Chapter 21

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 21 Chapter 21 – What’s-Her-Face?

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SPOILER ALERT ~~~~~~~~~~

Evie I wiped the dribble of coffee out of my eye so I could see what the hell was going on.

The shimmery pink blur that had hurtled into me was the owner of the unknown Alpha aura… the woman I had seen last night that had her sights set on my mates. Why on earth was she in Astennu’s room? Clearly, it wasn’t anything the twins wanted, given that Badru was throwing her out…

…Now that mind-link of Astennu’s made sense. He thought the knock was me, and in walked this woman. If she thought she was going to get anywhere with them, she was definitely barking around the wrong bushes.

And the fact that she was in nothing but tiny pale pink silk shorts and a cami that showed off her enviable figure… well, that I was just going to skip over for now. Along with my mates, only in a pair of sweats and completely bare-chested. There went my hormones again.

Wasn’t she meant to be Alpha Matías’s daughter? Why was she still here? Adrian said they had left…

‘Have fun with the other thing too’…

That son of a b***h! He didn’t have to worry about the twins killing him, because I would.

“Look where you’re going! Urgh, now I’m a mess,” the woman complained.

She looked up at me, her rich dark hair bouncing with the action. “You’re a house Omega, aren’t you?

Can you get me something to change into, you know, after you clean this up?”

‘Oh, princess thinks we doing what now?!’ Evva snapped, a deep reverberating growl escaped our throat, showing our anger at being spoken to by this random woman who wasn’t leaving my mates the f**k alone!

I didn’t know whether it was because we hadn’t shifted yet, but I was increasingly becoming aware that Alpha auras, while detectable, had little effect on me. I felt no urge to bare my neck in submission as other wolves did.

I didn’t even have chance to give a smart-mouth retort, besides Evva’s pissed-off growl, when I felt the excited tingles that sparked devotion; a touch belonging to Badru, gripping my hand.

“You made the mess, you clean it!” He snapped, pulling me inside and leaving what’s-her-face-princess stood gaping in the hallway.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Astennu spun me around, gripping my shoulders. His worried eyes searched mine, begging me to believe him and his blanket-warm touch surged through my skin.

“I know,” I stated plainly. Did they seriously not know how the mate bond worked?

“We didn’t… wait, what?” Badru started to beg alongside his brother before he finally caught up with my words.

“You two are such idiots, I swear,” I screwed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. Of all the mates I could land with and it truly was goober and the f*****g nugget.

“A, you were throwing her out of your room,” I listed on my finger. “B, you looked pissed at her and C, which is the most glaringly obvious and sure-fire giveaway, I would have felt it through the bond if you had cheated… dumbasses.”

And to be perfectly honest, I didn’t think they were capable of cheating. The side of them I had seen so far was that of utter commitment, even if that ugly green shade of envy and jealousy bubbled within me.

They looked at me stunned, speechless that I wasn’t jumping to conclusions. I glanced down at my food-stained clothes, a chill catching my skin where the now cold coffee had soaked me. I really liked this sweater…

“I’m cold and covered in scrambled eggs and yoghurt,” I made the mistake of glancing up from my attire.

Goddess, why did they have to be half naked and showing off their sculpted bodies? On purpose, I was sure. I always loved chest hair on a man, and the line that theirs formed, that disappeared under that very low hanging waistband, was begging to be followed by a tongue, to descend past that waistband.

‘You never get to comment on my dirty thoughts ever again,’ Evva smirked. ‘Not that I would stop you if you wanted to. Judge you? Absolutely, for caving.’

“You can take a shower here if you want?” Astennu offered, pointing to the door by the large windows.

“Or a bath? I could get you good and clean… or really dirty,” Badru smirked.

“If you remember, I can also kick you so hard in the balls they’ll get lodged in your f*****g throat. Wanna test which one I’ll find more pleasurable?” I stared him down with Evva backing me up for the hell of it with a low growl.

He physically gulped and actually stepped back instantly, his hands on instinct covering his groin. The mood of this guy spun on a dime. A second ago, he looked fit for panicking, ready to drop on his knees to beg for forgiveness for something he hadn’t done.

‘I think that brain cell just dinged the horny switch,’ Evva sniggered. ‘He really is cute when he’s stupid.

And the other one is quite sweet when he worries.’

Badru needed to learn he was marginally cuter when he didn’t try to be seductive. When he tried, he was just creepy. When he was just himself, he was still an i***t, but a more endearing i***t.

As I moved to the door of the bathroom, I indicated the handle. “Do I need to lock that?”

“Nope,” Badru practically squeaked, keeping his distance and those jewels of his safely covered.

Alone, inside the en-suite bathroom, I surveyed the damage once again in the mirror. Only this time, there would be no Lucy to come in, make me laugh and feel better.

‘I would make a comment about the twins coming in and making you feel better, but you already threatened violence on that one,’ Evva snort-laughed at herself.

‘I’m going to start judging you for caving soon, wolf!’ I cut off her laughing.

