Twin Alphas

Chapter 11

Aaron's POV

I was called into Jeremy's office after lunch, walking in I noticed him lying on the couch with his mate trying to make him comfortable by fluffing a pillow under his head. He looked defeated and physically pained.

"You wanted to see me?" I didn't want to call him Alpha or Jeremy, both showing either loyalty or disrespect.

"Yah," he tried to sit up only to wince and be gently pushed down by Elaina. "You'll have to excuse my position." He said through clenched teeth "I just finished a training session with Bayne." Immediately I understood and slightly chuckled, only getting a glare from Elaina.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, it's just I know exactly what you're talking about." Jeremy scuffed

"I can believe it. Elaina, would you excuse us for a minute?" he asked as he brought his mates hand to his lips and kissed it gently. She smiled and left the room closing the door softly behind her. After hearing her footsteps retreat down the hall I turned my attention back to Jeremy.

"What did you need?" I asked. He didn't just call me down here to tell me he got his butt whipped by Bayne did he. What man –what wolf would want to admit to being bested by a woman?

"I need your help." I gave him a confused look, Alphas don't normally ask for help, and when they do it's pretty serious. "I don't know how you and Bayne do it, keeping your emotions hidden. As you can probably guess her training was about the mental part of fighting as well as the physical parts. She slapped my Beta, threatened my mate, and threw me against a tree." He said as he covered his eyes with his hands.

"So you're asking me for a short cut?" I asked trying to understand his reasoning, his thought process.

"Do you have one?" he asked getting excited.

"It's different for everyone, but I always try to picture myself running. I don't know why, but it helps."

"Running?" he asked as if I had been kidding. "That's it?"

"Well, sometimes I picture myself laying in a meadow looking up at the sky. Or think about the scent of roses and fresh cut grass." Just talking about my 'happy place' made me smile.

"Roses and cut grass?" Jeremy looked completely confused, although I don't blame him, not the most masculine scent there is out there.

"The scent of my mate..." I told him still in a daze, my eyes widening as the words left my mouth.

"Your mate?" He asked in shock. Shit. "Wait a minute, if you have a mate then why aren't you with her? Why are you here, with Bayne?"

"Had a mate..." I corrected him after clearing my throat.

"Had?" then realization hit him; and boy did it hit him hard "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize."

"It's alright; I've come to accept it." I told him.

"May I ask how she died?" he said with sympathy and pity laced in his voice.

"Silver bullet to the chest," I shrugged and looked down at the ground. "She saved my life." I said more to myself than to Jeremy. "And Bayne didn't even know." I said with a sad chuckle at the end.

"What do you mean Bayne didn't know?" My eyes snapped up to him as my heart speed up.

"Nothing, just... nothing." Shit, why is it so easy to talk to him?

"It's not 'just nothing', did Bayne know your mate?" Jeremy asked.

"You could say that, she considered Bayne her older sister... but Bayne saw it more as a trainer and apprentice relationship. You can't get that girl to tell anyone that she cares for them." I said with a touch of sadness.

"What was her name?" Jeremy asked.

"Tori." I told him with a little more sadness than I intended.

"How long ago did she die?" he asked hesitantly.

"A year and a half ago." I walked towards one of his many bookshelves across the room, "She's the only reason we got out." I told him. "Tori's death made Bayne lose control and go into a state of rage, the only emotion I've ever seen come from her other than irritation and anger."

"Who killed her?" Jeremy asked getting more curious.

"Sercko." I spat his name as if it left a bad taste in my mouth.

"So Bayne isn't just killing Sercko for herself, but for Tori and ultimately for you."

"Not to mention all the wolves who would have died at his hand or at the hand of any other hunter." I added. Bayne was not a selfish person, if anything she is the most selfless person I know. She always protected Tori and me, never once asking for anything in return. A sad smile spread across my face at some of the memories.

"What are you smiling about?" Jeremy asked me

"Memories," He didn't say anything but I saw a look in his eye that told me to continue. "Every time Tori or I got into some trouble with Sercko and his men Bayne would always take the blame, telling Sercko that she had failed to train us right, or had given us the instructions that got us in trouble. Most of the time she would take the punishment for both of us too, and she never held it against us, never asked us for anything in return. She saved our lives so many times I can't even begin to count them."

"It sounds to me like she loves you both." Jeremy said

"Yah, but she'll never admit to it. Love is an emotion that will get in the way. 'Show your enemy who you love and they've got the upper hand immediately.' That's what she always says." I told him putting on a stone expression again.

"What about Bayne? Does she have a mate?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" he was trying to get information out of me instead of going to Bayne, although she wouldn't give him any answers anyway.

"I just want to get to know my new pack trainer, and you know better than I do, talking to her about her past is like talking to a rock." He said with a chuckle.

"Well, you're right about that. I don't think she's meet her mate, and if she has she's done a great job of hiding it." I told him.

"Huh, shame. Maybe if she meets her mate she'll lighten up a bit, and learn that not everyone is out to kill her." He said. "Maybe all she needs is her mate..."

"She won't accept him until she knows that all the threats of her past are gone." I told him, Bayne won't show her emotions until she is positive Sercko is gone.

"You say that now, but once she feels the mating pull she won't be able to resist." He said victoriously.

"Not true. I was able to resist the mating pull and the mating bond, and I don't hide my emotions as well as she does." I reminded him.

"Damn, I forgot about that." He stroked his chin and thought for a minute. "Well, we'll just have to keep an eye out for him." He told me. I didn't think that getting involved with Bayne's love life, or lack thereof, was such a good idea, but I didn't want to say anything. If Bayne finds out that Jeremy was looking for her mate she could chew him out then.