EMMA

Once the representative finished his little speech about the Alphas needing a new mate, I got a little mad. It was slightly hypocritical of me to do so given the fact that we don't have any intention of giving Mom back to them, but I couldn't help. I saw red and my wolf instincts forced themselves forward. All she wanted to was to defend her mother, defend her pack.

With no one able to stop me, least of all myself, I stood up and yelled at the Alphas, "Cowards! Rejecting your mate and then pretending she has just disappeared! You have no right to her for your shameful attitude. No other she-wolf could hold a light t your now ex-mate!" 

For a second, everyone froze and then all hell broke loose.

All the pack members who were staring at us in shock got out of the way of their incoming Alphas who seemed to be out for blood as they lunged for me. Jackson and Ethan saw it coming and blocked them in time by pushing them back. The Alphas, our fathers, had expected that and fell backwards. Though this action saved me, it knocked both of their hoods down and in my haste to avoid the Alphas, mine was down too. 

There was a noticeable pause when everyone realized that two identical pairs of twins were looking at each other though one was younger.

That took them aback, but didn't last long when they noticed me. According to everyone's reaction to me so far, I looked exactly like my mom who was their mate and they met when mom was my age. So, to them, it was like Mom and I were a set of twins. Their wolves even felt a connection to me, one that they could think was the mate bond, but it was the one of father to pups.

Alpha Asher whispers, "Ava..."

I stand strong, "I'm not Ava, but you will never see her again. She is with Josh and Chris now." At this point, I didn't care about riling them up anymore. I would figure something out to get Mom back without them. My words made them launch another attack on Ethan and Jackson. They beat them back, but barely.

That is when I notice that all the pack members are still in the room. They are all staring at the show. For some reason, that pissed me off.

So, I drew on all my Alpha blood and in an Alpha tone ordered, "LEAVE!"

Everyone complied without thinking about it. I had drawn on Ethan and Jackson's Alpha dominance to get them to obey without thinking. I think it shocked the twin Alphas that their pack just listened to me. It was unnerving to be an Alpha and have that happen. For whatever reason, they stopped their assault.

Of course, I just had to run her mouth off, "You rejected your mate! You don't deserve her and I will personally make sure that mom doesn't come back here. She is in danger and might die! You useless asses are here acting all high and mighty!" I clap my hand over my mouth. I just called their mate, my mother. 

Alpha Ryder asked, "Mom?" and Alpha Asher said in a questioning tone, "Danger?" Both Alphas started to shift into their wolves.

Ethan cursed, "Shit!" I knew that meant that Ethan and Jackson could not keep them off in their wolf form. We needed a back up plan. Olivia and Frank were long gone. Jackson however had an idea.

"Run! Follow Alice's scent, she'll help us,"Jackson ordered through the mind-link. We listened because no one else had a better idea. The three of us ran and shut the door behind us to slow the twin Alphas down. 

Jackson had Alice's scent and was able to lead us to it. I could tell that she was alone because I could smell that her Beta and mate was in the kitchen. His scent led away from her door. 

We burst into her room where a heavily pregnant Alice stood. I went in first because since I looked like Mom, it could convince her to help us.

When she saw me, she dropped the glass of water she was holding and whispered, "Ava?"

I shook my head, "Not Ava, daughter. I could use some help from the Alphas." I knew Alice could hear the rampaging Alphas behind us. I let Ethan and Jackson into the room too.

Alice quickly took control of the situation, "You look too much like Ava to be an intruder and those two look like the Alphas. I'll help. Get behind me now!"

No sooner than we got behind her, two very angry Alphas came into the room followed by a very worried Beta who became angry as soon as he saw the situation. Everyone paused as the three of us couldn't be reached without going through Alice.

The Beta told Alice, "Sweetie, you need to come here!"

She answered him stubbornly, "No."

"You need to," begged the Beta.

Alice shook her head, "I won't let any child of Ava be killed by the Alphas. You will have to kill me too."

The Beta looked panicked at the idea of Alice dead. He turned to his Alphas and his eyes fogged over, a clear indication he was mind-linking. 

Whatever he did worked because the Alphas started shifting the moment the Beta came back to us. 

He turned towards Alice his next words clearly meant for her, "They promised not to do anything rash. Let's all sit down and talk about this calmly." I was going to go, but Alice held me back.

She told her mate, "They are unstable. We will talk like this and if anything happens to them, God help me, I will kill myself." Apparently that was a very effective threat because the Beta became immediately compliant. He gave the Alphas each a pair of shorts, so they wouldn't be naked. The moment the twin Alphas were up, the Beta put his attention back on us. 

He asked us, "I will speak for the Alphas because since this topic is sensitive for them, I will have better control. Which one of you will speak?"

I stood up. It was what usually happens. I was the one who talked, the diplomat, while Ethan was the one who threatened people and Jackson was that unsettling presence in the room. 

I told him, "I will and I'll start. Let's introduce ourselves."

The Beta answered, "I am Beta Blake. The two behind me are Alpha Ryder and Alpha Asher. The woman in front of you is my mate, Alice. Your turn."

"I am Emma Smith.-" I do a little faux bow, "-These two are Ethan and Jackson Smith. We are triplets."

Blake tries to ask, "Who is-" but is interrupted by his mate, "Is Ava your mother?"

I nod, "Yes."

Then, it was Alpha Ryder who interrupted, "Who is your father?"

I smile at him innocently, "Mom always said that my brothers looked exactly like our fathers. What do you think?"