I took out my phone to quickly send Adrian a text message, to let him know I was not amused in the slightest by his antics.

Me | You’re an asshole!

Adrian | lol, I know but elaborate.

Me | You could have told me that Alpha woman your group came with was staying behind!

Adrian | And spoil the surprise?

Me | …I ran into her coming out of one of their rooms.

Adrian | Oh.

Adrian | They didn’t betray the bond, did they?! If they did, I’ll turn around right now and come kick their asses.

Adrian | Or at least give them a stern talking to. There’s two of them and I don’t have that big of a death wish.

Me | They didn’t do anything. They threw her out.

Adrian | Good. FYI Catalina is ok. She’s a bit of a spoiled princess and a daddy’s girl, but don’t read too much into it. I think she’s just bored now that her sister’s moved away and is busy having a pup.

Catalina. So that was her name. She didn’t feel ‘ok’. She felt like she needed my fist across her face.

Adrian | Seriously though. I gave your guys a hard time because of your past with them. But I don’t think you have to worry about their devotion to you. If you saw how they looked at you when you weren’t looking, you’d know it too.

I held the phone to my chest, unsure how to reply, staring at myself in the mirror.

‘Staring isn’t gonna find you the answer you want,’ Evva said. ‘You know you want them too. So get clean, then we can get all this bullshit over with and start finding out more about our cute idiots.’

A small tug pulled at the corner of my mouth… they really were cute… and they were mine.

I took out my hair and mooched around for a comb or brush to get out the egg debris and turned on the shower to warm up. I didn’t know how it got down there, but a strip of bacon fell out of my bra and onto the bathroom counter. I popped it in my mouth as I undressed because I wasn’t about to waste any more food, especially bacon, the food of the gods.

Stepping under the stream of water, I looked through the few of Astennu’s products, trying to find some shampoo, pleased that I hadn’t wasted my time this morning in washing my hair before meeting the twins. The various soaps and balms all had his scent infused with them, each swirling with a sweet earthy aroma. I couldn’t hate the idea of being coated in his scent, nor could I bring myself to regret it either; even Evva felt content, wrapped in his scent.

As the water washed away the last of the soap and remnants of breakfast, it hadn’t washed the nagging jealousy away either. Catalina was obviously liked by Luna Qamar, she came from a good family, she was an Alpha… that small, unsure and insecure part of me wondered what the twins were doing wasting their time with me.

‘We’re their mate for a reason,’ Evva reassured. ‘I don’t know what that reason is because I’m still working on it.’

A knock on the door shook me out of my head. ‘Evie?’ Astennu’s gentle voice called out to me in my mind.

Badru “I can’t tell whether you’re turned on or terrified,” my brother remarked, while I still stared at the now-

closed door.

“Is it messed up I’m both?” I rearranged my sweatpants and finally tore my gaze away.

‘Her eyes are so pretty when she’s angry. They go all deep grey,’ Baniti continued to wag his tail. He was just as enthralled as I was to receive her rage.

“But seriously, I feel everything I do makes it worse.” While I did love her anger and it turned me on more than anything, it was pushing her further away.

“Because you’re talking to her like you’re trying to pick her up,” Astennu explained. “She’s our mate, not some she-wolf in a bar you’re trying to bang tonight.”

“I’ve never even done that!” I protested. I wasn’t some sleazy guy that went through women like tic-

tacs.

“It’s an analogy, Ru,” he sighed, pinching his brow in a manner I was accustomed to.

We both began to feel the pang of hurt tingle in our chests. The emotion was from neither of us, it was coming from Evie. I remembered what Lucy had told us last night, “she acts like nothing bothers her, but she’s incredibly sensitive.” She had looked so unaffected by Catalina’s presence and was so quick to show that she knew the truth without explanation… but that wasn’t the case. Astennu quickly grabbed something out of his closet and moved to the bathroom door to knock. He never spoke a word, obviously mind-linking, and disappeared inside with his eyes closed.

That absolute lucky bastard. Had that been me, she probably would have opened the door just to slap me… sweet goddess, why did that turn me on so much?

‘Just as long as she doesn’t kick us again. That really hurt last time,’ Baniti moped, lying his head on his paws to focus on the door, waiting for our mate to emerge.

How the hell my brother could keep his eyes closed in there was beyond me. The guy had the self-

control of a Zen monk… if only I had that sort of control.

It sounded far too quiet outside. That woman better not think she was getting out of cleaning up her own mess!

‘Catalina!’

Astennu It was as though my brother was hell-bent on sabotaging himself.

‘Goddess help our moron,’ Aasim shook his head.

‘She only has so much power,’ I took one last look at our brother and headed over to my closet. Would you believe his wolf’s name, Baniti, meant ‘teacher’? ‘One who is wise’? How ironic…

I grabbed a thick long-sleeved dark blue t-shirt and a pair of my sweats. Evie would need a change of clothes since hers were now ruined and I nervously hoped that she would let me in to smooth over Badru’s idiocy and to quell her pain. She may have brushed it off and acted unbothered, but my brother and I could feel the reality. She had believed us so quickly, trusted us readily without question. It made my heart swell that she had so much faith in us to know the truth. I could have been fooled into thinking she was completely unshakable in her confidence in us, but the twinge of hurt told me otherwise. She had no competition because there was no competition. Who could be better for me than Evie?

