Only One of You

"This is strange," Dave whispered, the silence in the room finally broken by the sound of his voice. It sounded insecure, even vulnerable, as his eyes darted from Dean to Dan. "So strange.

The three brothers looked at each other for a second, an unspoken moment passing between them, almost making the air thick with an unseen meaning. Their gazes now fell upon Emma, but the expression in their eyes turned different. She could feel their stares deepen, as if they were beholding her in a different light. Confusion danced across her face. She hadn't moved or spoken, yet something in them had changed.

Emma shifted uncomfortably, her heart racing as she turned back to them. Their faces were so. foreign: somewhere between amazement and. ownership? Yes, that was the word. In the way they looked at her lay a possessive edge, an edge that said she belonged to them somehow. It scared her yet fascinated her-a thing so foreign that she could not explain.

Her mouth was dry, but she knew she had to say something. Finally, the word made it past her lips as a whispering salutation: "Hi?"

This word escaped her lips, soft and otherworldly, like a melody carried on the wind. Even her own voice startled her; the feeling was almost as if she hadn't spoken in such a very long time. And yet, so soft, sweet, somehow soothing.

The brothers blinked, her voice snapping them from whatever trance they'd been under. Dean was the first to gather his thoughts, his face softening, though his eyes still held that strange intensity. He cleared his throat and took a careful step forward, his voice low, yet firm.

Who… who are you?" he asked, his voice soft but full of curiosity. "And what had brought you to the woods, to where we found you?

Emma's eyebrows furrowed; she tried to collect her own thoughts. She wanted to answer, but her mind was still a blank, except for that name which earlier had echoed in her heart. She bit her lip as helplessly her fingers fidgeted, staring at them.

"I… I don't know," she confessed softly, her voice laced with uncertainty. "Everything's… blank. The only thing I know for sure is that my name is Emma." She looked up, her golden eyes meeting theirs with an innocence that made the brothers' heart skip a beat. She wanted them to understand, though she could barely understand herself.

Another look crossed between the three men, their faces again shifting with emotions unspoken. Each of them was lost in his own battle, each feeling something undeniable. That name, Emma, seemed to reverberate within them as if she held some deeper meaning, an anchor connecting her to them.

It took them a few moments to fathom what had occurred. They exchanged glances and, turning to her once more, their features gentled into sympathetic lines. She had lost her memory. Dean-the most level-headed of the three-jumped straight into action, hurrying to call for Jude, mumbling that they would need him to take a look at her.

Dean spun from the room, voice echoing down the hall as he yelled for Jude, an air of urgency underlying the tone. A moment later Jude stepped into the room, his expression a little annoyed but awake, an eyebrow rising as he entered.

In an instant, his irritation vanished when he saw Emma, to be replaced with pure astonishment. He stared into her eyes, growing wide as he was enthralled by the bright gold of her gaze, a color he'd never seen. Her long golden tresses softened in the light, and her eyes seemed almost to glow with a warmth he couldn't place. Jude cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus as he approached her slowly.

"I… I never saw eyes like yours," Jude stammered, still appearing rather shocked. "Golden eyes… and golden hair…" His voice trailed off, as his brain seemed to just go through and catch up on the whole picture. He had absolutely no doubt she was special-in ways beyond even what the brothers could imagine.

Jude reached out and gently touched her face to examine her. His hands were so soft, his tone reassuring, that Emma found herself calming down, breathing slower and slower as he checked her pulse, her temperature, making sure she wasn't in pain from lingering injuries.

After a few moments, Jude looked at her with a soft smile. "You've been through a lot," he said gently. "But you're going to be alright. Just rest for now."

He nodded reassuringly at her before he exited the room, gesturing for the brothers to follow him. The three men cast concerned looks at Emma and then disappeared, following Jude into the empty hallway. Jude turned to them as they came inside, his face knotted in tension.

So… what happened in there?" Jude asked curiously and worriedly. He looked from each of them to the other, their faces uneasy, unable quite to meet his eyes.

Dave swallowed, his voice low, hushed as he explained. "There's something… weird about her," he murmured, his face clouded with confusion. "When we looked at her, it felt like… a pull. Something deep inside us… beyond our control."

Dean nodded, his jaw clenched as he tried to put the feeling into words. "It's like she's… ours," he said, his voice full of a mix of disbelief and longing, slowly. "Like we're connected somehow, in a way that goes beyond anything I've ever felt.

Dan's fists were clenched, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Jude. "We don't understand it. It's… impossible. But we can't deny it. The moment we saw her, our wolves… they reacted. We felt like she belonged to us."

Jude listened to them, his face growing reflective as he let their words sink in. He let out a deep sigh and glanced backward toward the door behind which Emma lay resting. His gaze turned distant, as if he were rummaging through his memory in search of some lost piece of knowledge or an explanation of what they were describing to him.

Finally, he turned back to the brothers again; his eyes blazed with an inner fire. "You're telling me you didn't notice something special about her?" he asked in a quiet tone, his underlying firmness not escaping their hearing. "Golden eyes and golden hair aren't just unusual-they're rare. In fact, among our kind, they're practically unheard of."

The brothers looked back at him, each wearing an expression that slowly changed from one of confusion to shock as Jude's words finally sank in.

Jude's voice was grave as he continued, "Anyone with golden eyes is considered unique, an anomaly. But Emma… she's beyond that. She doesn't just have golden eyes; her hair is golden too. That kind of power… it's something even I don't fully understand. But I do know this: she isn't like anyone we've met.

It was thick with the atmosphere of urgency as the brothers finally fully grasped the gravity of their situation. They just looked at each other, their faces a mirror of terror and uncertainty. Dean was the first to break into words, low and strained.

So… what are we supposed to do?" he asked, his tone betraying anxiety. "If this 'mate' pull is real, if she really is… ours, then how are we supposed to handle it? What if the pack doesn't accept her? What if…?

Jude raised a hand, silencing him. "Listen to me," he said firmly, his voice slicing through their fear with an authority that was unquestionable. "The mate pull you're feeling is only one-sided. Emma hasn't felt it yet. But if she does … if this bond becomes mutual …" He hesitated, looking at each of them in turn. "The pack won't take it easily. Alphas sharing a single mate? That's unheard of.

And upon hearing his words, the weight in their stomachs increased, cold dread gathering there. They grasped just how heavy was what Jude was telling them-the near impossibility of it all.

His expression was grim, his voice low and even. "There's only one way out of this," he said, so final. The brothers schooled their faces close, taut bodies tilted in anticipation.

"One of you can only have her," Jude said, his tone clear with quiet authority.