The Alpha Brothers Broken Mate

Do We Look Like Lumberjacks?

My brother and Rose started at my phone screen like they were waiting for someone to jump out of it. Dylan frowned before looking up at me. “So, what now? We can’t just sit here and wait for them to attack us”.

Rose looked down at her hands, one of which was clutching onto my brother’s, the other was curled into a fist, as if she were digging her nails into her palm. I couldn’t help but notice the fear and apprehension on her face, as well as something else, could it be guilt? My brother was right about one thing, she was beautiful, probably the most gorgeous female I had ever laid eyes on. Of course, I would never admit that to Dylan, I’d never hear the end of it. The weirdest thing about Rose, was that my wolf was acting like a lovesick puppy when he looked at her, almost whining to get closer to her. I pushed him back and focused on the problem at hand. “Why are you asking me? I am not the one who pissed this vampire off”. I turned to Rose, “What about you, anything to add that might be helpful?”

Rose shook her head solemnly before looking up at me with hope in her eyes. “Do you have pointy things?”

I sneered, “Like what? A knitting needle? A pen?” I knew I was being an asshole, but right now I didn’t care. “Seriously, is that the only suggestion you have? We are in this mess because of you; lady”

.

Dylan jumped off the sofa, dropping Rose’s hand as he did, before facing me with a scowl on his face. “That is enough Zac, this is not Rose’s fault. She is a victim, last time I checked we protect the innocent. Now let’s discuss a plan rationally, we need to work together here”

.

I knew he was right, now was not the time for blame. There was just something about this woman that left me feeling angry, horny, and suspicious all at once. I did not like that her intoxicating scent was driving me to distraction either. I ran my hand through my hair as I walked towards the stool I had been sitting on previously. I sat down and turned to face Dylan and Rose. “Fine, let’s put a plan together. We need to know exactly what their weakness is and what our advantage is”. My gaze fell on Rose again, as I tried to ignore my wolf’s whines to go closer to her again. “Any ideas Rose? We need the edge here. Is it true that vampires cannot enter without an invitation? What can kill them fast? Anything you know could be helpful”. I was trying to keep my voice softer and less confrontational, my approach up till now had not been successful, maybe she would be more inclined to talk if I was gentler towards her. My wolf seemed to settle down a bit too.

Rose looked between me and my brother before shaking her head again. “They did not discuss their weaknesses, why would they. I do however know from overhearing things they discussed, there is truth to the stake through the heart thing. It kills them immediately if you stab the right place. Garlic doesn’t affect them, that’s a myth. There is some truth to the ‘invitation’ into your home before they can enter, but there are loopholes”

.

Dylan spoke now. “Loopholes? Like what?”

“I am not entirely sure, I just remember Elaria, one of Marco’s second in command, spoke of how she had tricked someone into letting her in. They must have ways of getting in without an actual invitation”. Rose shook her head apologetically, “I wish I knew more that could be helpful”.

Dylan sat next to her and wrapped an arm round her shoulder, I tried to ignore my wolf’s howls of jealousy at the sight. “It’s okay Rose, we know this must be hard for you. Any other ways to kill them that you know about?” Dylan asked, still cuddling Rose into his torso.

Rose looked up at my brother. “Do you have an axe? I think if you cut their head off it kills them too”.

I mind-linked my brother, a perk of being a wolf shifter.. Anything dies when you chop its head off. We need more Dylan. Either toughen up or I will.

Dylan looked round at me and scowled. Let me handle this Zac, you have done enough to upset Rose.

I snorted. “Do we look like lumberjacks?”

Dylan sent me a look that promised retribution later. “Actually, I do have an axe. It is in the trunk of my car though. I could go alone and retrieve it”.

Rose gripped his arm, “No, you can’t go alone. Please do not go down to your car, they could be waiting there for you”.

I hated to admit it, but she was right. “Rose is right, no one is going anywhere alone. Right now, I think we should try and get some rest. Take turns of keeping watch. You both go rest and I will stay guard. If I hear anything I will wake you. At first light, we need to pack a few things and find somewhere to lay low till we get Rose to safety”.

Dylan nodded his agreement. “I think you’re right. We cannot sit here in this apartment waiting to be ambushed. We need to get out of here. Hopefully if we leave at sunrise, we will have an advantage. Vamps cannot go out during the day, right?” Dylan looked down at Rose who was still curled into him.

She looked up with a bewildered expression. “I am not sure, all I know is there is heavy drapes and blinds all round their compound, I could never tell if it was day or night while I was being held prisoner there”

.

“That sounds like they are not keen on sunlight. That’s helpful,” I decided to add another word against my better judgement. “Thanks”.

Rose just nodded and gave me a grateful smile. It was a small gesture, but it was enough to cause a warm feeling to spread through my chest. What was this female doing to me? “Rose, go lie down and try get some rest. I need to talk to my brother and make arrangements”.

Rose nodded again and gently pulled herself out of Dylan’s embrace. She looked round at him before saying in a hushed voice. “Will you come with me?”

Dylan took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You go on ahead, I promise I will come and check on you and watch over you while you sleep. I need to discuss things with Zac first”

.

Rose just nodded and walked off towards Dylan’s room. I tried to stop the envious feelings that flooded through me at the thought of her being in my brother’s bed. “She’s in your bed already? That didn’t take long brother”.

Dylan sighed and stood up to walk towards where I was sitting at the breakfast counter. “Leave it Zac, she clearly feels safer being in my room. It’s no big deal, I want her to feel safe and secure with us. If that means sleeping in my bed, then so be it. Not as if I am in it with her”.

I smirked at my brother. “But you wish you were?”

