(Alnitak)

I am ninety per cent sure about that damn vampire being Amaia’s mate. Her reaction to him, her nightmare, that bloody rose, the way he held her, this all screams that they are mates.

She must have a confrontation with him, trying to understand this new bond, even being afraid of him.

And he used fear and hypnosis to firstly give her nightmares, and then he went to sleep with someone else just to teach her a lesson.

My wolf howls in excruciating pain just from thinking about it. Zevran wants to protect her at every cost, even though she is not our mate.

"You are special to me as well. But you need to deal with him. Living in pain is no life. I don’t want you to end up like Kacir."

I shouldn’t be holding her but I can’t let her go. My hands won’t move, they want to remain holding her to my chest.

A pinching pain has begun in my heart at the very thought that someone else can own her.

’We will fight him. He doesn’t deserve her. Someone willing to hurt her, doesn’t deserve her,’ the demon part of me slowly but defiantly whispers in my head.

He has been relentless since he had a taste of her. The very fact that she hadn’t shown even the slightest bit of fear or revulsion towards him has made him extremely possessive of her.

And this time around, I completely agreed with him. Even if that vampire was her mate, he didn’t deserve her.

"Promise me you won’t distance yourself from me like you did before," she requested. A sadness had taken residence in her eyes while she held my hand.

They use the phrase "my heart melted". At that moment I understood its true meaning. Seeing her all vulnerable and broken made my heart turn into mush.

My lips came down on the middle of her head, smelling her fruity shampoo.

"I won’t," I pledged.

But it did make me wonder what the future would be like for us. Every part of me, my wolf, my demon and my human had owned her to claim her as my mate. We just wanted to give each other a year to see if we could find our real mates.

Now that she probably had, would she leave me and go to him?

The situation was very similar to what Jamina and Alnilam had. I always wondered if one of them found their mate, what would be their next course of action? Jamina is dedicated to Alnilam and she has promised that she would reject her mate if she found him now.

But what about my brother?

Will he do the same? I know he desired a mate more than anything but he also deeply respected Jamina.

I needed to have a conversation with him.

"You should sleep now, it’s late and we have training sessions in the morning."

She slid slightly down but stayed in my arms as if finding solace in them. Maybe she also felt a similar pull like I did.

Soon, I could hear her small snores. Tightening my hold on her, I closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep too.

Banging on the door woke us up.

"Ali, are you in there? Get your ass out, we are getting late and I am in no mood to run laps or get detention," Mintaka’s angered voice came through the door.

Both of us are startled awake.

"Oh no, Alnilam is going to whip our asses," Amaia says, jumping out of bed. I let out a yawn and stretch myself.

"Relax! He will give us laps, which will mean I will get to spend more time with you." I nonchalantly say but she is already rushing towards the wash area.

"Are you coming out or should I come in?" Mintaka keeps banging the door.

"Get in, you annoying ass," I call out, still reeling from the feeling of sleeping with Amaia in my arms.

The door swings open and Taka barges in like an angered bull, fully dressed in his uniform. He sends a seething glare my way.

"Seriously? You are just going to lie there, half-naked. I swear if I get laps or detention because of you, it’s going to be your death at my hands." He bends down and picks up my discarded shirt, throwing it in my face. Effortlessly, I catch it.

Unlike me, Mintaka is responsible and values time. He is also a clean freak and mostly ends up cleaning my messes.

"Fine, fine, I am getting up." I drag myself out of Amaia’s bed. He grabs my arm and leans closer, whispering.

"Don’t tell me you are sleeping with her." The seriousness in his voice carries fears too; he doesn’t want me to make the mistakes he did, and yet I am a heartbeat away from doing it.

"Not in that sense, at least we haven’t done the deed." I thump his back and leave so Amaia can get ready without us interrupting her. Mintaka follows me back to our room and closes the door.

"But you are thinking about it, aren’t you?"

I strip completely and enter the wash area for a quick shower. Mintaka stays in the doorway with his arms crossed, waiting for my answer.

He is not wrong, all I can think about is her and how soft she will feel once my dick is inside her. But I am not going to do it until she makes the decision regarding that mate or mates of hers.

Turning the tap, I let the cold water hit my face and soak my hair. Placing my hands on the wall I lean back and let the water hit my back, so I can speak to my brother.

"She is all I can think about. It’s consuming me." I sigh. "But she has been having ’pain episodes’ and it’s breaking her apart. She has a second chance mate. There may be two." I confide in my brother.

"WHAT?" He asks in disbelief while I turn off the shower and begin to lather myself with soap.

"Yes, she had an episode last night. She was in so much..." and then I remembered him and Rahria and silenced myself. I didn’t wish for him to feel more guilty than he already did.

Silence followed my words; only the splashing of the water on the tiles could be heard while I cleaned myself up.

"All the more reasons to stay away from her. I hope you understand before you tangle yourself in an even more complicated situation than me." With that, he bangs the door close, leaving me with my thoughts.