The Royal Brothers' Mate

Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

*****

I lay on the bench with my legs bent to keep my feet on the bench and my phone hovering above my face while I read. Watching the princes train for the first hour had been interesting, they were indeed training ridiculously hard even for werewolves and their guards had to keep swapping out to keep up with them while Rowan and Corin barely seemed to be breaking a sweat, it was incredible. I figured I should stop watching when they began to spar with the guards and since I could not watch both of them at the same time they seemed to be trying to outdo each other. I would watch Corin and then Rowan would let out a loud shout that would draw my attention but then I would hear something crack from the other side of the room and would have to look at Corin because I was afraid he got hurt. It was usually one of the guards that had broken something which was not unusual in training because werewolves healed fast, stronger werewolves were the fastest healers and these guards were pretty strong. The fighting went back and forth like that for ten minutes before I decided they were being childish and I was just going to read to distract myself from their fighting.

Being completely immersed in the story I was currently reading, I did not even notice the noise had stopped until someone leaned over me and I looked past my phone to smile at a sweaty Rowan. Some of his black hair stuck against his forehead because of his sweat as he grinned down at me and I wanted to brush it away but feared that that would make me want to fix the rest of his dishevelled hair too which would look too intimate to Corin and start another aggressive growling battle.

“Want to do some training? I’ll spot you.”

“You will not.” Rowan was pulled from my view and I sat up to see that Corin had pulled him back, the angry look on his face was slightly chilling. Rowan just licked his lips annoyed at his brother.

“I was not asking you, Corin.” I clenched my jaw as Corin’s hands fisted.

“She is my mate. I found her.” Rowan’s fist clenched as Corin said that but I spoke before he could answer his brother.

“I can train by myself.” They looked at me, “Or one of the guards will help me.” I looked at the guards and they nodded.

“No.” Corin and Rowan answered in unison before Rowan smiled. “You know what? Why not just fight it out? Winner gets to help her train.”

“I don’t think that’s a good –” I began.

“Deal.” Corin said pushing his hair back as he glared at his brother.

“Wait, no –”

“It’ll be fine, Eden. We fight all the time.” Rowan did not look at me as he spoke while he dried his face, neck and hair with a towel before tossing it aside onto the mat.

I frowned failing to believe they looked at each other with this much anger and animosity when they usually fought and I felt uneasy. I did not want to be the reason one of them got hurt or broke something in this gym and I did not want to train with either of them because of the way they had been acting the past couple of hours.

“I’m training by myself.” I said attempting to get up but they both spoke, this time using their commanding Alpha tones.

“Stay.” Just like that I felt like I was glued to the bench, no matter how much I wanted to leave my body would not move and I clenched my teeth feeling my anger flare.

“Seriously?! I don’t want to watch you fight or train with either of you!” I yelled out angrily. The guards across the room looked at me with shock and pity-filled faces and it only made me angrier. This was frustrating and embarrassing. It was also both terrifying and hurtful knowing that they thought it was okay to just command me to do whatever they wanted. How could I be mated to people I would be forced to obey whether I liked it or not for the rest of my life?

“Five-second pin?” Corin asked Rowan completely ignoring me.

“Yeah, first to pin.” Rowan replied.

I clenched my fist against the bench as they stood across each other and gave quick bows before Rowan launched at Corin so fast I could barely see him move. I winced feeling a slight pinch of the pain as a loud crack echoed through the room when Rowan’s fist met his brother’s cheek but Corin had obviously let him do that to get him close and grabbed his brother’s wrist before he slammed his hand into the side of Rowan’s arm making it emit a loud snap as it broke before Corin kneed him in his stomach and threw him aside on the mat. I clenched my teeth holding back a whimper at the pain in my arm while my eyes burnt. Rowan immediately jumped back to his feet and I was stunned by how quickly his arm was healing as he clenched his fist a few times rubbing the arm to straighten it before he dodged Corin’s kick at him.

I had seen wolves fight like this all the time, I trained the same way during spars. There were always broken bones and ridiculously hard punches but I could feel everything they did to each other and seeing it made my wolf want to help them because that’s why wolves could feel their mate’s pain, to help and protect them but I could not even move from the stupid bench. It felt torturous having to watch both of them get hurt, feel it, and not be able to do anything.

Completely engrossed in my own growing resentment and feeling their pain, I could barely pay attention to the brothers who were currently completely consumed in their fight as they rolled across the training mats exchanging blows that their guards looked concerned and even shocked by. I shut my eyes feeling my hands shake with my anger as I tried to push myself off the bench with every ounce of strength I had even though I figured it would not work.

I gasped slightly, my eyes shooting open as I almost fell when I suddenly stumbled onto my feet being able to move again. I did not wait for them to notice and sprinted out of the gym slamming the doors shut behind me before I ran through the palace, uncertain of where to go because I did not want to go to the room I had slept in where they would find me easily. It did not really matter where I went, they would be able to find me by following the stupid pulls we shared.

