The Alpha Twins

Phoenix. (11)

We got in around four-thirty. Chad was so tired he went straight to bed. I asked Iris if she wanted a drink as we walked into the kitchen.

"You are serious about staying, aren't you? I don't have to be on guard all night ?" I asked her. Part of me was joking, the other part was serious.

"I don't know how to reassure you that I won't, but, if you trust me, you'll find that I'll still be here in the morning," she told me, and I believed her.

"Listen, we know what you've been through is tough. We really can't imagine. But one minute you seem like you want to be with us, and then you do something that makes us think you don't. If you really don't want to be with us, the only way to get rid of us is by rejecting us. Otherwise, we'll just keep chasing you," I told her, ignoring how vulnerable I felt. If I couldn't be honest with her, how was she supposed to be honest with me?

"And it seems to me, you don't want to reject us, but you are having a hard time accepting us," I finished.

She looked at me curiously for a minute, then her eyes softened, and she seemed grateful that I opened up.

"The thing is," she began. "I know you and Chad are so different," she took a deep breath. "You both make me feel so much better than Josh ever did, but something deep down was making me doubt you both, like history would repeat itself, only it'll be worse this time, because I'll have accepted the both of you, and you'll hurt me," she said, and I was grateful that she was being vulnerable now.

"Iris, neither Chad nor I will ever hurt you. Do you know how long we've waited to find our mate? It's been a dream of ours since we were young. Now that you're here, we won't do anything to fucⱪ, it up," I told her seriously.

"I think it was harder to accept two of you. I don't understand how I have two mates," she laughed in disbelief. This made my heart twitch, it was such a cute laugh.

"We are struggling with that too," I told her, and she laughed.

"How do you feel about having two mates?" she joked, and, for the first time since I could remember, I let out a genuine laugh.

"Actually," I began, still smiling at her little joke.

"It's hard to comprehend that we have the same mate. Chad's taking it much better than I am,"

Something in her clicked. "Oh, of course. I bet that is hard to wrap your head around. Do you both get jealous or annoyed at each other?" she asked me, curiously, tiredly resting her head on her knuckles, making her look much cuter.

"I thought we would. When we first found you, I was furious. I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life, knowing my mate was also my brother's mate, but then as the day went on, it was much easier, and I feel a little relief that you have me, and also Chad. Like before, across the border, Chad had you in his arms, and I expected to be angry, but I was glad, happy even, that he got to hold you in his arms, and that you felt protected while I dealt with the problem," I told her, finding myself just rambling freely, something I've never done in my life, not even with Chad.

"That makes sense. If you aren't holding me you feel better knowing he is. It probably works the other way around too. I bet he feels better knowing you're there for me too," she said, kindly, my heart tugged again.

"Yeah, but I think we'd rather just hold you," I told her. She smiled at me.

"Yeah, but one of you would be bashing the brains out of the poor guy that ever dared to touch me," she said, defiantly, almost proud one of us would be there to protect her. I raised my eyes at her, and she blushed.

"What?" she asked, curiously, her face becoming more red.

"You like that kind of thing, huh?" I teased.

I didn't think it was possible for her face to shine brighter than it was, but she was now pink.

"I don't know, shut up," she playfully nudged me, her face still glowing.

"I always dreamed my big strong mate would come and save me from that place. Then, when I discovered I was mated to him," she shuddered.

"I realized he wasn't going to save me. The only person that could save me was me. I wish I knew then what I know now," she said, dreamily. I was a little annoyed that she referenced her ex-mate again, but I ignored this because it was a huge part of her life, before us.

"And what's that?" I asked her. She had me intrigued.

"That, once I left that place, I'd be blessed not with one big strong mate, but two," she said as she playfully nudged me again. I had to do everything in my power not to kiss her here and now, but Bruce kept telling me in my mind to do it. Her gorgeous brown eyes looked into mine. I stared at those lips of hers longingly. I must have been out of my mind because they were calling mine to them.

As if a pin dropped, everything clicked at once.

"You accepted us?" I asked her, a little louder than I meant to, and with more shock.

She blushed her reddest yet, and shyly looked away.

"When?" I asked her.

She looked back at me. "When you came back to save me," she told me, and looked away again.

A feeling of triumph beat in my chest.

"I'm glad, but why didn't you tell us?" I asked her.

"It took me by surprise, I couldn't really control it," she smiled, and there it was. I could see it in her eyes now. She wanted to kiss me, and she knew I wanted to kiss her, but it was too soon, she wasn't ready.

"I don't want to rush you into things, but I just want you to know, to be absolutely certain about your choice, because things are only going to get harder from here," I told her. I wanted to elaborate further, but it wasn't the right time, especially when we had to be up in a matter of hours for what's going to be the longest day of our lives.

"The thing is..." she smirked.

"I made my choice when I was on my way back from the woods, then when you and Chad helped me, I knew I wouldn't be doing it alone, when I had you two," she said, and tilted her head at me, looking cuter than she had been doing for the last half an hour.

"Are you really sure about this?"

"I promise you, I am," she told me reassuringly.

As we both headed off to bed, I found myself tossing and turning for the rest of the night. It didn't help that it was bright outside by the time I jumped into bed.

Would Chad feel that she had accepted us, or would he realize her change of tone when she spoke to him, like I did?

Deciding that Chad would rather hear it from me now, and because I couldn't sleep, I got up and walked to his room. I knocked and waited, and when he didn't answer, I walked in.

He sensed me coming into his room immediately.

He bolted up, assuming something was wrong, and made his way to get out of bed. I grabbed his head with my hand and shoved it back onto his pillow. "Everything is all right, don't get yourself worked up," I told him, pushing him over slightly and sitting on the edge of his bed.

I let him look at me with concern for a second before I told him. "She's accepted us,"

He sat up quickly, a dopey grin rested on his face.

"How do you know?"

"When I made her a drink in the kitchen, she was acting differently, more accepting, less shy around me, her body language was different, and then it clicked," he looked at me with doubt.

"So, then I asked her, and she told me that she had," I told him.

He took the news a lot better than I thought he would.

"This makes things a lot easier," he smiled, resting his head on his pillow and placing his arms above his head.

"It does, and it doesn't," I told him.

He opened his eyes with a frown.

"It makes it a hell of a lot easier for us, but so much harder for her. Come on Chad, you know this. Dad will be f*****g relentless with her, it's going to be hard for a while, until things settle down, or dad dies," I told him. He looked at me furiously.

"Seriously Fee, stop talking like that, if he ever finds out..."

"He won't," I interrupted him. He looked at me doubtfully.

"Are you going to tell him?" I asked him.

"No!" he spat at me furiously.

"Well then?" I raised my eyebrows.

I got up to leave, as he threw a pillow at me. I grabbed it, felt the comfort, and decided I liked it.

"This is mine now," I told him as I closed the door, hearing him groan on the other side.