Her Mates: Three and Some

MEETING THE TWINS.

Warm soothing showers.

Who knew that that would be the one thing I’d miss more than anything after all those days I’d spent in the woods?

Gosh, it felt so great just having the hot water course through my hair, softly rolling down my body, pooling at my feet before they disappeared right down the drain.

It all felt therapeutic, so comforting and someway somehow almost symbolic as well.

I—I really don’t know how to explain it, it just felt like that was all my problems going away, leaving me with a new, clean slate to begin a new life in a new pack.

I relished in it, allowing myself to believe it all for a split second, but it all came crashing back, forcing me to turn off the shower and step out to towel myself dry.

The room Luna Avery (Lucinda had told me her name) had given me was quite small, but totally perfect with light green and neutral tones and the most amazing view to the well-lit gardens downstairs, but I couldn’t appreciate it as much as I wanted to.

I was running late for dinner.

That was certainly not an impression to leave on the woman who had been so kind to open her home and her pack to me, and I was pretty sure that wherever my Mama was, she was probably turning in her grave, shaking her head and going off about how I was disappointing her or something, but in my defense, I had kind of gotten carried away.

I dressed up in record speed, donning the way too baggy shirt and sweatpants the older she-wolf had left for me to change into, and then I literally dashed out of the room, running across the corridors like my life depended on it.

I made a turn, still running, and then I suddenly crashed into someone so hard that I fell to the ground from the powerful impact, the person surprisingly still standing despite our crazy collision.

Slowly my gaze swept down from the simple converse shoes, and made its way up, to baggy jeans, a dark tank top, and the most expressive green eyes on the most handsome face I’d ever seen.

He was pissed, that was for sure, but hey, that was totally understandable, given that it was all mostly my fault.

“Hey, I’m so so—”

“Are you f*****g blind? Who the hell are you even?” His deep voice and his rude tone threw me off for a hot second, and I struggled to find my footing even as I made it to my feet, without his help just in case you were wondering.

“I’m Gayle—”

“You know what? I don’t really give a f**k, just watch where you’re going next time. You’ve got eyes, f*****g use them.” He rudely bumped a shoulder into me and swaggered off, not even paying me another glance.

That was the rudest person I had ever encountered, and that was saying something considering I had seen what rude looked like first hand.

Who the f**k did he think he was anyway?

Did he even stop to think for a second that perhaps the crash hadn’t been all my fault alone?

I was really seething.

Totally pissed off that I’d been too dazed to give him a piece of my mind like I normally would have. But Luna Avery was waiting for me, and so I brushed the bum of my sweatpants with my hands and continued to make my way towards finding the damned staircase that was going to take me to the dining room.

I found the same guy at the base of the staircase as I descended.

He was in a different shirt this time, but still wearing the same jeans and converse kicks from before, pressing his phone, seemingly deep in concentration.

My chance to finally react the way I wanted had come.

I quickened my steps, anger fueling my every move.

When I got to him, I didn’t even give him time to say a single word, I pushed him roughly.

Granted, he didn’t budge the slightest bit, but hey, at least, I was fighting back. “What the hell is wrong with you? Did you have to be such a bloody jerk?” I yelled in his face.

He looked taken aback for a split second, but all of that vanished when his gaze met mine, a totally blank look in them.

It was almost as though he was subtly telling me he wanted nothing to do with my drama. “I have no idea what you're talking about,” he said lowly, walking away from me.

What the f**k was that?

It was a whole character switch.

Talk about being hot and passionate one minute, and then cool and nonchalant the next.

I almost would have said that he was an entirely different person.

I turned my thoughts away from him, my heart cooling now that I had told him off.

I went towards the kitchen, using the directions Lucinda had given me, and soon enough, I was in the dining room.

“Gayle! You’re just in time, come, join us, join us.” Luna Avery waved, a lovely smile on her face. She looked put together and even more stunning in a lovely light blue dress.

Beside her, a well-built man who seemed to be in fifties or sixties sat, his long platinum blond hair with graying sides and the slight crow’s feet at his temples the only indication that hinted at his age.

There was no denying it, hell it wasn’t really hard to miss.

This was certainly the Alpha, but before I could even dwell on that, the rude boy from before appeared in the dining room, wearing the same dark tank top from before.

His face, which had been pretty relaxed morphed into a scowl when he saw me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could say the same for you. And what’s with all the shirt changes? Can’t you decide on a specific one?” I scowled back, allowing my irritation for him to get in the way of being a grateful guest for a little bit.

By now, judging from the way his hair was platinum blond like the Alpha’s and the way his eyes were just the same color as Luna Avery’s, it really wasn’t that hard to put together that he was their son.

Humph, explains all of that annoying entitlement.

“Come now, Shade, don’t be rude to our guest.” His mother admonished sternly, taking her attention off him and beaming at me, “Come have a seat, Gayle, and meet my husband and mate, Denver Lockwood.”

I bowed slightly at the Alpha, a little thrown aback when he stood up to hug me, a charming smile on his face, “It’s nice to finally meet you, child, your parents were lovely people, and I’m sorry for all you’ve been through.”

