Torn Between Her Fated Mates

BREELYNN'S POV Desperate times call for desperate measures. And sadly, I am desperate, so here I am at the Bayertown Farmers Market looking for an older lady who sells potions and stuff. No, she isn't a witch because I don't believe in witches. I don't believe in potions either, but in my spiraling out-of-control depression, I Googled how to get your boyfriend back, and before I could click on the search magnifying glass, it auto-filled in near me. Amidst the extremely odd search results was an old blog from some chick named Rachel who bought a "return to me" potion that supposedly compelled her boyfriend to return to her. All she needed to do was boil a small burlap bag filled with herbs, toss in a shirt he left behind, and voilà…he returned. Five nights ago, my boyfriend walked out on me because of my intimacy issues, and as much as I want to hate him, a bigger part of me wants him back. So after five nights and four days of crying myself into dehydration, I finally got up, put on clothes I removed from my dirty hamper, and drove here. Once I parked, I speed walk from my car and past all the other booths, looking for a woman who sells all sorts of weird things. It was clear that Rachel truly believed this woman was a witch, but who am I to judge? I am actively seeking a potion that I am certain won't work just on the off chance it will, and I have a crazy person living in my head. The moment I set eyes on the hypothetical Witch and her products, it was like everything else disappeared. Not the love at first sight kind of moment, but almost a coming home to family sort of thing. As if she could sense me, she looked up and watched me with an expression equaling confusion. The wind shifts, as it often does in this particular valley, and I am hit with the overwhelming smell of cedar and vanilla mixed with a sultry musk that is just heavenly. Now Trina, the crazy person in my head, is freaking out and yelling at me to find the source. As quickly as it came, the scent was gone, allowing me to continue my task without the disruption of the aroma. Oh God, just thinking about that fragrance makes me want to wrap my body around it. Moving towards the booth leads me away from the direction of the scent, and Trina is literally howling in my head, yes, howling. Once I am at the stand, the Witch gives me her undivided attention, and thankfully, Trina stops howling, but she only quits so she can give me an ominous warning. 'Something isn't right; stay alert' Trina's panic creates a knot in my stomach, and I am unable to brush her caution off. 'What the fu…what are you talking about, Trina? Go away, please!' I think my reply back to her since I learned years ago that talking out loud makes people stare at me and give me crazy looks. "What is it you seek?" I try not to laugh at the Witch's stereotypical thick Russian accent; this lady gets into her role-playing. Trina is growling in my head. It's not a loud scary growl; it's more like a caution, a low hum that distracts me and makes it hard to speak. "It's a 'return to me' potion. I read a blog from one of your customers, and she said it worked on her ex-boyfriend." Feeling like an i***t even saying that out loud because I know how absurd it sounds, but again, desperate times and all. The Russian Witch, never veering her gaze from my eyes, shakes her head in slow motion and over exaggerates her frown. "Potions will not help on rejected mate, sorry." I have no idea what she is talking about, and it takes me a few moments to regroup. So, I just smile and ignore her craziness. "Okay, is a rejected mate the same as being dumped by your boyfrrrrr…." My words trailed off as the Witch leaned over the white plastic table that divided us and sniffed my shirt. Her long silver hair fell forward and knocked some of the bottles and homemade candles over. "I smell cat on you, odd; you like cats?" She doesn't stand back up; she oddly looks up at me while bent over, still smelling my shirt. 'Trina,' I think/talk to the crazy person in my head. 'I just met someone as crazy as you!' 'I am not crazy, and neither is she.' Trina snaps back. 'You shouldn't like cats; I hate cats. I am not sure how a Return To Me Potion works, but neither you nor your mate was rejected, so it doesn't matter.' The woman snaps back to standing and glares at something above me. Trina starts growling loudly in my head, and the Witch aggressively declares, "I don't sell to your kind; now go!" "You are selling to her," A deep male voice replies. I turn around and am shocked by the three huge men standing behind me. They are well over six feet tall and just a massive wall of muscle. It is as if a mountain has moved in behind me. The one directly behind me has midnight black hair and light, almost topaz eyes. He is the biggest of the three and radiates power. As if that isn't enough, he is gorgeous, which just adds to the intimidation factor. The other two are twins and flank him on each side. Although a bit shorter, they are just as wide, and they both stand with their arms crossed over their chests. Their muscles are straining their youth-sized tee shirt sleeves and looking as intimidating as a person could. Eyes deep brown and dark brown hair add to the daunting feeling of their presence, but I am trapped between them and the table, so I can't excuse myself from the situation. Looking back at the black-haired, god-like man behind me, I stare into his eyes. They are like warm liquid honey, and I am mesmerized by them. Trina is whimpering. 