Audrey couldn't find her tongue. Her heart failed her. Her breaths came off labored. A wicked fist wrapped around her chest, twisting and curling around her like a brutal serpent.
Two seductively handsome men loomed over her. Twins and identical in every possible way. No, they were of same height as Nickolas, but they exuded so much power and commanded such attention that she felt suffocated under the heat of their gaze.
She couldn't look away from them. Something awakened in her core, something primal that reached out to two of them, that accepted them. That wanted them.
"You belong to us." The first one, Tristan declared without any ounce of doubt.
Nick, who hadn't let go of her hand from the onset, moved to stand between her and the imposing men.
Her troubled heart sighed in relief. She leaned her head on his back trying to regain her composure.
"Get out of the way, Nickolas." Tristan's face bore no humor whatsoever now.
Nick's body trembled but he stood his ground, fighting within himself to disobey a direct order from his alpha.
"I can't leave her because she is my woman."
Something flashed in Deckard's eyes but he remained silent, his broad chest barely lifting.
Tristan drew ever so closer, a great tiger ready to pounce. "Yes she is your woman, but she is my mate. She is our mate."
"Mate?" Audrey gasped, mirroring the confusion on Nick's face.
Tristan offered her a broad smile, his attractive face blossoming into something heartwarming. "Yes, my love. You've got not just one but two mates. My broody brother here and I are the Alphas of Frostone wolf pack."
His smile took her off guard, striking her in places it shouldn't have been able to reach, but the meaning of his words, the repercussions of words spoken so freely, was strong enough to capture her attention instead.
"Mate? I can't be your mate. I'm human. Tell them, Aunt Marissa."
She looked at her aunt, who'd just ran to the altar, for some form of comfort. For retribution.
Marissa's eyes were red from unshed tears, but her blonde hair was still impeccably curled down her shoulders and the sleeveless red dress beyond fitting over her slim frame. Audrey had gotten her slight build and petite height from this side of the family, obviously.
Those eyes found Audrey. Within them was a sincere apology, a plea for forgiveness that was like a trembling blow to her chest.
"I'm sorry, Audrey."
Audrey flinched. "I...I don't understand. What are you sorry about?"
Whatever Marissa was going to say was interrupted by the approach of two powerfully built but quick-footed men in black suits. They stopped behind the twin alphas, their eyes bearing testament of their nature as werewolves.
"We need privacy," said Deckard, the quiet one, his voice barely above a whisper.
Four other werewolves joined the first two to usher everyone out of the church building, urging them out with strangely warm smiles and cajoling words.
After the room was empty, the werewolves disappeared outside too, banging the double doors shut behind them with a finality.
Through it all, even as the silence and emptiness of the once jolly and full room threatened her, Audrey continued to look at Marissa for answers.
"You didn't tell her." There was no concern on Tristan's face as he said this. In fact, he enjoyed the drama.
A frown creased his forehead as he regarded Audrey with a curious tilt of his head. "At your age, you don't need to be told."
"What do you mean?" How she ached to slap that sly grin off the man's handsome face. But she was weak, beyond panicked. Tears stung her eyes. Today wasn't going as planned at all. Nothing was going right. "Aunt Marissa!"
"I'm sorry, Audrey. It was the only way to protect you."
"Protect me? From what?" She gulped, the edges of her vision now blurry.
"What do they mean by me being their mate? I can't be mated to a werewolf when I'm human." She paused, the beat of her heart rising. "I am human, right?"
Marissa's head fell in defeat. "No."
"No?" The only thing keeping her standing was the firm grip Nick had around her wrist, pouring strength and warmth into her lifeless body. "I am a werewolf?"
Marissa didn't seem able to form more words but the look in her eyes said it all. Said that Audrey Holland had been living a lie for the twenty three years of her existence.
Getting no comfort from the woman who she knew as her only family, she turned to Nick, the love of her life.
"Please, don't let them take me." Her voice trembled.
Nickolas Lannister was a werewolf of the Frostone wolf pack and bound by blood to respect and obey the wishes and commands of the twin Alphas.
Audrey knew this. She was aware of the rules binding the werewolf community. But yet, in that moment, she could think of no one else to save her.
Nick stared into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity before he stood his ground between Audrey and the two Alphas he was bound by blood and nature to obey.
"I won't let you have her." His voice was deeper, wilder. The wolf in him simmering on the edges, clawing at his skin and mind to be unleashed.
Tristan grinned devilishly. "What do you think you're doing, Nick? You'll only get yourself hurt, or worse, killed."
Nick was not fazed. "If I die fighting for her, then I do so without regrets."
Tristan cocked his head to the side, the playful lift of his upper lip still there. "I never read you as foolish. Love has made you weak and…delusional."
Faster than Audrey's eyes could follow, Tristan was standing nose to nose with Nickolas, fiery eyes colliding. "You will obey your Alpha."
"Please, let us not resort to violence in the house of God," pleaded Father Reynolds. "We should settle this matter like civilized people. The poor girl is the most vulnerable of us."
Deckard, who had been eerily quiet from the beginning, regarded Marissa with his gaze of cold steel. "You made a pact with the Frostone wolf pack eighteen years ago. From that moment, you lived under the protection of the pack. You belong to the pack."
Marissa shrank away from him, but said nothing.
"We have identified your niece as our mate," Deckard paused. "Now she belongs to us. Do you have any objections to that, Marissa Holland?"
Audrey held her breath, waiting for her aunt to reply. To oppose everything the brutal man had just spoken.
Marissa lifted her head, the tears flowing freely down her face now. "No, I have none."
Audrey's heart sank farther down her chest but she got no time to regain herself.
A large hand wrapped around her wrist and in one forceful thug released her from Nick's grip, sending her flush against Deckard.
He was surprisingly warm, a soft wall of hard muscles inside the suit. As she inhaled, she caught a whiff of his scent; a storm of roaring wind and crackling lightening, of pounding rain and woodsy trees. It left a sweet taste on her tongue, raged battle against the broken splinters of her heart.
She didn't need to look to know that Tristan was close. She felt the press of his body against her back, the warmth of his presence.
His scent was different; a hint of muskiness mixed with something else, something she couldn't describe that belonged to him alone but was subtle enough to make her dizzy. The fragrance was exquisite, mixing with the storm to cause mayhem to her senses.
Standing there, between the twin Alphas, an overwhelming wave of heat spread through her pounding heart, tingled down her veins and ignited sparks over her skin.
The outburst of warmth was too much for her weary body to bear.
It lasted for what seemed like hours, but was only a few seconds, before darkness consumed her.