Can I bite your cheek

In the dim glow of the car's dashboard, the little girl's voice pierced the silence, "Big brothers, are you also going to kill me?" We had been driving for over an hour now, the hum of the engine the only sound filling the air.

"No, we won't," I reassured her, my voice softening, "You're so adorable, we couldn't bear to hurt you even if we wanted to." A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Ella," she replied, her voice barely a whisper, laced with a hint of nervousness. Yet, she managed to smile, her round cheeks puffing up. I found myself longing to touch her soft cheeks, to see if they were as smooth as they appeared. Suddenly, I yearned for a family of my own, a cute little princess just like Ella.

"Your smile brings hope, Ella," my twin brother, Ryder, chimed in, ruffling her hair affectionately, "Something tells me that good things are on the horizon." She nodded, her smile growing brighter.

The car fell silent once more, the only sound being the purring of the engine. Ella broke the silence, her voice tentative, "Can I call you Dad, big brother?" She was looking at Ryder, her innocent eyes wide and expectant.

Ryder exchanged a glance with me before turning back to her, "Yes, you can call me whatever you want, sweetheart." A giggle escaped her lips as she leaned over to plant a kiss on Ryder's cheek.

"But what about your big brother?" She turned to me, her gaze questioning. We both stared at her in awe. It was rare for anyone to be able to tell us apart, given that we were identical twins.

"How did you know I'm the older one?" I asked, my voice filled with disbelief.

"You both look similar, but not identical. Your blue eyes are duller compared to Dad's," she explained. I was taken aback by her observation, and even more surprised when she referred to me as her older brother. My perplexed expression must have been apparent because she quickly added, "I just guessed."

"I thought I'd call you Dad too, but there's only one father in the world," she mused, seemingly agreeing with her own words.

"You can call us whatever you want, Ella," Ryder reassured her. She nodded, then turned to me, her small voice breaking the silence, "I'm hungry."

"Pull over at the Middle West Pack," I instructed Nick, our driver. We were about fifteen minutes away from a small pack that we had visited before. The former Alpha of the Middle West Pack was a selfish and greedy man, selling Omegas as slaves to other packs. When we discovered his atrocities, we didn't hesitate to feed his bloody body to his own pet crocodiles.

"We're here, Alpha," Nick announced. I helped Ella out of the car, her small voice whispering a "Thanks" as her feet hit the ground.

"You're welcome," I replied, leading her towards a small food shop. Ryder, ever the flirt, wandered off to chat with a young wolf who had been eyeing us.

I ordered bacon sandwiches for Ella and myself. I wasn't particularly hungry, but I wanted to ensure that Ella had something to eat. As she devoured her meal, her chubby cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk's, I found myself smiling at the sight. She looked up, catching my gaze. "Do you want a bite?" she offered, although her voice clearly indicated a hope that I would decline. I pretended to take a bite, but stopped when I saw the disappointment on her face.

"I'm not hungry," I reassured her, watching as her face lit up with relief. She nodded and continued eating, her pace quickening. I tried to slow her down, but she was too engrossed in her meal.

"Let's go, kiddo," Ryder said, picking Ella up once she had finished her meal. He playfully pinched her chubby cheeks, eliciting giggles from her.

"Can I bite your cheek?" Ryder teased. I quickly interjected, "Bite her and I'm killing you." I knew Ryder too well; he wouldn't just pretend to bite her gently.

As we were leaving, a crippled man called out to us, "Please help me." He smelled of wolf and something else I couldn't quite place. I walked over to him, handing him a wad of money. He thanked me, referring to me as Alpha. As we turned to leave, he beckoned us to stop.

"The holder of the ruthless mate will meet her dead end today if they don't find her early," he warned, his voice filled with sorrow. His red and grey eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't quite decipher.

"Are you talking about our mates?" I asked, skeptical of his words.

"Yes, you will only find her lifeless body if the clock ticks," he replied ominously, his words scaring me a bit.

......…..............................................................................…

The car hummed beneath us, the vibration a constant reminder of the urgency of our mission. As Nick pressed down on the accelerator, the landscape outside blurred into streaks of color. The air in the car was thick with tension, the silence only punctuated by the occasional sigh or muttered curse. Ryder and I were on edge, our minds plagued by the words of the crippled man.

Hope had blossomed in our hearts at the prospect of finally meeting our mate, but it was quickly overshadowed by a gnawing anxiety. The car was now a bubble of silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts, the mood far from cheerful. I could feel Ryder's unease, his heart pounding in sync with mine. The discomfort was mutual.

The thought of a life without our mate was unbearable. I tried to dismiss the crippled man's words as mere bluff, an act put on to squeeze more money out of me. Yet, the aura of power that radiated from him suggested otherwise. It was a power that was hard to ignore, even harder to dismiss.

"Alpha, we have arrived," Nick's voice broke through my reverie, pulling me back to the present. Without wasting a second, I stepped out of the car, Ryder mirroring my actions.

'Mate. Mate.' My wolf, Orion, howled in delight within me.

'Mate.' Ryder's wolf, Atlas, echoed the sentiment.

We exchanged a knowing look, a shared smile spreading across our faces.

"Finally, we've found our mate," Ryder announced, the relief evident in his voice. I rolled my eyes at him, a playful frown tugging at my lips.

"We've smelled them, not seen them. Let's not celebrate just yet. We have a search ahead of us," I reminded him, watching as his smile faltered.