Accepting My Twin Mates

Chapter 2 - A Party?

Evie

"Evie? What the hell is going on out here?! I gave you one simple task. Get this cleaned up, now! The Luna will be here any minute," Janet glowered, appearing miraculously as if she was actually able to sense an opportunity to chew me out.

That was my breaking point for the day and it was only 6.27am, a new record.

I slapped the tray to her chest with more strength than I had intended, making her wince and stood over her with my full height. I was pretty sure my eyes could spit fire because she actually gulped and backed up a little.

"You want it cleaned? Do it your f*****g self," I almost growled, surprising the two of us. Where the flipping fish had that come from?

But I wasn't about to lose face, well, any more face than I had already, so I strode away trying to keep my head held high…as high as you could when covered in raspberry yoghurt. I slipped a little on the splattering on the floor, but I held onto the last shred of my dignity, keeping upright, and walked through the double doors to the kitchen, ditching my apron and heading to the washroom to try and clean myself up.

To my astonishment, no one came charging after me to tell me off, or drag me back to clean up…that was a new one for the books. I thought for sure Janet would get over her momentary shock at me snapping back and come drag me back under threat of a report to the Alpha himself, or docking my entire wages for the day.

Hearing the bathroom door clang open, I had internally spoken too soon. I sighed heavily, preparing myself to swallow my pride or tell Janet to go f**k herself. I was undecided. I would just have to see which one I felt in the moment.

But I was nicely surprised to see Lucy standing in the doorway, looking at me with concern.

"What happened?" She began, looking me up and down to take in my state. "Why do you look like the Franken Berry monster jizzed all over you?"

I stared at her incredulously…and out of nowhere began laughing, uncontrollably. We both did. I actually had tears in my eyes. I didn't know whether I was laughing at her ridiculous analogy or my life being a flaming pile of s**t; probably both.

"I don't know what you said to Janet, but she looked like she wanted to crap herself when she came back into the kitchen after you," Lucy grabbed the tea towel from over her shoulder to try and wipe my face, struggling to reach.

I was 6'5 to her 5'2.

I took the towel from her to wipe the pink liquid fully off of my face, carefully trying to make sure it didn't get in my eyes. One was a little bloodshot and stung a little, though not too bad. I wasn't the biggest fan of my eye colour, a dark blue-grey. It was as though the iris couldn't make up their mind which colour they wanted to be and would change constantly under the light around them.

Trying to wash out the yoghurt, I dampened the towel to wipe my hair as clear as I could for now. I got the thick of it off my sweater but it was stained in whiter patches, which now looked more explicitly suspicious. Fantastic.

Lucy suddenly sighed, throwing her head back and offering me a sympathetic glance.

"The Luna has just whirled herself in and is asking for us," Lucy relayed her mind-link.

At that point, my stomach gurgled loudly, having had no breakfast yet.

"I might fall asleep in my breakfast but at least I don't sound like a grizzly bear in heat," she sniggered.

I tried to flick her forehead but she dodged me at the last second.

"Behave and you can have some of the lemon and elderflower madeleines I made for the Luna. Since it's one of her favs, I thought it would put her in a good mood for whatever she's about to drop on us," she said in her stern voice which came off as cute at best with her height, not that I would ever say that aloud.

"Well aren't you fancy as fuck." This girl knew I couldn't resist her baking.

"The fanciest," she grinned, grabbing my hand and leading us out to the kitchen.

There was a small side room just off of the kitchen that served as a prep room for catering to larger events. At the kitchen-island breakfast bar, as regal as ever, sat Luna Qamar, sipping her cup of earl grey tea with poise.

There was no other word to describe her, except exquisite. Her long sleek black hair hung impeccably down her back, she shared the same deep olive-tanned skin as her two sons and they had inherited every sharp and beautiful Arabic facial feature from her. All except her eye colour. Hers were a rich and piercing brown, almost black. The twins' eyes were those of their father, a deep sapphire blue that, I swear, almost glowed at times. It was a colour I was often lost in when I thought about them…not that I willingly ever thought about them, I quickly reminded myself. Our Luna was originally from an Egyptian pack, The River Lotus pack that sat along the Nile. She had been raised in England and moved here to become Luna to our Alpha, Isaac Rolfe, her fated mate. Her pack and most of her family were destroyed by mercenary rogues and, from the whispers I had overheard other members discussing, she still had horrific nightmares of her ordeals.

This was why rogues received a cold and inhospitable welcome in Two Moons pack. I may have still been only a baby when I was found, but I was still tarnished with a rogue status in her eyes.

"Good morning, ladies," the Luna greeted us with a neutral expression. Even her voice was exquisite, a classic British accent with a hint of Arabic shining through.

"Good morning," Lucy beamed. "Here, I made us all some breakfast treats, especially."

She placed the plate down with a flourish, seeking the approval that most members hung on to from our Alpha and Luna.

"My favourite of yours, you remembered," Luna Qamar praised, almost showing a smile.

But the expression evaporated as she turned to me with a slight grimace.

"My dear, why do you smell of sour milk?"

I pursed my lips in consternation. Why did she have to mention it?

"Just…service issues," I tried to wave the topic away. "So you wanted to see us?"

She raised her perfectly arched brow at me in question at my tone. f**k, I was doing nothing to dig myself out of my dumb hole. She already had issue with me and every time I opened my mouth I inexplicably made it worse. Goddess, why did I want this woman's approval so much?

"Yes," she narrowed her eyes at me but continued. "As you may be aware, your Alphas are returning home in two weeks. As we missed their 25th birthday here while they were staying with Alpha Matías in Opal Sun, their father and I wanted to throw them a big welcome home and belated birthday party. We'll be hosting quite a few visitors and a few prospective she-wolves that I'm hoping at least one will be a mate to my boys."

