Pulling Leah and Alex out of the car, the four males stood around them and escorted them inside. When the front doors opened, loud house music echoed through the night, daring anyone who heard it to just let go and have fun. They passed rooms full of teenagers, around the same age as Leah and her guards. People called out to the males but they just nodded their heads with the occasional wave and pushed the siblings forward to keep them moving. This brought them to the attention of the ones surrounding them and a few people tried coming to ask who they were and how they scored an invite to the party of the summer. The guards ignored everyone and kept walking past the party before they finally arrived at a staircase which led to a basement.
The basement was just as large as the rest of the mansion and followed a similar layout. Leading the siblings towards a room at the end of the hallway, the man Leah had shoved against the car, opened a door to the conference room. Two of the males followed them inside while the other two stayed outside the room. Shutting the door, the music was suddenly cut completely off and Leah realized they were in a soundproof room.
Inside, a young male sat at the head of a long table that would look more appropriate in an office building’s conference room than the basement of a pack house; he was looking at them with more distrust than Leah usually found when meeting an Alpha. Standing up, the young man loomed over Leah, even at the other end of the table, but she found that her brother was close to the same height. Shifting restlessly from foot to foot, Alex couldn’t look at the man’s face for very long, whereas Leah held his stare for a full five minutes. Lifting her eyebrow at him, Leah finally said, “How about this? We both acknowledge the other is dominant and call it even? I can even admit that since this is your territory I’ll back off.”
Quickly suppressed surprise passed across the man’s face before his blank mask returned and he took a moment before he responded, “I can accept that. Maybe we can see who is more dominant another time.”
Bursting out with laughter, Leah took a seat closer to the end the man sat and gestured for her brother to join her. Collecting herself she said, “I can see your wolf peeking at me through your eyes and if you needed him to hold my eye for that long, then you’ll never last if I give even an ounce of power to mine.” Chuckling and shaking her head, Leah leaned back in her seat and put on a show of being completely relaxed.
The other wolf stared at her for a few minutes, not knowing what to do with her. When he felt her enter the territory, he was curious as to why a lone wolf would be on their land, but seeing her now, he was more confused, especially with the young boy by her side who could barely look at him.
Sitting back down, he said, “I’m going to get straight to the point. I want to know why a lone shifter is on our territory without permission. There’s nothing here for you. No territory, no bounties to be filled. Plus, we don’t accept loners.”
Looking at the young man who pretended to be Alpha, Leah replied, “My brother and I moved here because this is where our human mother got a job. Other than that, there is no reason for us to be here. No one would want to be on this territory, where a disgusting jerk like you pretended to be Alpha. You’re not strong enough to lead all those wolves up there and keep those humans mixed with them ignorant of who you are. No, you might have the potential to be Alpha but you don’t have the experience or the strength yet.”
The look of outrage that took over the wolf’s face was almost comical to Leah. She had seen this type of power grab before when someone who had potential took matters into their own hands to prove themselves worthy. It never worked out in her experience; they usually made a fool of themselves instead. As he opened his mouth to speak, the door flew open and another young man burst into the room. Immediately, Leah could sense that this new man was more dominant than the one with whom she had been speaking with. The newcomer commanded the room and attention of everyone without a single word, something Leah could respect. The new man kept his gaze on the other man who had jumped out of his seat at the interruption. Leah kept her seat, still maintaining her relaxed act, while beside her, Alex was nervously looking between the two males.
Leah took the time to study the difference between the males and realized that while they were slightly different heights, with the new man being taller, there were more similarities than differences. Looking closely, Leah realized that not only were they brothers but they were twins. She could almost see the thread connecting them the same way she was connected to her twin.
After what seemed like a long time but was barely a minute, the twin she had been speaking to looked away from his brother’s gaze and he sat back down. The new brother finally spoke, “What the hell were you thinking, Mark? Father is furious. He felt the new shifter the moment they crossed onto our territory and called me. He said to keep an eye on the situation and that he would deal with it tomorrow. He’s pissed that we didn’t listen and now he’s worried your stupid stunt is going to cost more than anything he could have negotiated.” Still looking frustrated, he calmed a little before continuing, “Have the others returned with the loner? I need to stop this before they get back and—"
Leah interrupted before he could finish, “Too late. By almost an hour.” With a smug look on her face, she looked the newcomer in the face and completely froze. Leah rarely paid attention to the way people looked, she focused more on how dominant they were, if that dominance was a threat, and if not, could they could deal with her high levels of dominance but this man commanded all her attention in every way possible. His olive skin was a shade lighter than her own while his muddy brown hair was a stark contrast to her inky black. But what kept her still were his electric blue eyes. Staring into them, she could see into his soul, forging a connection straight to hers. She could feel him getting just as lost in her glowing green eyes when suddenly they both gasped and fell over at the echoing snap between them.
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