Three Mates

Roman POV

I asked Alice to leave under the pretense that I had to attend to urgent pack business and would meet with her later, I was pacing in my office, my headache not leaving me alone. I had to speak to Dragana. I could not control myself earlier, I had to kiss her plump lips, I had to hold her in my arms. I nearly marked her! Some type of invisible force, a pull I only felt once before, was back. It was the same pull that brought me to the lake when she was drowning, the same energy, the same feeling, only this time, instead of fear, in its place was my desire and another feeling I had no words for. I wanted her, but did I love her???

“Saying you are the stupidest man in the universe somehow never gets old”, Caleb decided to make his opinions known. “How can I help you Caleb? What now???” “Did you not feel that???? Do you not understand what she is to us???? Do I have to spell everything out for you boy?” he goaded me. “Feel free to share your wisdom Caleb, sage of the wolves”, I spat ironically. I really did not need his bullshit right now, but somehow that never stopped him in the past. “You have been with MANY women, who are not our mates. You have held and kissed our self-proclaimed mate in your arms. Does anything ever measure up to how you feel when you kiss Dragana? When you hold her?? Hmmm…. Do I need to draw you a picture Alpha King”, my wolf replied in kind.

I knew what he felt. I felt it too, but there was no explanation for it. We did not recognize her as a mate, and now, that her wolf was back, if indeed she was our true mate, she should have felt it too. My mind was spinning. I needed to talk to somebody, and as unfortunate as my choice of advisor was, I had no other.

“Art, where are you? I need to speak to you too. I .. I.. I need advice… Please”, I gritted through my teeth, not sure how I should share this with him, but fully understanding he was the only person I could talk to about this.

“I am with your father, Roman. Do you want to meet by the lake again?”, he said calmly. I knew he could feel the tension in my voice, and I knew he would know this had something to do with Dragana. His kindness never failed to surprise me, even though we grew up together. Somehow, in a way, I also resented that – he always knew the right thing to say, the right kind of support to provide, always considerate of others, always supportive. “Not his fault you are a pigheaded idiot”, Caleb decided to advise me, in his never-so subtle ways.

“Sure, let's meet by the lake again. We could shift and burn some steam off”, I replied. Quickly, I made my way towards the blue-blooming tree and Art to find art waiting for me. His body was stiff, his jaw clenched. I supposed he wanted to talk about my conversation with Dragana, but I also had questions for him. Somehow, through all this, I knew only he would understand me, even though earlier I wanted to kill him for wrapping his arms around her. I did not know if I was coming or going. “Art”, I nodded, contemplating whether I should hug him or not, when he did it, without waiting on me, in true fashion of always being a bigger person. My chest was contracting but I had to talk to him. “First, I want to apologize Art. I lost my shit when I saw her in your arms, even though I had given you my blessing in the past man”, I said, ruffling my hands through my hair, trying to somehow look less nervous and less pathetic about it all. It was unlike me to go back on my word. After all, I was not only an Alpha but, an Alpha King too. My word was my bond and it meant something. Except it appeared when it came to Dragana, nothing but her mattered.

Looking straight at me with his dark soulful eyes sparkling gold, his face chiseled as if it were from a rock, I would not noticed he was agitated either unless I heard his fast heartbeat.

“Look Roman”, he shifted uneasily and somehow, I knew whatever he was going to say, I may not like. “It is time to stop these games. It is time to stop talking about her as if she were an object to be owned, somebody we need to compete for. We can talk about this forever. I will give you my blessing, you will give me yours, and at the end of the day, we may both want to kill each other because…. " he paused…”Because, let’s be real about this and let’s face it. We are both in love with her”, he dropped the bombshell on me.

I opened my mouth to retort, but before I could speak, he continued “Please Roman, do not play me for a fool. And do not play yourself. Do you think I do not know you? We grew up together for crying out loud man!!! I know you like I know myself! Admit your truth as I have admitted mine! We need to give her a choice, we need to do what is best for her. And us fighting, putting her in the middle, throwing egos around – not the best thing for her brother, not at all”, he said, and I could not reply for a moment. I was stunned.

“Does she love you?” was all I was able to whisper to him, waiting for an answer but afraid to hear it. “She does”, he replied, causing Caleb to roar and come forth snapping at him. “STOP IT!! Roman, pull yourself together!!”, he pushed me, but all I could see was red. I could not accept the fact that she loved him. I could not! I would not!!!! She…. She was… Well.. I… I did not know what was happening to me, but his words nearly caused my heart to stop. “She loves you too, you fucking idiot!”, Art finally said, giving me a tight smile. I knew what she told me, she told me I did not matter, - I could still hear her words echo in my head, but I also knew what I felt. I remembered how she responded to me, how her body felt, how she kissed me, how she was wet for me… The thoughts of her in somebody else’s arms started playing tricks on me and I again wanted to kill him, but this time, somehow Caleb pulled back.

“She is a Tribrid Roman, you have to consider that.” Art said with a stoic expression on his face. “What do you mean?? What the fuck does any of that mean???! What does it matter? Tribrid or no, she only has one fated mate!”, I spat, finally losing it completely, however, still tethered on the edge of sanity and not going for the kill. A thunderous laugh followed my words and Art genuinely held his stomach laughing at me. “Roman, I love you as a brother, and may I say also, you are a very handsome man, a ruthless warrior, a great leader. But I wonder sometimes brother, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?”, he roared now, again laughing, stunning me into silence. “For once I agree with Beta”, I heard Caleb again and felt as if the whole world had gone mad! My own wolf agrees with a man who loves the same woman I did????

“LET ME REPEAT THIS FOR YOU AGAIN… S-H-E-I-S -A-T-R-I-B-R-D!’, Art said, annunciating every letter. “I need you to think Roman! Think dammit!”

A realization slowly dawned on me, one that twitched my stomach into the knots. I nearly lost footing, and nearly collapsed. “Do you feel…? The electricity… when you touch her… Do you feel the mate bond?”, I asked him softly in a voice I no longer recognized. I did not recognize myself either. “I do.. I feel something Roman.. It is not a full mate bond, perhaps because she is a Tribrid. I read up on it, she brought some books on it from the Bibliotheca Alexandria. In theory, she is entitled to three fated mates, or so books say. And until she finds all three, her mate bond with the other two will not be completed, not fully manifested”, he explained patiently. The world started spinning around me… “Could it be??? I mean…. WHAT??? Three mates????” I spat, having this urge to suddenly disappear and never look him in the eye. “Yes, three mates Roman. For fuck sake man, come the fuck down! And, yes, I love her. I love her more than life itself – I would gladly give my life for her. I do not know if I am her mate – but I am hoping I am. I mean, I would lie if I said otherwise. But if she chooses you or anyone else, if she wants to be with only one mate… I cannot stand in a way of her happiness”, he said, his voice breaking, his eyes full of tears, trying to hold onto his brave façade.

“So… You would be willing to share her???” I asked in disbelief, my eyes ready to pop out of my head, not sure what I would say if he said yes. His dark eyes sparkled like a moon from the tears pooling within them, but I sensed his inner strength and determination, his soul, unwavering. His eyes locked in on mine and he said adamantly “If I were so lucky to be her mate, Roman, I would accept any fate she chose, even if she rejects me for another. And yes, I would share, I would want even 50% of her, hell, 10% if I could get it – just to be with her. She is everything to me – my sun, moon and stars, the reason I wake up, the reason I breathe.

Question you should ask yourself, dear brother: if you were her mate too, would you share?”