Chapter 78

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 78 Chapter 75 – What About Damian?

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THERE IS A SMALL SECTION OF THIS CHAPTER THAT COULD BE TRIGGERING FOR SOME READERS. A SUBSTANCE IS MENTIONED THAT IS CONNECTED TO S.A BUT NO S.A TAKES PLACE ~~~~~

Badru “We’re taking blood samples, so we’ll know soon,” a pack doctor stepped out of the private treatment room where Lucy had been taken, slinging the stethoscope around her neck. “With the symptoms you’ve described, I have a decent idea of what may have been used, but I’ll wait for confirmation. The good news is, I highly doubt it’s caused any long-term issues. However, there’s more than likely going to be some memory loss leading up to ingestion.”

“Thanks for doing all you can,” I exhaled in frustration that we may have lost more crucial information but relieved that Lucy would be fine, physically at least.

“This is the water bottle she drank from,” I grabbed the metal container out of my sweatpants pocket.

“She sipped from it just before she blanked out. You can test it with the tea collected.”

“I’ll send it to the lab,” she took it from me and began to turn, pausing just a few steps away. “Alpha?

I’m sorry about your mate, but I know you’ll find her.”

I half-heartedly smiled, even if the expression nowhere near reached my eyes. I wanted to believe the doctor, but it felt like an empty sentiment, something comforting you say for the sake of it.

With Lucy taken care of and on a drip to flush out whatever drug was in her system, and with my brother notified and on his way, I went in search of my mother’s hospital room on the opposing corridor.

Hers was at the far end, in a corner room with a she-wolf warrior standing guard. Gently opening the door, in case she was asleep or resting, I slipped inside. At the movement, a hunched-over figure that had been cradling their chin to their knees, blanched in the bed, recoiling into the metal headboard.

“It’s just me, mom,” I held up a hand, half through the door.

The blinds in the room had been dropped, dulling the bright afternoon sunlight. A small cardboard bowl sat on the hospital bed table, put out for any bouts of sickness. All the symptoms Lucy had experienced as well when she woke.

My mother relaxed upon hearing my voice, a slight audible hitch to her breath as she exhaled. What happened today must have brought up so much deeply buried trauma. Trauma that I needn’t know the full details of to understand exactly what some of this triggered.

I approached and perched on the side of her bed which was free of IV lines. Without words, she clutched onto me around my waist, her fingers digging into my bare skin. I stroked her back in comfort, holding my mother for the longest time until her grip began to loosen. She tried to speak but her voice sounded a little hoarse.

“Let me get you some water,” I stood to grab the jug at her other side.

As I poured and was about to hand it over, I hesitated, sipping it first for peace of mind that it hadn’t been tampered with before she drank it.

“Thank you,” she whispered, sipping from the cool glass.

The door burst open just as the last drop was drained and she almost flung the glass at the visitor, had I not reacted and grabbed it mid-air.

My father.

The only inhabitant of the room he noticed was my mother, wrapping her up in his arms and burying his face in the crook of her neck.

I could hardly blame him. Had it been Evie that walked through the door, nothing else in the world would exist to me. The only other voice that would have registered audibly would have been Baniti, most likely begging to be let out so he could hump her leg.

‘I wouldn’t ask that!’

‘Yes you would, after slobbering all over her face.’

‘I’m not some dog,’ he pouted, nestling his muzzle between his paws to return to a quiet forlorn longing.

It wasn’t until my brother followed moments after that our father’s attention was finally nudged.

“How’re you feeling?” Astennu asked, standing by me at her bedside.

“As sick as a dog when I came around,” she hummed a humourless laugh, her voice growing small. “I don’t remember clearly what happened, just drinking tea and then waking up here… alone.”

Our dad gripped around her waist, kissing her shoulder. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here… that I let this happen to you.”

“It’s ok… did you find her, Evie? And who did this?” Her head turned to each of us, one by one.

My father and Astennu both shared a strained and tense look that spoke volumes.

“No,” our dad said tersely. “Not yet.”

“Ya haram (a term used to express sympathy), ahhibba (darlings),” she held out her hands to us, to squeeze lightly.

“Lucy was drugged too,” I reported. “The doctor said she should be fine, though.”

