Accepting My Twin Mates
Chapter 76

Astennu

“Hey, Luce?” Badru entered her private hospital room first. I followed close behind.

The room was dimmed with the blinds closed, just as our mother's had been. A tiny figure huddled in the bed on their side, the blankets pulled up over their head. For a second, I could have been fooled into thinking Lucy was still asleep if not for a quiet little sniffle and a movement of her elbow.

“You in there?" I gently jostled her shoulder.

“I really wanted to believe all of it was a nightmare... but it isn't, is it?” The lump spoke under the hospital blanket.

“No, I'm sorry Lucy,” Badru pulled up an armchair to the side of the bed. “Do you remember much?"

“I don't remember going to bed this morning after the shift I covered” her face poked out over the blanket hem, revealing a pair of red-rimmed hazel eyes. “I remember one of you somehow breaking into my room, the one with whiskers, so I'm guessing Badru..”

I snickered a little at her bold sass.

“Please tell me he didn't leave me... the doctor wouldn't tell me anything. She kept saying I needed to rest-"

“He didn't” I cut off her meek sob. “Konstantin wouldn't. Whoever took our mate” my fists clenched. “Took yours”

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Badru side-eyed me, “should we tell her? It's not as though we have any proof!

“You think it's Finley, don't you?” Her eyes flitted back and forth between the two of us.

“We don't know for su-"

“Don't use that voice Lucy interrupted me, sitting bolt upright and crossing her arms defiantly. “It's what the nurse and doctor used on me like I was a fragile little girl, and 'm not”

“I think our mother-in-law's telling you off," Badru snickered, drawing a blushing frown from Lucy.

“she really is the mom friend; Aasim huffed a gentle surge of laughter.

The only thing missing in her reprimand was young man at the end, I chuckled, the tightness in my chest easing ever so lightly.

As Badru told her frankly what had happened to her, our mate and our mother, what she was suspected to have been drugged with and how we believed Konstantin was being set up, a niggling question had begun to grow. If this was Finley, why didn't he take her too? She was his fixation. So why leave her behind?

The next day

“Ym really sorry, Alpha Astennu,” the young Omega apologised, his brows upturned in sincerity. “I was one of the first out yesterday morning, so I didn't see who was left behind.”

“Thanks for all your help anyway. And if you remember anything, you can come to me no matter the time," I nodded, scratching his name off of my list, the last one of my group to be questioned.

He paused by the door, his hand on the handle, turning back to address me. “I hope you bring back our future Luna. Evie... she always stood up for us, even if it got her in trouble. I kinda wished I'd thanked her before.”

I nodded in his direction, a small but proud smile creeping onto my face that fell as soon as he had left. It served as a bitter reminder that Evie wasn't where she was supposed to be, with us and safe. And no matter how many times Badru attempted to tell me that it wasn't my fault, I couldn't feel anything but.

The Omega’s sentiment had been echoed by virtually everyone before him. My mate wasn't as disliked as she thought she was, many held her in high regard. The older members that I had questioned made no comments, keeping their opinions to themselves. The younger pack members, on the other hand, were far less reticent, especially the Omegas, saying they admired how unashamedly outspoken she was.

There was one worrying comment made, coming from a small group of young warriors, barely I9 years in age and newly recruited. They had spoken to Konstantin just a few days ago hoping that, and I quote, “the badass tattooed Russian rogue’ could train with them sometime. The “worrying’ part was the disappointment they expressed that the rogue they wanted to teach them turned out to be a thieving abductor.

My father had directly ordered any of the wolves involved in this investigation to remain silent on the details, sticking to his deal with us that Konstantin would not be accused of planning this. And yet, the rumours had already begun to drip, doubts slithering their way into the pack members’ minds.

I slammed my laptop closed from typing as I questioned, but not before emailing the file to my brother and father first. We had split into three parties for questioning potential witnesses, each taking our groups separately and working through them one by one. My father had worked from his office, Badru from ours and I had used the small conference room near the pack dining hall.

Since yesterday, our pack was on lockdown with patrols tripled and curfews enforced for everyone. Badru and I had combed through the CCTV footage of the cafe overnight, as neither of us was able to sleep in the slightest, and it showed nothing that the waitress hadn't told us. Only one camera was in operation on the premises, over the cash register and front door. All it showed was the last table downstairs, two women, paying and leaving. Not long after the door swung shut, a snowball had struck against the window, smearing the glass with slushy ice. The waitress appeared on camera, having been interrupted in her order preparation to investigate, going outside to check or chase off who she thought was responsible. Having seen no one, she returned inside to finish up her order.

My brother and I were in full agreement, as was our father, that this distraction was where the tea had been spiked. The back door to the establishment that led out to the dumpster was only ever locked at closing time, so would have been the point of entry for the culprit.

Our pack had very little crime and next to no enemies, a place where our people had always felt safe. So leaving doors unlocked wasn't uncommon. It hadn't seen war in 25 years, just before Badru and I were born, and that fight hadn't even been on our grounds. It was in assistance to a pack south of us, Ashen Star, in Oregon; an uneasy alliance since their new Luna at the time was a former rogue.

