Three is a Crowd [Chapter Nine]

The week after my first kiss with Arturo and Flynn, I feel like the decision is getting harder and harder. I love them both, and I don't know if I will ever be able to choose either of them. I spend alternate morning and afternoons with them - and that seems to still make my decision harder.

The more time I spend with Arturo, the more I fall in love with him. The more time I spend with Flynn, the more I fall in love with him. I am half way through my Mating Month now, and I know I only have two weeks until I have to make my choice. Arturo or Flynn?

It's Monday morning, and I am supposed to be spending the morning with Arturo - however he is working with the Alpha. I don't mind, I want a little while to myself. Just so I can think. The closer the end of the month gets, the realer the choice is becoming. Whoever I don't choose, I will break their heart as much I as break mine.

I take a walk through the territory, in my Wolf form. I run for a while, allowing the wind to run through my sandy fur. I run the entire Pack territory, but my head is still swarming with too many thoughts. So I run further.

I run and run and run. Until I am lost. And then, I run some more. About three hours away, I find myself reaching the border of another Pack. I am near the coast, so I head further towards the beach.

I hate doing it, but I steal come clothes from a washing line. They are nothing special, a black knee length dress which is a bit tight at the top. It was the only real choice; as I get it from the house in the woodlands not far from the beach.

I feel like the water might help me think. I venture into the local fishing town, and walk down to the sea. It is cold, but I don't feel it much. I take a seat on the pebble beach, which it was sand so it was a bit more comfortable - but the likelihood of finding a sand beach in England is slim.

I draw my knees up to my chest, and rest my chin on them. A cold breeze blows over me, and my hair flies backwards behind me. I look out at the water, and the way it laps slowly over the brown shaded pebbles.

A loud growl sounds out behind me, snapping me out of my thoughts, I jump up in shock and spin around. A couple - obviously mates - are standing behind me. The man is tall and stocky, with small mouse like features, and the woman is thin with long poker straight hair. They are both Werewolves. I mutter an oath.

Backing up, I make eye contact with them. The man growls angrily, assuming I am a rouge trespassing, and sizes me up. If he caught me, he could kill me easily - I was not strong. Fast, yes, but strong, no.

There is a heavy moment, our eyes connecting, before I turn and run. No, I don't run, I sprint. My legs and pumping as hard as I can, my bare feet cutting on the pebbled beach. I can hear the couple running after me, I run faster.

I let out a strangle cry, as a hand grabs at my hair. The man has caught me easily, and he yanks me backwards. I grab my hair, scared it will rip from my skull, as he pulls me backwards. I crash into him, as he holds me tight.

"Please" I cry out, trying to hold back tears of pure fear. "I'm not a rouge, I have a pack, I have a mate, I didn't mean to trespass. Please, I'm sorry". I am pleading, I am desperate.

"Paul, don't kill her, she's just a kid" the woman says. Before, when they were further away I would have said they were in their twenties, but now - closer up - I realise I have misjudged this. They have to be my parents age, maybe slightly younger.

"She is still trespassing on our territory" the man replies. After a little deliberation, they decided to take me to their Alpha for the decision. Pack's never like to kill rouges, but it is necessary - a Wolf without an Alpha can often cause trouble for Packs. And we don't need trouble.

They walk me away from the beach, and towards an open area of forestry area. The man had hold of me, tight, and he marched me through. As we walked through the territory of his Pack, people stared at me.

It is odd, being the rouge, instead of being the Pack member staring at the rouge. No, I'm not a rouge, but I am an outsider to these people. I am walked to a large, sandy coloured, house; and a man is waiting outside for us. He is obviously the Alpha.

The man is tall, and slender, with a bald head and beady eyes. He looks to be about forty, with heavy wrinkle lines under his eyes. "You have trespassed, rouge" he hisses.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to. But, please, I am not a rouge. I have a Pack, I-"

I don't get to finish what I am saying, before a deep growl sounds out from behind us. All of us spin around, and I gasp loudly. A tall man, in his early twenties, with tousled blonde hair that curls slightly is staring at me. He has bright green eyes, the colour of a meadow, and his body is large and stocky. He is beautiful.

"Mate" he growls, the word ripping the air between us. A large smile stretches across his beautiful face, his white teeth a contrast to his tanned skin. He walks towards me. There is a moment, where I want to run into his arms, but then I remember who I am and what I am. I am Saxondale.

I already have two mates, who I very much love, and now I have found a third. He is beautiful and masculine, and has a look of a male model. But, he is another man that I will be stringing along. I don't like that I had a third mate.

It is hard enough for me, having to break one of my mates heart. But, now, I have to break two. I love two men, and soon I will be in love with three, and that is not fair. My heart is breaking with the more men I love, and their hearts are going to get broken.

I don't want to fall in love again, because that is just one more person on the list of people I am going to hurt. I am either going to hurt either Arturo or Flynn or my new mate. It's wrong, and I hate myself for being born Saxondale.

I stagger away from where my mate is walking towards me. "No" I hiss, tears falling from my eyes. My mate looks at me in confusion, before reaching out to grab me. I stumble away, not wanting to feel the electricity of his touch.

I crash into the Alpha, and he steadies me - his hands staying on my arms as if he is worried I will break. "Nick, stay back a moment" he tell my mate. Nick, his name is Nick, and he is beautiful.

"But she's my mate" Nick replies, looking at me with hurt.

"Just stay back a moment" the Alpha snaps, holding me softly. I am no longer a rouge, but the mate of someone in his pack. He sees me as different now. "Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong".

I shake my head no, tears still running down my face. I don't want to tell Nick, because then he would hate me. He would hate me because I wasn't his only love, or his only mate. "Sweetheart" the Alpha says again - he is patronising me, but I don't mind. "Why are you so upset?"

I ignore him, and turn to Nick. I am shocked by his beauty again - I may have been biased but I could tell everyone else would see him as beautiful as well. I wipe away my tears away, as I look at him. "I'm sorry" I whisper.

He steps forward, but his Alpha holds his hands up to stop him getting closer. "Nick, is my future Beta. He is a very strong Wolf, and a very clever man. I have known him since he was born, and I can promise you that you could want no more in a mate" the Alpha told me.

"I'm sure you're right" I nod, sniffing. "But I am not want he will want in a mate". My words are true, but I wish they weren't. Nick opened his month to argue, but the Alpha hushed him.

"What is your name?"

"Athena" I reply to the Alpha. He offers me a small smile, and Nick grins brightly again. It is a beautiful, dashing, smile that makes my knees feel weak. He truly was breath-taking.

"Now, Athena, why do you think you're not a good enough for Nick?"

There is a heavy moment of silence. "Because I'm Saxondale, and I already have two other mates". Silence falls over us all.