Mated To The Twin Alphas

MATED TO THE TWIN ALPHAS

Chapter 1

"I don't want you sneaking out tonight while your father and I are gone."

Jackie Sheeran tugged her father's oversized raincoat over her head, the dark fabric swallowing her plus-size frame as she cracked her bedroom window open just enough for the cool night air to slip through. "I know!" she shouted down the stairs, her voice steady even as her heart hammered against her ribs.

Her mother, Alpha Rhea of the Shadowmoon Pack, had been harping on about staying inside all week. Every single night, the same warning, the same distrust. As far as her mother knew, Jackie was the perfect little daughter—the one who trained relentlessly during the day by herself because her mother didn't allow her to train with the bigger wolves, the one who sat in her room all night studying textbook after textbook about the most successful alphas in history. Their strengths. Their weaknesses. Their every move.

"I'm being serious, Jackie," her mother called up, her voice stern and powerful, the kind of voice that had made her the first female alpha to grace these lands in a century. "Don't leave this house."

Jackie glanced at her cat, Aurelia, who sat regally on the pillow like a queen forced to share a room with a peasant. The gray feline's golden eyes tracked Jackie's movements with obvious contempt. If a cat could roll its eyes, Aurelia had mastered the art.

"I won't!" Jackie whispered, blowing a kiss toward her feline judge as she swung her legs over the windowsill. Moonlight flooded in through the window, illuminating Aurelia's gray fur and her judgmental gaze.

With a deep breath that smelled of rain and pine, Jackie let herself fall, landing on the blow-up pool rafts she'd strategically placed under her window for this exact reason. The fall jolted through her knees, but she was used to pain—had been since the hounds attacked and her brother Jeremy had died in a pool of his own blood.

She brushed the dirt off her raincoat and lifted her face to the sky, feeling the first droplets of rain hit her skin. Moon knew she was training to become alpha someday, but Moon didn't know that a woman like Jackie had needs. And those needs required her to be at Blackwater Lake every night at eleven p.m. to meet Tony for their midnight swim.

Jackie lifted her nose to the air, inhaling the familiar scent of pine and wet earth from the Gloomveil Forest that surrounded Shadowmoon territory. The forest stretched for thousands of miles across this continent, and while her mother only owned about twenty miles in each direction, warriors prowled through the thick brush for miles, looking for rogues.

The front door to the pack house opened, and Jackie ducked behind the overgrown bushes in the front yard. Her mother and father walked out of the house to attend some urgent meeting they were hosting with the other packs in the area. And apparently, Jackie wasn't invited.

She watched them impatiently, tugging some berries off the bush and popping them into her mouth. With brows furrowed up in fear, her mother grasped her father's hand tightly. "Kealan is coming," she whispered.

Jackie rolled her eyes.

Kealan is coming. Kealan is coming. Kealan is coming. That was all they'd been whispering about the entire week. The oh-so-great alpha of the east was burning up the lands, slaughtering the innocent, taking the weakest packs, and creating an empire for himself. And Shadowmoon was next. Supposedly.

Her father closed the front door behind him, his voice quiet and uncertain. "What are you planning to do when he comes?"

Jackie sighed to herself, wishing he'd grow a backbone. She loved her father more than anything, but sometimes, he couldn't think for himself. Since Jeremy had died—her chest tightened at the mere thought of him—her father hadn't been the same. He'd lost his purpose to lead this pack with her mother, and he let her run this pack however she wanted—even if her decisions weren't always the most informed.

If her mother listened to her, Jackie would tell her not to worry about anything. Alphas like Kealan were easy to get rid of as long as they had the right resources—beautiful women, a night he wouldn't ever forget, and a few drinks spiked with wolfsbane.

"He's slaughtered every pack in his wake," her mother said, her voice hushed. "We're not as strong as we used to be, and"—she looked toward Jackie's window, and Jackie ducked out of the way, so she wouldn't see her—"Jackie can't fight."

Jackie broke a branch off the bush and clenched it in her fist, a wave of shame washing over her.

Jackie can't fight.

Her mother's words hit her hard, struck her right through the damn heart. She'd heard those words her entire life. Everyone in Shadowmoon had heard those words, and they all knew it to be true. A misfit like Jackie couldn't fight, not after Jeremy had been murdered in cold blood by those feral hounds.

