Chapter 123

Chapter 119 – Accepting My Twin Mates – I of III Evgeniya The plane juddered as the tires made contact with the runway, screeching to a slow roll on Opal Sun’s landing strip.

‘Land!’ Evva exclaimed. ‘I could kiss it.’

‘You kiss the ground, I’ll keep our breakfast down,’ I fisted my hand to my mouth.

My stomach was still in motion from the landing, as though it lingered somewhere up in the clouds and hadn’t rejoined Earth.

“Solnyshko?” My father’s fingertips brushed my elbow, handing me a thin fold of paper. “Is this what bag is for?”

The corner of my mouth lopsidedly quirked in amusement, accepting the paper bag as a precaution even though my stomach was beginning to float back down.

The plane pulled into a large hangar and I could see a tall man through the small window waiting by a set of cars, vaguely recognising him as Catalina’s brother. A curvaceous woman stood at his side, bundled up in a downy coat, and her long brunette hair hung in elegant waves from her pom-pom beanie, the tips of her tresses dyed red. I recognised her too from the twins’ party.

“Ok, guys,” Catalina jumped up when the plane came to a standstill and the engines slowly died down.

“Let’s get the hell off this thing!”

Diego stood after her, his posture no longer slumped in exhaustion and his skin no longer pallid. She yanked him forward and down the steps, throwing her arms around her brother and the woman at his side, the three of them speaking too rapidly in Spanish for my limited vocabulary set to keep up with what was said. With how she jerked Diego forward yet again, it was a round of greetings.

Following Astennu and Badru, I turned at the base of the plane’s steps to make sure my father left the plane safely.

‘You made it through your first plane ride.’

‘Da (yes)…’ he zipped up the front of his hoodie when the cold wind hit his bare skin, looking over at the flying contraption he had called it. ‘I am no hurry to be in air again.’

I patted his arm and led us over to the small welcome party.

“Thiago, good to see you, man,” Astennu clapped his palm with his friend and pulled him into a quick hug, Badru doing the same.

“Here, we never had the chance for an introduction before,” Badru grasped my hand to put me centre stage. “Evie, this is our good friend and Alpha heir to Opal Sun, Thiago Rivera.”

Thiago took my hand in a firm handshake, doing the same with my father, and introduced me to his mate, Leah.

“It’s so great to meet a fellow future Luna!” Her bright hazel eyes sparkled and she tugged me forward for a bear hug. “When things have settled down, I’ll come visit.”

“And me too,” Catalina butted in, a welcome intrusion, holding onto me tight. “You got me in your life now and I’m not leaving, mama loba.”

‘I can only imagine what our nugget wants to say to that,’ my wolf chuckled, watching Badru biting his tongue.

“We’ve got a long car journey ahead of us,” he settled for instead and kissed my temple.

“Yes, ok. I get the hint, cabrón,” Catalina rolled her eyes, crushing my ribs in a tight embrace.

I swayed with her a little, a prickling sting forming and soaking my cheeks before I knew it.

“f**k, I’m over these hormones!” I swiped under my eyes.

I hadn’t cried this much even as a child. It was unfair to place the blame for my tears squarely on my hormones spiking. The multitude of emotions I had repressed or experienced, conflicted and battled it out for supremacy; taken and found, safe and unsafe, fear and bravery, weakness and strength, relieved and anxious… all shouted wanting my attention to be heard. And, on cue to bang its drum, my stomach rolled on my breakfast, drawing more tears.

“Use the bag if you need it,” Astennu stroked my cheek, lifting up my hand that still clutched onto the paper puke bag.

“I’m fine,” I waved everyone away from crowding in on me. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s ok, chica,” Catalina rubbed my upper arms. “You’ve been through a lot and because you’re safe, there’ll be a few bad memories and overwhelming emotions coming to the surface now your mind isn’t in survival mode. Just take your time and remember progress isn’t linear. And that goes for you too, Konstantin.”

“How do you know about stuff like this?” My nose crinkled as I lifted my sleeve over the back of my hand to mop up my outburst.

“Just from training, and my sister kinda went through some of this too. You can make me feel better when I’m the one knocked up next.”

Diego blinked down at her, a mix of either shock that she was thinking that far along or dread, which I didn’t know. “You want them already?”

“If you’re up to the job?”

“When’s your next heat?” He stepped up to the challenge, plunging the rest of us into an awkward silence.

“That’s it, we’re out,” Astennu broke the tension, clapping Thiago on the back of the shoulder.

Badru was right behind him, sending a man-hug to his friend and quick on the heels of his brother without a word.

“No goodbye for me?” Catalina took her chance for one last poke at the giant Alpha, not that he answered.

“Take care of yourself, chica,” she squeezed my hands and stepped aside for Diego. ‘We gotta go meet up with my dad anyway. He set off from your pack hours ago and I can’t wait for him to meet this guy.

He’s gonna disapprove so much.’

“Hasta pronto, rubia (see you soon, blondie),” he gave me a side hug, avoiding his covered injuries hidden under the hoodie identical to my father’s and mates’. “And Alphas? Gracias, again. For everything you’ve done.”

With my mates’ hands on my waist and back, I was led to a black jeep that I recognised as a Two Moons pack vehicle and I was bundled into the back seat with my father, all three men fussing to wrap me in a blanket. It was easier to accept it than argue, so I threw it over my shoulders, even though I felt a little flushed.

Astennu steered the jeep out of the hangar and I gave a final wave to Catalina, her figure shrinking and vanishing out of sight. I hoped she meant it, that she and Diego wouldn’t stay away long. While it would cause Badru an aneurysm if she moved to our pack, I couldn’t not wish for it. Who knew what state the rogues’ mates and pups would be found in and her tact and knowledge could help them feel settled and safe, if they chose to merge with our pack, that is.

“We’ll be back home after midnight, but me and Aste won’t be able to stay as long as we’d like,” Badru sighed from the front passenger seat, turning to bring me out of his peripheral vision. “When we were in the air and you were asleep, we were making arrangements with Adrain still in France and Tamlyn back in Two Moons. Adrian is keeping a lid on what happened up in the mountains and they’ve got a few leads on a couple of other fighting rings and maybe where the rogues’ mates are being held. But Tamlyn can only get flights for our reinforcements tomorrow at 10 am.”

“Tomorrow?!” I exclaimed along with my wolf in my head.

“I know,” Astennu flashed me a pained set of eyes in the rearview mirror. “But if we don’t take it, we’ll have to wait four days and that’s too long. Those men need their families back and the private jet is too small for our numbers.”

‘They made promise, solnyshko,’ my father drew comforting circles on the back of my hand.

‘That’s easy for him to say,’ Evva grumbled like a bratty wolf. ‘He gets to stay with his mate.’

‘None of this is easy for anyone and that’s a real bitchy thing to say.’

She folded her arms and paws under her chin, pouting because she knew she was being unreasonable and selfish. Our mates were now acting Alphas of a pack, making us acting Luna. We had to step up as much as they did.