Chapter 45

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 45 Chapter 45 – A Little Date? – I of II Evie Every inch of my skin thrummed with an underlying tremble of gratification and contentment. I had seen colours, stars, fireworks… a whole damned brass band… you name it.

‘If that’s what we get for being mean, what incentive do we have to play nice?’ Evva snickered, sprawled and sated in bliss.

Astennu placed fluttering butterfly kisses against my neck, the tiny caresses and tingles that accompanied danced their way to my lips. Badru leaned into my stomach, his breath tickling my naked skin and my thighs cradling his body to mine.

“Would you want to go out on a little date with us?” Astennu’s voice held a slight sway.

I was unsure whether it was due to lingering euphoria, or nerves of an actual date. The concept of a relationship was all new to him. He would have never asked a woman out on a date before, let alone taken her out on one.

‘We’ve just ridden his face like the Kentucky Derby and he thinks there’s a chance we’ll say no, why?’

My wolf snorted at his adorable hint of uncertainty.

“What do you have in mind?” I ran my fingers through his hair and his twin’s, savouring how the silky locks felt slipping through my hands.

“That’s a surprise,” Badru crawled up my body, nuzzling into my cleavage, and side glanced at his brother. “But I think you’ll like it.”

My instinct to hate surprises roared to the forefront. I didn’t mean to frown, it was just a natural reaction to hearing the sentence ‘it’s a surprise’. My mates’ surprises, so far, had been anything but terrible.

They had truly made me smile.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Astennu poorly hid the disappointment from both his tone and face.

“No, I want to!” I rushed out as fast as I could. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a face. It’s kind of a default response.”

‘I’m starting to think I should’ve made good on my threat to brain slap you,’ Evva smacked her head repeatedly on the walls of my mind.

‘I can’t help it. It’s a natural reaction!’

‘Being a dumb muffin is your factory setting. Registered and understood.’

All those years I had waited for my wolf, wished for her, longed to hear her… what, under the moon, was I thinking?!

“What time do you need me ready by, for this surprise of yours?” I tried to muster my best smile, so they knew I meant it.

“We can leave right now,” Badru propped himself up on his forearms above me. “Dress warm. We’ll be outside for a while.”

“Now? This doesn’t sound like a little date.”

“Where’s some pizza to shove in your mouth when I need it,” Astennu shook his head in amusement.

“Quit questioning everything.”

Badru grinned down at me wickedly, a predatory glint in his eye. “I got something better than pizza for your mo-”

“Finish that sentence!” I warned him with a slight growl, clapping my hand over his lips. And I could feel his damned smirk under my skin.

I pushed them off of me and began to shove on some underwear, trying my best to ignore their heated eyes searing my flesh. If we were going to be outside for most of the day, I decided my thick knit sweater would be best with a pair of skinny-cut outdoor pants and my brown leather lace-up boots.

“Uh, I hope you two have a change of clothes,” I pointed down to the heavily damp patches on their crotches.

“In the duffle bag,” Badru thummed the one on the floor, near the door. “It wasn’t just for smuggling tequila in.”

“And neither of us fancied having it out with our mother again,” Astennu tagged on, a small frown cutting across his face for a split second.

I couldn’t help a sneaky side glance to look at the twins as they stripped, wiping themselves down with their removed items. I thought they might have wanted to shower before they dressed and when I asked as such, their reply made my insides do the jiggly throb dance all over again. They wanted to be coated in my scent and taste for as long as possible. Badru sucking slightly on his bottom lip didn’t help in the slightest and had me squirming in my pants.

“I brought you this, if you want it, that is,” Astennu handed over a deep blue fleece-lined hoodie, sliding his puffer vest over his thin overcoat and plaid shirt.

I slipped it on eagerly, smothering myself in his sweet tree sap aroma. He must’ve read my mind. Like Evva had said, I had planned to steal away an item of his clothing later for his scent.

Badru pulled on his thick coat over his sweater and grabbed up the rubbish before we left, depositing it in the recycling as we headed for a bite to eat.

“Maybe think about grabbing an apple along with breakfast,” Astennu gave me a little hint.

An apple could only mean one thing. Whatever we were going to do involved Heru too.

Badru immediately stopped, glaring at his twin. “Why exactly do we need Satan’s beast?!”

“Because he needs the outing,” Astennu began listing on his fingers. “Evie likes him, I don’t get to spend as much time with him as I used to. And if you call him ‘Satan’s beast’ again, I’ll fight you.”

“Fine, whatever!” Badru threw his hands up in the air. “You two go deal with the angel. I’ll get us something to eat.”

He stormed away muttering in Arabic under his breath and disappeared around the corner leading to the pack dining room.

“I’d have called him a drama llama, but I think that would’ve pushed him over the edge,” Astennu leaned in to whisper with a grin.

‘I heard that!’ Badru snapped over the mind-link.

‘Just don’t forget your best friend’s apple,’ Astennu went for broke, prodding further.

“Come on. Let’s get Heru ready before I end up with an apple upside my head,” Astennu gave me a cheeky grin, slipping his hand from the small of my back to meet my fingers and entwine them with his.