Alice gasped and everyone seemed shocked. I mean Ethan and Jackson did look exactly like Ryder and Asher. I looked like Mom, but with their eyes.

Alpha Asher growled out, "Who are Josh and Chris then?"

I took one look at his reaction and burst out laughing. Everyone but my brother was confused at my reaction. The Alphas thought that mom was with Josh and Chris! That is such a ridiculous thought.

When I recovered from my laughing fit, I told him, "Josh and Chris are a gay mated couple who helped mom after she ran away."

Blake, the Beta, asked, "Why did she hide you?"

I chuckled, "She did not hide us. We were free for all to see in our territory. All you had to do was go on No Man's Land and every rogue knew us." I might as well tell them about our supernatural mafia. We were the bad guys too.

Alpha Ryder tilted his head in question, "How does every rogue know you?"

"We are the heads of the Smith Organization," I answered them with a little faux bow again. 

It was a very bad name, but no one suspected us of anything notorious. Alice and Blake gasped at the shock of recognition while the Alphas seemed confused. 

Blake, noticing their confusion, explained, "In the last ten years, there was this new organization that accepted any rogue into their rank as long as they were not crazy. They have vampires, witches, demons, werewolves who were rejected from their covens or packs and they even accept humans who know about us, getting to them before the Hunter organization does."

I nod my head, "That is us. Josh, Chris and mom set up the company in the first six years of her disappearance and wanted to help those who had no packs. To the humans, we are a simple mafia. But to the supernatural, we are their hope."

Alice seemed confused but for a different reason than the others, "Why are you here if you have the Smith Organisation?"

"It was the truth we told your people. Mom and us went out to the forest without any guards for a fun afternoon. A huge group of Hunters surprised us. We were all running away from them while we stumbled unto your territory," I glare at the Alphas "-We would have left but some certain Alphas had broken the law and tried to imprison us," I answered.

The twin Alphas growled at little at my insult and my brothers growled right back. Blake, Ryder and Asher were getting more agressive while Alice seemed thoughtful. She was the smartest of this bunch by far.

"Where is your mother if you were together?" questioned Alice. 

Her words froze the Alphas. They probably hadn't even realized that in our story mom was with us and now she isn't.

"Like I said, mom wanted for us to run and let her slow them down. Her wolf is dying because of her mate's rejection-" I started.

"We didn't reject her!" interrupted both Alphas in sync. 

I glare at them, "Sure, so leaving your mate after sleeping with her in a strange and empty bed with no mark or note. That is as much a rejection as it could get!" I could feel Ethan and Jackson get annoyed with them. There was a reason why I was talking, usually I was the one who could keep my temper the longest in check. 

Blake looked at his shoes sheepishly, "That's my fault actually."

I turned my head towards him so fast, I literally got whiplash, "WHAT?"

He continued, "Since the twin Alphas were twenty at the time, four years after you were supposed to find your mate, they were in the habit of sleeping around. Many of the woman they slept with were under the impression that a one night stand gave them a claim of the Alphas. They were sick of having a huge argument every morning and making a scene. It was my job to spirit them away once their activities were done. Both Alphas and the woman who was your mother were asleep, obviously drunk. I was able to take both of my Alphas out."

I put up my hand to stop his story, "How many woman have you slept with besides your mate?" It was the Alphas' turn to look sheepishly at their feet.

"A lot," answered Alpha Ryder.

"Not one since your mom was gone though," said Alpha Asher.

"That doesn't make it better," I growled out. I turned to my brothers. I couldn't with these Alphas, so called fathers of mine. 

I whisper to them, "Can we go? I know some other packs who owe us favors that we can use instead of this one."

Ethan whispered back, "I want to leave, but can we even make it the border?"

"We will never know until we try," interjected Jackson. 

I straightened back up and faced the others who were staring at us, "I believe it is time we take our leave."

"NO!" shouted the Alphas, but it wasn't them, it was their wolves. Shit, now we had no chance!

"We will not let you leave without having our mate!" continued the Alphas still talking at the same time, in sync. It was creepy. 

I yelled back at them, "You basically rejected her, you don't deserve her." I probably should have shut up, but much like mom, I don't. Blake had edged between his Alphas and us, trying to protect us.

Blake turned back towards us after mind-linking his Alphas, "You never let me finish my story. The next morning the Alphas only woke from their hangover at 2:00 in the afternoon. Your mom must have told you how she ran in the early morning, around 9:00. The Alphas woke up in a fury at the fact that their mate was gone. They nearly killed me. They would have if Alice hadn't stepped in. Alice had felt Ava's link with the pack break and put two + two together, figuring out the Ava was their mate. But by then, Ava was gone and had been off the territory for three hours. It had rained to, completely erasing her trace."

I could only manage to say, "Oh." 

Alice looked at us sadly, "We have been looking for her for sixteen years. But your mom, she was smart. We were the geniuses on campus at school. I knew that unless she wanted to be found, she wouldn't. Now, keep going with your earlier explanation before the interruptions about your mother's location."

I took a deep breath and continued, "Like I was saying, mom wanted for us to run and let her slow them down. Her wolf is dying because of her mates' supposed rejection. She was weak, but mom knew that we wouldn't run without her. So, she ran, but she was shot. Mom was smart and had shut down the pack link between us. We never felt her injury. Mom stopped and fought the Hunters to give us time to make it unto safe territory. Mom is captured by Hunters."

At that, all hell broke loose once again.