The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

Arabella Pov

I woke up with an intense pain in my chest. What is this? I asked Royal.

Mate. Mate is cheating on us.

Ares is the son of a bitch.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

I saw two of my friends already in the room. I can tell they are my friends due to their smell. They both smell like fresh honey and baked bread. One of them is beside me, but I can’t concentrate because of the pain. He pulls me into his arms while another rubs my hand. My mate doesn’t love me. He is cheating on me. It’s all I can think about, and Royal howls sadly in my head. Suddenly, I felt a pop in my knees.

I’m sorry, but I need to come out. If I don’t, I can’t help with the pain of the needles we are feeling. Focus on the mates in front of us; they will help with the pain of shifting, Royal says. I do as she asks and focus on smelling my friends, who are trying to help me through the shift. After what seems forever, I end up being pushed to the back as Royal takes over. The cheating pain of Ares has dulled down thanks to my focus on the shift. Royal is taking over now. I watch as she lovingly nudges her head between Adonis’s legs. The sparks from it are incredible. Adonis and my other mate both stare at me in awe.

“Shift,” Adonis commands, but Royal doesn’t listen. Of course, she doesn’t. I want to see what I look like. My other mate in the room kneels in front of Royal and plants a kiss on her. It feels so good. I can see his eyes through the Royals. He has the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. One hazel, one blue. He convinces Royal to shift back to me. I shift back and am nude. I saw Sam bringing me some clothes. They smell like Adonis, and it’s intoxicating as fuck. My mind drifts back to Ares.

“He is sleeping with someone else.” I thought I had said it in my head, but I guess I ended up saying it out loud, and I can tell both of my friends were angry. I don’t like that they are angry. My mate with the bi-colored eyes sits next to me and wipes my tears away. I recognized him as the feral wolf from the forest. No wonder I felt so comfortable around him. He kissed my head, happy that I remembered. I think I remember his name. Ash. Yes. It’s Ash.

Adonis kneels in front of me and kisses my hand. Each kiss is electrifying, and I want more. I forgot Sam was in the room until she made herself known. She told me what happened when I passed out and that Ares claimed me. This makes me incredibly sad, considering what he is doing.

“He doesn’t love me,” I told her. I see my friends looking upset. Ares tries to convince me that he does, but I feel that he doesn’t. After a while, I get sleepy, and Sam crawls in bed with me. My friends kiss my head goodnight and leave, and soon I drift off to sleep.

I woke up a little later, feeling distressed. I can tell this isn’t coming from me, though. It’s coming from my friends. It feels like it’s coming from all of them.

I limp out of bed slowly, so I don’t wake up Sam and follow the distress signal. It leads me outside to what I can assume are the training grounds. I saw three massive wolves. It looks like two of the wolves are attacking each other. This upsets me. I don’t want any of them to fight. They were circling each other, and I ran between two of them just as they were attacking, getting caught in both of their claws on each of my sides. I at once fell to the ground, blood pouring out of me. At least they stopped fighting.

All three wolves shift back at once. Adonis and Ares ran to me, bending down and taking off their shirts to stop the bleeding.

“Ah, fuck, Bella, why did you do that?” Adonis cried out to me. I touched his face, trying to calm him down.

“Heard all of your distress calls,” I tell them, locking eyes with Ares, who is just staring down at me with what looks like anger and sadness.

“Mate,” I called out to him. He backs away. His expression turns to pure anger.

“I only claimed you for my brothers. You are not my mate. You will never be my mate.” He spat at me. Ares and Adonis both growl at him.

I feel tears pouring down my face at the rejection. His rejection cut through my heart, and I felt it in our bond. I end up spitting up blood and start choking on it. I felt Ash pick me up, and they ran. I see black spots, and suddenly I’m out. Ares Pov

Once I found out she was my mate, I was pissed. When Ash threatened my life with her, I became even more pissed. Another reason to hate her is that she turned both of my brothers against me. I left the room after and found Briana, who was more than ready to fuck me. I knew that since the bond was in effect, she would feel it. Let it serve as a warning not to fuck with me. As I was fucking Briana, I felt the omegas distress. I was feeling some other pain as well that I couldn’t place, but I tuned it out.

I could feel her distress, and it upset me for a second that I was the cause. I thought about what she did with both of my brothers, and I got upset all over again. Fucking bitch. After I came, I wasn’t even interested in Briana anymore. Fucking her felt like I was fucking air. After Briana left, I went to the training grounds to blow off some steam. As I was leaving, my two annoying fucking brothers rushed me, and we ended up fighting. I knew they were with her when she felt that pain. I figured they would do that. We all shifted into our wolves and ended up fighting. As Adonis and I attacked each other, someone came between us. I realized it was her. We both clawed her on both sides, and blood was pouring out fast.

Adonis asks why she came, and she locks eyes with me, telling me she heard our distress. My distress. For a split second, I contemplated picking her up, taking her to the hospital, and deciding against it. It already looks like she is healing anyway. This will punish her, so she stays out of my way.

“Mate,” she calls out to me. Oh hell no.

I swear, if you let her die, I’ll fucking leave you. A stupid human strike threatens. Great, my brother; now my Lycan. I’m even more pissed. I block the connection with Strike and hurt her feelings, which earns me growls from my brothers. She tears up, and I regret what I said instantly as blood starts to come out of her mouth. I don’t like this at all.

I walk to pick her up, but Adonis just stands in front of her.

“You’ve done enough for her brother. Just leave her be”, he sneers. Ash picks her up, and they run to the hospital. I can feel myself wanting to beat myself up, and I’m upset at the feeling. I don’t like how this omega is making me feel or all the shit she is causing between my family.