Promised to the Alpha Twins

I

Hello, reader.

My name is Sussan, and I've grown up, until my seventeenth year, as a normal, ordinary girl, the kind you'd see passing by on the sidewalk without even noticing their existence. I have always enjoyed anonymity, blending in without drawing anyone's attention. And that was how it was until the day I arrived in this town, whose name doesn't matter because it could be any town, coming from a larger city I had to leave because my aunt Elene continues to be my legal guardian, and by law, I must follow her wherever she goes. To my additional misfortune, we didn't travel alone, as would have been ideal or at least more bearable. Instead, we had to carry the dead weight of her latest boyfriend, an alcoholic she picked up from some bar or bus stop because, yes, she's one of those women who feel the need to redeem men for whom not even their mother would give a dime. What my aunt Elene doesn't see is that by carrying such individuals, she puts me at great risk. But that's another part of the story, one I will delve into later. For now, let me tell you about the part where my life transformed when I entered Blue Moon High School and met them, the twins Ethan and Liam.

But before we get to them, I want you to know that on the day I first saw them, I was wearing jeans and a loose blouse. It was a beautiful late summer day, and my aunt Elene had left early for work, leaving me at home with her current boyfriend, whom I'll call Dub. He had been lying in front of the TV for hours, surrounded by several empty beer cans.

"Where are you going, brat?" Dub asked when I thought I could pass through the living room without waking him.

Let me set the scene for you in this first dialogue line. Living under the same roof with Dub, Fredy, Tom, or John, and with an aunt who spent most of the day, if not the night, outside the house, taught me various strategies to sneak around, hide, and tiptoe. My bedroom door was always locked, and I slept with a large knife under my pillow. Thanks, aunt. I owe you for teaching me survival precautions from the day my breasts started to grow.

"Do you want me to get you another beer, Dub? I see you don't have any left."

That was the best strategy to calm a heavy drinker: offer, with the utmost kindness, more alcohol. I didn't wait for Dub to respond, and my backside headed to the fridge, from which I grabbed several cans. I handed them to him and continued my way out because, despite spending two days in that town, my aunt hadn't considered that, at seventeen, I still needed to go to school. If I wasn't enrolled in the next few hours, I might have to attend one much farther from home, and that was the last thing I wanted. Believe it or not, I needed those pennies I would save on public transportation to deposit them in my savings account and finally fulfill the dream of leaving my aunt's house as soon as I reached adulthood, a few months away.

You have no idea how excited I was about being free.

Out of my seventeen years of life, I had spent the last five or six with my aunt Elene because before that, I lived with my paternal grandfather. You can probably guess the reason why I didn't live with my parents, neither before nor at that moment.

Yes.

You guessed it!

Because I never met them, and in the annals of my memory, they didn't even have a face.

But I'll get to that part of my life later. Now, I return to that journey I made to the nearest school to the house I was living in, and that search led me to the convenience store of a gas station, the place where I saw them for the first time.

My only intention upon entering was to buy a cereal bar, which, mixed with a water bottle, constituted my lunch. While making the purchase, I planned to inquire about the nearest school because, keep in mind, I had only been there for two days and knew nothing beyond the street adjacent to the entrance gate. It was then, passing by the aisle where cereal bars were displayed, that I saw the two most beautiful men I had ever seen in my life. I was so impressed that I walked past them, pretending that I was heading somewhere else from the beginning. I grabbed a bag of chips, and as I passed by the aisle where the cereal bars were screaming my name along with the traitor label, I realized they were twins.

"And a bottle of water," I said to the cashier, a girl only one or two years older than me.

"Will you be taking anything else?" she asked after ringing up the water.

"No, this is fine, thanks. I was going to ask you..."

My words got stuck as I felt the two twins approaching the counter. They were huge, their shadows only stretching on the floor as they came closer.

"Yes? Tell me. What were you going to ask?" The cashier raised her eyebrows.

I know I was acting childish, but please, just put yourself in my shoes for a moment. You've just seen the two most handsome men you've ever laid eyes on in your life—both twins, approaching you with the strides of titans, as if they own the world. Meanwhile, you're trying to ask, like a little girl with braids in her hair, where the school is.

I bet you would at least stutter.

"I'm looking for... I was wondering where the nearest school is because I'm supposed to meet someone there."

I noticed the cashier glanced up, a bit more than usual, to see the two giants who had positioned themselves behind me. The sparkle in the girl's eyes told me everything I needed to know at that moment. Yes, they were two Adonis figures who must be enjoying the admiration of all the girls in town.

