Chapter 31

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 31 Chapter 31 – Expectations?

Astennu Groaning a little, I turned over. How my gamble last night had paid off, I was still trying to figure out. I couldn’t recall a time I had fallen asleep so content. Aroused as hell, but content nonetheless. I would have loved to have known exactly what happened in her dream, though it was doubtful she would ever tell either of us. Given her reaction to my brother and I showing up at her door, it must have started in a similar way. Knowing she was having those sorts of fantasies about me was somewhat daunting. How would I compare in reality? The real me was pitifully inexperienced and what was intimidating was the certain expectations on me as an Alpha for ‘performance’.

I would worry about that when the time came.

For now, I just wanted to enjoy having Evie so close. Her arm slipped around my waist and her face nuzzled into the crook of my neck. As my sleep faded and I began to wake, her body increasingly felt wrong. Where were the tingles? Her breath fanning against my skin sent no shiver of delight rippling through me.

The gentle laughter I heard definitely belonged to Evie… but it wasn’t from behind me.

“Are you two spooning?”

Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I turned, seeing the figure behind me was in fact my brother, curled up against me like a cat.

“I had no clue you were that close,” she continued her quite sniggering.

I pushed his arm off and scooted away a little, much to his sleepy protests.

“Mmmf, I was comfy,” he complained.

He had yet to grasp reality, so I hit him in the arm to wake up.

“Why do you keep punching me?” He stretched, still unaware.

“That one’s too easy,” Evie shook her head.

Upon hearing her voice, my brother was fully awake in a second and sitting upright. The sleep disappeared instantly as his eyes landed on our mate in nothing but a towel.

“Now that’s a sight to wake up to,” Badru grinned, before his brows furrowed as his sleep-addled brain cell caught up. “Wait… who was I spooning?”

“Who do you think?” Evie sniggered.

“Why would you let me spoon you?” My brother asked, annoyed, pulling his t-shirt over his head.

“I thought it was her,” I indicated our mate. “And there was the little issue that I was unconscious?”

“Think you’d have noticed the arm hair,” he muttered.

“Oh go chase a squirrel!” I snapped. If he was going to embarrass me, I would repay the favour.

“Hey! That was one time.”

“Please tell me it was in your human form!” Evie cackled, switching on the heater. We really needed to get her radiator fixed.

“Very funny,” he narrowed his eyes, a hue of pink dusting his neck. “It was when I first shifted and my wolf was a little excitable, ok?”

“He chased it around a tree for, like, ten minutes, barking,” I laughed, while my twin pouted.

His wolf was an exaggerated version of his human; a ferocious fighter that could switch with the same breath to an exuberant pup, not that he showed the latter to many.

Evie grabbed a few items of clothing after I told her to pick out something warm. We would be spending some of the day outdoors, though she was always welcome to warm up in my arms if she was getting a little chilly. She disappeared back into her bathroom to change, much to my brother’s disappointment, given his heavy exhale.

“How long has your heating been out?” He called.

“I first reported it a month ago, maybe?” Her muffled reply came from behind the door.

How could it have been left for so long? The longest she should have had to wait was a week and even that would be excessive. I mind-linked maintenance, with Badru included in the connection, pulling my own t-shirt over my head and pressing that this had to be fixed by the end of the day; obviously, after we left.

“I think Aste just fixed your heating issue,” my twin announced proudly when Evie slipped out of her bathroom fully dressed in a cosy thick sweater and a pair of skinny jeans that made me drool over her ass. “See? Being with the Alphas has some perks.”

And just like that, all her good mood evaporated. That hard stare of hers was back with a vengeance at hearing my brother’s words. Normally, I knew instantly where he had slipped up. This time, I wasn’t sure.

“I asked three times for that to be fixed. I shouldn’t have to be with an Alpha to have some basic heat,”

her glowering shifted between the two of us. “What about other people that aren’t getting what they need? Just because they’re an Omega, or they can’t shift, or they’re a rogue? Oh wait,” her voice took on a heavily sarcastic tone that even Badru picked up on. “There aren’t any other rogues, because your parents won’t even give them a chance here.”