Jackie can't fight.

Her father hushed her mother and opened the door to their white sedan for her. After ushering her into the car, he backed out of the driveway and sped down the street. Jackie stood back up, throwing the broken branch to the ground, and hurried through the lush green forest with her arms wrapped around herself.

Damn her mother. Jackie tried so hard to make her happy, to be strong for their pack, to be someone they could be proud of, but she would never live up to their reputation. She wouldn't be the first female alpha to grace these lands, like her mother was, and she didn't possess any of the qualities of the adored and powerful wolves who had come before her. She was just Jackie, the nineteen-year-old girl sneaking out of her parents' pack house to hook up with Tony at the lake.

There were more guards in the forest compared to the last few nights, which meant one thing. Her mother expected Alpha Kealan to be here soon. Jackie sighed and took the hidden route to the lake—the route she and Jeremy had discovered as children, the one nobody else knew about. She shimmied through a deserted cave, climbed down a slight cliff, and walked right off the property without anyone seeing.

After a few moments of surveying the area to make sure nobody was following her, Jackie walked around one of the larger mountains that Jeremy used to always take her to and headed straight toward Blackwater Lake. The air smelled fresh tonight, a sweet yet unfamiliar scent drifting through the woods.

Her fingers brushed against the gnarled tree bark as she walked out from the forest and toward the small opening of the lake. The moon glimmered off the water, lightning bugs floating above it. Jackie frowned. Tony was late again.

She sat down on some rocks and dipped her feet into the cold water, splashing them around and creating ripples. All she had been craving for the past twenty-four hours was Tony playfully pushing her into the lake with all of her clothes still on, watching her get soaked through the tiny pink tank top that she had worn for him, pulling off his shirt and showing her all that thick muscle underneath.

Her breathing hitched, and she closed her eyes, heat gathering in her core. Goddess, she couldn't wait for him to tug on her nipples. She drew a finger against them, making them hard. To pull her hair. She inhaled the sweet air and pushed her knees together. To thrust into her until she begged him to stop.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and Tony's name flashed on the screen.

Tony: Sorry. Dad dragged me to the meeting with your parents tonight. Won't be able to make it until later.

Jackie stared down at her phone, gripping it until her fingertips turned white. Why was he only telling her this now, and why the hell hadn't she been invited? It was almost as if he'd waited until now because he didn't want her to know about him attending the meeting without her—the soon-to-be alpha.

She hummed at the thought of her mother inviting Tony to this meeting instead of her own daughter. Her phone buzzed again, and she knew it was her mother nagging her about something important. The mind link didn't work at this distance, and Rhea never contacted her for just anything.

Mom: The Ironfang Pack was spotted ten miles away from our borders. You'd better be at home.

There it was again. The Ironfang Pack. Alpha Kealan.

Mom: Get back home now, Jackie. You know you can't fight. They'll rip you in half, limb by limb. You'll die, like the way Jeremy did—in the hands of a monster.

Jackie put her phone back into her pocket and stared out at the water. Not many people had ever seen Kealan up close, and she couldn't find any pictures of him when she searched this morning. Legend was that he killed so many and so quickly that people didn't have a chance to even catch a glimpse of him. But the ones who had survived his brutality said he looked like a god with a back sculpted by the Moon Goddess herself, full-body tattoos that crawled up his forearms, and thick, tousled white hair.

But Jackie thought that was bullshit. No alpha ever looked that good.

A twig snapped close behind her in the woods. Jackie sat up taller and tensed. Someone had found her little hideout in the Gloomveil Forest, and she really didn't want to deal with whoever it was.

"Tony?" she asked, knowing for damn sure it wasn't him. She sniffed the air but couldn't catch any familiar scent anywhere. "I'm not in the mood for one of your games right now. You know I'm here for one thing," she said, standing up and trying to calm her racing heart.

It definitely wasn't Tony, but his name was the only damn thing that could calm her nerves right now. He might've been the most aggravating man sometimes, but at least he answered her when she called for him.

Almost instinctively, her eyes closed, and she breathed in the most captivating scent that she had ever smelled—smoke and cedar and something darkly sweet.

"And what are you here for?" someone asked in her ear, his voice impeccably smooth and deep.

