"Joshua?" I asked surprised. I wasn't supposed to feel the tingling sensations that ran through my body to my toes.
I entered further into his room looking for my mate but Josh was the only one in his room.
I turned around to look at him standing by the door and I felt a pull towards him.
Britt whined and that had me wondering how I could have an invisible mate or if Josh was my mate. No, it wasn't possible.
"Britt, Josh is my brother. He can't be my mate." I said. I had heard about the whole mates and mated bond thing, but nobody mentioned sibling mates.
I walked over to Josh and held his hand and I stared at him. He looked at me with hunger in his eyes. I was so drawn to him and didn't know when he had me pressed against the door and when his lips covered mine.
The sparks, oh they were too much for me and I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me to his bed.
What we were doing felt so wrong and so right at the same time. I pushed away from him and I arranged my skirt that had ridden up.
I increased the distance between us and he growled. My heart tore at the distance and I longed to be in his arms.
All of a sudden? In his arms? My brother? I was so confused and aroused at the same time the mate bond was doing a ton on me.
"It can't be possible, You can't be my mate," I said trying to resist the urge to be in his arms. My brother's arms! My mate's arms!
He grabbed my arm and pulled me close. "But you can't deny the way our bodies reacted to each other." He insisted, his gaze burning with an intensity that left me breathless.
My eyes roamed his body and I knew it was true. We were mates and that meant we were going to have sex, but we were siblings.
Josh kissed me on the forehead and left his room leaving the door ajar. It seemed like he was trying to control himself.
What did that even mean?
"What the hell was going on?" Britt whined in my mind.
I ignored her and With trembling hands, I made my way out of Joshua's room, my mind spinning with the weight of the revelation that had just unfolded.
As I entered my room, the reflection staring back at me in the mirror mirrored the storm in me.
My lips, swollen and bruised from the fervent kisses shared with my brother, served as a stark reminder of the forbidden passion between Josh and me.
I left my room to join the party. Salem was settled on Tom's lap as she drank from her cup her laughter ringing out like a melody in the air. A pang of Jealousy struck me.
Her mate wasn't her brother and she was so happy.
"Bella? Are you okay?" She asked her voice tinged with concern as she struggled to maintain her composure. She was getting drunk. Tom steadied her with his arms wrapped around her.
"No... I..I mean, yes I am. Have you seen Josh?" I asked
"He left. I think he went for a run." Tom answered instead.
He ran away. Did he hate me so much? I mean I understood him. We certainly couldn't be mates.
I went out to clear my head and to also look for Joshua. I sniffed the air but I did not smell him.
"Bella, he is not here," Britt whined. That was what she's been doing lately.
He didn't want me and the thought of it made me feel sicker.
I tried to shift but I couldn't.
"Britt, I can't shift," I confessed, my voice tinged with a sense of defeat as I grappled with the inexplicable barrier that seemed to stand between me and my wolf.
I felt like something was holding me back. Salem shifted perfectly so what was happening to me?
I tried again but to no avail.
"I do not know what is happening. I can't shift." Britt replied.
Perhaps, the moon goddess in her infinite wisdom was correcting her mistake, maybe I just wasn't fit to get a mate or maybe I just sucked.
I walk for a long time but I stopped because I got a whiff of Joshua's scent.
I followed his scent and I headed into a bush part. Britt danced in my head, happy that our mate was close.
I suddenly stumbled forward and instead of falling, a strong pair of arms enveloped me and held me back halting my fall and I realized it was Joshua when tingles ran through my body.
I pushed him away from me and Britt whined. Again.
"You ran away because you do not want me. Reject me so I can move on and look for my real mate." I said on the brink of tears. It hurt me so much to think of it.
"Hey, Bella how can you say that?" He said as he held me in his arms. "Of course, I want you."
He held me close, his words washed over me, and deleted the lingering doubts and insecurities that had filled my mind.
The warmth of his touch sent shivers of pleasure down to my toes.
"Mhmm," I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper as I melted into his embrace,
"I just needed to clear my head," he continued, his tone tinged with sincerity as he held my face in his hands, drawing me closer to him.
"It was all too much. I had suspected that you were my mate a long time ago, but I just wasn't sure."
Joshua leaned down and his lips met mine with a hunger that mirrored my own, one of his hands on my butt.
As his hand pressed against my butt and I gasped, He seized the opportunity and put his tongue past my teeth.
I tensed as I wasn't used to it. But I then relaxed and began to participate, rolling my tongue against his, sucking on him, nibbling on his lower lip.
My hands made their way through his hair, over the wide expanse of his shoulder. My legs got so weak that I had to hold on to him.
"I want you. Want you so bad." I whispered as he pressed into me.
"How bad?" He asked and I undulated my hips, causing him to press against me with more force.
The exquisite friction nearly caused my eyes to roll back in my head. "So bad that..." I was cut short by a very excruciating pain.
As the excruciating pain ripped through my body, every fiber of my being seemed to scream in agony. My vision blurred, my breath coming in ragged gasps as waves of pain passed through me.
"Bella? What's wrong?" Joshua's voice cut through the haze of pain, his expression twisted with concern as he knelt beside me, his hands hovering over me as if unsure of what to do.
His touch brought a sense of relief before the pain started again.
I fell to the ground as my bones felt like it was been broken and reset. My gums, my nails, and skin felt like they had been torn apart.
I was told that the turning process wasn't supposed to be painful. I didn't know what to call this.
I had my wolf already so I didn't know why I had to feel such pain.
"I don't know... pain everywhere... My bones... bones feel so heavy and... and broken." Unable to form coherent words. Each word was punctuated by a gut-wrenching cry as my body contorted in agony.
The sound of my bone resetting was so loud and I let out a loud wail.
The sound of my mother's voice, echoing from the depths of the forest was caught by my ears. "That sounds like Isabella."
"Oh my God, Bella" She seemed very close. I could see her with so much clarity and the pain reduced which meant I had turned fully.
She was now beside me. Her face filled with so much worry and relief at the same time. "You must be mated to an Alpha to feel so much pain. Have you seen your mate?" She asked.
My mind raced as I struggled to make sense of her words, the realization dawning upon me. An Alpha? My dad wasn't even an Alpha
and so how was Joshua an Alpha?
"An Alpha?" I asked looking at Joshua who rubbed my furs. He looked as confused as I was.