Page 4 of Claiming Xan
She turned, baring her teeth as she growled, “Isaid, give me space,” loud enough that everyone in the room could hear her.
The Alpha—because he wasdefinitelyan Alpha, and a sexy one at that—jerked back as if he’d been slapped, but not without a snarl. He wheeled away and began to pace, his bare feet stomping over waxed floorboards.
I couldn’t help but stare at him, at the wildness in his soul, the way his anger seemed to spark and arc around him like electricity. His growls a constant rumble of sound. Forget thunder—he was the whole damn storm.
Hot as fuck… Bet he was great between the sheets.
The Alpha stopped when he noticed me watching him. He turned, his eyes locking onto mine. They were strange, heterochromatic things, one a sharp, icy blue where the other was a dark, endless brown. He stared daggers into my soul, his lip curling into something reminiscent of a sneer, but god if it didn’t make my heart skip a beat.
This guy was damn near feral.
“River!” Mom snapped, her voice sharp. The Alpha tore his gaze from mine and followed her into one of the guest rooms, where she laid the wounded wolf down on the bed. She said something in quiet tones to the Alpha—River—and then closed the door behind her, leaving them in the room together.
From where I sat with Kace at the kitchen table, I could see how haggard Mom looked, standing there, wrung out, her scrubs smeared with blood.
Her shoulders slumped forwards for a moment as she drew in a deep breath, then straightened to compose herself on the exhalation. She crossed the room towards us, but not before pouring herself a cup of now-cool Columbian from the pot that I’d brewed.
After sticking it in the microwave to warm it up, she joined us at the table, sliding into her usual spot. Her hands cupped around the mug as steam rose up from the black depths to fog her reading glasses.
She shoved them up onto the top of her head and sighed heavily. “This is quite the turn of events,” she said finally, bringing the mug to her lips and taking a sip before setting it back down again.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
It was obvious Mom was concerned about the two rogues that showed up needing our help.
Why? This wasn’t unusual for Rubydawn. We were a sanctuary of sorts. We took shifters in from all walks of life. So what if these guys were a little…wild?
She didn’t answer; instead, she began scrolling through her phone, her brow furrowed in concentration. She seemed really upset. I bit my lip and looked at my brother, who bounced his eyebrows in a sort of “I don’t know” expression.
It was Kace who cleared his throat and broke the silence. His wounded arm rested on the table in front of him. “Mom? Talk to us. What’s going on?”
She looked up, a frown tugging down the corners of her lips. “They’retwins, Kace.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that,” he murmured. “What about it?”
Mom blew out a heavy breath that puffed out her cheeks. Chewing on her bottom lip, she set her phone down and looked between the two of us.
“Alpha and Omega twins are a rarity, and there’s a reason for that. Their energies are unbalanced, skewed and off-kilter. A surviving pair of Alpha-Omega twins rarely make it into late adulthood, usually due to violence either ending their lives, or landing them a lifetime behind bars in a high-security shifter prison,” she said quietly. “The ones who do survive…are the sole survivors of a pair.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Mom rubbed her temple. “Being together charges their broken energies, but if one of those energies is severed… The other can usually stabilize and go on to live a somewhat normal life.”
I frowned. “So, what you’re saying is we should’ve let the one guy die?” That seemed really shitty, but when Mom didn’t deny it, my stomach churned. “Mom?” I prompted, my voice rising in pitch. Surely she didn’t mean that.
“I didn’t say that,” she said. “It’s just… I’m not sure Rubydawn is equipped for this. We’re a sanctuary, not a reform.”
The room fell silent for a moment, before Kace spoke. “You’re going to turn them away.” It wasn’t a question.
Our mother didn’t respond.
Kace stood, suddenly angry. “You just said it—we’re a sanctuary. We help shifters in need, and these two young men are haunted by something. They need us, maybe more than we think. You can’t just turn them out because they’re hard to deal with.”
Mom stood as well. Her chest puffed out as she pointed at him. “One of them already attacked you, completely unprovoked! What if they snap and kill someone in Rubydawn? What if it’s your brother?”
“I’m right here,” I muttered.
“I’m trying to do what’s best for the whole of my pack,” Mom said. “As their Alpha. I need to research further, before I make any harsh decisions, but yes, I am prepared to turn them away.”