The door to where I had been working opened with a hasty jostle and a waft of extremely strong coffee billowed through the gap. Following, came my brother's back, his elbow nudging the handle open and his hands full with two large travel mugs of coffee. With our questioning over, we were finally free to leave on our solo mission; go to Finley's place and search through everything to see if he was truly where he was said to be.

“Why didn't you just mind-link?” I stood and grabbed hold of the door before he fell through it. It seemed to be a recurring theme for him.

“Because I was in a rush! Bolt the door and now;” he whispered yelled, poking his head out into the hallway in search of something. “We can slip out of the window and head off without her knowing?

“Her? Her, who?” I took a sip of my coffee, sighing as it hit the exhausted spot.

“The devil spawn overheard me talking with Lucy this morning and-"

“Devil spawn?” The door slammed out of my hand before I could fully close it.

Catalina. I should have guessed.

She and her elder brother, Thiago, the future heir to Opal Sun pack, had arrived in the night to help with the search for Evie and Konstantin, bringing with them a few dozen warriors and trackers for aid. While neither Badru nor I cared much for Catalina, more so Badru, Thiago was a good friend. Like us, he had grown up with a privileged background and, for lack of a better description, we were cocky and entitled little assholes together, living in our gilded bubbles. Now that we were older, we were each trying to learn from our mistakes, to be better Alphas.

“Devil Spawn,” Thaigo's deep laugh shadowed his sister. “I'm using that one at home."

Catalina sent a swift elbow to his gut, not that he flinched much. He swept a hand up the back of her head, flicking her hair into her face, muffling her indignant squeal.

“Are we going or what? We're wasting time,” she flicked her dark tresses back, fishing out a hair tie from her jeans pocket to twist back into a bun.

“You aren't going anywhere, especially with us!” Badru pointed a finger in her direction and marched past her, not sparing another second.

“It's cute you think you can tell me what to do, cabron (pal),” she stormed after him, muttering a string of Spanish swears. “Remind me again why your mother thought she was such a good match for you?” Thiago nudged me playfully, closing the door behind us as I had my hands full with coffee and a laptop. “Ym only coming along to make sure they don't murder each other. Our papa is quite attached to his pequefia princesa (little princess)”

“We'll split them up in the jeep, or tie one to the roof rack.”

“And luckily she tied her back so she'd be fine strapped down to the roof; Aasim raised his head from his moping for once. “Seriously though, how're you holding up? Thiago mind-linked as we walked to my office to drop my laptop off, his dark brown eyes pinched in worry. “I know you're probably sick of that question, but you can be real with me’

How was I holding up? I hadn't a clue how to answer that question to myself.

Evie had been gone for over 24 hours and each minute longer that segment of knowledge hit, a squeezing vice clamped my blood vessels supplying my heart. Last night, it was so bad, I couldn't breathe in any form of rhythm. Badru was in a similar state and neither of us could calm the other down.

We couldn't bring ourselves to sleep in Evie's room, her scent would have driven me to despair. Badru's room was where we had our first small and intimate date, where we had cooked for her. And my room? That was where we had made love to her for the first time. So we had taken to a room in the guest wing, sharing a bed as our wolves demanded; a habitual need in times of stress. Not that either of us had actually been able to fall asleep at all.

Focusing my mind on work, on anything, that would lead us to our Evie was my only break from my torturous guilt and the bleak void the absence of our bond brought. Neither of us could tell whether the bond's unreactive state meant she remained unconscious, she was further away than our bond could reach, or both. There was, however, something else, something neither of us could quite put our finger on at first. A minute tug on our bond that could almost be dismissed, yet, it chimed and demanded I take notice.

For how much I wanted to distract myself from Evie's absence, the strange pull was worse. I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge it was real, no matter how much it tingled and constricted my chest. On every beat of its presence, my mother's words to me last night rang loudly in my head...

...our mother had been quiet for some time, reading and diverting her attention to quite literally anything else. Our father had left for a moment to fetch her something to eat, but I think it was more to give him something to do, so he could feel as though he was taking care of her. Badru and I needed to attempt to sleep and were about to set out.

“I think I remember Evie complaining of a stomach cramp. Does that sound familiar?” My mother asked as I kissed her cheek goodnight. Badru had already left ahead of me to pull our jeep around. “Could an attempt have been made prior?”

“No, we drank from the same coffee pot and she didn't want to eat anything”

She made a small “o’ with her lips, only to flatten them in a deep thought. “You did use protection during her heat... didn't you?"

My face flushed with heat, embarrassed to discuss my s* life with my mother. “Yeah... why?"

“It's just... before I felt I was pregnant with you and your brother, I experienced some light cramping, like a stomach ache” it wasn't possible. We were careful. Nothing could have slipped past... because if not, it would mean our mate was taken and...

"Aste?" Thiago shook my shoulder. “You ok? You kinda spaced out. I asked how you were doing?’

“Hanging in there; I forced a superficial half smile. “What else can we do?’

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