Mateo's POV
I watched as Mark's rage turned to confusion before swiftly returning to its former expression. My words had completely caught him off guard, and his reaction was nothing short of my expectations.
"Have you finally lost your damn mind, Mateo?! Have you gone insane?!" Mark thundered, his tone laced with anger and trickes of genuine curiosity. Then his eyes snapped back to the poor girl on the floor. He raised his finger and pointed at her suspiciously "What did she do to you? Did she promise to lie with you if you save her from her fate–"
"I am not joking around, Mark. She is my mate." I repeated, this time more convinced than before. I was certain now that what I felt was a mate pull, that sensation had yet to vanish and there was no other female around. I didn't want to believe it at first, I had thought that it might be a fluke, but it was legit. However it was very unusual, there was no way two of us could have the same mate, nothing like that have been heard before.
"Bullshit," Mark spat, livid and at the verge of losing himself. He was confused, but knowing Mark he would never calm down to ask the necessary questions. "That's absolute bullshit, Mateo. You're not thinking straight. You're not seeing straight."
I said nothing. I didn't need to. I had already told him the much as I could, and if he wasn't going to be reasonable about it, then I had no reason to entertain him anymore. This lady here was my mate, and that was all he needed to know.
Mark took a threatening step closer. "Back down now, Mateo. This has nothing to do with you. She's mine, I found her, and I'm not going to let you keep deluding yourself with whatever she might have told you."
"She's not yours. You've hurt her. Mark, I felt it. I don't care how rare or impossible it sounds. She's my mate. And I'm not going to stand by while you treat her like something you can break."
Mark's face darkened, the veins in his neck straining with rage. He didn't say anything to me, he merely turned towards her, his gaze intimidating as he spoke.
"Get up and come here this instant!"
She shuddered slightly, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she did her best to cover up her naked body.
Acting swiftly, I immediately reached for the blanket and handed it over to her.
"Here," I murmured, gently. "Let me help."
Her hands trembled as she reached for it. I tried to ease her tension with a smile, but was immediately distracted when I heard a snarl behind me. My instincts screamed and I immediately spun around to meet Mark lunging himself at me, his claws bare and ready to strike.
However, before the hit could connect he was intercepted by a familiar figure, one that had been around since the beginning of all this drama. Alfred was my Beta and best friend, and he had accompanied me here the moment I felt a mate pull. He had remained outside, not wanting to interfere in a matter that had nothing to do with him. That was until the moment Mark attacked me. My safety was paramount to Alfred, and while he was weaker than my twin brother, he wasn't going to sit still and let harm come my way.
"Forgive my intrusion, Alpha Mark, but I believe that you've gone too far." Alfred relayed as calmly as he could.
Mark on the other hand only got angrier, but he didn't act on his emotions this time. He was smart enough to know when he was outmatched and knew that fighting me and Alfred at once would not end well for him.
"We're going to have a talk later, just you and me, Mateo!" Mark said before storming out of the room angrily.
"Thank you," I said with a sigh of relief. Alfred gave me a little smile as a response before giving me and the mortified lady some privacy.
"What's your name?" I inquired after the tension in the room had died down a little and she was done wrapping herself up in the blanket.
"Violet…" she drawled out slowly. Her gaze remained on the floor while she did her best to control her tears and stop her body from shaking.
"I'm Mateo, and I'm sorry if my brother and I scared you."
She nodded faintly, her fingers tightening around the blanket as though it was the only thing anchoring her to this moment. Her lips trembled, but she didn't look up. Her voice, soft and brittle, barely rose above a whisper.
"You didn't scare me…"
I tilted my head, crouching a little to meet her at eye level, but not pushing her for eye contact. Then slowly, I reached for her chin with my hand. She recoiled the moment my fingers grazed her skin, but I was quick to reassure her that I wasn't going to hurt her.
"It's fine, I won't hurt you, I promise."
Finally, she looked up and met my eyes. We held our gaze for a moment before she quickly turned her head away.
"Please take me home" she cried.
I paused at her words, I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. She was my mate, and Mark also claimed that she was his as well, there was no way I could send her home without us figuring out what exactly was going on. I was certain Mark had already informed the park council of the arrival of his mate, and they will likely be here by dawn tomorrow.
"Is there something you need from your house? I'll order the guards to fetch them as soon as possible–"
"I don't like it here! I don't want any of this, I don't want to be anybody's mate! I just want to take care of my mother, please take me back to her! She won't survive without me!"
Violet cried, cutting me short and completely leaving me stunned.
"Your mother? Tell me where she is, I'll send for her to be brought here immediately!"
Violet paused for a second, then lifted her head to look at me as though I was losing my mind. She clearly didn't want to be here, and my idea of bringing her mother here was enough for her to understand that I had no intentions of letting her go.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave just yet. You're my mate–"
"I understand," she chipped in swiftly. "Please bring my mother to me, I'll be happier here with her around."
I nodded to her demand and without wasting time sent Alfred away to carry out that task.
I remained with Violet for the next hour, making sure that she was comfortable. She had changed out of her torn gown, and I had even ordered for some food to be brought to her immediately.
"I'm sorry about Mark, he's not usually like–"
I was interrupted by the ringing of my phone. It was Alfred, and hopefully he had called to inform me that the task was successful and had been carried out.
"There's a problem, Alpha…" Alfred started and my initial excitement immediately disappeared.
"What is it? What happened?" I demanded calmly, yet frantically.
"The girls mother is dead."