I smiled back at him.

I liked him, he was earnest and straight to the point. “Please, Gayle… sit, sit.”

I did as he had asked, my breath catching in my throat when another Shade look-alike appeared in the dining room.

This one was wearing a white t-shirt, and he was closely followed by a beautiful looking girl with curly pink blond highlights. They mumbled greetings and took their seats with the guy going right back to staring at his phone.

It didn’t take a second for everything to click in my head, my eyes widening in horror when I realised.

This one was the one I had attacked.

Oh, my goodness, they were twins!

And I had wrongfully accused one of the sins of the other.

But then how was I supposed to know they were twins?

I hadn’t particularly been told about them.

Now, even if I wanted to apologise, the other boy who wasn’t Shade wouldn’t even look at my face, much less talk to me.

Honestly speaking, he really took the term reserved to a whole other level, practically ignoring me and his brother and parents.

The only person he paid a little attention to was the girl he had come with, who I learnt was the Beta’s daughter, Olivia Bowles, but even that one, he kept to a bare minimum.

Speaking of Olivia Bowles, I had tried to strike a conversation with her at one point, but she had shot me a look so venomous that I had instantly caught on.

She was one of those people.

The kind who didn’t associate with people they expected to be beneath their class.

Well, good riddance anyway.

It was better to know what I was dealing with now than to be completely taken by surprise when she decided to show her true colors. I was grateful for that at least.

Dinner was a truly sordid affair with only the adults trying to get to know me better.

Shade, whenever he spoke only made sarcastic remarks and subtly veiled youthful innuendos concerning my being rogue and an Omega wolf that he knew his parents wouldn’t understand, and Olivia, in true girl-who-wanted-to-be-the-villain-in-my-story fashion giggled at every one of them.

“Gunner, isn’t the food to your liking?” Luna Avery called out to her other son, trying to get him to participate in the conversations, but he only looked up at her, “It is.”

That was the only sentence she got from him, and then he went back to focusing on his meal and his phone.

On the plus side, at least I knew his name now.

“You know, it’s pretty surprising mum,” Shade pipped in after it became clear that his brother wasn’t going to say more, a bitter, scornful look on his handsome face, “Remember when my friend Tristan wanted to crash here and you adamantly said no? We have a rogue, Omega, charity case in our midst, living under our roof now, and you haven’t even thought to ask for our opinions about it. How is that for ironic double standards, huh?”

“ENOUGH.” Alpha Denver thundered, “You will not speak to your mother that way, boy, are we clear?”

“Now, now, let's not make a fuss,” Luna Avery intervened, her tone gentle yet firm, even though she was clearly disappointed in her son. “We are all family here, and we will treat each other with respect. Isn’t that right, boys?”

It was obvious that she was trying to diffuse the tensions for my sake, but I could already see how life was going to be if we continued like this, and right now, I had more better things to focus on than to deal with young adult drama, what with the other alternative being a slave who would cancel her stepfather’s debts and all that.

And it was actually pretty funny, but despite my clearly irritated feelings towards the two boys, a part of me still recognized their hotness, even though I tried to quell it.

Talk about everyday teenage girl problems in the midst of serious situations.

The thing is, they were handsome, there was no denying that, but with nasty characters like that, you could rest assured that they were certainly unattractive to me.

“So, Gayle,” the Alpha spoke, his voice deep and commanding, snapping me out of my thoughts. “We know you are yet to finish your final year of high school and we have already spoken to the school authorities; you may begin classes the day after tomorrow. This Pack is more than happy to provide you with a safe place to stay and anything else for as long as you need it. Just let us know.”

I nodded gratefully, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and the weight of his words. “Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”

“And I have to say, I am impressed with the way you have handled yourself so far. It takes a lot of courage to face everything you’ve been through alone,” the Alpha added, giving me an approving smile.

I felt a flush rise to my cheeks at his words, and I quickly lowered my gaze to my plate, feeling somewhat embarrassed. I could take praise when it was just me, but put me in the midst of people, and you’d have a red tomato for a human being.

It was weird and funny at the same time, but from the corner of my eye, I noticed Shade staring at me, his green eyes boring into mine with an intensity that made me squirm in my seat. I looked away, feeling a strange mix of curiosity and anger.

He wanted to figure out who I was now?

After spending most of dinner throwing jabs at me for who I was?

I didn’t think so.

“Gayle,” Luna Avery spoke up, changing the subject. “We have a few young wolves in our pack, and I’m pretty sure they would love to get to know you better. I think it would be a good opportunity for you to make some new friends, don’t you think?”

I smiled weakly, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the idea of meeting new people.

One thing was certain, if they were anything like the young people I was currently sitting here with, then I’d rather be all by myself.

I didn’t have any time for any bad energy.

“Uhm, sure, that would be nice, but I’m actually pretty tired and would like to turn in for the night if that is okay with you?”

“Certainly, child.” She conceded eagerly.

“Do have a good night,” Alpha Denver added with a small smile.

Without sparing a glance at the trio, I stood up, smiled one last time at the Alpha and the Luna, and then walked out of the dining room.