The Blood Moon Twins

Chapter 5 - Secrets and Crushes

CAULDER

My heart thundered in my chest as I looked at the girl in my bed. I pressed my back against the wall on the other side of the room, trying to sort out the feelings between confusion and the desire to wrap my arms around my best friend and bury my nose in the crook of her neck.

Then there was the fact that my wolf had finally spoken to me after years of being dormant.

“Are you sure she’s our mate?” I tried to ask my wolf, but once again he was silent.

Harper rolled over in my bed, and I felt her moment of confusion. I had always been able to read Harper’s face, but this was different. I actually felt her emotions. That had to be another confirmation that she was my mate.

Harper’s gaze finally found mine, and I felt like I was looking at the sunrise for the first time in my life. Despite the early morning, she looked as beautiful as ever as her long, blonde curly locks fell over her shoulders, framing her face. Her bright green eyes shone with the shock of seeing me pressed against the wall. Even the sleepy confusion made her look more appealing and beautiful.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. Harper had always been a beautiful girl, but she was my best friend. I saw her in diapers, and there was a time when our parents had us take baths together. I never looked at her the way I looked at other girls. I had never even thought of her as a proper girl before, but as she sat in my bed with messy hair, I was practically drooling over her.

“Oh, um, hi Caulder. You’re up earlier than I expected.” Harper smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. I could hear her nervous heartbeat pounding so loudly. Was she always this nervous around me? “I guess I fell asleep in your bed.”

“Yeah, probably from the exhaustion from the night before,” I said. I crossed my arms and tried to relax my body. I still didn’t know how to handle the news that she was my mate. I couldn’t tell her—not after what she said last night.

Her eyes took in my biceps and shirtless form, and I could hear her swallow and her heartbeat a little faster. I always slept without a shirt, so this wasn’t the first time she had seen me that way, but this time felt different. I was in tune with every little movement she made, and it felt like my senses were in overdrive. It must have been my wolf senses kicking in. Eighteen was the peak age for werewolves.

“Um, I’m sure they are making something special for breakfast for your birthday. Maybe we should get dressed and head down to breakfast.” Her eyes flickered down to my exposed skin again, and her cheeks flushed a little. She bit her lower lip, and I could feel a feral growl threatening to escape.

I c****d my head to the side. “Like what you see?” What was I doing? I didn’t speak to Harper this way, yet I found myself on edge, hoping she’d say yes.

Harper’s eyes went wide, and her cheeks were now bright red. “What? No? Of course not.”

She pushed herself out of my bed, hiding her face from my view, but my eyes followed her with ease. She grabbed a shirt from my drawer and tossed it in my face.

“Put a shirt on. It’s inappropriate to walk around like that.”

I grabbed the shirt off my face and chuckled, making no motion to do such a thing. “You’re in my room. I can be dressed however I please. I could even get naked if I wanted to.” Seriously, what was wrong with me? I had used lines like this with plenty of girls, but never with Harper.

“Don’t be gross!” Harper said, but the way her eyes flicked to my torso, I had a feeling she thought about it for a moment.

I moved over to her, my body craving her touch. My head was a little foggy, and my sudden cravings for Harper were thrilling and confusing. She was my mate, but she was also my best friend. I wasn’t supposed to look at her like that, but every part of my body ached to touch her. I stroked her cheek with the back of my hand.

“We could always get naked together if you want.” I gave her a wink.

She smacked my hand away and walked over to the other side of the room. “Stop it, Caulder. What’s gotten into you? I don’t plan on becoming another girl in the line of hookups you’ve had. I don’t care if it’s your birthday. I’ll still kick your ass.”

I took another inhale, and the sweet scent hit my nose again. Of course, Harper wasn’t just another girl in the string of hookups I had had, and she would never become one of them. She was so much more than that. She was my best friend, and she was my mate.

I watched her move away. While she was rejecting the idea of physical intimacy with me, she didn’t seem completely repulsed by the idea either. I had never thought about her like that, even through all of the nights we fell asleep together while watching movies. She was just my best friend, but I couldn’t stop imagining her doing something inappropriate with me. This wasn’t like me, but if she was truly my mate, I knew these feelings weren’t going to go away.

Then the conversation from last time flashed through my head.

“I would never date you.”

The memory sent a shock through my system. Harper made it clear how she felt about our dynamic last night, and I knew I couldn’t tell her she was my mate. She would either be repulsed and reject me or think I was kidding.

“Will you stop looking at me like that and get dressed? Did you hit your head last night during the attack or something?” Her eyes scanned my body, and I knew she was looking for any lingering injuries, but I felt myself growing heated as she stared at me like that.

I swallowed hard, knowing why Harper thought I was acting strange. Her birthday was still a few months away. She would be eighteen soon, but she wouldn’t feel our mate bond until then. She wouldn’t understand my feelings for her until she felt the mate bond click in place for herself.

I knew I was going to have to be patient and wait for her to turn eighteen and come to the same realization I just did if I didn’t want to scare her off. These next few months would be absolute torture. I just wanted to snatch her up and—

Harper walked up to me, waving her hand in front of my face. “Hello, Earth to Caulder? You really are out of it. You should probably go back to bed.”

I took a deep breath, and her scent filled me to the brim, exciting every inch of my body. “No, I’m just perfect right now.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Whatever, weirdo. I’ll just wait for you downstairs while you get your senses back.”

Before she could leave, I grabbed her arm, holding her close to me for just a moment longer. I looked down at her, and she looked back up at me, her doe eyes looking wide with wonder, but there wasn’t any fear in them. Her heart pounded against her chest like crazy, and her skin was like silk beneath my touch. I wanted her more than I had ever wanted anything else in my life, and I just wanted a moment longer with her here, even if we just stood like that.

“Don’t go yet.” My voice came out soft and pleading.

She blinked at me a few times, and I knew she was searching for the right words. Finally, she settled on, “Okay.” Her voice was soft, and even that made me crave her more.

I knew I couldn’t wait patiently for her mate bond to kick in. I had to have her now.

I started to lean down and kiss her, but the door to my room flung open, completely ruining the moment.