Being in the truck, I felt as though we'd been in the vehicle for a while now. I began to feel a bit anxious before I felt the truck come to a sudden stop before the twin who was driving turned off the truck.
The twin who was on the passenger side opened my door before he helped me out.
Getting out, I noticed the familiar house that I had escaped from a little bit ago.
"Here, come this way," The twin who was driving says as he leads me into the house.
"Thank you, Daniel and Oliver," Ezra says, standing in front of me now.
"You're welcome, Be-" Before Oliver, I believe, could finish his sentence, Daniel (the twin with the lightning bolt tattoo on his neck) bumped his shoulder, making Oliver clear his throat before finishing his sentence. "...Sir," He finishes. What are you hiding?
"Welcome back, Shortcake," Ezra says with a small welcoming smile while looking at me. I was still heartbroken by him and honestly just wanted to curl back up into a ball and die.
I just look at him without responding.
"I understand how you feel, but I need to explain something to you," He says, taking a step closer to me.
"Fine," I say, rolling my eyes.
"Just follow me," He says, motioning his hand towards him as if saying 'follow me'.
We walked up four flights of stairs until we finally arrived at an office. In the office, Apollo was sitting at it, typing something on his laptop.
"Apollo," Ezra says, getting his attention. As soon as Apollo noticed me next to Ezra, he nodded before closing his laptop and watching me and Ezra sit in the two chairs in front of the desk.
"Welcome, Stella," Apollo says with a welcoming smile.
"Hi," I say, awkwardly sitting in the chair, waiting for what's to come.
"You seem a little uncomfortable," Apollo says before standing up to straighten up and smoothing out his suit. He then walks towards me before grabbing a chair and setting it right next to me, facing me, and then turning my chair to face him. Ezra stood up to adjust his chair so we were all in a sort of triangle, facing each other. I was even more uncomfortable.
"Apollo," Ezra says before giving Apollo a certain look. Apollo nods before beginning to talk again.
"I have a question for you, Stella," Apollo says before asking his question. "Do you believe in mythical creatures such as werewolves or vampires?" He asks, seeming to be serious.
"Uh," I wasn't sure how to answer.
"I'm going to take that as a no," Apollo says, nodding his head in understanding, but before he can continue, I cut him off.
"I used to when I was younger, but I soon lost interest, assuming they didn't because I never saw one," I explain. I always read those books that were about werewolf love, about mates and Betas, but I assumed they didn't exist, seeing as I was never proven correct or wrong," I finish.
"Interesting," Ezra says, staring at me with a look that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"I don't want you to freak out, but your first assumption of them was correct," Apollo says, a small glint of something flashing through his eyes.
"What?" I ask, a little confused.
"Can you take a deep breath before he finishes explaining?" Ezra tells me. I do as he says before I let Apollo finish.
"Stella," Apollo pauses for a minute while staring into my eyes before continuing. "We are werewolves," He finishes before a hint of worry shows in his eyes. My eyes widened in shock before I started to laugh in disbelief.
"Are you pranking me?" I ask, waiting for the punch line while I keep laughing. After a few minutes, I noticed they weren't saying anything and immediately stopped. My eyes flashed in surprise before I immediately stood up. "What?" I ask, trying to wrap my mind around what he told me. Werewolves are real? What the hell?
"It's true, werewolves are real," Apollo says. I look over to Ezra to find him nodding in agreement. "How would you even know?" I ask, still uncertain.
"We are werewolves and we are both your mates," Ezra says.
"You are both insane," I say before I take a step out of the office. "I'm leaving. I can't even believe that I'm here," I say, stepping towards the stairs.
"You can't leave," I hear a deep voice. Turning around, I saw Apollo, but his eyes were dark and his posture seemed more dominant than his usual self. He made me feel so petite and weak. "You belong here with me," He says, quickly making his way to block the stairs.
"Shit," I hear Ezra say as he slowly makes his way towards me.
"What?" I asked him, still looking at Apollo. "Why is Apollo different now?" I ask, fearful.
"That isn't Apollo, his wolf is taking charge," Ezra warns me. "You have to try to calm him down," Ezra says, making me look at him in shock.
"I don't want to be near him," I tell him, still fearful of Apollo, well, I guess, his wolf.
