I woke up with light pouring in through the window. Blinking my eyes a couple of times to rid the sleep from them, I came to the realization that I wasn’t at Vincent’s house. This bed felt way too comfortable to belong to that animal.

I shot upright, glancing all around my surroundings. This bedroom was significantly larger, looking as if it could fit two of Vincent’s bedrooms in it. Plus the bed had flannel sheets instead of the cotton ones at Fleabag’s home. I stretched my limbs, seeing that I had been changed, now wearing a full set of pajamas that actually fit me.

Who changed my clothes while I was unconscious?

There was a window at the far wall where the sunlight was pouring in. I got out of the bed and walked over, feeling the cold hard-wood floor under my bare feet. It felt nice as my feet were incredibly sore from my run last night.

The memories of last night slammed into me. I ran away from Vincent. I met a vampire. I was saved by Alpha. Alpha claimed me as his mate.

Screw that! I’m not having two werewolves fighting for me, getting all possessive. That’s two Vincent’s! And I don’t even want one!

I rushed to the window, seeing that I was on the second story of what I deduced was Alpha’s house. It’ll have to do; besides it was one of those second stories where the window had some roof beneath it. I slid open the window, grateful that there was no screen after it. Carefully and slowly, I inched my body out of it, left leg first. Eventually I had my body on the roof, running over to the side of the house. Every few seconds, I looked out over at the neighborhood, hoping that no one could see the human girl running on Alpha’s roof.

They’d tell on me, no doubt. It’s that whole stupid pack loyalty. I call it tattle telling and preventing me from leaving the frickin’ territory! At the end side of the house was a tree that I could climb down to the ground. I could have just jumped, but I really don’t want to risk breaking my legs.

Once I reached the tree that was so conveniently located right next to Alpha’s house, I grabbed the closet branch, testing it for a bit by tugging. When I did tug, it seemed to be sturdy. It shook a little bit, but it didn’t seem to be close to breaking. I took hold of it in both hands, and sure enough, I could support my weight.

Slowly, I climbed down the tree and jumped onto the ground below. Freedom! Again! I took off running down the driveway of the rather normal looking house. A part of me half-expected Alpha to live in a huge mansion and have thousands of werewolf butlers, but I suppose he’s attempting to be a down-to-earth guy/dog.

Whatever though. It’s not like I’m ever going to see him again.

“Nora! Where’re you going?” a man’s voice called from behind me.

I froze and turned around, only to see –go figure- Alpha running up to me. He was only clad in basketball shorts, showing off his chest muscles, most likely trying to impress me with its sculpted awesomeness. Yeah, he looks hot, but he’s a dog which last time I checked, is a turnoff.

There’s absolutely no way I can outrun an alpha werewolf, therefore I stayed in place, waiting until Alpha reached me. When he finally did, he stopped in front of me, reaching out to grab onto my arm so that I couldn’t away again.

“Where did you think you were going?” he asked again. I looked at his face, which I wasn’t able to get a good look at last night. He had a man’s face, not a boy’s like Vincent’s. His eyes were a deep brown and his canines seemed to be significantly larger than Vincent’s. In fact, almost everything about Alpha was larger than Vincent: his height, muscles, and even the smile he wore as he looked at me.

“I needed to get home…” I cringed when I added this next part, “to Vincent.” There’s a clearly logical way of dealing with this. I choose Vincent. Alphas are known to be far more possessive and animalistic than other werewolves. Plus, Vincent’s most likely a bigger push-over than Alpha. Alpha grew up in a life of luxury, so he’s probably used to getting what he wants all the time. I don’t want to deal with rich kid attitude!

Alpha’s eyes narrowed at me. “Vincent?” he growled, his lip curling up over his powerful teeth. “Vincent Abin? My beta?”

“Yes Alpha,” I said. “He’s my…mate.” I cringed at that last statement. “Besides, you should’ve known that. You picked up my clothes and even dropped them off at his house.”

Alpha’s breath grew labored and deep. He exhaled sharply through his nose, tightening his grip on my arm and pulling me with him as he led me back to his house. He was rather fast and stronger, practically dragging me to his lair, even if I stumbled here and there. As soon as we were inside, he slammed the front door shut and led me into the living room, setting me down on the couch. He sat right next to me, grabbing both of my forearms in his giant hands.

“To answer your last remark first,” he growled, his brown eyes flickering gold for a brief second, “werewolves find their mates by looking at them, not through scent. I’ll admit, your old home smelt sweet and alluring, but I shrugged it off. However, when I saw you last night, I realized that you’re mine.”

That was unsettling. “But Vincent, your beta, already claimed me!” I whined. I don’t want another werewolf pining for my affection.