I knocked on my bathroom door and reached out to her through the mind-link, ‘Evie?’

‘…Yes?’ She tentatively replied.

‘I’ve got clean clothes. Can I come in? I’ll keep my eyes closed the whole time,’ I promised.

‘If she says yes, I’ll die!’ My wolf was a mix of glee and angst to be around our wet and naked mate.

‘Ok.’

‘Holy s**t! She said yes?!’ Aasim cried out, completely ecstatic.

Trying to swallow my grin, I closed my eyes and I went in. The sound of water splashing and light wet footsteps were the only sounds to greet me.

‘You really aren’t peeking?’ Evie mind-linked.

“No, of course not. I told you I wouldn’t,” I said out loud.

I heard the water turn off and her footsteps patter out of the walk-in shower. Her fresh scent of spiced vanilla mixed with that of my soap, a mixture that electrified my soul. The only scent missing from her skin was Badru’s and maybe he’d get there if he stopped acting like an ass.

“You… had some clothes?” She asked after some slight rustling of a towel that I assumed she was wrapping around herself.

And when I opened my eyes to hand her the clothes, I realised I had made the wrong assumption. Her eyes widened, as did mine, as I saw every inch of her naked and still slightly damp skin.

‘Sweet goddess above…’ my wolf uttered, mesmerised by every swell and curve of her body.

I regained my senses and looked away instantly, feeling my face and neck heat up rapidly. Wherever you are moon goddess…thank you.

“You said you weren’t looking!” She hissed, her hands scrambled to cover herself.

“I-I’m sorry! I thought you had a towel around you!” I spluttered awkwardly.

She snatched the clothing out of my hand, sounding as though she was yanking them on.

“Why are you the one blushing here?” She demanded. “You can look now, by the way. I’m actually dressed.”

She was a vision in my clothes and wrapped in my scent too was doing nothing to calm the borderline painful throbbing situation in my pants. She was bright red also, but still looked me in the eye, defiant as ever.

“I’m not blushing… I just wasn’t expecting to see so much…” I gulped.

“Oh, goddess!” She hid her face behind her hands before she dropped them and wrapped her arms around herself. “This can’t be the first time you’ve seen a she-wolf naked?”

‘She’s onto you my dude,’ Aasim huffed in laughter, unhelpfully.

“Of course not… I mean there’s training and whatnot…” I struggled to meet her eye.

I had trained alongside female warriors. We all shifted in front of each other. Not that I ever leered or looked directly. I had seen their naked figures out of the corner of my eye and it wasn’t as though I felt the need to cover myself either. Inhibitions were quickly lost in our kind with shifting to and from wolf and human forms regularly. But mates were another matter entirely. They weren’t just anyone. Their opinions, their wants, were all that was important to us wolves.

Evie didn’t look the slightest bit convinced by my excuses and this bathroom was feeling increasingly too small, the distance between us too short, the atmosphere too charged…

‘Too charged? s**t, I can taste the s****l tension. The air’s ripe with it and I’m about to be drunk on her damn pheromones,’ Aasim panted.

‘I don’t know what the f**k is happening in that bathroom, but you better cool it! I feel like I’m about to pop and it’s making my situation, at present, complicated,’ my brother’s voice exploded through our mind-link.

One of the downsides to our twin bond was we felt each other’s moods and emotions. Normally, this was a positive, except that it also extended to more intimate feelings. Awkwardly, we could sense when the other was turned on and becoming physical, connected always because our wolf spirits were one.

Unfortunately, it was how I knew for certain he wasn’t a virgin and how he knew I was.

“I, uh, I’ll leave you to finish up,” I mumbled and exited the door quickly.

My heart hammered a mile a minute, while I rested my back against the wall. It may have been a mistake to look, but I in no way regretted it. And having no experience with women didn’t quieten all the things I wanted to do with that body of hers, providing she ever let me anywhere near her.

Looking around my bedroom, I noticed Badru was nowhere to be seen. He was near, I could sense him.

‘Ru? Where’d you vanish?’

‘I made sure the mess was cleaned up and I’m just grabbing us breakfast from our kitchen. Thank goddess mom and dad aren’t here,’ the door opened to reveal my brother carrying in a plate loaded with bagels and cream cheese. The only difference now was that he was wearing a t-shirt.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” He frowned at me, his sights flashing to the bathroom door.

“Nothing happened… except I kinda happened to catch her naked,” I couldn’t help the tiny smirk forming.

“I really want to hate you right now,” he sulked. “Here I was being stupid and making Catalina clean.”

“You actually got her to do it?”

“Uh, yeah? But she also knows… about us and Evie,” he winced.

Oh, for f**k sake! At this rate, the entire pack would know before we ever got to talk to our mate!