'He is an Alpha; tread carefully. You're outnumbered, although not ideal, I suggest you sub….' "SUBMIT!" He demands at the same time as Trina's suggestion. My body flinches as if his words had a physical weight to them, pushing me back. Bending down, he closes the distance between our faces and repeats, "Submit now!" I want to submit to him for some unknown reason, but I won't. I have never backed down from an overbearing male, and I am not about to start now. Standing up taller and pulling my body as far away from him as the table will let me, I take a deep breath. "I don't think so." I hope I sound confident because I don't feel it, and I am sure I heard Trina gulp. Can a voice in your head swallow hard? Before I can even react, he backhands me across my right cheek and has me crashing backward over the table and into the Witch. Fighting to keep from blacking out, I watch her above me, asking if I am okay. He must have struck me really hard because I swear, I am smelling that intoxicating scent of cedar, vanilla, and musk that makes my entire body melt. 'Ma..' is the last thing I hear Trina say before everything goes black. ALDRIC'S POV If it weren't for my Delta, Everett, informing my Beta, Liam, that there is a trio of wolves hanging around the Bayertown Farmers Market, I wouldn't be here today. It's Everett's job to run the summer market program and sell our fruits, vegetables, jams, and canned foods, and he is damn good at it. Even though we make a pretty decent profit, losing this income wouldn't hurt us, but it is an excellent program for our younger Delta's and Omega's to learn how to manage and run a small business. It prepares them for the day they take over the running of the pack farms, ranches, vineyards, and breweries. Liam offered to grab Colton so they could investigate the situation, but I needed to make my presence known and see what kind of a threat these wolves might be. Plus, Colton has been a bit of a b***h lately, and I don't think he and Liam should be alone in the car together. Breaking me from my thoughts, Liam nudges my shoulder and nods his head to the opposite end of the market. Our three big bad wolves don't look peaceful, they don't attempt to blend in, and they move about the place like they own it. I immediately recognized the black-haired guy as the Alpha, flanked by his Beta and Gamma, who appear to be twins. "Should we go say hi?" Liam's suggestion gets a small laugh from me, knowing that our introduction will not be perceived as friendly. Now I wish we would have brought Colton. I watch the three wolves pass crazy Galina when the Alpha stops walking and stares at the customer talking to Galina. Within seconds, the three wolves are standing behind the customer and have blocked our view. "Seems like they recognized Galina as a witch," I tell Liam as we pick up our pace. The winds shift, causing the breeze to float past us, and I am frozen at that moment; I smell honey-suckle mixed with fresh mint and lemon, and there is something else I can't immediately describe, but it is her; I know it. She is here, and my wolf is going crazy. Anxiously looking around for her, I see the Alpha at Galina's booth reach back with his right hand and backhand the customer Galina was working with when the realization crashes into me…he just f*****g hit my mate. As if the world suddenly moved in slow motion, I feel my wolf try to take over. Containing him as best as I can, I take off running at hyper-speed, in front of humans nonetheless, to get to my mate and protect her from those bastards. Within seconds, I am behind the Alpha and grab him from behind, by his shoulders, throwing him into a display of handcrafted wood art. Placing myself between them and my unconscious mate, I watch the Alpha, who is a bit dazed but quickly assessing the situation. Liam is running up to me, his face showing off the confusion he must feel. "MINE!" I growl, and the twins stay where they are. The one on the left turns to the black-haired wolf and is satisfied that he isn't injured as he watches him get up from the broken remains of the display and artwork. I recognize Liam linking, and since he isn't talking to me, I assume he is telling Everett to meet us at Galina's booth. Everett is only a Delta and a peaceful wolf, but he is big and another body that we may need if it comes down to a fight. This