That strangely tense look was back again between Astennu and our father. Did this have to do with what he had mind-linked me with? This grudge he had with Konstantin, I swear, our dad was looking for any way to spurn him.

‘Alphas,’ the doctor’s voice came. ‘I have the results and I’d prefer to tell you in private, away from the Luna.’

We made our excuses and left the room to find the doctor waiting. Our father dismissed the warrior guard, saying he would be staying by the Luna’s side going forward. She nodded with her new orders and left.

“We’re still waiting on Miss Maddrell’s results because they’ve not long since been collected, so it’ll be a few more hours. But, given the similarities and timing, I’d be surprised if they were different,” the she-

wolf doctor spoke quietly. “The drug used on the Lunas is called Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid or GHB…”

She took a long pause before she spoke again, “I need you to promise to try and keep calm when you hear this… the substance is one commonly connected as a date rape drug…”

A shuddering snarl ripped from the three of us and my stomach damn near fell through my ass.

“In no way do I suspect that has occurred,” the doctor held up her palms to talk us down from our rampage. “GHB is odourless and colourless. Wolves tend to find it has a metallic taste, similar to that of the tannins in tea or the tinge a metal water bottle might have. It works fast because of our metabolism and, if hidden properly, it’s fairly undetectable, but it can only be ingested. It was present in the tea and I’m suspecting it’ll be in that water bottle. In low doses, it causes nausea and vomiting, confusion, some paralysis and memory loss. At higher doses, it causes loss of consciousness and some severe amnesia.”

“And there’s no long-term damage?” Astennu swallowed his anxiety which flowed through me so strongly, it could well have been my own.

“No. The drug’s effects only last an hour or two, max, in wolves. The after-effects are a little longer. I doubt the Luna or Miss Maddrell will be able to offer much more information to you.”

“Oh, and the she-wolf is coming around slowly,” the doctor quickly whipped back around as she was about to walk away. “She hasn’t had much but it was a double dose of the stuff so she’ll take just a little longer.”

As soon as the doctor was far enough away, Astennu whirled on our father.

“Don’t even say Konstantin did this too. No way would he leave Lucy like that.”

Our father seemed to hold onto his words, biting back a rebuttal to my brother.

“She didn’t get to say much,” I attempted to intervene. “Lucy was trying to tell me she couldn’t feel him, just like you couldn’t sense mom and we couldn’t sense Evie. He has to have been knocked out, too.”

“How do you know what lycans can do? They might be able to block out the bond, for all you know.

They certainly seem able to resist it.”

“Ok, what the hell happened up in the pack house?” Aside from my brother saying our father-in-law was being framed, I had no clue how exactly.

The atmosphere shared between the two was nearly palpable, a line of fire connecting their eyes.

Astennu was first to speak, starting from where we parted ways by the stairs and punctuating whatever narrative our father was so desperate to believe.

“…And dad has it in his head that Konstantin master planned this.”

“There’s no way,” I shook my head in disbelief. “If he wanted to leave, he would go all Russian, and be like ‘I leave’, and would just go.”

‘Please, don’t ever do that impression again,’ Astennu’s left eye winced with a cringe. “And in Evie’s room, her locket was gone. Whoever took it, could have taken the schedule to plant in his room.”

“How perfect is it that some schedule was just there?” I piled on with my brother, hoping my father would see he was playing into a staged story. “If I did something like this, I would take it with me to hide how I found out.”

“Fine,” our father finally spoke after a long pause, exhaling a weary breath and rubbing his eyes. “If you believe in him so much… I trust you. But I am not disregarding that man as a suspect either… I will treat him as missing, though… with Evie.”

“I’m sorry about all this, sons. I’m sorry this happened to you,” he gripped our shoulders. “And Aste? …

I’m sorry I was short with you, I didn’t mean to…”

“…It’s alright,” my brother conceded, gripping our father’s hand tightly. “Emotions are at an all-time high, for everyone.”

Our father’s eyes grew distant for a split second, staring at our mother’s hospital door. “Kate and Tamlyn are on their way. I need to be by your mother’s side for a while.”

“We’ll check on Lucy once he’s changed,” my twin thrust a bundle of clothes at my chest. “And we’ll be with you.”