Badru looked completely taken aback and silenced under our mate’s glare.

“…You’re right,” I admitted.

I didn’t realise just how elitist and prejudiced our pack was on status. If I or my brother ever needed anything, it was granted quickly… and I just assumed that when our pack needed anything, they received it too.

“I’m sorry if I’m being harsh…” she tried to apologise, but I didn’t want to hear her apologise for honesty.

She was the only one willing to voice her opinions to us, and forcefully at that. The rest of the pack could learn a thing or two from her. It only served to grow my admiration and adoration.

“I left out a couple of new toothbrushes in the bathroom for you. Why don’t you two freshen up a bit and I’ll get us all some breakfast. If any more crazy women stop by, please actually tell me this time,” she gave us a coy half-smile.

“I can get it,” Badru moved to get up.

She raised her hand to stop him, “I know mine and Lucy’s rooms are the only ones on this corridor. But how exactly would you explain coming from the Omega quarters, clearly having just woken up, if anyone spotted you?”

“Just let me do it,” she paused, opening the door. “…And thank you, for sorting out my heating issue. I didn’t mean to sound so ungrateful. I really appreciate it.”

Evie slipped out before either of us could reply, softly closing the door behind her.

“Did I make things worse, again?” Badru stared after her, his worry trickling through our bond.

“No. I think we’ve just got our work cut out for us with this pack,” I frowned, wondering how the hell we would change the mindset of the pack members.

‘Small steps,’ Aasim sighed.

Hopefully, one of those first steps would be today.

Badru and I took it in turns in the bathroom, waiting not-so-patiently for our mate to return. We opened the door when she mind-linked and she carried in a huge tray filled to the brim with English muffins, eggs and sausage. My brother was first to move, to take the tray from her and I made sure to plate up her share first.

“What is it that we’re doing today? It is actual work, right?” Evie asked between bites.

“We’re seeing some of the pack farmers today,” I swallowed my mouthful. “While we were away, we looked over some of our infrastructure. There are areas that need some modernisation and the agricultural side is one of them.”

“And I get to be stuck here looking at schedules and timetables,” Badru grumbled, stabbing his food in a mood. “You should be doing this, you’re better at it.”

‘Are you sure he’s 25 and not just 5?’ My wolf chuckled to himself at our twin’s little tantrum, all because he didn’t get to spend the day with our mate.

“That’s why you need the practice,” I raised a brow at him. ‘You’ll have all day tomorrow, quit sulking.’

‘You know I’m not good with patience,’ he narrowed his eyes.

‘You can practice that too.’

*

*

*

We had to sneak out of her window, given that it was on the ground floor, and sneak back in at home through my brother’s bedroom window, just like we were dumb teenagers again. Much to my disgruntled annoyance, I had to wash all of Evie’s wonderful spicy vanilla scent from me. It wouldn’t be for long, I kept reminding myself and Aasim. We would be in my jeep for almost two hours, affording me plenty of time for her scent to permeate my clothing and skin once more.

I could still feel Badru in a sulk, that he was cooped up in an office while I was driving our Evie out to the eastern side of the pack. We would be meeting a few of the pack’s farmers at one of their locations, instead of dragging them all the way to the main pack house. And as my brother and I began to handle more of the affairs of the pack, I wanted us to be more visible to our members, more approachable too.

We arrived at our destination, Moon Brook Farm, which specialised in year-round fruit production, and made our way over to the detached office. The farmers inside, a mix of four women and seven men and both wolf and human alike, greeted me instantly and eyed Evie with curiosity. I knew she felt out of place in situations like this, yet she handled herself well and introduced herself, not waiting for me to do it.

