Accepting My Twin Mates
Chapter 81

Badru

with my bowl in hand of lamb fattah, a layered dish of toasted pitta bread, vegetable broth, rice, meat and garlic sauce, I sat at our childhood dining table that we had eaten at more times than I could ever count. There were so many happy memories with both my parents at this table and now I was planning on breaking into one of their computers to find proof that one had done the unthinkable or someone close had done the unthinkable to all of us.

In my other hand, I held my phone, ready to dial my father's cell in hopes he had it on him, that he would take it out and leave it out and that he would leave it behind when Astennu caused the distraction. I chose my seat, right next to the one my dad habitually took, my family right behind me in taking up their seats. My father carried through the leftovers in a dish, knowing mine and Astennu’s appetites, and settled it in the middle of the table between my twin and me sitting opposite each other.

Any other time, I would have gone back for seconds, thirds, and sometimes fourths. On this occasion, my appetite for firsts would be a struggle.

You better find the stomach for it, unless you want a big neon sign flashing above our head saying something is wrong, please grill us on what, Baniti huffed under his breath.

“Iwill? I snapped back that he would dare doubt my acting skills. If you're finished, I have to fake b**t-dial dad!

with my phone concealed at my side, I hit dial, waiting for the familiar ringtone. Just as I had hoped, our father made his apologies that his phone was ringing during dinner. As he was mid-rise from his seat to answer, he noticed the name, spinning the screen to show me.

“sorry,” I casually pretended to slip my cell out from my pocket. “Must've forgotten to lock my screen.”

I cancelled the call and slid my phone onto the table's surface, hoping the social cue would be repeated, and held in my fist pump to the air when it worked. Right there, next to me, my dad's phone and all it had to do was remain there.

Our dinner passed quietly, neither of our parents saying much beyond a word or two of simple pleasantries. It wasn't as though either of our parents could ask how we were or what we had been up to. They knew and, by habit at this point, stayed away from the subjects. Janet was never once discussed, so at least her current location remained a secret; provided Tamlyn wasn't the mastermind and carving the she-wolf's tongue out to prevent her from speaking.

As much as I felt sick eating a second helping, I choked it down. Astennu too. Our mother would only fuss and our father would back her up. And now I had to wonder if that was out of some form of guilt; I despised this way of thinking and the sooner we had our answers, the better.

“so, did I make it like your mom used to?” Our dad swirled the last of his red wine, downing it in a single swig and gazing at our mother as though she was the only woman in the world.

“Mum would have been impressed,” she returned the gaze, fondly. “No one can beat her garlic sauce, though.”

She cleared the plates and our father followed, leaving his phone behind, forgotten, on the table.

“Aste, do your thing and keep them in there for as long as you can!

He grabbed the empty wine glasses and took them through to the kitchen. I was finally alone to work my magic. I snatched up the phone and entered the PIN code that I remembered, praying to the moon goddess above it would work. She shone down on me with her good graces and the phone unlocked.

I hadn't even had a chance to think of where to search for a scrawled-down password when my brother was mind-linking me that my time was up.

“stall them! I barely opened the phone; I blared at him. "You used to be able to throw up on command, do that!

"When we were four! I can't do it now, ahbil (it)!

I don't care what you do, just do something?

A crystalline clang of gla*s smashing rang clear.

“Alama (damn), sorry dad,” Astennu called out, overselling his performance.

“He may be overselling it, but it's working. So get to code cracking, or whatever this is; my wolf pushed, forcing my attention back to the phone in my hand.

I intended to start with the notes app, but I went all butter fingers and opened the call log by mistake. As I was about to close it, my thumb scrolled the log down in my haste and that was where something caught my eye. Blocked numbers weren't uncommon and nothing hugely odd, but it was the dates that stood out. Intermingled with them was a random unsaved number, called many times. If it was a business contact, why wasn't it saved under a name? Why was it left as an unsaved number?

What ran my blood cold and sank my stomach with a lump of stabbing ice was the dates. The date of the unsaved number... the day Evie was taken, and called early in the morning. The number had been phoned before and on the day we came back from the mountains as well, after our dad had seen us.

“Oww, I think I got glass in my cut. Can you take a look, dad?” Astennu laid it on thick, sensing my stress and pulling out all the stops to give me time.

I took my phone out to take a photo of the screen, hoping we could find something on the number later. I wanted to maintain to myself that this was a coincidence... but that would be a lie.

Quickly closing the app and locking the screen, I put the phone back and slid mine into my back pocket. I watched my father return, placing a dessert in the middle of the table and preparing to slice it up to serve. It took every minute thread of self- restraint not to pin my father to the wall and demand an explanation. But I wanted to find out for myself exactly what he had been doing, so he couldn't talk his way out of it. And partly because there was the small child in me that wanted to believe my father could do no wrong.

“Actually, I don't think I can eat anymore,” I pushed away from the table abruptly. “Ym gonna catch up on some sleep. I'm beat.”

“We need to leave, now, I mind-linked Astennu, urging him to follow.

“Yeah, we can't stomach anything sweet he played along.

