My Eternal Mate

ALEXANDER

"Please, I insist," Aspen urged, holding his arm out towards the single sofa chair by the desk.

Narrowing my eyes, I reluctantly placed myself on the only seat in the room. Aspen grabbed a pair of shorts from one of the drawers located in the small room before he turned back to me.

I watched him curiously, eyeing every inch of his face. Aside from the colour of his eyes and perhaps his hair, everything else about his appearance was completely different to mine.

If he was my brother, clearly, I had the upper hand with the genes. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the better looking brother was.

"So," he commented. "I suppose I have a lot of explaining to do."

"That would be the most sensible thing in this situation unless you have some sort of a death wish," I retorted, my wolf at bay.

I didn't trust the wolf. But my wolf was neutral. He was supposedly my brother. One that I had no damn clue even existed until today. Yet, here he was. His eyes the exact same ocean blue as my own. It was almost as if I was staring in to my own eyes. Creepy as hell.

"I don't expect you to trust me right away, but I really hope we can form a similar bond— you know, to the one you have with Zynthéa."

Arching a brow, I sneered, "You've been keeping tabs on my sister?"

Aspen shrugged. "She is my sister too, Alexander."

"Tell me why I should believe anything you say," I challenged, placing my ankle on my knee as I rubbed at my chin.

"You don't have to," he stated, sighing. "Although, it would mean everything to me if you could. In all honesty, I practiced what I would say when I finally met you but for some reason, I've lost my train of thoughts."

My eyes scanned his to see if there was any ulterior motive behind his words, but then Jenna's words rang in my ears to remind me that he had been in this pack since the beginning. Except, I hadn't known. How?

"Why were you in hiding?" I blurted.

My question must have caught him off guard because his brows furrowed and he glanced at me as if I had asked him the most ridiculous question.

"Why?" he repeated, scoffing. "I suppose you won't understand."

I snorted. "What is there to understand?"

Aspen's lips pulled up in to a smirk. "You're not serious, right? We are brothers," he replied, in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's been eight years, Alexander. I wish father was alive to testify, but if you need me to do a DNA test, I will. You have to believe me."

"I cannot comprehend the thought of you being my brother when I am only meeting you now after twenty-three years," I sneered, my canines protruding.

My wolf was convincing me to hear this stranger out when all I wanted was to lock him up and question him. But something made me hesitate acting up on that thought.

"Which is a fair point," Aspen agreed, making me snap my attention back to him. "I will explain the basics in hopes that your wolf will convince you that I am speaking nothing but the truth."

"The basics?"

The wolf nodded. "We share the same father, but my mother was a human— and well, I'm older than you by three years."

"You're half human," I stated, my voice harsh.

Aspen grimaced. "Indeed. Perhaps, not so much of a bad thing as you are making it sound like." Giving me a pointed look, he continued, "But I suppose, that's why I could never claim the Alpha title despite being the older. I'm a half-breed."

I knew half-breeds existed, but they were very rare. My thoughts, however, were more focused on the fact that my father, well, supposedly, our father, loved a woman before my mother. A human. This was news to me. And I was still debating on whether the wolf was being honest.

"Father never mentioned you or your mother," I told Aspen, narrowing my eyes. "As his older son, shouldn't you have been given the spotlight a little more?"

With dark eyes and clenched jaw, Aspen growled, "When you watch your lover die before your eyes, I don't think your biggest priority is displaying your pup to the killer. He wanted me in hiding to protect me, which was what I did until he died."

The quick change in demeanour told me the topic was a sensitive one for him. I didn't understand what he was referring to, and when I was going to question it, the man brushed the topic aside in aims to calm his wolf down.

"I will explain in due time, I just need a moment to calm down," he told me, inhaling sharply.

He didn't appear to be a threat, and my wolf testified to that. It was almost as if my wolf really did trust him, but I didn't. I decided to drop the topic for now, despite the gazillion questions running through my mind.

Arching a brow, I questioned, "Let's say we are brothers. What difference will it make? I mean, you had years to tell me the truth. Why are you here now? What do you want?"

Aspen frowned. "I want brotherhood," he growled, his brows drew in a line. "An uncle to my pup, a pack that I can openly call my own. I want a life. I don't want to live in hiding anymore, I'm twenty-six, for crying out loud."

His outburst did surprise me, but the mention of his pup caught my attention. "You have a family?"

"A son, yes," he confirmed, shifting uncomfortably in his place.

"Where is he?"

"He should be with Jen right now. I should probably check up on him."

I hardly had time when the wolf headed towards the door, but with my protective instincts, I rushed up from my chair and held my arm in place on the doorway, to block Aspen's movements.

He arched a brow questioningly, but stepped back to allow me to go ahead first. Only then did I realise, we were almost the same height, with me being an inch or two taller.

I didn't trust Aspen, especially not around my Luna. Her safety was my priority, and I knew she was currently in the other room with the pup. I could hear her playing with him.

It reminded me of what an amazing mother she was going to be to our pups one day, and I couldn't wait enough for that day to come. When she had told me not to pull out last time, I could have cried in joy.

Even though, I would have waited forever for her to be ready again, to know she was ready so soon that excited my wolf and I more than I thought it would. I was still going to take it slow with her because she had already dealt with so much.

Once we strutted through the doors and my Luna's voice was enhanced, I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced at her, to meet her own emerald green eyes that were on me.

I frowned as the thought of her ever getting hurt again engulfed my brain. The more I looked at her, the more I found it hard to believe that this gorgeous girl was mine, my mate. That was until my eyes travelled to the pup she was currently playing with, and my eyes widened at the sight of him.

Dark hair, pale skin, sea blue eyes. He couldn't be any older than six or seven. My Luna and mother had been right, he looked exactly like me. If I had a pup with my Luna, that is exactly what I would imagine him to look like— if he had the upper hand with my genes, of course.

But still, I was stood there, frowning as I took the pup's appearance in. No wonder Lyra had doubted me, I was doubting myself too. He wasn't mine, was he?