Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 262: Mate of Three Alphas?

*Damon*

“We’d better not be talking about the same Daphne.”

I turn to see Braden walking in with his Beta. He pulls up a chair from the table next to ours, and Andrew heads to the bar to order drinks.

“What?” I ask.

“If you’re talking about the Daphne you put up in the hotel, it’s impossible,” he explains. “She’s my mate.”

Alessandro and I both start laughing. The look on his face is priceless, and the bigger his eyes get in confusion, the more I can’t hold back the laugh.

“I don’t know what’s so funny, but you two have thirty seconds before I rip your eyes out,” he says.

I hold up my hand. “Hey, man, it’s okay. Relax. I’ll explain as soon as I—” That’s it. Just the idea of explaining it to him has me in stitches, and normally I’m a pretty serious guy. I have to be with the whole kingdom relying on me.

But this is damn funny, and I just start laughing again. I can’t help it. I know I need to let him in on it right away, but whenever Braden is both confused and mad, he makes the most contorted faces that crack me up. It’s been that way since we were all kids.

Braden stands, pushing the chair out with his thigh muscles and balling his fist like he’s going to hammer me. That helps push me out of my laughing fit, and I hold up both hands this time.

“Look, Alessandro and I have been here for quite a while talking about this,” I say. “So, we’ve had more time to get used to it.”

“Get used to what?”

“That Daphne is all our mates,” I explain.

“What?!”

He still looks like he wants to punch me.

“Well, at first I thought it was me and Alessandro, but obviously there’s something going on with you too,” I add.

“That’s not possible.” It’s a statement, and he says it while sitting back down in his chair.

I had the same reaction earlier. I’d been about ready to tear Alessandro to shreds for even thinking about touching my mate, but that feeling disappeared in just seconds. I was left wondering what was happening, until Alessandro said he’d felt the same way. We’ve decided that she is both of our mates for whatever reason, and the Moon Goddess must know what she’s doing.

“They have the same thing in Dark Forest,” Alessandro explains. “All four Alphas are mates with the Luna queen.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous. And that’s Dark Forest for you. Something like that would never happen here.” He leans back and folds his arms, though I can tell he’s coming to the same conclusion as Alessandro and me. “Besides, Daphne isn’t royal.”

Alessandro shakes his head. “That’s right, she’s Roland’s daughter. He’s a merchant. But then, the Luna Queen in the other kingdom wasn’t a royal either at first, just mated to four Alphas.”

“I don’t think Daphne has her wolf yet, either,” I say. “So that’s probably why the pull is so faint, yet it’s clearly there. She doesn’t feel it yet.”

“I didn’t sense her wolf either,” Alessandro says. “Yet she’s very strong and capable. It’s almost as though she’s been professionally trained.”

“But that’s for royalty, too,” Braden argues. “None of this makes sense.”

“I agree.” I take a sip of my drink. “But there’s one thing all three of us know. There’s something about her, and we all feel it. I don’t think we’ll know for sure until she gets her wolf. Until then, we need to keep her safe. When I ran into her last, she was in trouble with some guys cornering her in an alley. That’s why I made sure she got to the hotel.”

“Is she still there now?” Alessandro asks.

“She is that I know of,” Braden says.

I look up to see the man who was behind the desk at the hotel walk in, and I wave him over.

“Alpha, it’s a pleasure to see you,” he says.

“Thank you,” I nod. “Same to you. Say, I was wondering if you know how many days the woman I checked in is planning on staying.”

“The one with the curly dark hair?” he asks.

“Yes, that’s the one,” I confirm.

“Oh, my, what a looker,” he says. He closes his eyes as if savoring her in his mind, and I can feel my wolf growl dangerously. And then he continues. “Those beautiful eyes were like the Goddess herself had created her from gold and diamonds. I’d never seen hair that deep black and that curly. It certainly made those eyes pop. I wanted to run my fingers through it. And that lovely body. I—”

He opens his eyes then to see three very angry Alphas just about ready to jump up, shift, and rip his throat off.

“Um… oh, yeah, um… I… well—” He clears his throat. “Sorry, but she actually checked out already.”

All three of us stand, the sound of our chairs scraping across the floor drawing every eye to our table.