Now that we were gathered and settled at the small table that just about accommodated all of us, I set out the discussion and handed the papers to each person present. Evie already had her copy and had read it over on the drive. I hadn’t the first clue about agriculture and while I hoped our proposal plans were thorough, there very well could have been an issue I had overlooked.

The discussion had grown quieter than I had hoped, each face with a somewhat strained smile, nodding along as if it were an automatic response. I was about to call a break for a few minutes, to assure them they could speak freely. However, my attention was captured by the look of irritation on Evie’s face.

She sighed, loudly, rolling her eyes, “oh for goddess’s sake. If you have any complaints or suggestions, now’s the time to say. Nothing’s gonna change if you all stand around saying f**k all. So, what is it you need?”

My eyebrows shot up, surprised by her bluntness, thinking it was reserved solely for my brother and I.

My wolf’s chest puffed out with unbridled pride of our mate, that she felt no intimidation or shrunk away from speaking.

“You heard the lady. There’s no trick question here. We can’t help you unless you tell us what we can do better,” I looked to each of them.

‘Why do you feel turned on? You’re with a bunch of farmers,’ Badru’s irritated voice flooded my mind.

‘I’m just seeing exactly why Evie is our mate,’ I glanced in her direction as she continued taking her notes, jotting down everything the people sitting around her were saying.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ He asked, confused.

‘You’ll see tomorrow.’

With our informal meeting concluded and the farmers now looking actually happy with the plan for moving forward, I led Evie away and back to the jeep. Her natural dominance had always been a huge turn on and physically seeing that dominance in action almost sent me over the edge. How they had looked at her, with true respect, had the words Aasim had said to me echoing back.

‘Small steps.’

Not every step would be this smooth sailing, but maybe they wouldn’t be as hard as I was fearing.

I knew Badru would still be in his overly dramatic mopey mood and that I should head back with our mate. But I wanted some time alone with her first, without job roles and titles surrounding us. Closing my car door, I sucked in a breath, readying myself to ask her. Only, her scent went straight to my pants;

her pheromones instantly hitting me deeply and sending me straight back to square one.

I cleared my throat, “do you wanna go for a walk together? Just us?”

Evie Astennu drove us a little further into the centre of the pack, away from any border patrols, to one of the quiet trails around Mount Rainier.

As we walked along the foot-worn path, I noticed he kept his left hand out to sway by his side while his other hand warmed in his pocket. His eyes would flicker down to my own hand and I was debating with myself whether to take it or not. I wasn’t sure why, but this small, innocent yet intimate act made me nervous, more so than having both Alphas wrapped around me. The sweet purity of it and the tiny amount of skin contact made me crave more, to feel his hands in other places. Was this the bond talking or was it my free will?

‘This is me talking and I’m telling you to take the damn hand. It’s not as though you’re fondling his d**k,’

Evva huffed.

I mentally rolled my eyes at my wolf and tentatively slipped my hand into his, threading my fingers with his. He didn’t look, but a little smile tugged at his lips as his thumb traced gentle circles across my skin.

Those lips looked extra kissable… and this was why I was in debate over hand-holding.

“What’s it like having a sibling?” I tried to distract myself from the amazing tingles shooting up my arm.

“Tricky to answer, because mine’s a special case,” he shook his head with a smile.

“Come on, seriously.”

“I am,” he smiled to himself, chuckling away.

“Do you think you’re funny?” I said flatly, trying to hide my real amusement.

“I think I’m adorable,” he upturned his brows playfully at me. “Ru thinks he’s the funny one, somehow.”

“He doesn’t even get sarcasm,” I cackled in laughter.

“That’s why there’s heavy emphasis on ‘think’.”

‘I don’t know, that nugget makes me laugh,’ Evva gruffled, but I could feel her genuine affection.

“I know occasionally you have to take a deep breath with Badru,” Astennu spoke up after a few seconds of silence. “But he’s the best. He’ll never lie to you. He just doesn’t put his thoughts or feelings into words very well at times. He’s usually the best at dealing with an emergency, he always knows how to react in the moment… mostly,” he added. “You’ve seen for yourself how that impulsive streak can translate into ‘dumb’ sometimes.”

