The Wolf Twins' Royal Mates

Chapter 5 Ice Cream

Magnolia

I was in my PJs, eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream and watching one of the Marvel movies with my dad when Azalea came flying back in the door. It slammed behind her, and I glanced up, expecting to see her energized like she always is after a run, but instead, I saw a red, splotchy face glistening with tears.

“Aza!” I jumped to my feet and ran to her, “What happened?”

Dad looked up and saw her and then he was on his feet too.

Azalea scrubbed furiously at her face and then said the words that I least expected, “I found my mate.”

Dad immediately growled, deep in his chest. “Did the bastard reject you?”

Azalea shook her head and I instantly relaxed a little. Still, the tears were very concerning, and Dad didn’t soften at all.

“What did he do?” I asked gently.

Azalea let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “He refused to tell me anything about him, not even his name.”

“So he’s not from Thunderflood?” Dad asked, pacing a little and then calling for our stepmom, “Cécile!”

Cécile hurried down the hall and saw my concerned look, Dad’s angry one, and Azalea’s tearful face. “What—” she started.

“Azalea found her mate,” Dad grunted.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Cécile exclaimed and then registered that none of us appeared to be celebrating. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s being a dickhead and not even telling her his name,” Dad snapped.

Azalea and I exchanged wide-eyed looks. I’ve never heard my dad utter the word “dickhead” in my life.

“He’s said it’s because of his duty, that he’s protecting something,” Azalea put in, apparently feeling the need to defend her mate.

“He’s someone important, then?” I guessed. “It sounds like he has a good reason, it’s not like he just doesn’t want you.”

New tears sprung to Azalea’s eyes and I realized I shouldn’t have said anything about him not wanting her.

“Don’t worry, Azalea,” Dad said resolutely. “I’ll find him and drag him to your feet.”

“Are—” Cécile spoke up, “Are you sure that’s a good idea, hon?”

Dad’s eyes narrowed, though his anger wasn’t directed at Cécile. “You don’t treat a mate that way. If he’s going to be a mate to my daughter, he needs to learn how to act real quick, even if I have to be the one to teach him.” He was practically growling

“Hey,” I said to Azalea, quickly changing the subject before my dad started making death threats. “Why don’t I get you some ice cream and you can rest and eat it in bed?”

Azalea nodded, seemingly numb, but at least the tears were subsiding.

I didn’t let it show, but I was just as ready to meet my sister’s mysterious mate as Dad was. No one messes with my sister, not even the man that the Goddess made for her.

Dahlia made a noise of agreement in my head. We would make sure Aza came out of this intact.

I got Azalea bundled up in her bed with a fuzzy blanket and a generous helping of ice cream. I was nearly bursting with questions, but I didn’t want to upset her.

Aza, though, like always, could tell I was insanely curious. “Ask what you want,” she gave me a small smile.

I felt guilty for being so obvious. “Are you sure?”

“I think—” Azalea hesitated, “I think I want to talk about it. I mean—it was such a blur.”

My first question was if it was as amazing as everyone said, if it was like what Dad always described when he talked about our mom, but of course it wasn’t like that or else she wouldn’t have come running back home in tears.

“Uh—” I tried to think of an innocuous question. “What did he smell like?” I blurted.

Azalea raised her eyebrows, in a “Really?” expression, but then she got a dreamy look on her face. “He smelled like—like rain.”

“Rain?” I asked, “Really?”

She glared at me, but there was no aggression in her gaze. “Rain has a smell,” she said defensively.

“I know,” I rolled my eyes playfully, “But how are you going to know if a storm is coming if you’re constantly with someone who smells like rain?”

She chuckled and then all the joy drained from her face. “I don’t know if I’ll actually be with him.”

“Of course you will!” I nudged her. “He’ll come around. Or Dad will make him, one or the other.”

Azalea gave a sad smile, “I’m not sure I want Dad involved. He may kill my mate before I get a chance to.”

I tried to think of a way to distract her, turn her happy again. “Did he touch you? Did it feel weird?”

A blush crept up Aza’s face, “I—uh—touched him a lot, actually,” she stared at her ice cream bowl. “He was naked,” she admitted.