“Checked out?!” Braden is the closest, so he is in the guy’s face.

He gulps loudly. “I… I didn’t know I was supposed to…. She just left, I mean, how was I to stop her?”

I take a breath, trying to calm the rage that radiates through my veins. “Do you know where she was headed?”

“Well I… I did inquire with the cab driver after he got back,” the man says. “I was just curious, that’s all. I mean, she’s a lovely woman and—” Alessandro cracks his knuckles, and the man’s eyes go wide. “She went to the bus station to get a ticket to Northside.”

At that, all three of us grab our jackets and run out the door. I don’t know how, but I manage to have the clarity of mind to throw several dollars down on the table first to pay the bill.

But after that, the only clarity I have is getting to Daphne however we need to do it.

Our mate is in Northside, and we need to get to her.

Now.

* * *

*Trisha*

I guess I should have thought things through a little more before I got on the bus. Stepping off, I’m immediately met with a cold, biting wind, and there’s snow on the ground, though I’m luckily wearing some pretty sturdy shoes. A heavier coat and some boots would have been nice, though.

I turn around to thank the bus driver, and the door is already shut and he’s pulling away. He makes a wide turn in the roundabout and heads back the way we came, a bit faster than when we pulled in, I notice.

Great.

Well, maybe I can find a store that’s open and buy some better clothes here. I turn around and look at the small bus depot for a moment, which is little more than a shack, and decide I’m better off walking down the road. Maybe there’s a store nearby.

But just a few steps later I realize what I’ve gotten myself into. There aren’t any stores. There aren’t any buildings even. And there certainly aren’t any people, just a barren landscape with blowing snow.

After realizing this, I head back toward the bus depot and go inside. The door creaks heavily but thankfully opens. Inside, it’s empty, and only a single lightbulb flickers in the corner. There’s a booth to buy tickets, or at least there seems to be a place where people used to buy tickets because now, it’s full of cobwebs.

“Hello?” My voice echoes, and I’m instantly regretting that I said anything. There are a couple of doors to restrooms, and Goddess knows who’s in there. I don’t hear anything or catch any scents, but this whole place gives me the creeps.

Knowing what’s outside, I figure it’s best to hang out here for a bit. I don’t have my wolf, and who knows how many miles I’ll have to walk to get to some sort of city, or at least a small village, or maybe just a single house that’s heated and doesn’t have murderers living in it.

Yes, that would be good.

I guess I’ll look around. I go ahead and try the restrooms, and they’re just small one-stall spaces that nobody is in, or has been in for some time, I guess, given how filthy they are, so at least those murderers I’m worried about aren’t here.

I notice a desk at the other end of the room which I suppose is where people used to check in after buying their tickets. There’s a section to lift up and get behind it, so I do that, hoping someone left some unopened snacks since there doesn’t seem to be any vending machines or anything here, not that I’d expect them to have anything in them.

What I do find is a box marked Lost and Found. It’s a pretty big box and a little dusty, but I figure no one’s been here in a long time so whatever is in it is long lost.

Amazingly, I find a coat—a warm one. It’s one of those puffer jackets, way too big for me but definitely the kind of thing that’ll keep me warm for a long walk to wherever I’m going. I also can’t believe I’m lucky enough to find some boots, and these are actually only half a size too big, so they’ll do. I check to be sure they’re not dirty inside and slip them on, throwing my own shoes in the box, just to give something back.

Wrapped in my warm coat and comfortable with my boots and extra socks I found, I decide it’s time to brave the cold and find somewhere to go in this place. I trudge out the door and look around. I could go either way, so I decide to go right, which is in the direction away from the street the bus brought me on, which must lead into town, or something.

There’s really nothing out here but fields of snow and a road that’s somehow staying relatively free of the powdery stuff because the wind keeps blowing it away. It’s cold, but the coat is really doing its job, and I figure I can walk like this for several miles before I start to get tired. Hopefully, I find something by then so I can rest and get something to eat. If not, I suppose I’ll have to turn around and go back to the bus depot.

I’m a few miles down the road when I hear a car coming up behind me. A slight shiver goes down my spine. This is either good news or bad, and I pray to the Goddess that it’s the former.

The car slows to a stop just behind me.