Jackie hopped up, her heart racing in her chest, and gazed at a naked man she had never seen before. The moonlight glistened off his rippling muscles, his white hair was a wild mess cascading past his shoulders, and his deep amber eyes were nearly glowing when they gazed into hers.

Mate!

Her wolf jumped around inside of her, doing flips in her stomach, acting giddy, like she did under every full moon. But Jackie wasn't feeling giddy at all. From that small scar running diagonally through his left eyebrow to that captivating stare, she was terrified by how easily he had crept up on her.

"You're not Tony," Jackie said, her voice smaller than she wanted it to be.

But of course, he wasn't Tony. Tony was off at the damn meeting and probably would be all night. Something about this man told her to run and to run fast, but an alpha didn't run from just anyone, especially when he wasn't a threat yet. He eyed her, his eyes flickering between his amber human color and his wolf's gold, canines lengthening from his mouth and then disappearing almost as quickly. A torn expression crossed his face, but then he clenched his jaw and stepped toward her.

"No, I'm not. But I'm curious why this Tony was planning to meet you here."

He took another step closer, and Jackie sucked in a breath. His scent was driving her wolf wild. All she wanted to do was jump the man, get down on all fours, and let him take her, do whatever he asked.

He stood inches from her, and she scolded her wolf for all the dirty thoughts running through her mind because Goddess, they were starting to drive her wild. She pressed her thighs together, so he couldn't smell her.

"Was Tony planning on taking what is mine tonight?" He towered over her, his large frame making hers feel so small, and then he grasped her chin between his fingers and forced her to gaze up into his dark eyes. His touch sent tingles throughout her entire body, making her feel things that she shouldn't feel for a stranger. "Because if he was, I'm going to have to take care of him. Aren't I?" he asked, fingers digging into her chin. So dominant, so chillingly dominant.

Jackie gathered all her senses, cocked a brow, and pushed his hand away. "Aren't you what?" she asked, looking him up and down. "Going to act all ruthless and merciless just because I'm your mate and you're some"—sexy—"egotistical asshole who thinks he owns me?"

When he growled, his eyes flashing a breathtaking wolf gold, Jackie forced herself to look away. Her father had told her never to settle for someone who thought they owned her. She had alpha blood and soon she would be the alpha of the Shadowmoon Pack; she deserved more than that.

"Not interested," she said, but as soon as the words left her mouth, her heart started thrashing in her chest. Maybe it was the way he stared at her, like he wanted to devour her, or the way she wanted to let him, but he made her nervous. More nervous than she had ever been. Her gaze landed on the lake again, and she tried to admire the rippling reflection of the moon.

He snatched her jaw in his hand this time and stepped closer until he pressed himself into her side. She could feel every muscle of his front. Every muscle. And she inhaled deeply, pushing her thighs closer together.

He caressed her cheek with his thumb. He was a daunting gentle, the kind that told her that though he wasn't thrusting himself upon her like any alpha would at the first sight of his mate, he controlled this conversation, the kind that told her he could snap at any moment, the kind that made her wet.

"Cute," he said against her ear, voice husky. His hand slipped from her jaw to her throat. "Look at you. My mate acting like she hasn't been turned on since the moment she laid her eyes on me."

Jackie gulped and stared up at him, her wolf purring at his touch. He lightly trailed his fingers down her forearm until he reached the front of her thighs. Heat warmed her core as they lingered right over the front of her pants.

He brushed his thumb over her pussy. "Acting like she's not wet for me," he said. She clamped down harder and cursed the Moon Goddess for her innate attraction to him. He pressed his hardness against her thigh and let her feel every inch of him. "Acting like my possessiveness isn't making her clench right now."

Jackie gathered all the strength she had left in her and firmly pushed her hands into his taut chest. "You know what? I am horny. My pussy is wet. And your possessiveness is over-the-top aggressive alpha right now." She dug her fingers into his muscle, devouring his wolf's golden eyes with her own. Then, she tilted her head to the side and sneered at him. "But you're not going to do a damn thing about it."

He chuckled and grabbed her wrists, stepping closer, a strand of his white hair curling onto his forehead. "Oh, I'm not?"

"No," Jackie said, wrapping her fingers around his and inhaling the captivating scent of smoke and cedar, "you're not."

"Would you rather have Tony touch you like this then?" He released his grip on her wrists, dipped one hand between her legs, and rubbed his fingers against her pussy through her jeans.