The stallion had already been fed when we arrived at the stables, the only thing left was to give him a brush down. Astennu stopped me from grabbing the saddle, saying it wouldn’t be needed. Wherever we were going was just a short walk and Heru was tagging along for some exercise and bonding. His pale golden ears twitched and not a second later I felt my bond announce Badru was drawing near.

He appeared at the stable door, frowning about coming any closer, and from the tail swish and mischief dancing in the horse’s eyes, I would say Badru had the right idea of keeping his distance.

“It’s a waffle wrap, with bacon and maple syrup,” he placed the foil-wrapped item in my hands and threw his brother’s to him, along with the rosy coloured fruit. “And there’s his damn apple.”

“You didn’t want to feed him?” Astennu sniggered, holding the fruit out on the flat of his palm.

“I’m going nowhere near either business end of that thing,” Badru moodily began eating his breakfast, stepping well out of the way as his twin led Heru out into the crisp open air.

“You not shifting?” I interrupted their sibling tiff before they started wrestling again and demanding the loser bow out to the winning ‘supreme king’.

“I wanted to go in human form,” Astennu looked over his shoulder, a hint of pink dusting his cheeks.

“So we could hold your hand.”

Be still my beating heart, I had to remind myself when he went all ‘cute goober’. “We can still do that.

You just shift back.”

“But then we’d be naked… and it’s cold out,” Badru smirked at me from the side.

“You worried about getting a shrinky dink?” I teased.

“I’d still be above average,” he said in a rare display of quick wit.

Evva whistled proudly, ‘look at our slick nugget.’

Heru stayed close by Astennu’s side, not requiring a lead rein, and gently nudged his hand and arm for attention. Badru kept his eye on the horse at all times, keeping a firm hand on the bag in his hand, a packed lunch for all of us he had arranged when he had gathered our breakfast. Through the trees of the forest, I recognised the direction we were heading. A short ten-minute walk, north of the pack house that led to Reflection Lakes, the place I wanted our home to be.

As it was daylight, and a bright clear day at that, the lakes reflected the sun and blue sky above, appearing as if there were two suns. The lack of breeze made the surface as smooth as glass, like two horizons laid back to back without so much as a ripple. Mount Rainier loomed over us to our back and the forest surrounding us gave way to the large clearing surrounding the southwest side of the lakes. A light mist hovered here and there, more so around the mountain but dissipating over the water. The odd bit of frost had crept over the lakes’ edges overnight, but it hadn’t grown cold enough yet to freeze over.

Being near the coast, it was rare to see the lakes freeze at all. The early cold snap and snow were the only reasons for the current frost icing the edges.

“So this is why you were so quick to take up my deal yesterday,” I rubbed the side of Heru’s face, seeing as he wouldn’t stop nudging me. “You already planned to bring me here.”

“And you can’t back out of it either,” Badru shouted out from the lake shore, skipping a stone and disturbing the mirror reflection. “You promised us baked goods and we expect you to deliver.”

“How do you do that?” I watched as another stone of his skimmed the water’s surface, almost reaching the centre of the lake.

“Here, I’ll show you,” he ushered me over and held his hand out. “Just keep that beast over there.”

“That’s a rude name to call your twin,” I joked, wondering if he’d actually get this one.

“Him too,” he grasped my hand, pulling me close to show me how to skip stones.

He gave me a flat stone, one that fit into my palm easily enough, and pulled me close, my back flush against his chest. His hands glided over mine, electrifying my nerves where our bare skin touched, his breath tickling my ear with his instructions. As he showed me, I aimed low and tried to get as much spin as possible, letting it fly. I got two bounces off of the water’s surface before it sank.

“Not bad for a first try,” Badru kissed the side of my jaw, handing me another stone.

I skipped a couple more before moving on, unable to beat my record of two skips. I had been ignoring my other mate since he couldn’t approach with the horse, less the big baby, Badru, threw his overdramatic theatrics over Heru’s proximity. I slipped my hand into Astennu’s, marvelling at his warmth, and held my other out to Badru. His gaze darted between my hand held out and the golden stallion, weighing up the risks and how much he wanted to test Heru’s calm mood, who to his credit had behaved thus far. I felt honoured he finally determined I was worth the threat of horse attack.

We continued our stroll, heading further around the clearing on the mountainside. This part would have made the perfect spot for a home; a lake view on one side and Mount Rainier on the other. I copped a seat on one of the short rocky outcrops that jutted out into the lake. This was usually where I took a few minutes whenever I came down here. The tranquillity of this time of year was always the most beautiful.

There was also something solemn about this place, something that drew a deep reverence I had never quite been able to put my finger on as to why. Even Evva felt the same and this was her first time being here.

A thermos mug with a sealed screw-on lid came into my field of vision and a gentle touch cupped my own hands around it.

“Badru picked out a pumpkin spiced coffee for you,” Astennu squatted down in front of me, his hands not leaving mine.

“Tis the season for it,” I unscrewed the lid, a burst of syrup and spices hit my nostrils, a scent just like my twins. “It’s my favourite.”

“You ok?” Badru sat beside me. “You’ve gone all quiet.”

“It’s nothing, really. I don’t even understand it myself to be honest,” I leant into his side and gripped Astennu’s hands tighter. “This is where I want it, our home.”