Seeing the room opposite was empty, I ushered us inside, immediately pulling on the change of clothes.

“You really don’t think Konstantin did it… do you?”

Now we were alone, I knew Astennu would be fully forthcoming with any misgivings he might harbour.

“No, I can’t believe it. Like you said, he’d just go and I can’t believe he’d leave Lucy in that state, let alone put her in it. The way he looked at her, that’s not fake.”

“This has Finley’s eight grimy fingers written all over it,” I crouched to tie up my boot, tying it in a double knot.

How would Finley even get Konstantin out of his room?

Baniti shot a derisive snort, ‘with a prayer to the moon goddess, would be a start.’

“I agree, but rather conveniently, he’s in New York,” Astennu leant against the empty bed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Left two days ago.”

His foot jostled wildly where they crossed at the ankle, something he only did when he was agitated beyond constraint. It didn’t matter how well he tried to hide it from the world, I felt every second his inner brawling.

“Two days? That’s enough time to fly out, check-in for ‘proof’,” I air quoted. “And get back just in time.”

He said nothing except continued to stare down at his heavily shaking foot, humming an agreement.

“Aste?” Still, he didn’t look up. I wasn’t used to being the emotionally secure one of the two of us. “I left all that paperwork behind as well. Stop taking all the blame for what someone else did.”

“I thought I felt you two in here,” Tamlyn poked her head around the door, a welcome distraction.

“Neither of you curled up in a foetal ball yet? Or is that joke too soon?”

Her cane rapt against the Marmoleum floor, clicking to stand beside us.

“We’re just spitballing ideas,” I answered. “Keeping our minds focused on, well, anything.”

“You think it’s Fin too?”

“Who else? Astennu scoffed.

“Maybe he came looking for those fingers, hoping to find them in a steamy pile somewhere,” Tamlyn elbowed me in the side and I was thankful she couldn’t see me flinch. “Ok, I’ll stop making inappropriate jokes.”

“Could Kate have told him anything? Or even helped him?” My brother stared angrily and unfocused at the door.

“I don’t know,” a dubious timbre coated Tamlyn’s voice. “Anyone could have told him in passing about Lucy’s second chance mate and he knows the pack like the back of his hand. But objectively, I don’t think Kate had anything to do with this, even if Fin is involved. She actually really liked Evie, and she hated what her son did to Lucy. Despite what happened with her youngest son, Arthur, she wanted to see rogues treated a little more fairly.”

“Well, I’d feel a lot better if we had eyes on her in secret,” and I shared my brother’s sentiment.

“You know your dad would never sanction that.”

“Hence the secret part,” I emphasised the point.

“Ok, if it makes you feel better, fine,” Tamlyn flapped her arms in surrender. “But who? It needs to be someone with vision, so I’m out. My mate would be too obvious.”

“What about that guy, Damian?” The name occurred to me. “I know he does volunteer shifts, but you’ve probably worked with him more?”

He had actively avoided any training class my brother or I presided over, for good reason. And he had come straight to us when Konstantin had appeared, knowing to keep silent about it afterwards.

“Actually, not a bad choice,” Tamlyn tapped the corner of her lip in agreement. “He’s pretty good, a better tracker than he is a warrior.”

“He wouldn’t be an obvious choice and I know he’s loyal to his future Luna. He’d do this and give it his all,” Astennu, begrudgingly, gave the guy some credit.

“I’ll set it up. There’s far less scrutiny on me,” Tamlyn moved towards the door, feeling for the handle. “If you’re checking on Lucy, I’ll be down there soon. Just want to give my well wishes to your mother first. I mainly came to make sure you two are… functioning, for lack of a better word.”

“We really should. I didn’t get to tell her much before,” I gestured around with my hands. “This.”

We followed our Gamma out, opening our mother’s door and signalling to her we would be back as soon as possible. As I closed it and backed away to follow my brother, Beta Kate turned the corner, yawning exhaustedly into the back of her hand.

“Nothing yet, guys,” she patted us on the back as she passed. “Wherever Evie is, she’ll give the bastard hell when she wakes. That, I’m certain of.”

She disappeared inside, leaving Astennu and me to share a glance at each other, the same thought flitting through both of our heads. If it was her, our family would be crushed.