I finally decided to go with a small bow of my head like the butler had given to me earlier, “You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?” A subtle smile danced across those handsome lips of his and he sat himself up leaning forward a bit, “My beta says you smell sweet.” My brows knit together in confusion as I fought the urge to take a step back, “What?” He leans back on his throne again, “Beta Cain lost his mate right after finding her. It has affected him deeply.” Did he purposely ignore my confusion or did this have to do with his weird statement? I shook my head, “I’m sorry Your Majesty, but I am not following.” He leaned forward again looking directly at me, “Your uncle is an incredible asset to my pack.” What the hell is he talking about? He’s all over the place, “Lynelle is an incredible warrior.” I raised an eyebrow, “I can’t deny those facts. I am very proud of both of them.” He smiled, “As am I. But life is unpredictable isn’t it.” Now I was starting to get scared. Where was he going with this? “What would happen to your uncle if something happened to Lynelle?” My heart skipped and something twisted in my stomach at such a thought. I shook my head, “That would be awful.”

I felt a warmth behind me but I didn’t dare turn my back on the Alpha. He stood and started to descend the steps, “Like I first said, my Beta says you smell sweet. Humans tend to just smell okay or more often than not, a little repulsive.” He stepped down from the last step, “So, his statement had me curious.” He started to close the distance between us, “Did you happen to find a fragrance product that actually appeals to our sensitive noses instead of overwhelming and offending us?” I shook my head as he continued to get closer, “I don’t think I use anything out of the ordinary.” He intimidated me, he had to be close to six foot six. To all of my five feet two self, along with his role in the pack, it was very overwhelming especially with him only feet away from me now. I took a step back and bumped into a wall, a warm wall. I jumped with a small yip and turned, backing away from the wall that turned out to be Beta Cain. Was he the warmth I’d felt behind me earlier? 

Beta Cain moved so they both stood together before me now, “I needed to see for myself if you smelled sweet or not.” My eyes jumped back and forth between them, “If my smell has offended either of you I’ll try to find something more neutral.” My voice was shaky. The Alpha closed the distance between us again and leaned over and reached out to me, taking up a lock of my hair that had fallen over my shoulder. He pressed it to his nose and took in a deep breath. His green eyes flashed a golden hue for a moment as a ragged exhale left him and he smiled, “Delicious.” A growl came from behind him when he said that. He looked back at Beta Cain, “Well? Touch her. Either she just smells good or you lucked out in a one and a billion chance here.” My eyes moved from the Alpha to Beta Cain, “W-what?” I stepped back again, my hair slipping from the King’s hand.

Beta Cain moved forward to stand before me. I looked up at him, my eyes wide. I must have looked like a terrified rabbit before two wolves, I certainly felt like it. Beta Cain just stood there staring down at me. I could see the tension flexing in his jaw, “Come on Cain it’s not that hard.” The king reached out, “Just touch her cheek like this and you-” Cain reached out at the same time as he did. The moment their hands brushed my face I gasped and jumped back, eyes wide, “What the hell was that!?!” It felt like electricity had jumped from their fingertips. But it didn’t hurt, in fact as the moments passed after I backed away from them, I felt myself wanting to feel it again. Warmth bloomed from the points where they had touched me. 

They both looked at me, their eyes flashing that gold I saw before, “Mate!” They both said in unison. They then looked at each other, “What?” I shook my head, “What!?! N-no…that…no.” I backed away then turned and ran for the door. Between their unnatural speed and larger strides they overtook me before I could reach the door. Tobias blocking my path to the door, a tingling yet pleasing fire dancing around my wrist where Cain had grabbed me. I turned and twisted my wrist about in his grasp trying to shake free, “Let go of me!” I pushed at his hand with my free hand and he recoiled, releasing me and I quickly moved to run to my right but Tobias blocked my path again, hooking his arm around my waist to stop my forward momentum. That same fire bloomed across an area of my stomach and a gasped moan slipped from me. What the hell? I pulled back from him and pulled the bottom of my t-shirt down and rubbed the area that had been exposed. This was too confusing, too scary. I didn't know what to do. Listen to my body and touch them or listen to the rest of myself and get the hell out of dodge. 