“That’s for damn sure,” I shook my head. Although those moments now in my memory held a certain softness to me. His look of genuine fear and arousal was not what I had expected from an Alpha.

We settled into a companionable silence for a short while, the few birds around chirping away as our only other company. I felt as though there was something he was wanting to say and just when I was about to open my mouth, he suddenly spoke.

“Would you wanna have dinner tonight? Just the three of us?”

“It’s not exactly being subtle,” I said, unconvinced.

“Our parents are out for their date night, they won’t be home till late. And we can sneak you in up the trellis. Badru and I are pretty decent cooks, our mom taught us a bunch of Egyptian dishes.”

‘How can you say no to that adorable goober’s face?’ Evva melted. ‘Plus, I wanna try Egyptian food. So either say yes or I’m going to b***h about it all night.’

‘Oh, well, with an ultimatum like that,’ I retorted.

I didn’t particularly need much convincing. It was hard to deny those big sparkly sapphires when they glistened with hope.

“If I came to dinner, would I be able to sleep over?” Not that I held much doubt he would say no. I knew sleeping on my own after sharing a bed, once, would never hold any appeal again.

“Uh, y-yeah, sure,” he fumbled, a hint of red creeping into his complexion.

This wasn’t the first time he had seemed on edge at the prospect of sharing a bed with me.

“You know I just mean to sleep, right?” I clarified. “I’m not ready for s*x yet. You don’t have to be nervous about anything like that.”

“I’m not nervous about having s*x. Trust me, I want to…” he coughed at the mildly awkward topic. “It’s just the expectations…”

“What do you mean?” I inclined my head.

His redness deepened, “well… I’m an Alpha and I feel like there’s all these expectations that I should know what I’m doing and be good at it… and I’m worried about leaving you disappointed if I don’t meet those expectations…”

I stopped our steps and turned him, placing a finger on his lips. “I don’t have any expectations of you…”

I immediately winced, hearing how that sounded aloud. “Wait, that really didn’t come out right.”

He laughed first and I quickly followed.

“I think I get what you mean, despite it coming out dumb,” his thumb grazed over my cheek.

“Hey!” I slapped his shoulder.

“What? I’ve had a lifetime with Ru. I know how to translate dumb,” he smirked in challenge.

I went to shove him again but he dodged, a playful glint in his eye. “Need to be faster than that, ammar.”

Evva immediately began a nonstop chant to chase him, but I had a more fun idea. I quickly scooped up a ball of snow, hurling it at him and hitting him in the stomach. He responded in kind, gathering up snowballs at an impressive speed. I shrieked in play and ran, doing my best to evade. I aimed a good-

sized snowball and let it fly, hitting him square in the face. While he shook the snow off, I pounced on him, pinning him to the ground and straddling his hips.

“You don’t put up much of a fight,” I panted.

“Against you? Never,” his fingers swept through my hair and his thumb traced the line of my lower lip.

My eyes flickered down to his mouth, as his did to mine, our gaze meeting for a heated second. I leant down, giving into my temptations just this once. Astennu met me halfway, replying with fervour. His lips were as soft as clouds, and his taste as sweet as syrup. I felt as though I could devour him forever. My lips parted to welcome his tongue and deepen our kiss. One hand of his played with my hair, a fixation I was increasingly becoming aware of, and his other hand clutched my waist, as though I might vanish.

My lungs burnt, in need of oxygen and I couldn’t bring myself to care about such things. My hips ground against his, lightly and on instinct. His deep moan urged me further, but I pulled back gasping for air and halting any further progression before we did something stupid like tearing each other’s clothes off.

He leant his forehead against mine, his breathing as equally as rapid.

“I just want you to be you… when I’m ready… that’s the only expectation I have. I just want you…” I laughed quietly against his skin. “And the other one, too, I suppose.”