"You have to," Ezra says. I look back up to Apollo and just stare up at him in fright.
"Hey, mate," Apollo's wolf says, taking steps towards me, causing me to take small steps back, and eventually locking me between his strong body, arms, and the wall behind me. "The name is Zev," He says, shoving his face in my neck and seeming to sniff me. Um... Okay, this is getting weird. I attempt to get away by sneaking under his arm, but he immediately blocks me. "Don't you try to escape from me, Princesa," He says. "You're mine and I will not let you go," He says, shoving his face in my neck again, sniffing me.
I look over to Ezra with an awkward look before he notices and begins to explain.
"Since you're his mate, he's sniffing your scent to calm his wolf. You're the only one who can calm him down," He explains. I just nod my head in response. Soon, Apollo brings his face out of my neck and I can finally see his mountain blue eyes again.
"Sorry," He clears his throat, taking a step back.
"Um," I just say while standing there in awkwardness. I had no idea what was happening, and I honestly just wanted to go home.
As if reading my mind, Apollo speaks.
"I'm sorry, Princesa, but you cannot go," He begins. "I can't have you away from me due to the mate bond and me being an Alpha," He explains. Alpha. Alpha. Alpha. I try to think of where I heard that before. Oh. Bea mentioned it.
"Alpha?" I ask, confused. I don't remember the word Alpha being in any of the werewolf books that I read.
"Yes, I am the Alpha of the Moonlight Cresent pack," He tells me. "That means I am the leader of the pack," He tells me. "Ezra, here, is the Beta of the pack, he is..." Before he could continue, I cut him off.
"Let me guess," I pause, pretending to think. "The second in command," I tell him.
"Exactly," He says with a smile.
"Okay, so how does this even work? How am I both the Luna of this pack and the Beta-Female?" I ask, never reading a book that has one mate for both the Alpha and Beta.
"That is a great question," Apollo says. "It has never happened before, but it has been mentioned in our history that it is possible," He pauses, making sure I am still paying attention. "The Moon Goddess has stated in our history that if it were to happen one day, the mate would be called a Pheonix and would be one of the strongest leaders to protect werewolves and to help lead them to victory," He finishes.
"Really?" I ask, doubtful. "But I'm just human," I say.
"I understand that we both understand that," Ezra says, looking at Apollo. "But the moon goddess sent you to both of us which means you are very powerful and unique," He explains, making my eyes widen.
"He is right, Princesa," Apollo says with a smile.
"But what about my home?" I ask, thinking about school, home, and my mother.
"You belong here with us, Stella," Ezra says.
"But I can't," I tell them, noticing the sadness that flashes through both of their eyes. "I have a life outside of all of this werewolf stuff, and I can't just drop it to become a phoenix for a pack of werewolves that I just learned about," I tell them, regretfully making my way down the stairs.
"But-" Before Apollo could say anything else, I cut him off.
"Apollo," I begin, finally getting to the bottom of the stairs to the main floor. "I'm sorry, but I can't," I tell him before stepping out of the house.
"Oliver, will you drive her home?" I hear Ezra speak before Oliver opens the door to the truck for me and helps me into the truck before closing the door.
On our way back into town, out of the forest, I heard the faint sound of the radio as my mind was racing with too many thoughts about all of this information.
"Oliver," I begin. As soon as he glances at me through the mirror, I begin to speak again. "Do you think I'm making the right decision? I mean, I am only human and I don't have the power to protect and lead an entire pack of werewolves, right?" I ask.
"Well, Pheonix," He begins, I don't bother to correct him. "If you decide to reject Alpha Oliver and Beta Ezra then chances are, our werewolf bloodline will end and all werewolves will end up as rogues, who end up getting banned from a pack or rejected by their mate," He pauses, seeming to think. "And as for your power," He pauses again. "I believe you have as much power as you believe you have," He says. "You are the only one who can control what you do," He explains.
"Oh," I say, thinking about what he just said. Rogues? Oh wait, I remember reading about them. They are werewolves that turn evil because they either get rejected or they get banished from a pack.
"Anyways, you think all of this over," He says as he stops in front of my house. "Just take some time to wrap your mind around it and all of that, okay?" He asks. I nod in response as I get out of the truck and head into the house. This was a lot to take in today.