Chapter 26

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 26 Chapter 26 – And Which Are You?

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

Evie “Hey, I thought we should have a word or two,” Catalina slyly smiled at me and strode past into my room without a single hesitation.

“By all means, come on in,” I said sarcastically, glaring at the back of her head and slammed the door, wincing at the strength I didn’t know I possessed.

“I thought I just did,” she smirked and plopped herself down on my mattress.

Who the f**k did she think she was?! I was incensed that she would be so brazen to not only approach me hours after hitting on my mates in virtual underwear, but to just waltz into my room uninvited! Evva was in full agreement, having no words for her infuriation, so instead settled for a shuddering snarl that I felt vibrate through my entire body.

“Oh, chill your wolf,” she looked neither intimidated nor scared, though she did look impressed. “I know about you and the Rolfe twins. Badru told me.”

“You two best buds now?” I snapped.

She threw her head back in a laugh, “the furthest from. I doubt we’ll be braiding each other’s hair anytime soon. Actually, I guessed about your threesome and he seems clueless about lying.”

A low growl rippled from my throat. I didn’t like others making jokes about my mates. That was my job because they were mine!

“Why the hell won’t you leave them alone?” I snarled once more.

…Wow, possessive much?

“Because I was bored!” She exclaimed, completely unaffected by my tone, and fell back on the bed.

“I know you probably think I’m a princess,” Catalina propped herself up on her elbows.

‘At least she admits it,’ Evva bristled, her hackles still raised in threat.

“Probably?” I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow at her, another growl bubbling at the back of my throat. “I can probably think of a lot worse.”

I took a deep breath, knowing I needed to rein it in. This woman was an Alpha who could shift… I was not. And I was in an enclosed space, far from my mates. What I was doing with my challenging behaviour was tantamount to stupid.

To my surprise, Catalina lifted her head up with an amused smile plastered across her ruby lips. “I like you. You don’t act all polite like most Omegas.”

“Thanks?” My voice inclined, completely mystified by this individual. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Absolutely. I like a woman who speaks her mind,” she sat up and crossed her legs.

“I’m not going to say anything to anyone about you and the guys. I know from personal experience how f*****g dumb parents can be about mates they think don’t measure up, trust me. I helped my sister sneak around for two years with her mate because he was an Omega that couldn’t shift. Our papá was estúpido and thought he wasn’t good enough, so he kept them apart. Who the hell was he to say?!”

She threw her hands in the air, huffing. “Thankfully, papá pulled his head out of his ass and saw the light eventually, he’s remarkably eased up.”

“Oh…” was all I could say.

This woman was not what I thought she would be. She was as bold as brass, which in no way was a surprise, given how we met. But I wasn’t expecting her to be so… understanding?

“Why are you even here? Both in this pack and my room?” I eyed her warily, not entirely trusting her yet and neither was Evva. Though my wolf was intrigued as well as still irritated.

“¡Oh por diosa! (Oh my goddess!)” She rolled her eyes. “So suspicious.”

Her gentle laughter was dry but delighted. Just what the f**k was this day?

“I suppose I can’t blame you, I was a real mamona (jerk). I’m sorry about that, by the way,” she apologised. “If I had known they had a mate, I would never have gone to Astennu’s room. I only went because Qamar invited me to stay for a few days and I wanted to mess with them.”

“They seemed to have made their position clear. You shouldn’t have kept pursuing them when they weren’t interested. If it was the other way around, I’m pretty sure everyone would be screaming s****l harassment,” I glared, staring her down.

“You really don’t hold anything back, do you?” Her grin only widened.

“So I’ve been told,” I sighed, sitting on my vanity stool by my dressing table.

“The Luna doesn’t like you, does she?” She shuffled forward. “Is that one of the reasons you’re keeping your Alpha boys quiet? Because every woman I know would be screaming it from the mountains that those hunks were theirs.”

“I was born a rogue… so I’m not exactly on many friend lists here,” I wrung my fingers, expecting Catalina to change her tune with me now she knew… only to my surprise, she didn’t.

“Qamar only likes me because I’m an Alpha and because our packs are close allies. If she got to actually know me, that view would change, rápidamente (quickly). I’m loud, pushy, obstinate, and certainly wouldn’t ever take her bullshit. Give her a few weeks and she’d hate me too,” Catalina huffed with a laugh, but there was no humour in her voice this time.

‘She almost sounds like a Latina you,’ Evva smirked, though still not entirely calm.

“Come on, you can show me around this pack,” she stood, smoothing out her sweater.

“What’re we, friends now?” My brows furrowed, bewildered.

“Seems like you could use one?” She gave me a measured look. “And it’s not as though I have many myself. As the Alpha’s daughter, it’s very hard to know who’s genuine and who’s just after some status.

I guess that would be my advice to a future Luna; friends and foes can look very similar.”

“And which are you?” I returned her stare.

“Finally, a sensible question,” a half smile reappeared on her lips, one that reached her eyes. “Not to sound like a snob, but you really don’t have anything I want. So, why would I want to hurt you?”

