6. Owen

It only took a moment. A very short moment, to notice she was gone. Her absence rocked the very core of me. A coldness set deep in my limbs. So numbing I let go of my hold on Luke and didn't even flinch as his fist hit my cheek bone, cracking something, although I'm not sure what. Blood fills my mouth, but all I can concentrate on is the opening to the cave. My chest aches and my wolf whines. She's hurt.

"You hurt her!" I scream at Luke and shove him into the back of the cave.

"You hurt her! Not me!" he screams in my face, so close that his spit hits my chin. His shoulders rock with fury and he glares at me with spite. "She fucking loved what I did to her." He snarls his words and beats his fist against his chest. "I felt her affection, the spark between us." He sneers at me and starts walking toward the light filtering in the cave. "You ruined it. You ruined this."

I yank his shoulder and force him to look at me. He's not going to blame this all on me. "You took her. I smell her blood!" His eyes leave mine and flash with guilt. "How could you do that to me?" A pain of betrayal hurts my chest. Never once have we fought against each other like this. When our older brother left, forfeiting the pack, our father, our Alpha... We never would've survived without each other. We have always had each other's back. Through all of the bullshit. Yet here we are, finally with a pack of our own, thriving, and we come to blows over our shared mate. "You think I want to share her? I don't!" His eyes meet mine again with a challenge. "But I'd never do that to you!"

"Bullshit!" His words are full of anger, but also full of doubt.

"I wouldn't hurt you like that. You know what it would mean to have our mate deny either one of us." Even the thought of her choosing just one of us nearly crumples my body. There's no way we could remain Alphas. Not with the pain and weakness it would cause our wolves. Death would be better. At least that would be honorable.

"My intent wasn't to hurt you." He glances at the entrance and then meets my gaze before clenching his fists. "It wasn't about you. I wasn't thinking like that."

"You weren't thinking at all!" I yell at him. Although he doesn't flinch or react in the least, I see his eyes flash with remorse.

It takes several minutes for us to calm the fuck down; I feel my muscles relax and my skin heal as I stretch my arms and rub my jaw. "Well maybe with your dick." I try to lighten the mood between us. After all, Luke has never been a peacemaker, and I want this behind us as soon as possible. We need to be united for the sake of our mate. He huffs at my remark, devoid of all humor. I crack my neck and give him a look over. "At least I got to beat your ass." I lean my neck to one side until it cracks and then the other side. "I've always wondered who would win between the two of us."

"Bullshit, you got your ass handed to you." A semblance of a smile barely surfaces, but the air between us feels cleaner. I smack a hand on his solid back and start walking out of the cave.

My smile slips and I glance into the woods, sniffing the air for her scent. "We need to find her and make it up to her." She couldn't have gotten very far, but she's hurt. I can feel it in my bones. Darkness washes over Luke as he nods his head. My chest pains looking at him. If only I'd kept my emotions in check, she wouldn't be hurting. This could've been so good. Fuck, if I hadn't been pissed, we could both be satisfying our sweet mate right now. I shake my head and look at the ground while taking a deep breath. "We'll make it up to her."

"We have to." Luke's solemn words ring in my ears and we head into the woods.

It's easy to catch her scent. It's the sweetest thing in the air. It's also mixed with my brother's scent, and I have to restrain myself from getting pissed all over again. I forgive him, but I'm going to fucking remember this. We should've taken her together. Her virginity was just as much mine as it was his. A low growl rumbles in my chest as the thought registers. Luke looks my way and has the decency to at least look a little shameful.

"I want her next…alone." Luke's jaw clenches and he looks like he wants to fight me. My eyes widen in surprise. He's got to be fucking kidding me! I clench my fist, hoping I don't have to lay into him, but I'm fucking ready if he's going to be stubborn.

"Fine." He barely grumbles the word through clenched teeth.

"And her ass." I add that in there more or less to let him know her ass is mine. His eyes blaze with fury.

"Fuck off." He spits his words and starts running, shifting in the air and landing hard on the ground, before taking off toward our mate. Selfishly I correct myself, my mate.