Borrowed Beauty

Chapter Four: Wrong Turn

JOSIAH

It wasn’t the first time my cousins had brought home a woman under the guise of “finding a mate.” It was, however, the first time they had brought a set of twins. What they did, whatever kinks they were into, was their own business. When I first walked into the dining room and saw the little blond Barbie doll sitting between them, I was ready to shrug it off. My cousins had a type, and she was it: golden blond hair, big blue eyes, perky t**s, and a low IQ. I already knew they would play with this young woman for a couple of months until they got bored with her, then they would move on to the next one. Or, in this case, get bored with the two of them.

I looked around the table for the other one, automatically expecting an identical twin. I was a little puzzled to see a completely different-looking woman sitting next to Aunt Vero. She was about average in height, almost husky in her build with soft, inviting curves. Her face was round and spattered with freckles, and she had wide, intelligent hazel eyes. I frowned as I crossed the room.

Something about the idea of my cousins playing with this other woman didn’t sit right with me. In fact, it pissed me off. I had the immediate and irrational urge to tell them they could do whatever they wanted with the blond sister, but this one…this one was off-limits.

I may be an Alpha, but I do try not to be an interfering asshole. I reminded myself a dozen times during dinner to mind my own business and let it go. I don’t know what my hang-up was. I certainly wasn’t interested in the twins’ leftovers, and I never, ever share.

Still, I couldn’t help but observe their interactions throughout the meal. Brock and Aaron were all over Renee like they just couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, yet they all but ignored the other sister.

Olivia. I liked the sound of her name. Somehow it just suited her perfectly, from her dark complexion to that amazing cascade of black hair that fell down her back in thick glossy waves. She didn’t seem a bit interested in what was going on across the table either. She made no attempt to join the conversation, but rather seemed lost in her own thoughts. She barely even looked up until her sister called her name.

“Hey, Olivia? The guys are going to take me out to the club tonight,” the blond sister announced as soon as the dinner dishes were cleared. “I told them you aren’t really into the whole club scene. So you don’t mind staying behind, right?”

I watched Olivia’s expression carefully. I expected she might be hurt or angry at being left out of the fun, especially on her very first night in a new place, but her expression was bland and unperturbed. “No problem,” she said easily. “You go have fun.” She pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. “I think I’m going to call it a night. Alpha,” her eyes met mine for the briefest moment, “thank you for dinner. Mrs. Salvador, it was nice to meet you.” And just like that, she politely excused herself from the table. I watched her go, fully appreciating the sway of her full hips and generous ass as she left.

Feeling even more irritated in her absence, I stood as well, letting my chair scrape against the hardwood floor. I gave my cousins a glare and shook my head at them. I hoped my expression communicated what my lips did not. You are insensitive pricks. How could they invite both sisters, and then show a clear preference for one over the other? What kind of game were they playing?

I took the stairs two at a time, eager to retreat into the comfort and solace of my bedroom. But when I turned down my corridor, I saw Olivia Forest with her hand on my door handle.

“What do you think you are doing?” I growled as I walked toward her. She looked up at me with a startled, deer-in-the-headlights look.

“Uh, sorry Alpha, I was trying to find my room.” She blinked at me innocently.

“I think you’ve taken a wrong turn,” I said, taking her by the shoulders and turning her around. Maybe I really just wanted an excuse to touch her. “The twins are in the other wing. You take a right off the stairs.”

“No. I mean, yes,” she refused to budge even when I gave her a gentle push in the right direction. “They gave me a room down here. They said they didn’t have another spare room on that end.”

I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. “You aren’t sharing the room with your sister?”

She pulled away from my hands. “Eww. No. Why would I do that?”

Something inside me, maybe it was my wolf, warned me that I was treading on dangerous ground, but the jerk in me blurted it out anyway. “I just assumed if you were sharing boyfriends, you wouldn’t mind sharing the same room.”

Her hazel eyes flashed, and the color seemed to change like a shifting kaleidoscope. Her chin lifted and she gave me a purely indignant look. She opened her mouth like she was about to give me a piece of her mind, and then snapped it closed again. She looked over my shoulder, and her eyes landed on the door to the guest room. My guest room. Without a word, she stomped around me, grasped the handle, and pushed the door open.

She looked relieved when she glanced over the room and saw her own belongings arranged on the bedside table. “Good night, Alpha,” she bit out her polite words, but the tone of her voice sounded more like she was hoping I would choke on my own spit and die in my sleep. Before I had quite digested that, the door shut with a little more force than necessary, and then, as if for good measure, I heard the click of the locking bolt slide into place.

I whistled between my teeth and stared at the closed door for another long moment. Had I misunderstood something about this arrangement between the twins and these sisters? I scratched the back of my neck. I couldn’t quite fathom why Olivia Forest would be here if she was not intent on pursuing Aaron and Brock?

Her reaction to my comment of shared rooms and shared boyfriends clearly showed that was not her purpose.

And my reaction to her reaction was just as puzzling. I felt a palpable wave of relief roll over me, and my dark, ugly mood lifted immediately. I even smiled a little as I turned and opened my own door.