“Now is not the time for thinking about what I want, there is no doubting she is beautiful and desirable, her safety is paramount though. Once she is safe then I will see how things stand,” Dylan began to slice up the pizza that was still sitting untouched. “What about you? I saw the look you gave Rose when you first laid eyes on her”.

“That was contempt, nothing more. That female is going to be the death of us, please forgive me if I’m not drooling over her like you. Is she someone I’d f**k and send home in a taxi? Sure. Doesn’t mean to say I’d fall in love with her”.

Dylan dropped the pizza slicer and growled at me. “Do not talk about her like that, she is not a plaything for you Zac. And who said anything about falling in love with her?”

Damn, why did I say that? “I was just picking up on vibes from you Dylan, I have never seen you so rattled or smitten over a female before. Not even Belinda. We still don’t even know if we can trust this woman”.

Dylan grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and placed two slices of pizza onto a plate, before turning to look at me again. “You can lie to yourself brother, but not me. I know you are feeling just as protective over Rose as I feel. I am not judging you for it, just wish you would stop acting like she is the enemy. She needs us, especially as we are the only ones who can protect her. No one else has the ‘power’ to fight a nest of vampires and you know it”.

I hated the fact Dylan knew me better than I knew myself at times. He was right, I did feel protective over Rose, and I already knew I would rip anyone to shreds that even tried to lay a f*****g finger on her. I still could not work out why though. “Okay asshole, thank you for the psychoanalysis. If you are bringing that food to Rose, go do it and then come back. We have things to discuss”.

Dylan picked up the plate of pizza and the bottle of water and began to walk off towards his room. He had to have the last word as always though, “I might come back, if Rose needs someone to comfort her in bed, I will see you in an hour or two!”

What an asshole! My wolf growled, making Dylan turn round and smirk at me. f**k. He heard that?

As Dylan disappeared into his room shutting the door behind him, I tried to distract myself and my agitated wolf by grabbing a slice of pizza and helping myself to a bottle of water out of Dylan’s fridge. It did nothing to keep my mind from racing though. I was trying to weigh up our options, where could we go to protect Rose? Dylan and I could handle ourselves, only problem is, we didn’t want Rose to know that. She was already freaked out about the idea of vampires being real, how would she feel if she knew we were wolf shifters. Traumatised I expect. No, we had to keep that from her unless we truly had no other option. My brother and I had managed to keep our true identity a secret up to now, we had to do our best to keep it that way.

I kept looking up at Dylan’s bedroom door, it made me on edge to think he might be lying next to her with his arms wrapped round her body. I had no reason for this jealousy, my brother and I had never been at odds over a female before. Mostly because there was always plenty of women to choose from, they would literally throw themselves at us. Plus, our tastes were very different when it came to women. Dylan usually went for curves, long legs, large chest and did not care if they were college graduates, as long as they spread their legs. I, on the other hand, liked a smart, intelligent woman. The women I liked to sleep with were sexy, but also had a brain and were able to converse with me about literature and current affairs. I had always needed more than just good s*x. I liked to be able to have intelligent conversation with a female. That is where Dylan and I differed. He liked his women submissive and dumb with a hot body, he never kept them around long enough for conversation once he had f****d them ten ways from Sunday.

That is why this made no sense, why were we both being affected by Rose? I wondered if my brother’s wolf was acting up like mine was too. I shook off the thought and got up to pace round the lounge area, sneaking little glances at the bedroom door. I even tried to tune into my wolf’s sensory abilities when I walked closer to Dylan’s bedroom door, I had to hear what was going on, even if it would make my blood boil just a little. The sound of a loud buzzer made me jump and brought me back to my senses. What the f**k now?

Dylan’s bedroom door flew open, he appeared looking alarmed. Thankfully I did not pick up any strong scents of arousal from the room, which hopefully meant he had been the perfect gentleman towards Rose. “f**k! Who would be trying to get entry to my apartment at 3.45am? Go protect Rose, keep the door shut and let me handle whoever is here”.

“No f*****g way, I am not letting you face whoever is here on your own. Tell Rose to stay in the room till we let her know it is safe to come out”, The buzzer went again, this time longer than the first attempt. Whoever it is wasn’t giving up. “Answer it, you don’t have to let them in. At least if we know who it is we can prepare for their attack”.

Dylan just nodded grimly and turned towards Rose, who was now standing in the doorway to his room. “Go back inside Rose, close the door and do not even think of opening it until we tell you it is safe to. Okay?”

Rose just nodded before looking between both of us. “Be careful, they are stronger and faster than any humans.”

I wanted to say ‘so are we’ but now was not the time. Dylan and I just nodded as Rose closed the door, my wolf was frantic at the thought of not seeing her anymore. I looked at Dylan, his face was concerned too, and he had a worried expression on his face. Dylan never showed concern or fear, was it because he never felt so protective over someone before? We both jumped this time, as the buzzer went again, this time it was continuous. So much so, my ears were ringing! “Answer the f*****g thing before our ears explode!” I yelled at my brother.

Dylan walked towards the buzzer entry panel next to his apartment door. He had his hands over his ears too. Suddenly the buzzer stopped. Dylan picked up the receiver and pressed a button to put the system on loudspeaker. There was no voice, only the sound of someone breathing heavily, as if they had just run a marathon. Dylan spoke into the intercom, “Who’s there?”

There was a slight pause before a recognisable female voice came through the speaker. “Dylan, it’s me. You have to let me in. I am being chased by two vampires. They're real, Please help me!” Then there was a shrill scream that made Dylan and I cover our ears again, we both winced in pain.

Fuck. Had the vampires just killed Belinda?