I was stuck between the two of them and my hands shot up, palms out towards each of them, “Okay! I’ll stop! Just DON’T touch me!” Their touch was making this situation even more overwhelming. Thankfully, They both stayed where they were. “I can’t be your mate! Either of you!” Right? I swayed nervously on my feet ready to bolt at any moment, “First, I am human.” Then I looked at Cain specifically with a sympathetic look, “And second you already found your mate. I know you lost her but you guys mate for life. It’s just not possible. I know enough to know that fact.” I lowered my hands, “Now please…..let me leave.” I looked back to the Alpha, who shook his head and held his hand out towards me as if telling me to stay put, “You felt the same sensation from both of us?” I nodded. His face twisted with confusion, “I thought you might have been a rare, second chance mate for Cain. I was going to encourage a bond between you two as I saw the benefit to anchor your uncle here, should something happen to Lynelle regardless of if you were his second chance or not.” My mouth slipped open. He was going to use me against my uncle!?! I couldn’t help the look of disgust that danced across my features. Who wouldn’t be bothered by that? He started to move towards me and I jumped back. He stopped, his hands still held out like he was trying to calm a cornered wild horse, “But I didn’t expect to actually find his second chance AND have her be MY mate too.” I shook my head, “I am no one’s mate! Now let me leave!” They both winced and I started to make my way to the door again. They followed so I stopped again.

We all just stared at each other for a minute before I took a deep breath, “Okay fine. Let’s say I humor you guys on this. How could I be both your mate? Let alone Beta Cain’s?” I looked at Cain and I could see the pain on his face as I kept bringing up his lost mate. But this was no time to sugarcoat things or beat around the bush, “In very rare occasions a lycan who loses a mate early on can find a secondary mate. One who exudes the mate bond pull, it's just not as intense as the true original mate’s bond. A second chance from the Moon Goddess.” Moon Goddess? He’s bringing deities into this? 

“Two days ago he came to me and informed me that he might have found his second chance mate. But when he told me it was you, Lily, I was skeptical both because you were human and because a second chance mate is so incredibly rare it is considered a myth.” Cain finally spoke, “But here you are standing before me and I need you.” I jumped at his voice. He’d been close to completely quiet this entire time. The pained look on his face and the desperation in his voice tugged at me, “As far as how you could be both our mate…I’m not sure. It has occurred before but the lycans or werewolves who share a mate are twins. But as you can tell Cain and I are far from biological brothers.” It was glaringly obvious that they were not related. In fact the only common feature they shared was their height, they might have a two or three inch difference but it was close. Alpha Tobias had sun kissed tanned skin, a short almost stubble like beard, shoulder length sandy blonde hair, and intense green eyes. Beta Cain, while more tan than me, looked pale next to Tobias and had short clean cut ebony hair, a clean shaven perfect jawline, and shocking ice blue eyes.  

Tobias tried to approach me again. I jumped and scooted back, “I have been looking for my mate for far too long Lily. I-” He paused as if something dawned on him, “Wait, Lily, both Cain and myself have seen you on several occasions over the years. Some in close proximity. How is it that only now we sense you as our mate?” He looked to Cain who looked at me as if I could answer their confusion on this. I shook my head, “I don’t know…you guys have never touched me before today?” Cain shook his head, “No, I noticed your scent when I saw you in the hall before Ally and Kai’s mating ceremony. And again when we almost ran into each other in the hall when you had paint on your face.” Oh god! I forgot about that! How embarrassing, “Paint?” Tobias smirked in question, “Yeah it was-” I held my hand up, “No need to go into details…thank you.” 

Tobias shrugged it off, “I did have a draw to you when I saw you with your uncle at Jesse’s restaurant yesterday but I thought it was due to my curiosity after what Cain had told me.” He seemed to ponder something for a moment, “Lily, how old are you?” How old am I? “I just turned 19 last week. Why?” He seemed to consider what I said for a moment, “How old were you the last time you visited?” I had to think back. It had been a while since I’d been here, “I think it was just before my 18th birthday…why?” I put emphasis on the ‘why’ since he seemed to have a bad habit of ignoring my questions. He nodded and looked at Cain, “That would be why then.” He looked at me, “The last time you were here you were 17. Mates cannot be sensed until they come of age.” I nodded in understanding. I didn’t know that, “That still doesn’t address the ‘how’ I am supposedly both your mate.” They both tensed at my words, “You are my-our mate.” Cain corrected himself at the pointed glare from Tobias.