I would concede she may have had a point. Astennu and Badru had shown me the most important thing; they wanted me and only me. After this morning, deep down, I knew, they would never turn away from me. If they had been interested in Catalina at all, they would have made their move on their trip.

They obviously hadn’t. She was an Alpha’s daughter and had far more power than me, a Luna’s position wouldn’t add to that. If she wanted, she could start her own pack with her father’s help. I thought she had come to my room to intimidate me and, although I was still unsure of her motives, my instincts didn’t sense any danger from her anymore.

“Are we going to hang out or what?” Catalina cut through my thoughts, looking at me expectantly.

“Ok,” I drew out. “Do… you like horses?”

“That sounds fun!” She clapped, showing genuine excitement. “I always wanted a pony when I was younger, but my parents refused.”

‘Princess wanted a pony? Shocker,’ Evva rolled her eyes.

‘We literally just made a resolution to try and be more pleasant. Shut the f**k up and give her a chance,’ I snapped at my wolf. Jeez, we needed to break this judgemental cycle we were on.

“You might want to change out of your mates’ oversized clothes first,” she wriggled a finger at my attire.

“Unless you want to make it even more obvious.”

I looked down at myself, “probably a good idea,” I half laughed.

Catalina moved to my wardrobe and handed me a thick hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans as well as a t-shirt on my bed I had slept in. “Here, this t-shirt is saturated in your scent. Rub it over you thoroughly to cover your mates’ before you put the hoodie on. Or do you want to advertise it?”

“Don’t be so surprised,” she grinned when she noticed my impressed expression. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to hide a boy’s scent.”

I took the clothing through to my en-suite and stripped down, doing as Catalina said, which worked pretty well.

“Ready?” She asked brightly once I slipped out, re-dressed. “¡Vamos!”

I led the way out, pausing subconsciously as I passed Lucy’s bedroom.

“You know them?” Catalina looked up at me. She was tall as you would imagine an Alpha to be, possibly around 5’11, but she still had to crane her head up to me; as most did.

“Yeah… she’s practically family… and she’s been through a lot recently,” I stared at Lucy’s door.

“Did you want to ask her to come with us?”

“She was asleep earlier,” I turned back to Catalina, an uncomfortable and tight smile tugged at my lips.

“I can’t really tell you what’s going on with her because it’s personal.”

“That’s ok. We’ll bring her some good food later, how about that?” She tilted her head and threaded her arm through mine like we were friends.

This was, without a doubt, the weirdest way to meet a friend.

*

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*

‘You were the piano woman?!’ Catalina cackled, out loud.

My infamous piano incident had emerged in the conversation as we all ate. We were warming up after having visited the stables and after some hot tea, we decided to grab some dinner in one of the little dining nooks just off the main hall. It had beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto the snowy forest and mountains, and a large pair of double glass doors with wooden slat blinds for more privacy. Catalina had been delighted with the other horses in the stables that belonged to some of the residents of the main pack house. Heru was none too fussed on the stranger, but neither was he aggressive either, taking the carrot snack from her hand without any naughty behaviour. She seemed to enjoy brushing one of the calmer horses, while I brushed Heru.

While we had been drinking our tea, Lucy had mind-linked me if I wanted to grab some dinner and, since we ran into Tamlyn and her mate, Suzanna, we decided to grab a table together. We stuck to mind-linking, so we wouldn’t be overheard, even though we were separate from the other diners. And it afforded us to be able to eat at the same time. How had I ever lived without this ability?

The five of us had got to talking and it wasn’t long before the piano incident was brought up. That damn tale would follow me to my grave.

‘How does everyone know this?’ I stabbed at my cornbread.

‘I think you massively underestimate how famous this story is,’ Tamlyn laughed into her large glass of white wine. Suzanna refilled it sneakily, once she placed it back down, not that Tam wouldn’t know.

‘My sister and mamá were there when it happened. I was so disappointed that I missed out when they told me,’ Catalina let out a loud burst of laughter. ‘My mamá thought it was scandalous but Beth found it quite amusing.’

‘Evie always did know how to make her feelings very much known,’ Lucy grinned, downing the rest of her wine.

‘So I’ve gathered,’ our newest member to the group teetered to herself. ‘I would love to hear what exactly happened when you found out Astennu and Badru were your mates.’

‘Nope, nuh uh. I won’t tell,’ I shook my head, cutting into my steak. Lucy was the only one who knew and my twins would be horribly embarrassed if they found out more people knew how they were bested and beaten by an Omega that had yet to shift.

‘You totally beat them up, didn’t you?!’ Catalina beamed, having guessed correctly.

‘That was a long-lived secret wasn’t it?’ Evva began to gruffle in amusement only to suddenly grow tense, a giddiness washing over both her and myself. ‘Speak of the devils.’

I looked up, naturally drawn to their luminous and magnetic eyes. Astennu and Badru stood just outside the pack dining hall with an expression of some mild panic gripping their features.

‘From the way you just tensed, I’d say your boys have spotted our little group and are shitting themselves, yes?’ Tamlyn grinned my way.

‘I wish I had a polaroid of their faces!’ Evva howled.