Page 2 of Hunting Thana

Severin returned to his family home after a year away. He’d missed his family, especially his twin. But as he entered the estate, his senses locked onto a foreign yet somehow familiar scent. Honeysuckle and wildflowers. He breathed in the wonderful scent deeply, almost dizzy with the need swelling in his veins.

Mate. Mine. Two words etched into his core long before his mind conjured the reason. His body flashed to the back courtyard, instinct drawing him to the scent that told him where his female was.

His breath caught in his throat the moment he became solid. He stood a hairsbreadth from the most beautiful being he’d ever seen.

“Mia moglie,” he whispered, reaching for the female with long red hair, uncaring that his hand shook.

“She is my wife,” Scepter growled from a foot away, where Severin stopped.

Severin jerked his head toward his twin. His fangs descended. Possessiveness and the need to claim his female forced him to pull the female behind him. “She is my bonded mate, brother.” The words came out as a growl he couldn’t suppress.

A soft whimper drew their attention, but Severin couldn’t take his eyes off Scepter's red, glowing stare.

“Take your hands off Bianca, or I will kill you,” Scepter warned him.

The truth of his words was written on a face so much like his own. Severin kept his hand on Bianca’s hip, unable to let her go, no matter how angry Scepter was. He said her name in his mind, feeling it settle over every atom of his being. She couldn’t belong to Scepter. She was his.

“I don’t want to fight you, Scepter,” he began.

“Then move away from my female,” Scepter gritted out. Severin shook his head, anger at his twin and their fucked-up world. “I cannot do that, brother. Do you not see the bond between us? Between her and me?”

“What I see is my brother touching my wife. If you were any other male, I’d have already killed you for daring to do such. I will give you one more chance, Severin,” Scepter said, stepping closer.

“What is the meaning of this?” Their father flashed between them, sensing the tension rising.

“Severin returned and is trying to claim my mate as his.” Scepter’s growl rumbled through their courtyard.

Their father’s head jerked back as if he’d been slapped. “That’s...that is unfortunate.” Severin narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, unfuckingfortunate?”

“I thought she’d bond with him if you weren’t here. Scepter is the eldest, so he should’ve been mated first. From all appearances, they seemed like a good match. No, they are a good match. She loves him, and he loves her. This bond you feel for her will fade if you leave, Severin. The Fates will give you another mate.” Their father raised his hands, looking between Severin and Scepter.

“You knew?” Severin asked, bitterness and betrayal tasting like bile with every word. “You knew she was mine but allowed Scepter to mate and marry her?” he asked, needing his father to confirm. “I suspected, yes. A truemate bond has a different color and scent. Anyone who has been around one can see and smell it. While the two of them had a clear connection, I knew it wasn’t quite...right. I figured it out right away. The only answer I could come up with was that he and you were twins, and since you weren't here, I assumed his connection to you created the link to her. I couldn’t let their bond go, and if you returned, the bond would taint the three of you. However, if they bonded then—” The old man shrugged.

Scepter shoved their father, knocking him to the ground. “You knew she belonged to my brother, yet you still orchestrated Bianca’s and my meeting?” Bianca shivered behind him as he and Scepter argued. “Please don’t fight over me,” she whispered.

Severin spun, shielding her with his body and pulling her flush against him.

While Scepter stayed home to be groomed as the manor’s next heir, he’d learned to kill with precision and leave no trace behind.

“I will protect you,” he promised, running his palm down the back of Bianca’s head. He’d give his life for his female.

Bianca shoved him away, shaking her head. “I’m... I’m confused. I don’t know what to do. He’s my husband.”

The sight of her tears hit him in the gut, making him stumble back. What the fuck?

“Severin, you’ve only just returned, and you’re laying claim to my wife?” Scepter snarled.

He clenched his fists at his sides. Family loyalty warred with the soul-deep assurance that his female stood before him, covered with another male’s scent, his brother’s.

Bianca looked from him to Scepter and back again.

His father shifted on his feet and pointed a long finger at Severin. “You should’ve stayed gone. Why did you come back without letting us know?”

Severin laughed and turned toward the gate he’d entered. “I…I will leave.” His entire being protested the words, but he was stronger than some useless boy who couldn’t control his own destiny. Fuck Fate and their fickle asses.

“Son of a bitch,” Scepter roared.

Severin didn’t stop to listen or look back. In a blink, he let his body break into dozens of tiny bats and shot skyward. Once he reached the first layer of clouds, the bats coalesced into a single large raven. Storm clouds stirred around him as lightning forked across the sky. The roar of thunder would’ve been deafening if he’d been human. He ignored the tug at their connection, unwilling to go back and see them playing at being happy, bonded mates.