#10 Royal Twins of La Lune

Chapter 3 Stella

“Ella, oh Ella!” A voice chanted down the hallway, singing in a high pitched, off tune kind of way.

“Just ignore her.” Sighed one of my best friends, Oaklee.

“Easier said than done.” I grumbled as Colette’s voice continued to taunt me.

“Oh, there you are, Ella!” Colette smiled while Jolene, Holly, and Kenzie

giggled behind her.

“Ferme ta gueule, salope!” I shouted at her, knowing damn well she didn’t have a clue what I was saying.

“What? What did you just say to me, you little freak?” Colette growled.

“She called you a slut, moran.” Oaklee scoffed.

“Why do you even hang out with her? She’s a rogue.” Jolene spat.

“No, she’s not. She’s a part of the Redemption pack that, by definition, excludes her from being called a rogue.” Mylah walked up behind us, crossing her arms as she defended me.

“Good as.” Kenzie flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder.

“You’re a disgrace to the Royal pack by aligning yourself with her.” Holly glared at Mylah and Oaklee, two of my friends who hailed from the Royal Legacy pack.

It was rare to find a royal pack member hanging around a member of the Redemption pack. They saw us as nothing, as beneath them, as a gesture of pity from the gracious King and Queen. I don’t know what I did, but since I started at the upper school my eighth grade year, I’ve been taunted, teased, and targeted by nearly every single member of the royal pack, even by some members of my own pack.

Maybe it was because my mother was French and a housekeeper in the palace, or because my father was a warrior, or simply because I stood up to the first three women who bullied me and tried to stuff me into a locker, I didn’t know for sure, but I did know that, by the encouragement of the twin kings, I was this schools number one target.

The only thing that kept me from going murderous with rage was the idea of being rescued by my mate, or fleeing from the realm, whichever came first. In 7 weeks, I would turn 18 and graduate, and, in two months, I would attend the Mating Ball. Come hell or high water, with or without a man, I was going to get myself out of this place and find my peace.

“Go bother the freshmen.” Wren’s voice made me jump as she suddenly appeared beside me with Dallas and Kinley.

“Yuck, there’s more of you.” Colette scrunched up her nose like she smelt something bad.

“You’ve only known us since kindergarten.” Kinley rolled her eyes.

“That’s the late bell, ladies, get a move on.” The principal yelled at us from the end of the hall and we all scattered, heading towards our last class of the day.

Dallas and I had English together, sitting as far away from the Royal pack members as we could possibly get. Dallas pulled her long brown hair up into a ponytail before flipping open her binder. I copied her actions and started taking down the notes Mr. Hughs had written on the board. 70 minutes later, we were freed from the building.

Dallas and I met up with Wren, Kinley, Oaklee, Mylah, and our other girlfriend from the royal pack, Tate, in the parking lot in front of the school. Oaklee, Mylah, and Tate were all generation members of the Royal Legacy pack, their families migrating in when the pack was first started. They often carpooled together since they all lived inside the royal village. Dallas, Wren, and Kinley belonged to the Redemption pack, like myself. We were all neighbors inside our pack’s village.

“Better watch out ladies, I’ve heard the chiennes are on the warpath today.” The final member of our group, Brady, shouted across the parking lot as he headed towards us.

“Chiennes?” Kinley asked.

“Bitches.” Mylah, Dallas, and Oaklee all replied at the same time.

“Ahh.” Kinley nodded, “I see.”

“Goddess, the end of the year can’t come soon enough.” Tate grumbled, leaning against her car.

“Two more months.” Mylah agreed.

“Two more months and we’re all gonna be 18.” Wren winked at us.

“Don’t remind me.” Oaklee sighed, rolling her eyes. She was the least excited of all of us to find her mate. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was the youngest of eight siblings who all managed to find satisfactory matches, setting outrageous expectations for her.

“We’re all going to the Ball together if we don’t find our mates, right?” Wren asked, ignoring Oaklee’s complaints.

“I don’t know….” Kinley looked skeptical.

“Come on, we have to! Let’s make a pack right now.” Wren said, standing up and pushing into the center of the group, “Whoever hasn’t found their mate by the time the Ball rolls around goes to it, no exceptions. We all go together.” Wren put her hand, palm down, in the center of the group.

Dallas slapped her hand on top of Wren’s first, followed by Mylah, Kinley, and Tate. I smirked at the group and added my hand to the pile.

“Do I get to join?” Brady asked and we rolled our eyes at him in unison,

“Obviously.” I said, grabbing Brady’s hand and dragging him towards the pile. Oaklee groaned loudly before flopping her hand down on top.

“Deal.” I said and everyone echoed me.

We laughed as we dropped our hands, something we’ve been doing since we were in the lower school. A sickening giggle sounded from behind us and we turned to see Collete and her clan of icicles stalking towards us. This time they were joined by some of their boy toys, Brooks, Jordan, and Gavin.

“Shove off.” Kinley snapped, pushing herself to the front of our group.

