw the familiar tint of red begin to bloom on his neck and didn’t doubt my cheeks were even more inflamed. I waved goodbye to him quickly in an attempt to have him leave as quickly as he could, and thankfully he took the hint.

I waved the car as it drove down the street and stood there even until it was out of view.

A loud sigh escaped me once the road was quiet again, and I found myself thinking about all that had happened in the past hour alone.

My vision focused back form the dazed state I was in when I felt a tingling up my spine, the darkness of the street and the flickering lamps emitting something eerie into the atmosphere. I squinted my eyes, swearing that I could see something in the dark distance looming closer, closer… I shook my head violently.

What are you thinking, Eleonore! Standing outside in the freezing cold alone!

Heaving a big sigh, exasperated with myself, I opened the door and went inside.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket to see that it was almost two in the morning, opening the messenger app on my phone I went into the familiar group chat with my two closest friends Amanda and Sabrina before typing in my message.

2:01am: Eleonore: It happened again.

2:06am: Amanda: Seriously? That’s how many this week alone??

2:10am: Sabrina: Hold on, we’re going to call.

I wasn’t surprised when they responded almost immediately, the two of them both being night owls themselves seemed to always have them up at the strangest hours of the late night and early morning. I picked up the call as soon as it rang out.

Hayden’s POV

I got into the car after seeing Eleonore to her door. My cheek was still blazing from where her lips had touched and even in the coldness of the air I could feel the warmth of them.

I noticed Rhett’s expression almost as soon as I got into the back of the car. There was an intense look there, his eyes were ablaze with something that I had never seen my brother hold before. I raised my brow at him in question.

I saw the tightness in his jaw, and a sense of something washed over me at his unusual display of emotions—was he jealous?

“Rhett,” I called out to him and he turned towards me with a knowing look on his face.

“Did you sense...” I began and he nodded his head without even hearing the rest of my question.

“Yes.”

The four of us made our way back to the compound not half an hour later, and Mason called out to us as we walked towards our own respective locations.

“I have to meet with the security team and let them know what we found out about the investigation so far, do you two need Logan for anything?” I waved the two of them off and hurried up to catch up with Rhett.

“Where are you going?” I asked him, keeping an easy match to his fast pace.

“Where do you think?” He asked, pushing open a wide, heavy door to the familiar office of one of our pack elders.

Inside we saw Claudius, a pack elder and one of our more trusted friends, in the middle of a meeting with some other elder packs members. He must have noticed the look on our faces, because he quickly dismissed the members and left the three of us alone in his office.

“Is something the matter?” Claudius asked once we were inside a specific room. “You two look strange.”

“I found my mate.” I said quickly, blurting out the information almost immediately.

“Subtle.” Rhett congratulated me and I at least had the ability to look somewhat sheepish about it. “But yes, it’s true. Hayden found his mate tonight—a human girl.”

The shock on Claudius’s face was evident, though he wasted no time in congratulating me on my finding. And then just as the shock was about to wear off Rhett gave him his part of the news as well.

“So did I, actually.” Rhett said much more calmly than I did.

“You both found your mates tonight?” The elder exclaimed with enthusiasm as he clapped his hands together. “That’s wonderful! It’s amazing news to have our alphas with their mates at long last!”

Rhett and I shared a look which Claudius caught onto. “Though they are both human, I’m assuming?”

“She is, yes.” Rhett said and just as he spoke those words I could see the realization dawn on Claudius’s face.

“She? There’s just one?” The elder asked, and my brother and I nodded our heads.

“We could both feel the pull, it was like we were recognizing her and each other in a way we had never sensed before. There’s no denying it, we both share the same mate.” I told Claudius with a deep sigh and watched as he sat down to steady himself.