situation is dangerous, f**k, I am dangerous. My wolf wants these guys dead, and I'm right there with him. However, I am grateful they don't appear to be rogues, which makes me optimistic that they will be more likely to shut this situation down. I am not worried about myself, but since there are so many human witnesses, this could go really bad, really fast. Their Alpha and Liam approach us at the same time. He looks as feral as I feel at this point, and as childish as it is, we are having a full-blown staring contest. It's immature, but we aren't backing down. "We are not alone, guys!" Liam's words cut the tension between us. "It seems that there has been a misunderstanding and the best thing we can do right now is walk away." Everett's arrival punctuates Liam's words. Seeing him confirms my guess that Liam was linking him, and I watch him carefully take his place next to us, so he doesn't escalate the tension, but showing that we are evenly matched makes me proud. We have gathered quite a crowd, and now that the humans have their cell phones out, they are apparently recording this hoping to be the next big thing on social media. "It seems that there has been a misunderstanding, and the best thing we can do right now is walk away." I love how Liam is the voice of reason and is in the right mindset to defuse the situation. All I can think about is a dead Italian Werewolf and his blood on my paws. Liam interrupts my thoughts of ripping out the throat of the asshole who hit my mate. 'I don't know what these guys are up to, but I don't trust them. Since Aldric is seconds from losing control of his wolf, I need you to be prepared to grab him and keep him from attacking their Alpha.' Finally, the twins nod their heads in unison; their Alpha, who never takes his eyes off me, grins, "Fine, we will take the b***h and leave you." My whole body and my wolf reacts to our mate being called a b***h, and Everett jumps in front of me, keeping me back; Liam pushes his way in front of their Alpha in a last-ditch effort to end this. Everyone around us has their camera phones on, and I am imagining the evening news airing six grown-ass men shifting into wolves. "I am afraid that is impossible. She is my…boss’...fiancée." Liam substituted Alpha and mate for our human audience. Their Alpha leans to my left and looks down at my mate, who is still out cold. Her head is in Galina's lap, a trickle of blood running down her cheek from where his ring cut her from the backhand slap. "I don't see a ma…a ring." He quickly makes the human word adjustment as he questions the relationship. "Trust me, she is his fiancée, and it's not negotiable. Are we done?" Liam looks at the three of them; again, they are obviously linking. This time the Alpha nods his head. "We're done" is all he says as the three of them walk away. Everett leaves to go back to our booth, Liam goes to the vendor whose artwork was destroyed, and I can hear him apologize for the damage; I assume he is giving him money for the damaged pieces. I can't get to the other side of the table fast enough to check on my mate. The cut on her face is still bleeding, which is odd. The bruise on her eye is getting darker, and the fact that she is still unconscious worries me. She should be healed by now; it is basically a tiny cut. "Do you know who she is?" Galina shakes her head, "Nyet; she came for a 'return to me' potion; I was telling her it won't work on rejected mate. Did you reject her"? "Reject her? Hell, I haven't even met her yet." I put my arms under the bend of her knees and shoulders, picking her up bridal style so I could carry her to my car and get her to our Pack doctor. "What about the wolves? Do you know who they are?" She gets up with me, her old body unable to stand straight. "Nyet, I have never seen them before, and they didn't seem to know her either." "Thanks," I call out to her as I take a few steps away. Out of nowhere, one of the twins bumps into me, and just as I feel a sharp burning pain in my lower abdomen, he gives me a sinister smile and then takes off. A quick searing pain cuts into me, and my wolf is howling in my head. Unable to ignore the pain, I collapse to my knees, careful not to drop my mate. Everything around me starts to fade in and out. I hear a Galina shout Liam's name. As I look in his direction, I see the twin running off with a bloody knife in his hands. Liam is immediately at my side, taking my mate from me and gently laying her down. He looks at my wound, and from the amount of blood and lack of healing, I can only assume the twin used a silver knife. Granted, I was just stabbed, but I am an Alpha and heal faster than any other wolf. My blood should have congealed after he removed the blade. This amount of pain is beyond anything I have ever experienced before. Galina's shadow blankets us; she squats down next to me, puts her finger in my blood, and tastes it. "Wolfsbane" is all she says. "f*****g perfect."