“Ella?” a small voice called and I pushed my way through my friends to grab my sister’s hand.

“Come on, Cece, we’re leaving.” I said sternly, pulling her towards my car.

“Aww, already?” Jolene pouted, batting her fake eyelashes at us.

“Leave her alone, Jolene.” Dallas said threateningly.

“Here, Cece, I’ll help you into the car.” Wren said, protectively shielding my younger sister from the others. Wren opened the car door and settled Cece inside.

“Let’s go, Ella.” Kinley said, opening up the passenger door of my car, Wren was already waiting in the back seat.

“Go ahead, Ella. we’ll catch you later.” Dallas nodded, “I’ll get a ride with Brady.” She added and I looked towards Brady who nodded once in agreement.

“Alright.” I mumbled, pushing down my rage in order to get my sister away from the inevitable scene the icicles were about to start up.

I crawled into the driver’s side of the car and started up the engine, carefully packing out of the spot and driving away.

“You okay, Ce?” I asked, looking at my sister through the rearview mirror. She nodded, her black curls bouncing in front of her face. Wren smiled widely at her.

Cecile was only ten and attended the lower school, which was across the street from our school, the upper school, that held grades 8-12. Everyday, she walked across the road to meet up with us in the parking lot. Usually we were able to avoid the it crowd, but occasionally, she had to bear witness to the worst the realm had to offer. Luckily, of my friends, I was the only one with a younger sister and so they all treated her like family.

“How was school, petite soeur?” I asked as we waited for the crossing guard to let us cross the street.

“Little sister?” Kinley clarified and I nodded.

“Good! We blew up a pumpkin!” Cece said happily.

“I remember doing that. It’s Fall week, right?” Kinley asked and Cece smiled brightly at her,

“Yes! Fall day is on Friday.”

“That’s so fun! Do you need anything for it?” I asked, knowing that our mother was probably going to be too distracted to help her.

“We’re supposed to bring in supplies to decorate a pumpkin.” Cece replied absentmindedly.

“Great, we’ll go to the store tomorrow to get some things.” I said,

“We’ll all go and get some dinner, how does that sound, Ce?” Wren asked,

“Yay!” Cece bounced up and down on her booster seat and we all laughed at her excitement.

I pulled up in front of our house then and we all piled out. Wren lived next door and Kinley’s house was two doors down. Brady lived on the other side of me and Dallas’ house was next to his.

“See you tomorrow morning! My turn to drive.” Wren said with a wave and Kinley gave Cece a quick hug before walking off towards her house.

“Come on.” I held my hand out for Cece and we walked inside our house.

We lived in a moderate sized cottage with dark blue siding, cream colored shutters, and a bright yellow door. Written across the front door in hand painted cursive letters was the name Dubois-Summers. A tan, outdoor welcome mat sat on the yellow painted porch with a rainbow stenciled on the front and the word Hello! written in a bold font.

Our mother, Annette Dubois, is a free-spirited French artist who loved to decorate our home in her latest craft. She was a housekeeper in the royal palace and has been since she first moved to the Redemption pack as a young adult. Our father, Ronald Summers, on the other hand, is an elite warrior who is a part of the kings’ handpicked royal guard. Something he’s trained for since he was a boy, born and raised within the realm.

As usual, neither one of our parents were home when we got there. Our father left early and got home late, if at all, depending on what mission the kings’ had him on that night. Our mother worked the second shift, so she was there to see us off to school in the morning but didn’t get home until well after dinner time, typically after Cece was already in bed.

“El? You’re home?” I was surprised to see my older brother, Eliot, standing in the kitchen. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and his arm was in a sling, “What happened?” I gasped, running towards him.

“Training accident. I’ll be healed by morning, but I’m off duty until then.” Eliot said with a shrug, “I figured I’d make dinner.” He was standing in front of the stove, moving around some pasta in boiling water.

“El!” Cece shrieked, launching herself in Eliot’s arms.

“Hi there, petite soeur!” Eliot chuckled, picking Cece up and spinning her around.

Eliot, like our father, was a warrior and a good one, at that. He was four years older than me and mated to a warrior she-wolf named Chloe. They lived together in a house two blocks down from ours. He was primed to take over the reins from our father when he was ready to step down. In the meantime, however, he was the captain of his own patrol group that protected the perimeter of the royal castle.

“And how are you, petite lutine?” Eliot asked me after sitting Cece down. I glared at him,

“I’m almost 18, don’t you think it’s time to stop calling me an elf?” I snapped, flopping my backpack down on the couch.

“Nah.” Eliot shook his head.

Eliot turned off the stove and I pulled the colander out from the cabinet. I sat the colander in the sink and Eliot poured the steaming pasta into it, draining out the water. He tossed the spaghetti noodles to make sure all the water was drained before dumping them back in the pot. I grabbed a jar of our homemade pasta sauce from the pantry and poured it in with the noodles, mixing it all together. Eliot grabbed some bowls and I set the table just in time for Cece to come running into the kitchen and taking her seat at the table.