The Wolf Twins' Royal Mates

Chapter3 MATE!! (part two)

Ch. 3

Emmett

The report to the Alpha King went well, which meant that, of course, some s**t was bound to happen soon. I should have seen Lorelei’s insubordination coming, but it wasn’t until Ren alerted me to Lorelei’s absence that I realized she’d snuck out.

That girl had apparently saved all her teenage rebellion for right now when I was solely in charge of her safety.

Don’t get me wrong, my cousin is my best friend, but that’s also why I have to be so strict with her.

All right, I grumbled to Ren, Let’s find her.

Ren’s nose led me toward the center of the pack. Lorelei’s scene wasn’t laced with fear, so I knew she was safe, just being a pain in the ass.

Maybe I should have let her go for a supervised walk, I thought to Ren, but that thought flew out of my head in half a second when I saw her on the bench in front of me.

I ran to her side. She was sitting on the bench, sagging with her forehead pressed against her cane, eyes closed.

“Lore!” I knelt at her side, grabbing her to steady her.

She groaned and opened her eyes. “Not my fault.” She mumbled, looking over at me with a glazed expression.

I rolled my eyes, frustration outweighing my concern. “Oh, did someone drag you out here? Make you walk around at gunpoint?”

Lorelei glared at me as well as she could, and I glared right back.

She held her glare a moment longer and then sighed. “I didn’t know it would be so hot and humid. I should have been more careful.”

I started to agree, but she cut me off.

“However, you were wrong to keep me indoors in the first place.”

That enraged me. “Really?” I snapped, “You’re telling me I’m wrong when you’re out here barely able to hold your head up, and it’s imperative that you don’t shift into Rhiannon while we’re here?”

She was fuming too now, but I had no sympathy.

“Can you walk?” I barked.

She nodded, eyes mutinous. I helped her up and supported her back to our small cabin in furious silence.

I was so mad I could spit. She’s 19 years old and has lived with her condition her whole life. She should know what she can and can’t do by now!

If you’d let her do small things outdoors, she wouldn’t have felt the need to push herself so far. She was trying to prove a point, Ren said mildly.

All she proved is that she can’t be trusted with her own safety!

Ren apparently didn’t like my answer because he dropped the topic.

I helped Lorelei to her bed and brought her a large electrolyte drink and an entire multipack of bags of salty chips. She didn’t thank me, just sipped the drink and picked through the chip flavors.

I said a short “Good night” and left her room, locking the door behind me.

Do you really have to lock her in? Ren asked.

We both need to run, I answered, already pulling my t-shirt off over my head. She probably won’t think to leave anyway because she’s too exhausted, but just in case. Besides, she’s capable of breaking the window if there’s an emergency.

Ren still didn’t think it was a good idea, but I ignored him, jogging out the back door and quickly undressing. I stretched out my back and seamlessly shifted into Ren.

Unlike Lorelei, I’m only part royal, so I don’t have a pure silver wolf. Ren is silver, but his undercoat is brown, so the silver appears muddy. I still have a pretty strong aura, but I can suppress it. There’s no suppressing a pure-bred royal like Lorelei.

Ren and I headed for the forest behind our cabin. The center of the pack, where the businesses, park, packhouse, and most of the cabins were located, was a loose circle shape in the middle of the pack lands. It was a good layout, especially for a smaller pack, because it was easier to defend from all sides, and it gave the pack members the advantage of knowing the terrain around the most important buildings. There were cabins scattered in the woods where older warriors lived to act as a warning signal if an attack was ever mounted. I admired how Alpha Adam had these defenses in place, even before Lorelei and I came for refuge, despite the fact that the last attack on Thunderflood was over a decade ago.

I liked to run about a half mile in from the perimeter every night, just to get the lay of the land and keep things secure, but also because ever since the attempted k********g of Lorelei, my nerves have been wound tight. I couldn’t let anything happen to her, and now I was the only line of defense if she was found. Alpha Adam had promised his warriors would defend her with their lives, but they don’t even know she’s here, for good reason. Plus, I hated the thought of ordinary wolves dying in service of the crown, especially since they weren’t part of the Royal Family’s guard who had all volunteered after knowing what they were getting into.

Ren really stretched his legs, hurling into the darkness, seeming even more agitated than normal. I imagined it was because Lorelei made us worry so much. If I’d known what it really meant, I might not have gone for the run at all.

~o0o~

Azalea

I pulled my hair into a ponytail on top of my head. It was already getting dark out, but that wasn’t really a problem for a wolf. Even after a good supper at the pack diner, I was feeling antsy. I had too much energy and anger still in me.

“I’m going for a run,” I called down the hall in my parent’s general direction, and then took the porch steps two at a time, letting the back door swing shut loudly behind me.

Ivy was on alert, but for some reason, she didn’t want to shift, so after I stretched, I headed for my favorite running trail still in human form. Ivy was more pensive than anything else, so I wasn’t particularly unnerved by her and lost myself in the exercise.

Unlike Maggie, I love running in human form just as much as Ivy loves running in wolf form. It’s just so relaxing to lose myself in the rhythm.

Our house is backed up to the forest surrounding the residential part of the pack lands. There are various paths through the forest, and this time I took one of the perimeter paths. It didn’t go out of the pack lands, but it made a ring around the pack near the border. I chose it because it was the longest path, and I really wanted to push myself and dispel all my stress.

I still couldn’t believe Makayla and her cronies had the gall to pick on Maggie the way they did. Some wolves have a superiority complex when it comes to humans, which is honestly understandable since we are physically stronger in almost every way. Thunderflood wolves tend to respect humans, though since most of us went to the human schools and we often have to get external supplies from the human world.

Generally, I like humans, but it’s still so absurd that a group of teenage humans had the audacity to endanger their own lives by physically tormenting Maggie.

They had no idea how close they came to being torn to shreds by both me and Maggie.

I can control myself, Ivy said, sounding miffed that I would doubt her self-control.

Yeah, but I can’t, I retorted, Not when it comes to Maggie.

I felt Ivy start to respond but suddenly she hissed, her hackles raising, but it didn’t seem like danger she was sensing.

What­­— I started, and then smelled it.

Damp soil and the air after it rains.

It was strong, almost intoxicating.

I stopped in my tracks, searching the dark forest wildly, trying to pinpoint the scent.

Behind you, Ivy whined and I whirled just in time to be nearly tackled by a large, naked man.

I only caught a flash of him before he engulfed me in his arms, only enough of a glimpse to see that he was almost impossibly built, tanned, with dark hair.

He pressed his face in my neck, sniffing desperately, but all I could register was the intensely pleasurable shocks everywhere his bare skin met mine and Ivy’s howl of “MATE” ringing in my head.

Holy s**t.