Her eyes widened, her pussy aching. When she didn't answer him, he clenched his jaw. "Huh? Is that what Tony is for? Making my mate come? Making my mate feel good?"

Her heart pounded against her chest. He stared down at her with golden embers in his amber eyes and laughed. Jackie tensed and grabbed his wrist, her core pulsing.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This wasn't what she was expecting.

"Go ahead, Kitten." He rubbed sweet, torturous circles around her clit through her jeans. His canines brushed against her soft spot on her neck, and she nearly moaned. "Push me away," he mumbled against her ear. "I'll let you this time."

Jackie squeezed his wrist in her hand, wanting to shove him back but not wanting him to stop. She really, really didn't want him to stop. Her mother had been driving her crazy this past week, and all she wanted was a release.

"Stop me, or I'll really give you a reason to push me away."

She didn't know whether to moan, to nudge him away, or to do both. The pressure in her core rose with every moment. She needed something, anything. She stared him right in the eye, wanting to dare him. "What're you going to do? Throw me to the ground and tear me apart piece by piece," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Moon Goddess, I'm shaking in my boots."

He growled lowly and plunged his hand into her underwear. Almost instantly, his fingers slipped into her wet pussy, thrusting in and out harshly. Jackie gripped his broad shoulders, nails digging into the thick muscle. Holy—

Her pussy tightened on him, and she backed up until she hit the nearest tree, unable to hold herself together. The pressure in her core hadn't ever been this intense. He followed, never taking his fingers out of her once. The heel of his palm hit her sensitive clit over and over, sending a surge of pleasure through her.

"The things I want to do to you," he said into her ear, watching her body react to him. He curled a hand around her throat and squeezed lightly. "Bend you over my bed and fuck you until you can't stand. Push you to your knees and watch you suck my cock." He took her hand and placed it on his hardness. Jackie clenched, slowly stroking it up and down. "Eat your wet pussy until you beg me to stop."

She drew her brows together, moaning softly. Another wave of ecstasy.

"I love the way your pussy pulses on my fingers," he said. "Imagine how tight you'd get with my cock inside of you. Thrusting in and out. Filling this tight little pussy."

Her fucking Moon Goddess.

"Eyes on me," he said, tightening his grip on her throat. Jackie gazed at him, breaths quickening. "Only me."

He brushed his thumb against her clit, and her legs shook as she released herself on him, not breaking eye contact once. Wave after wave of satisfaction rolled through her. Her entire body tingled. She closed her eyes and moaned, her hips moving back and forth on his fingers, riding out her orgasm.

Hell, she had known her mate for two whole minutes, and she was a mess. Coming on his fingers. Aching for more. Tony never even fucked her this well.

He continued to thrust his fingers into her, not stopping. Jackie wrapped her hand around his wrist, trying to pull it off of her. "I-I came. You-you-you can st-stop." Her eyes rolled back, and she doubled over, resting her forehead on his bicep. Another surge of pleasure rushed through her.

"Is that what Tony does? Makes you come once and leaves?" He gave her an empty laugh. "I'm not finished with you. Not until you're begging."

Jackie squeezed her eyes shut, the pressure in her core becoming harder to bear. Her nails dug into his wrist, and she moaned out again as she released herself on him for the second time.

How was he even—

He smirked down at her. "How long do you think you'll last?" he asked. "Ten, fifteen times?"

Her eyes widened, and she pushed his hand away. "Please, Moon Goddess, that was enough."

Her mind was foggy with that intoxicating scent; her body was tingling in all the right places. He hadn't even touched the rest of her yet, but her body wanted more. Her body was craving more.

She lay back in the grass, her chest rising and falling with each heavy breath she took. The water from the lake just barely wet her heels. Jackie watched him close his amber eyes in utter bliss. He smelled so much like freshly picked lemons—her favorite—and it reminded her of simpler times.

His fingers brushed against her bare hip bone in small, soothing circles. All he wanted was to bring her home with him, let her sleep in his bed, get her away from this Tony and his pungent scent, which was all over her.

"Alpha," a voice said through the mind link. "We have a problem."

"Can't you handle it?" the man asked, pressing his lips together. "I'm busy."

There was a pause on the other side of the mind link, and then his beta said, "It's urgent."