Alpha growled again, tightening his grip. “This occurs in some cases,” he said through his teeth. “Sometimes an alpha’s mate will have another mate, called a secondary mate. This mate is meant to take care of the alpha’s in case the alpha dies or is rendered too dangerous for their mate. Vincent is your secondary mate, and the fact that you met him first and he claimed you before I did is purely accidental.”

God, why didn’t I pay attention in werewolf class? But this means that alpha is meant to be my mate, and Vincent is my back up. So does that mean that I just leave Vincent and am forced to live with Alpha?

“What does this mean?” I asked.

Alpha leaned in closer to me. “It means that you belong to me, and that Vincent needs to let you go.” His face was rather close to mine, allowing me to see the need that flooded his eyes. Yep, there was no doubt that his inner wolf wanted me as a mate. No doubt at all. As I stared looking into his eyes, I saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a lazy smile, as if just being next to me made this man happy.

“But, Vincent already marked me as his,” I protested, pulling down the neck of my shirt to show Alpha the bite mark that I was forced to receive.

Alpha’s nostrils flared. “Then I suppose that mutt has a claim to you,” he growled. He got off the couch, keeping one hand trapped to my arm, yanking me with him. “Let’s go and figure this out.” He led me out of his house and over to a small car that only had two doors. He opened up the passenger side one and pushed me inside, slamming the door. At least Alpha allowed me to buckle my own seatbelt, unlike Vincent.

Alpha got in the car and sped off down the road, totally ignoring the posted speed limit signs. The whole time, he kept his right hand in the middle of us, palm facing up, beckoning me to grab it. At least he didn’t force himself on me, unlike Vincent.

“Is this radio station alright?” he asked, settling on some hard rock music that sounded with a little static.

“It’s fine Alpha,” I muttered.

Alpha chuckled and put his arm around my shoulders. It was a lot heavier than Vincent’s, most likely due to more muscle. “Nora,” he said, “I want you to call me Jason. The title Alpha is reserved for lower rankers.”

I just shyly nodded. I didn’t want to call Alpha Jason! That would mean that I was warming up to him and then he’d take that as a sign that I’d accept the mating bond.

Eventually we pulled up in front of Vincent’s house. As soon as we were in the drive way, my heart sped up with the realization that I’d be in deep trouble for running away last night. And even more trouble for allowing Alpha to claim me as a mate!

I hesitantly got out of Alpha’s car and shuffled my feet forward, toward the door. As soon as my hand was on the doorknob, I froze. Maybe I should just turn around and tell Alpha that I didn’t want to see Vincent anymore. That would deal with one werewolf, but then what about the other?

Alpha sighed and gently brushed me to the side so that he could open up the door that I guess Vincent left unlocked.

“Beta!” Alpha bellowed. “We need to talk!” He ushered me inside, pushing gently on my back.

There were footsteps upstairs that made their way over to us. Soon Vincent was downstairs and as soon as he caught sight of me, he perked up.

“Mate!” he shouted, rushing forward. He took me into his embrace, squeezing me tightly to him.

Alpha let out a low growl of fury. “Let her go,” he snarled.

Vincent jumped back a bit and looked at me in confusion and then over to Alpha. “I have a right to hold my mate,” he said.

Alpha stepped forward, towering over both Vincent and me with his insane height. “She’s mine now,” he growled. He was still not wearing a shirt, letting me see how his chest puffed up with power with every deep breath he took.

Vincent stood in silence for a bit before I heard a slight whimper escape from him. “You mean?” he asked. “I’m the second mate?”

Alpha gave one curt nod. “She belongs to me,” he said. “But we have a bit of a problem because you decided to go ahead and mark her before I got to, therefore you already have a claim on her.”

With every passing second, I felt Vincent’s grip get tighter and tighter, keeping me securely fastened to his body. Yeah, he knew that Alpha’s rank gave him precedence, hence he’d most likely win me over.

“I don’t have any intention of giving her up,” Vincent growled, his deep voice vibrating his chest, thus resonating through me.

Alpha sighed, his rigid stance relaxing the slightest bit. “I know Beta,” he muttered. “That’s why we need to focus on making Nora happy.”

Vincent nodded, still keeping me trapped to him.

Alpha then turned to me. “So Nora,” he said, putting on a wide smile, “this week, you’ll be with both me and Vincent, then at the end, you’ll choose who’ll be your mate. Okay?”

What?

Alpha walked up and went behind me, wrapping his arms around me there. It felt really awkward: Vincent was holding me from the front, and Alpha was holding me from the back. I glanced up at Vincent’s face, but he wasn’t looking at me. I looked over at Alpha, or Jason I guess, to see that the both of them were having a stare down.

This is going to be a long week.

A/N: To answer a few posts, yes I'm a guy. And thank you everybody for commenting and fanning!