"What did you ask me? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

Seriously!

And on top of that, you make me repeat it!

"For the school, you know, the nearest one, because I'm meeting someone there."

"You're new in town, right? It's enrollment season now, yes, but if I were you, I'd hurry because Blue Moon is the most popular school, and the spots are competitive."

"Oh, no, it's not because of that. It's just that I'm meeting someone there..."

"Just tell the girl where the school is," I heard a deep, masculine, and very sensual voice behind me say. "We're in a hurry, Dory."

"Yes, of course," Dory responded as if she were talking to her boss after a reprimand. "You see, you just have to take the next corner and go straight down that same street. Then you'll see it. Remember, it's Blue Moon."

I grabbed my purchases as quickly as I could.

"Hey, wait, you haven't paid me."

"Ouch!"

The bag of chips and the water bottle fell to the floor. I felt so clumsy and embarrassed that I didn't even lift my gaze. I took the money from my pocket and left it at the cash register, without waiting for change.

"Hey, you have extra money..."

I left.

I just wanted to get out of the store and forget what had happened there.

But wait, yes, I know what you're thinking, and you probably believe I'm a shy, clumsy girl who gets scared around guys and can't talk to them. But no, none of that. I'm quite used to guys, and while it's true I haven't had a boyfriend, I'm not the type to be scared of them.

Unless they are those two wonderful creatures of male perfection that I hoped never to encounter again, no matter how handsome they were, because I had made such a fool of myself that surely, when they saw me again, they would recognize me and laugh at me.

I left the store, the gas station, and the embarrassing incident behind to continue my search for Blue Moon High School, following Dory's directions. I went through the gate, and someone who must have been a teacher greeted me as soon as she saw me.

I was surprised by her warmth and friendliness.

"The principal is currently in her office, dear," the teacher said when I told her what brought me to school on this summer day. "Just go straight, and you'll find her."

I thanked her for the information and followed the indicated route. There was a moment when I got lost and got distracted for a few minutes admiring the many trophies that gleamed on the achievement shelf.

When I found my way again, I walked eagerly, hoping to enroll in that school that, according to Dory, was the most popular in town, although what really interested me was that it was only a ten-minute walk from my house.

I didn't take long to find the principal's office, with its doors wide open, and in the background, behind a large desk, the person who undoubtedly must be in charge of running the school. I managed to see, as I approached the office entrance, two broad male backs in front of the principal's desk.

I don't know why, but I was so excited to secure my place in that school that for a moment, I thought those two guys were probably trying to do the same thing I wanted to do. My feet pushed me with force and determination, so much that a moment later, I lost sight of them and only saw them again in my field of vision when they came out of the principal's office.

I swear I tried to stop with all my strength, but I was so eager to enter the principal's office that, despite my effort, I stumbled onto the two guys, who had to hold me, each on one arm, so that my face didn't crash into the floor.

"Ouch..." I sighed, embarrassed, with every inch of my flushed face, not wanting to lift my gaze.

"Are you okay?" the same haughty, masculine, and sensual voice asked that I had heard in the store.

Oh no, it can't be true!

With cheeks on fire, I lifted my gaze.

"I think she's fine, brother," said one of the twins, still holding onto my left arm with his broad and strong hand, enough to grab a basketball without it slipping through his fingers.

"If she's fine, I don't understand why she's not answering us," said the other twin, who continued to hold my right arm.

"I'm fine, thank you," I hurried to answer to avoid further damaging the image of a fool they probably already had of me.

"Do you need to talk to me?" the principal asked from behind her desk, surely convinced of the awkward situation that had arisen at the entrance of her office.

Before answering, my eyes wandered, or rather, delighted a moment longer in the perfect faces of the twins, who looked at me as if they were holding an alien who wasn't yet accustomed to Earth's gravity.

"Go on, dear," the principal said when she saw I was speechless, but it was impossible to pay attention to anything other than those two extraordinary men of great height, back and chest of a swimmer, thick and strong arms, and a face sculpted by celestial beings.

"Well," I replied as I felt the twins returning control of my arms.

"Pleased to meet you," said the right twin, and I responded with my best smile. "Mrs. Principal," he corrected to make it clear that he wasn't talking to me, reigniting the fire covering my face.

I still watched them as they walked away.

"Dear?" The principal's voice pierced through my ears as if coming from a distant place, and I only turned around when I saw the twins turning down the hallway.

An hour later, I walked out of Blue Moon High School with my class schedule and the image of the twins spinning in my head.