Though he wanted to bring her home, he couldn't. His pack warriors had run to this part of Gloomveil Forest for one reason and one reason only. The Malavite Stone. And they couldn't leave without it.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," he said, staring down at the rippling water. Jackie shifted next to him, curling her head into the crook of his neck, her breaths warming the spot on his skin where she'd mark one day.

"What's your name?" he asked, desperate to hear her speak again before he left her here alone.

She opened her eyes and smiled up at him. "Jackie."

"Jackie," he whispered to himself so softly, like her name was meant to linger on his tongue for eternity—because it was.

He had heard Jackie's name spoken by some of his warriors before. Smart, sassy, and so damn sexy, she was the soon-to-be alpha of the Shadowmoon Pack—the pack last known to have the Malavite Stone. But what was the alpha-in-training doing outside her borders, unprotected and alone, meeting this man named Tony?

"What's yours?" she asked, her voice softer this time, her eyes closing.

"Kealan," he said, brushing his fingers against hers. He needed to get out of here sooner than he'd planned. He didn't want her to see that vicious side of him yet, but something told her that she'd find out who he was sooner rather than later. Jackie's breathing evened out, and she curled into a ball next to him. He pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear and savored this moment with her.

"They call me Kealan."

"Kealan, like the ruthless war alpha?" she mumbled.

Something inside of him snapped, and he couldn't hold back the beast any longer. He possessively brushed his thumb across her jaw. Oh, his Kitten had a lot to learn, but she'd learn quickly.

"Yes that's me."

She grumbled to herself and rubbed her eyes, shifting on the grassy patch. The moon reflected off the still lake, and the forest was a jarring kind of silent. No yelling. No howling. No wolves. Kealan and his sweet intoxicating scent were gone, leaving her to inhale the foul scent of Tony's thick navy jacket.

Her phone lay next to her, in the place Kealan would've been, and she snatched it—3:03 a.m. Her eyes widened, and she shot up, some soreness lingering in her core. Her mother was going to kill her.

Jackie dusted the sand off her back and hurried through the woods, not even bothering to look for him.

It was apparent that all he'd wanted to do was fuck. Touch her in places that he shouldn't have and then leave.

She climbed the small cliff and shimmied back through the cave, sneaked right past her mother's warriors, and sighed in relief when she crawled through her window and an angry alpha mom wasn't waiting for her.

Aurelia glared at her when she turned the light on, blinding her. The cat gave her a hard fuck you meow and stuffed her face back into her paw. After tugging off her clothes and taking a quick shower, Jackie lay in bed with her and stared up at the ceiling.

From her bed, she could hear her mother and father whispering in their room, about tonight's meeting, about Kealan, about how they thought he would tear them down one by one, torture them until they gave him all their riches—not that they had much nowadays.

And while Kealan might be a threat, all Jackie could think about was the man in the woods.

Kealan.

She balled the thin purple sheet in her hand and yanked it up her body, so it covered her shoulders. She knew she should've stayed away from him. She knew she should've run when she had the chance—when he gave her the chance. But she hadn't wanted to run. Her wolf wanted to stay with him.

She guessed he hadn't wanted to stay with her.

But who was he? Possibly a scout from a nearby pack. Maybe he was a warrior from Alpha Kealan's Ironfang Pack. Her mother would have her head if he was.

After sulking for a few more moments, Jackie shook the thought away. It didn't matter anyway. He had left her alone in the middle of the damn woods after giving her the hottest night of her entire life. If he didn't need her, she sure as hell didn't need him.

She was soon-to-be alpha of the Shadowmoon Pack, and not even her mate would get in her way of trying as hard as she could to be the leader that Jeremy would've wanted her to be.

There was some rustling by her bedroom window that she'd left slightly ajar. Aurelia lifted her nose and glanced at it, her eyes narrowed in a leave me alone, I'm trying to fucking sleep expression.

A tree branch brushed across the glass, the wind picking up outside and drifting into the room. Jackie inhaled softly and swore she smelled cedar and smoke. But after a few moments, it was gone.

Just the damn wind taunting her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and growled. Fuck Kealan for leaving her. Fuck Kealan for touching her. Fuck Kealan for being the egotistical asshole that she had known he was.

Moon Goddess, she wanted to fuck Kealan.