They were actually home in 13 days…but I was not counting.

"Lucy, you are without doubt our best baker and I would like you to head up, oversee and plan all of the menu for the party. You always have exceptional taste, so I know I can trust you. And Evie," she turned to me with a begrudging expression. "You have…your talents too, so I'm sure you can assist Lucy. Just make sure you add that apple custard slice. It's Astennu and Badru's favourite."

Well s**t me, was that a compliment?! Who the f**k slipped what into her tea this morning?

"I think I can manage that," Lucy practically bounced in her seat. "I'll need plenty of help from Evie though…can we move her rota around?"

Oh, you sly wolf! She was getting me out of work for the next 13 days and we would get to hang out almost exclusively throughout.

"I'm sure Miss Janet can accommodate," the Luna smiled towards my friend and, as always, the expression dropped when she turned back to me. “I’ll also be requiring you to play some piano while the people mingle on the night and before you begin serving the courses. I trust we will not have a repeat of last time?”

Her tone had a sharp edge and I was sure she was holding back a snarl at the memory. I had been playing the piano from the age of 12 and, if I must say so, I was quite good. Whenever the pack had a get-together or some event that required some classy background music, I was usually asked to play something simple, like light jazz. A year and a half ago, she had thrown some ladies-luncheon for her friends of ally packs and had fussed over what I would play, incessantly. So, while in one of my ‘f**k-you moods’, I changed up the playlist I had been instructed on and proceeded to play a rather jazzy piano version of Killing In the Name by Rage Against The Machine. It was nearer the end of the song, where, had it been sung, the lyrics would have been ‘f**k you, I won’t do what you tell me’, when the penny dropped and a wave of snickering rippled through the small gathering of fancily dressed ladies.

Luna Qamar was not as amused.

That little stunt of mine landed me with a month long sentence in the cells for insubordination and embarrassing the Luna, purposely. Although she must have chilled or something because I had barely spent a few hours in my cell before I was released.

“Of course not,” I tried to answer her statement with a modicum of sincerity. “I’ve learned my lesson and will never embarrass the pack like that again,” I tried desperately to keep myself together and ignore Lucy, who looked about ready to fall off her stool in laughter. If she laughed, I would dropkick her from it. She was tiny, I could do it.

“Good,” the Luna narrowed her eyes. “I will…leave you to pick out what to play. Just make sure it is appropriate…and…befitting your skill,” and that almost sounded like another compliment?

Finishing off her tea and madeleine, she whisked herself out of the room, dressed in her riding gear, so I had to assume her next stop was the stables for a morning ride.

"Who mellowed her hash?" Lucy uttered. "She was actually nice to you!"

“Tell me about it. Did you sneak some spicy extra in these things or what?” I said through a mouthful of cake, holding it up to inspect jokingly.

The two of us polished off the tea and cake for our breakfast, enjoying this small amount of downtime before we had to go start on the clean-up. Janet never came to bother us, so I could only hope that my rather forceful exit had made her think twice. It was a strange feeling now that I had a moment to reflect on it. I could feel this itch at the back of my throat, something at the back of my mind wanting release like the instinct that welled at the back of my mouth…a growl? I pushed that thought away. I didn't want to get my hopes up…like I had each year, only to never feel a change and be reminded that not only was I a rogue with no one, I was a pointless space of a wolf.

As I grew as a child, I grew rapidly, reaching 6ft tall by the time I was 11 years old. Which led to many awkward interactions with people thinking I was an adult…including grown men who thought I was an adult she-wolf and free game. It was terrifying having wolf males hit on me and having no idea how to respond because I was still a child. And I had no one to go to over it as I had no parents… no one to protect me. But my rapid growth had, for a short time, earnt me some favour. Alpha Isaac and Luna Qamar had hoped for so long I would become a top warrior in this pack. They had arranged and paid for elite training ever since I was a young teenager, including my piano lessons when I expressed an interest. The look of complete disappointment, as the years marched on with my failure to shift, hurt far more than it should. And it didn’t help with the constant reminders of ‘the money they wasted on me’; today was one of the few interactions where it wasn’t brought up.

“You know what? Screw the clean-up,” Lucy exclaimed, taking her phone out to start typing. “I’m making notes on what I want serving. Come on, give me ideas for mains, because you know I’m more about sweet stuff.”

We spent the next few hours going over menu options, or rather, Lucy talking about every dessert imaginable, while I gave some suggestions on main dishes and hors d'oeuvres so that we wouldn’t send guests into a sugar shock.

Lucy really was an exceptional baker. She couldn't just make wonderful tasting desserts, how she decorated them was spectacular. I was a decent cook myself, but I had no flair for presentation. She was saving up every penny she had so she could go to culinary school. Her inheritance wasn't much, but it had helped to provide a large chunk of what she needed. Her mother had died in childbirth and her father had raised her alone, having never found a second chance mate. When she was just 17, his poor heart just gave up after so long without his mate. Because she was so near adult age, she had moved straight into the Omega quarters instead of continuing to rent her family's home. She had settled in only a few months before me and we had been best friends ever since.

“Ok, let’s leave it there,” I glanced at my phone to see the message that had just pinged, one saying my trainer was waiting for me. “If we talk about food anymore I'm gonna want to eat and I’ll end up spewing in my little training date.”

“You go, I’m gonna stay here and push my luck of not going back to work till I have to go muck out stables,” Lucy barely even looked up from her notes.

Maybe this party would be a good thing? If the twins did find their mate, maybe their dumb perfect faces wouldn’t keep lingering in the back of my mind all the time.