Kane POV

I look from Anton to Alice. Tears are streaming down her beautiful face, and her blue eyes are screaming at me in agony. My heart speeds up, and I want nothing more than to wrap her in my arms and comfort her. I want to tell her everything will be okay.

Instead, I turn my gaze to Axel and open our special mind link that only twins can share.

“Go to her,” I urge him.

Within seconds, he is by her side, holding her and whispering words of reassurance. My heart painfully cramps when I look at them. Axel and I have shared everything since we were babies. It is no surprise that we share a love for the same woman.

That was supposed to be our future. My brother, Alice, and I, against the world, raising our pups and the next Alpha of the Constantine Clan.

I look at our designated mate. What was her name again? Oh, yes, Elara. How can the elders assign her to us? Yes she is beautiful, I mean, that gorgeous cinnamon hair and the curvy body wrapped tightly in the dress... My wolf was pacing in my mind, going wild from the first moment I saw Elara, this foolish wolf almost dragged me to pounce!

Okay, I admit she’s attractive, but no, we promised Alice she should have our protection.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get, and I turn to Anton, allowing my wolf to show its claws.

“You,” I point a finger at Anton. “You will undo this.”

“But ...”

“Find a way,” I command, cutting off his protest.

Anton’s wolf flashes in his eyes, along with something else I cannot place. But before I can figure it out, he looks at the crowd and then backs down. If he were in wolf form, his tail would have been tucked between his legs.

“Please, Alpha,” Anton whispers urgently, and I can sense his fear. “Can we finish the mating ceremony and discuss this privately afterwards?”

My first instinct is to decline loudly, but I take a deep breath to calm myself. I am vaguely aware of the crowd murmuring about what is going to happen. But if I want my way, I will need the elders on my side. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“Finish the mating ceremony,” I hiss, my anger seething below the surface. “Now.”

Ignoring Anton and the crowd, I return to my seat. Axel and I make eye contact across the crowd, and I can see we are sharing the same internal struggle.

“Stay with her,” I mind link Axel, looking at Alice and not taking my eyes off her. “And I swear to the goddess, if he calls her to mate with someone, I’ll have his head.”

The fact that Alice was twenty-one and had not been mated yet was not lost on anyone. Alice had been treated horribly by many others in the pack for it, but I worked hard to sway the elders to put it off. Alice belongs to us, nobody else.

The crowd settles down as Elder Anton takes his place at the podium.

“Next up.” Anton cleared his throat, looking everywhere but at me and Axel. “Alice Fabine. Mated to Gregory Bjorn and Lucas Spindler.”

What the fuck? Gregory and Lucas? The mate-killing monsters?

Axel POV

It is like a bomb explosion when Anton calls out Alice’s name. Kane is practically levitating in his chair, fighting his anger, and Alice is trembling in my arms, sobbing. That motherfucker! I will kill him.

There was no way in hell that I could stand there and watch as she walked over to Gregory and Lucas. Especially since it was Gregory and Lucas, they will tear her apart.

Alice would be their third mate in just over a year. Their first mate had been assigned to them the previous Fall, and she had mysteriously disappeared barely two months into their mating.

Knowing Gregory and Lucas since we were kids, we had our suspicions that her disappearance was not as mysterious as they claimed.

But the Elders ruled that there was no evidence of foul play and that Mary simply ran away. They never even bothered looking for her.

No foul play, my ass! Mary has been seen with bruises on her body by multiple people. The Elders were either lazy or did not want a scandal.

At the Spring ceremony, they had been assigned a she-wolf whose mate had just passed away in a car accident. Most thought it was too soon for her to mate someone else, but the Elders had thought it best for her to be mated right away, claiming that new love would help her heal.

She lasted three months before she was found dead in the woods behind Gregory and Lucas’s cabin. The Elders ruled it a suicide, blaming it on her depression and grief. When Kane and I visited the scene in the forest, we knew that was a lie. She was left-handed, yet the gun was in her right hand. I will never forget the smugness on Greg and Luke’s faces, shrugging when we asked them what happened.

A blind man could see that was not a suicide, but the Elders stuck to their story, because they did not want to admit they fucked up by giving those animals a mate. And now they are giving them another mate ... again! What the fuck!

My entire body is vibrating with anger. I want to jump onto that stage and tear him limb from limb. Kane and I will declare that this whole mating process is done. That our pack will go our own way and do things the way we see fit. Fuck everyone else.

She does not deserve to endure this. I want to comfort her and assure her that everything will be okay.

“Don’t cry,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head. It breaks my heart that she is so upset. “Kane and I will fix this. You heard Elder Anton, we’re going to talk about this once the ceremony is over.”

“Alice, you must go to your assigned mates.” Elder Anton’s voice is slimy, and my fangs drop. So, help me, goddess, I will tear this man apart. Elder or no elder.

“I can’t,” Alice sobs, clinging tighter to me.

“What in the fuck are we supposed to do?” I project to Kane.

“Just... Fuck.” He growls.

Kane and I look at each other, our anger growing with every second. The angrier we become, the more restless the crowd grows. Anton looks from Anton to me, concern in his eyes, and I take a deep breath. There is a reason why alphas must stay in constant control. Anything we feel will be sent out to the rest of the pack, and if they do not have a tight rein on their emotions, they will act upon it. Right now, every wolf from the Constantine Clan is seething with anger, all because of Kane and me.

“We must calm down, brother,” I warn him. “Before this ceremony turns into a bloodbath.”

“Wouldn’t it be fun if they ripped the elders apart?” Kane jokes, taking a deep, calming breath.

“Maybe,” I smirk. “But the aftermath is going to be a bitch to handle, and who has time for that?”

Kane nods, and we close our eyes. We concentrate on our breathing until our emotions calm down enough for the crowd to settle.

I open my eyes and look at Anton. His hands are shaking, but he smiles, relieved at me.

“Miss Montgomery, please join your mates so we can continue the ceremony.” Anton addresses Elara — this red-haired girl pouts, fiery-tempered yet seemingly kissable. I begin imagining that mouth moaning my name.

Damn, my penis almost immediately get hard.

Shit, I actually start imagining those lips screaming my name, those eyes crying because of my thrusts.