Chapter 273 – Owned by the Alphas Novel Free by Jen Cooper

Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel

I sniffed the air, my heart skipping a beat.

Human.

Female.

She smelled delicious. So sweet, so mouthwatering, my heart skipped a beat.

I took a deep breath, trying to get more of the scent.

My eyes narrowed in the darkness as I searched for the source of the scent.

I moved the girl onto the fabric, wrapping her and her brother in my coat, then stood, moving closer to the scent.

It was intoxicating.

Mesmerizing.

My mouth watered, and my chest ached painfully.

The twins continued to cry, and the owner of the scent ran faster.

I spotted her through the trees. She hadn’t seen me yet, but she heard the twins.

Tears streamed down her petite face. Her face was flushed, her body wrapped in dresses ill-suited for the snow, but she ran fast in them as if she wore nothing.

“I can hear you, babies! Keep crying! I’m coming!” she called, her voice breaking.

That voice was like a stab in my chest. I felt her pain as if it was my own.

I frowned, unable to explain that.

I returned to the twins.

“I am going to hide and see what this human wants. I’ll be close, and I will protect you if you are in danger,” I promised. I grabbed my things and moved into the forest, hiding behind some closely spaced bushes.

I piled my things together and waited for the human to crest the hill.

She was running fast and was clearly distressed. I needed to know why.

I wasn’t sure why, but I needed to. I needed to understand why she was so broken.

The twins continued to call for her, their arms and legs flailing.

“Almost there!” the woman cried out in the softest, most melodious voice I’d ever heard.

It was another thing that made my heart race.

My body was tense, unusually tight as if it was anticipating something.

I hid further into the trees, cursing my pale skin in the dark night. She would see me if she looked hard enough. But I wanted to understand her intentions before revealing myself.

She crested the hill, her face crumpling in pain as she spotted the two bundles by the tree. She fell into the snow in her rush to reach them, her cry a heartbroken sob.

But also one of relief.

Which made me feel relief.

She was happy to see them. I wanted to know why. Had she not known? Were they lost? I wanted to know more.

The woman picked up the children, holding them close, crying into them as they gurgled happily. It was the most animated I’d seen the brother.

“I’m here, babies. Mommy is here. I am so sorry. I won’t leave you again. I won’t let him hurt you,” she whispered to them, her pain so intense. It made my chest rumble, a growl threatening to escape. I held it back, frowning at the reaction my body was having to her.

“My little Lorelai. You are so beautiful,” she whispered to the girl, who responded with a bubbly giggle. Her shadows came over to me, happiness pouring into me from them. I couldn’t see them, but the feelings were there, and I smiled.

This woman was their mother.

But why hadn’t they been with her?

The woman pulled blankets from the bag she carried and wrapped her children in them. Then she pulled out bottles and fed them both, leaning against the tree, facing the lake and away from the direction she had come from.

I moved further around so I could see her properly, something drawing me to her.

I felt a pull in my chest, and I rubbed the ache, thinking it would go away.

But it didn’t.

And my wolf was restless, trying to break my control, get out. I growled and pushed it back.

I should’ve known that would just make it angrier.

It pushed back harder, and I stumbled back, deeper into the forest, transforming into my wolf as far away as I could get before it took over.

In my wolf form, her scent was even more potent. It filled me, and an intense craving washed over me. I needed her. I wanted to taste that scent. I wanted to mark it. Claim it as mine. My wolf pulled us forward to the tree line, and then I understood.

“Mate,” whispered in my head, and I clenched my eyes shut.

A mate. After all these years, I had found my mate.

To a human woman who wore a wedding ring.

7. The Balance

PEARL

I’d found them. They were alive. Safe and sound. I couldn’t fathom how, but it didn’t matter. The how wasn’t important.

Their survival was. And they had survived.

I held them close, leaning against a tree. I didn’t have a plan. I knew I was going to be caught soon, but I wouldn’t let them go again. Mordechai would have to kill me to take our children. He might try, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

I looked at Lorelai and Lucas, my little winterborns who had survived a week in the snow on their own. They were already so strong, so unique.

I’d missed the first week of their lives. The thought made me want to scream and cry, but I had no energy left. All I could do was pray for more time with them.

Lucas resembled his father, which wasn’t a bad thing. He was handsome, with the same navy eyes as his sister. Lorelai. Her eyes were a shade lighter, her smile a bit wider on her rounder face.

So different, yet so alike. They were perfect.

I held them for a while, knowing my time was limited and refusing to let go sooner than necessary.

The twins fell asleep after a bottle of my milk. I laid them down on a coat that was with them. I didn’t recognize it from the village, but it might have come from the widow’s huts. Either way, I was grateful. It had kept them warm.

I stood up and surveyed the forest as they slept. Something felt off. Not wrong, but as if I was being watched.

I couldn’t hear Mordechai or his men approaching, although they were making a racket in the distance, revealing their location.

But that meant they weren’t the ones giving me this eerie feeling.

It seemed impossible, but I was certain something was there. My chest ached, and my stomach churned as the sensation intensified.

I bit my lip, moving closer to the trees, trying to see through them.

“Hello? Is someone there?” I called out.

No response.

I considered going in to check, but I couldn’t bear to leave the twins.

I glanced back at them and smiled, returning to their side.

I curled up next to them, watching them sleep.

I chuckled softly as Lorelai snorted in her sleep, snoring louder than her father as she mimicked a hibernating bear.

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