“Ok. But, please sleep here tonight, ahibbaa (darlings),” our mother tried to implore. “You haven't stayed here in so long” “Too many memories” I side-eyed my father as I spoke, trying to get a read on him, a reaction, but there wasn't a thing from him.

Had I added two and two, and ended up with ten?

“Unless you want to scare our mother shitless and interrogate our father in front of her, get in his office and break into his computer; Baniti shook my head from the inside. “smash the screen and look inside. I don't care how you do it, get it done! That's not how you break into a computer, wolf!

AS soon as we were out of sight, I grabbed Astennu’s arm and power-walked my way to our father's office.

“Ru?! What the hell did you find? I almost threw up for real in the kitchen with the panic that flooded our bond he tried to rip free of my hold, which was cute at best. He never got out of my holds and he wasn't getting out of this.

“Not here. But, unfortunately, I didn't find any password:

He quit pulling against my hand gripped around his forearm and let me drag him all the way to our father's office. I may have ripped the door open, but I closed it behind us with as soft a click as I could, my grasp squeezing the handle and causing an indent on the metal.

“Ru, what is itz" Astennu’s hands landed on my shoulders.

I pulled out my phone and showed him the image. “This.”

“These dates..."

“Yeah,” I looked over the screen, inspecting what I had found in a little more detail. “I didn't have time to look over more and finding it was an accident, but we need to get in his computer now or I'm going back there, tying him to a chair and beating it out of him."

“There has to be an explanation for this” he shook his head in denial, staggering over to the desk and dropping to the leather chair in a weightless sag. “This can't mean-"

“Yes it can," I interrupted, pulling a chair around and switching the computer on. “Like you said at the stables; we're on our own from now on and we have to suspect everyone”

He swallowed the sick lump building in his throat that mirrored the one lodged firmly in mine. A heaviness clung between us and a shuddering sense of isolation crept slowly up my spine.

it was akin to an out-of-body experience, a daze that was both real and dream-like. The only sounds buzzing in my ear were the loud rhythmic pulse beating and growing louder, and my wolf pacing and growling lowly, not knowing what to say or how to reassure me. We had never been on our own like this, having no one we could trust or lean on or go to for advice.

“Let's start by trying to get in this thing my brother mumbled in a small voice, flicking the desk lamp on to illuminate the dim and stark room.

Having our own office since our father had begun our Alpha training, we had never needed to use his space or his computer. We had never needed to know the password and hadn't ever spared a single thought about it. If we needed a document, dad always handed it over or e-mailed it. I, now, had to wonder whether that was by design, that he gave us everything so we wouldn't ask questions or find things he wanted to remain buried,

The cursor flashed on the login screen, waiting for our first attempt. My eyes drifted to the large family photo placed near the monitor. This used to be over on the bookcase and it had been moved, set instead where our father would look at it every day. The picture was from our I8th birthday, the day he gave us our very first Alpha responsibility. It was only small as we were still in school, but he said he was proud of us, that we were taking our first steps as grown men.

“It's our birthday,” Astennu quietly entered the date into the space, tapping enter and, like magic, it unlocked.

He began scanning through the folders and documents, finding nothing of any relevance, nothing that matched the false invoices that Elan had sent us. Until one folder popped up on my peripheral.

“Hang on. Try that one, it's encrypted,” I tapped the monitor. “If anything's stored on this that's super sensitive, itd be in there.”

He double-clicked it open and up popped another f***+*g password, along with Banit’s growl of frustration.

“It won't be our birthday again..." my twin sighed, steeping his hands in front of his face.

“And it could be letters and numbers,” I mused. “Try mom's home pack and her birthday”

Denied.

“It could be a random a*s collection of letters and numbers for all we know” I pushed away to pace the carpet, the chair slamming to the floor in my fit of exasperation.

“No... dad's terrible for remembering them. It would be something personal to him that he can remember, that others wouldn't necessarily know."

Stepping back behind my brother, resting a hand on the back of his chair and leaning on the desk over his shoulder, I glared at the blinking line flashing me a reminder there would only be two attempts left

“Where he met mom in England!” The answer hit me.

“And the date;” Astennu finished.

“Wait, county or pack?” His fingers hovered over the keyboard.

“County”

After our mother's pack in Egypt was destroyed and after she escaped the rogues that had taken her, she fled to her only relative left; her aunt, in Castle Moon pack in Buckinghamshire, England. She had attended school there growing up, too. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that our mother arrived from Castle Moon pack, but few paid attention to where it was located in England

“With the full date or just the year?" Astennu pushed me away, obviously annoyed that I was literally breathing down his neck.

“Try both," I righted the chair, still legs up on the floor, and sat back down.

Buckinghamshire0503I990

Denied.

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Astennu was about to enter the full year, when I snatched his wrist to stop him, remembering a little rant our mother always muttered that our father always chuckled to; the way Americans write their dates.

“Wait! Try the date, day-month-year. That's how they write it in England.”

“This better work. One more wrong entry and we'll be locked out”

Buckinghamshire0305I990

Granted.

“Am I a f*+*+g genius, or what?" I slapped his shoulder in celebration.

“Calm down, hacker extraordinaire,” he said plainly. “Let's see what we got here.”

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