“Eden –” I coughed as I slammed hard into someone and they grabbed either side of my shoulders to keep me from falling as I apologised while trying to cover my face because the cough had made me realise I was crying. I wanted to roll my eyes at myself. Why the hell was I crying? I never cried. It did not help anything, it just blurred my vision. “Eden? What’s wrong? Did you – did you run into the king or queen again?” Edwin whispered the last sentence so softly I had barely heard it.

I shook my head drying my eyes as I realised the pain I had been feeling had stopped showing that they stopped fighting so they would be looking for me.

“I-I have to go. I want – I wanna be alone, I’m-I’m sorry.” I stuttered back, my throat felt really clogged up. It was impossible but I wanted to keep moving so I could be alone even if I could avoid them for just another minute. I tried to walk by him but his hands held me in place. He glanced past me uncertainly before he mumbled something and I furrowed my brows confused while he grabbed my wrist and pulled me down the hall and into a room.

The room around us was filled with industrial and domestic washing machines and dryers. Edwin shut the door before he stood beside it.

“Laundry room, the princes don’t come in here. Ever.” He said.

“They’ll still follow the pull.” I mumbled pushing myself up onto one of the folding tables against the wall and pulling my knees to my chest. At least I had been able to stop the stupid crying.

“For the next hour or so they won’t. They can’t.” I looked at Edwin confused, “My mate’s a witch. She taught me a few spells. I don’t usually use magic but I can if ever needed, like now. Usually I can hide mate pulls for weeks but given how strong the princes are, I’m sure it’ll only last an hour before they can push through it. Amy can hide mate pulls for years.”

“Amy?” I asked. I realised I could not feel their pulls either, I was grateful because I did not want to know how close they were to finding me if they were going to look for me. I just wanted to be completely away from them right now.

“My mate.” He smiled. I nodded.

“Thank you, Edwin. An hour is great.” I said.

“Well, Corin told me to protect you at all cost, I assume that meant from him and Rowan as well.” He shrugged and I gave a light laugh. “What happened?”

I sighed before I told him everything from the moment he had told us the princes needed to do their daily training. When I was finished he chuckled and I frowned at him. How had he found something amusing about all of that? One animalistic mate was enough. Two…

“Corin does not interact with females very often, Eden. Rowan is not supposed to as well – but he was at school overseas for most of his life so he has snuck around despite his parents sometimes. You should try to understand, they always get what they want, you’re the first time they might not and you’re their mate… I can’t imagine if I couldn’t be with Amy… they’re just afraid of losing you. Also, they have not heard much about mates because the Royal family tends to treat it as taboo so that young royals are not interested in finding their mates, they have not even met any of the palace guard’s mates.” He said, “That being said, they had no right to force you to stay there, it was very selfish.”

“Right?” I said.

“And they need to get over their pride. How you don’t notice that your mate can feel your pain is beyond me, I mean if Amy...” I shook my head but smiled as he looked horrified by the thought that he would not notice his mate in distress, he seemed to brush the thought away and sigh, “I guess that’s what happens when you’re just too full of pride and way too possessive. It’s an alpha thing, right?” He said.

Every child born into royalty was either a Luna or an Alpha because if they weren’t going to become king, they would still be taking over one of the packs in the kingdom.

“How does Corin not interact with females often when he has meetings all the time?” I asked.

“They’re meetings with males or already mated females to prevent him from finding his mate – or they were supposed to prevent it.  The same goes for Rowan, he went to a male-only school, but kids will be kids and he has always been quite the rebel.”

“Oh has he?” I laughed.

“Yes, he basically snuck out every week, he was a huge handful for the undercover guards and agents that had to keep track of him all the time.” I raised my brows wondering how reckless Rowan had to be as a teenager to sneak off away from guards when if anyone found out who he was, he could have been killed or used to threaten his parents.

“What about Corin?” I asked.

“He’s always been really mature, quiet. I’ve worked here and watched over him since he was born. He’s generally much more serious than Rowan, I worry about him. Sometimes we’ll be in a plane or a hotel and he’ll stare outside looking very drained and out of it. Sometimes he looks like that when Rowan tells him the stories about his school. I know he wishes he could have that carefree, or just free, life for a few days. You know, walk on the beach by himself or make friends.” Edwin frowned.

“He doesn’t have friends?” I asked surprised.

“Everyone is incredibly intimidated by him and he has always been homeschooled. He barely went to campus when he was in University and we were always barricaded around him when he was there. Add that to him being quite quiet and introverted, it’s hard to make friends like that.”

I opened my mouth but my voice got lost in my throat when I felt a huge amount of panic fill my chest. I dropped my legs over the edge of the table and leaned forward suddenly feeling sick with worry. I hopped off the table and stumbled a few paces before I regained my balance and groaned lifting my hand to my head to try and soothe a horrible headache I knew was not my own as my heart began to race.

