The Blood Moon Twins

Chapter 3 - In Trouble

CAULDER

“Caulder!” Harper screamed, catching me in her arms as I stumbled forward.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and everything around me became clearer. I pulled out of Harper’s grip to face the rogue who had tried to harm Harper. “You’re going to regret that.”

I created a ball of magic and flung it at his leg, deliberately aiming for a non-vital spot.

“Demon!” the man shrieked, falling to the ground and hugging his now bleeding leg.

“Anyone else want a piece of this?” I demanded. The adrenaline in my veins made me feel like I could continue fighting for hours, and I wanted these rogues to pay for trying to hurt my best friend.

A snarl echoed through the air, and a large wolf bounded up to us with several other wolves right behind him. I instantly recognized him as Beta Mason, the man who had practically been an uncle to me growing up.

“Dad?” Harper gasped.

He huffed in response to his daughter, and I knew we were going to be in serious trouble.

“Stay out of this,” Mason ordered.

The rogues faced the warriors now staring them down, and the two that were mobile enough shifted into wolf form and tried to run away. Several warriors went after them, and I knew they wouldn’t get away, just as much as I knew we were not going to come out of this night unscathed from scoldings.

Mason quickly incapacitated the remaining rogue, keeping him alive for future questioning. He shifted into human form, pulling on a pair of shorts before turning to us.

“Remy went to go get help. Did someone find her?” I asked, worried about my twin, since a rogue had gone after her.

“She’s fine. Your father got to her in time. I can’t believe the three of you would be so reckless,” he said, shaking his head. His disappointment wrenched my gut, and I could only imagine how bad it’d be when my parents looked at me with the same distress.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” Harper said, letting her head hang down.

He held up his hand. “Not now. Your mother and I will talk about this back at the pack house. I will have two warriors escort you back to make sure you make it back without any further incidents. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” I quickly muttered.

-

Harper and I made it back to the pack house, and we were told to wait in the living room for our parents. My father walked into the room, carrying Remy in his arms. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt, and her ankle was wrapped in bandages. She hadn’t come away from this unscathed, either, making the whole night feel that much worse.

My father set Remy next to me and then looked at Harper. “Harper, you can go to bed. Your father will be busy dealing with the rogues for a while, and your mother is still asleep. They will talk to you tomorrow.”

Harper nodded, not saying anything. I felt her despondent demeanor, and I knew I had messed everything up for my two best friends. She looked back before leaving the room, giving me and Remy a sympathetic smile before disappearing.

Our father turned to the two of us. His jaw was tight, and his anger boiled beneath the surface. He kept his voice in check as he said, “You two wait here. I have to make sure everything is settled with the rogues quickly, and then I’ll be back. Your mother will be here soon.”

Remy gulped next to me, and I knew she was thinking the same thing. Dealing with our father was easier than dealing with our mother crying. With our injuries, there were sure to be a few tears.

We sat in the living room in silence, waiting for our punishment to come. My side was crudely wrapped with some bandages, and I would need more medical attention to fully address the wound. My werewolf healing abilities were hardly there, especially compared to other werewolves. I still healed faster than humans but not by much.

Remy sat next to me, and I could feel her shaking. She had never been in major trouble before, and neither had I, but for completely different reasons. Remy had never really done anything to break the rules before, while I was just skilled at not getting caught. Neither of us knew how our parents were going to react.

I looked down at my phone and checked the time. 12:01 AM. I looked over at Remy and smiled. “Happy birthday, sis.”

Her eyes widened as she checked her own phone. “Happy birthday, Cauldy! We are now officially adults.” Her sullen demeanor seemed to brighten, which wasn’t surprising. Our birthday was always one of her favorite days. She liked celebrating other people, and she loved that she could celebrate her most special day with her best friend.

I wasn’t as big of a fan of birthdays, but Remy was my person. Even though we were vastly different, she had always been there for me. She listened to me talk about my problems, and she was always the first one to make me smile when I felt down. So if she wanted a big, extravagant party, that was exactly what we did. I just hoped that the events of tonight wouldn’t make our parents cancel our party. Remy had been looking forward to the day since the day after our seventeenth birthday party.

“Do you know what you want your birthday wish to be this year?” Remy asked.

“Honestly, right now I am just hoping mom and dad will let us off easy. That would be perfect.” My parents didn’t really have a temper, but their looks of disappointment could chill a person to the bone.

“Me too, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. You are the favorite child after all. And that’s not my birthday wish. My wish is to find someone who will look at me the way dad looks at mom.” She was smiling as she looked at me, but her comment didn’t go unnoticed.

“You know Mom and Dad love us equally, right?” I never wanted Remy to feel like less than she was. Sometimes her low self-esteem made no sense to me. She was beautiful, loving, and fun. She deserved someone to treat her well, and anyone who didn’t would get my fist in their face.

Remy waved her hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah, but I’m not special like you. They have all of these high hopes for the great person you’ll be. A great warrior, a strong alpha, a skilled sorcerer.”

“Want to trade places?” I half-laughed. A part of me didn’t want to be the alpha. It was too much pressure and too many responsibilities. If I could hand the role over to Remy, I would in a heartbeat.

“Only if.”

Footsteps echoed down the hall, instantly dampening our mood. This was the moment I had been dreading since those rogues attacked. Our father entered the room, the wear of the night written on his face. Pulling up a chair, he sat across from us, not saying anything for several painful moments.

My mind scrambled for excuses, but I knew none of them would work. We broke curfew, fought rogues, and got injured. The reason behind why wouldn’t matter.

Finally, he said, “What on earth were you children thinking?”

“We’re not children,” I said firmly. “We’re eighteen.”

“That makes it worse. You knew the rules, and you’re old enough to know better, but you decided to disregard the rules we set out, and look at what happened.” He kept his volume level. My father wasn’t one to yell, but his voice was icy with disappointment.

“There haven’t been rogues in the territory for years. We just got unlucky.” I knew my argument wouldn’t change the fact that we had snuck out, but our parents were too strict. Most other werewolves our age didn’t have a curfew of 10pm.

“It’s my fault,” Remy said, trying to take the heat off of me. “I wanted to have at least one adventure before we turned eighteen.”

“No, I’m the one who dragged Remy out of bed,” I said. It was noble of Remy to try to take the blame, but she didn’t deserve it. She was the more responsible twin between us, even if our parents didn’t notice.

“Caulder, no—”

“I don’t care whose idea it was,” my father interrupted, before we started an argument. “The fact is, you both snuck out, and it resulted in Caulder getting stabbed and Remy twisting her ankle. Not to mention you got Harper involved in this mess. You’re just lucky she didn’t get hurt, too.”

“We were just unlucky. You’re always telling me to take charge and act like I was meant to be the future alpha, but you have so many rules! How can I do that when you have a rule and a plan for every aspect of my life?” I stood up, ignoring the sharp pain in my side. I was already frustrated with myself for putting my best friends in a situation that got them both hurt. I didn’t need him to make me feel worse.

“And look what happens when you don’t listen to us?” My father was standing now, and his volume had raised to match mine.

“Maybe if you weren’t so strict, I wouldn’t have felt the need to sneak out.” This wasn’t like me. Normally, I kept these feelings bottled up. To my parents, I was the perfect child. If only they knew about how many times I had snuck out under their nose. How many times I did things that were beneath the future alpha. If they looked close enough, they would see me as the true, troublesome child I was, instead of the image of the perfect son they projected onto me.

“You’re grounded, and you can forget about your birthday party tomorrow,” my father snapped.

Remy whimpered at the news. She had been looking forward to our party for too long, and I had just ruined it for her.