My eyes widened, “Wait, did?” I started to ask, but no, she wasn’t marked.

“No!” Azalea shoved at me, “He had just shifted back, but, Maggie,” she got an impressed look on her face, “he was big, like really big.”

I knew what she was saying, I wasn’t stupid, but something about the image that put in my head and the fact that Azalea seemed excited about it revolted me.

I quickly changed the subject, “What did he look like? Other than—” I added quickly, unable to get any word for male genitals out of my mouth.

Azalea actually laughed at my awkwardness, which was good considering the tears she’d been in earlier, but she took pity on me. “His hair is really dark. I don’t know if it’s dark brown or black, since it was dark out, but it looked black and oh my gosh, his eyes,” she gushed.

“They were in his head, I presume?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah. And they were—well I couldn’t tell the exact color of those either, but they just sparkled.”

“You sound like an i***t right now,” I laughed.

“I don’t care,” she put her bowl to the side and fell back on the bed. “I can’t describe it, Mags, even though he wouldn’t tell me anything, it’s hard to be mad at him. It’s like I can’t hold onto it for long.”

“What do you feel?” I asked carefully.

She sighed. “Like half a person. Like—well, it hurts that he doesn’t trust me, but Ivy says she talked to Ren, his wolf, and he thinks that my mate will come around soon. I just get this feeling that the longer he stays away, the more it will hurt.”

She closed her eyes, lost in thought.

“I think that’s my cue,” I muttered, grabbing her bowl of melted ice cream and leaving her to her thoughts.

As I left the room, I got a pang of disappointment that Azalea got to find her mate before me.

~o0o~

The next morning, Azalea did not want to get out of bed. Despite Dad’s anger on her behalf, he wasn’t going to budge on us missing school this week. He did pull me aside and tell me to look after her, which of course, I was going to do anyway.

“This is the kind of hurt that hopefully you’ll never have to experience,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “It’s not like any other pain out there. Keep her distracted, and don’t let her wallow. The more she focuses on him, the worse it will be.”

All I could do was nod and promise to do my best.

Azalea was quiet the whole ride to school. I drove, not sure that Aza could fully focus on the road. She seemed to be half-dazed, like she was looking at us through gauze.

As we pulled into the school parking lot, Azalea muttered her first words of the morning. “I wish I’d never met him. I wish he’d just rejected me instead of this.”

I froze. I had no idea what to say. My whole life—our whole lives—our parents had emphasized the magic of the mate bond, had taught us to respect it above all else. Azalea’s words were so foreign, and yet I could tell from how much pain she was in that she meant what she’d said. She got out of the car without waiting for a response, not once looking at me.

By second period, Mark and the other wolves at school knew something was up. Mark’s wolf asked Dahlia if I could meet him between classes.

I did, and he got straight to the point, “What’s up with Azalea?” He ran a hand through his already messy brown hair.

I hedged, “Um, well—” I didn’t know if I should tell him or not.

“She’s affecting everyone here with her mood,” Mark continued, “The freshmen from our pack are having breakdowns. Ivy has been projecting lots of pain even though Azalea is hiding it okay.”

I took a deep breath. Azalea had told Mark about my anxiety attack, so maybe turnabout was fair play. Plus I knew that if Aza was in her right mind, she would hate to be upsetting the younger wolves. “She found her mate.” As I said the words, I still felt a pang of jealousy even though I would never want to be in the pain she was in.

“What?” Mark got a strange look on his face. “She did?” He squinted. “Who is it? I didn’t hear about anyone—”

“He’s not from this pack. That’s all I know,” I said quickly.

“That would explain her feelings and Ivy’s distress.” Mark sighed. “I’ll talk with her at lunch.”

“Um—” I hesitated, “I’m not sure that’s the best—”

“I’m the future Beta of this pack,” Mark said briskly, “I have to support pack members with things like this.”

The bell rang, and he walked off.

Was that wrong of me? I asked Dahlia.

Not sure, she replied. It depends on what Mark is going to do, and his wolf isn’t telling me.

Hmm, I thought to her, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.