“Are you okay? Oh – the spell’s wearing off.” Edwin said.

“You didn’t mention the aftereffects.” I groaned as I walked out of the laundry room.

“Hey, everything comes with a price, Luna.” Edwin chuckled as he shut the door behind us once we were in the hall. I glared at him, still trying not to focus on the heaviness in my chest that was making it hard to breathe.

“I’m not a Lu –” I could not complete my sentence as I was basically cut off by a pair of arms locking me into a tight-hold and squeezing me against a hard chest so tightly I couldn’t breathe. “Ah – Corin – ow.” I groaned, he instantly released his hold a little but still held onto me tightly enough to keep me securely against his chest.

“What the hell was that?! You ran off and I couldn’t feel you – and my wolf – why the hell would you do that? How did you do that? Rowan said pulls don’t disappear. How did you disappear?!” Corin’s angry yells sent chills down my back, but not enough for me to tell him the truth. I was glad he could not look at me while he held me because I wanted to bet his face was terrifying, his eyes probably glowing red ready to shift.

“What are you talking about? I was with Edwin the whole time.” I said softly, faking confusion.

“Yeah, we’ve been in my study the past hour, you were looking for her?” Edwin asked.

Corin sighed in response and I let myself smile as I felt his relief while he leaned his chin on top my head tightening his hold on me slightly so I was once again squeezed into his chest. My body froze suddenly as I realised how close we were, I mean I could smell his usual scent mixed with his sweat and feel his heart beating rapidly through his chest against me. I had to fight my wolf to lift my hands to his chest to push away from him gently before noticed I was touching his hard shirt-covered chest and quickly pulled my hands away to shove them into my pockets but I remembered I was not wearing a hoodie or track pants and kind of just slid my hands into each other after they unsuccessfully searched for pockets. I felt my cheeks burn and he just smiled shaking his head before he frowned again.

“How could I not feel you? Rowan can’t either – oh, Rowan.” I watched as Corin began to link, his eyes focused like he was looking right through me before his eyes regained their focus on me and he reached out to grab hold of my hand. I began to protest but was pulled into another hug again. I did not completely freeze up this time as I let myself feel what it was like to be in his arms. I liked it. It felt like I was almost hidden in them, it felt safe and so warm and comfortable. “You had us so worried, do not ever do that again.”

“Do what?” I asked, “I didn’t do anything.”

“You disappeared!” He hissed.

“How?” Edwin asked.

“I do not know, Edwin. Her pull just disappeared.” I looked at Edwin as Corin leaned his chin on my head again and gave him a grateful smile, he grinned back at me.

“Well, here she is. So, if you are happy now, do you mind getting cleaned up? We have to leave in an hour.” Edwin glanced at the watch on his wrist.

“Leave? Oh. The meeting.” Corin’s arms seemed to lock around me for a second before he let me go and I stepped back but raised my brows when he leaned down to my level. I got a look at his shirt and frowned at the darkening red blood that stained it that was undoubtedly from his fight with Rowan earlier. “I have to go, stay away from Rowan, will you? I do not trust him.”

“But he’s my mate.” I said it jokingly teasing him, but Corin’s jaw clenched as his eyes became streaked with red. I did not step back because part of me wanted to see him shift… I wanted to see his wolf. Rowan was a huge solid dark grey wolf, werewolves were generally bigger than normal wolves but his size had still been surprising, I figured Corin would be about the same size. Same colour too? How would his fur feel? How big were his paws? Did he have any spots?

“No. No, he is not, Eden.” His voice, mixed with a growl from his wolf, snapped me out of the trance his eyes had caught me in.

“R-right.” I stuttered, not paying much attention to what I was saying because I was trying to figure out whether it was me or my wolf that had wanted to see him shift so badly.

“Wrong.” Rowan’s voice came from down the hall immediately causing me to step a little bit further away from Corin. “You are going to be late, brother.” I bit my lip sensing another fight. Luckily, Edwin did as well.

“Corin, you must get ready to leave. Rowan, you should get cleaned up too before your parents see either of you looking this way, you will only be putting Eden in a dimmer light with them.”

“Dimmer light?” Rowan asked sounding confused.

His thought was right, how can something completely dark get any dimmer?

“Eden, you can use the gym for a while, we will not bother you.” Corin said, “Right, Rowan?” Corin looked over his shoulder and I leaned side-ways until I was peeking by Corin in order to see Rowan, he let out a laugh when he noticed and it made me grin.

“Right. The guards put your clothes in your room.” Rowan said.

“My room?” I asked.

“The one you slept in last night.” Corin responded before Rowan could. The way they spoke made it sound like they were passively trying to push by each other to be the first to tell me things, they weren’t physically fighting but it was just as annoying and nerve-racking.

“Alright, thank you. I’ll be in the gym, you both said you’d leave me alone. Remember that.” I heard Edwin chuckle from behind me as I jogged my way up the stairs not looking back at them.

*****