Her Mates: Three and Some

THE TWIN JERKS.

Heads turned as we made our way through the huge mall, women, young and old alike ogling at us like we were a bunch of celebrities, which kind of made sense given that I was walking with the future Alphas of the pack.

But it was pretty obvious though that I was not the one who held their attention.

You see, Shade and Gunner were both tall and muscular, and their presence and their outright attractiveness were enough to make anyone look twice. It didn’t help matters that Shade ate up all the attention, throwing winks here and there, sending little fainthearted girls swooning at his little charming tricks.

God, what a douche.

Gunner was still nose deep in his phone, and honest to God, it was becoming a little bit annoying even for me. Before I could think twice about it, I was muttering the words, “Hi, Gunner,” I smiled fakely, “How would you like for your mummy dearest to know that you had your nose buried in your phone all the while that we were here, and barely helped with making me feel at home?” A smug smirk appeared on my face when he finally tore his gaze away from the darned device.

He put the phone in his pocket and sighed deeply, but before he could say a word, Shade pipped in “Look, poor Rogue, we did not have to put up with this. No one can make us do anything we don’t want to do.” He hissed, “So whatever you think you have over our heads that can make you make demands just because our mother said so, you’d best get rid of it, before I make you.”

“Or what?” I asked softly, challenging him when he turned to leave, my words stopping him in his tracks.

Somehow, he had thought that his words would have me silenced, and so it seemed that my retort had taken him a bit by surprise. My eyes were shining with anger as I closed the distance between us, refusing to back down, “The way I see it, Shade, you could have totally refused your mother if you really had the power to like you claim. I don’t know what grudge you have against people you think to be beneath you, but since yesterday, you have been nothing but rude and overbearing towards me since you sensed that I was a rogue wolf, and so if this is the one chance I get to stand up to you, you’d best believe that I’d take it, even if it means being an ass kisser to your mum.” I squared my shoulders, “Now, if you don’t mind, I want to pick out clothes first, and you two will help me create a new wardrobe. I’m thinking trendy adult meets high school student.”

My hands were shaking as I walked away from them, my lips trembling as I struggled very hard to hold down the laughter that threatened to burst out of me at the stupefied look on his face.

As I made my way through the mall, Shade and Gunner trailing behind me like obedient puppies, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction, but that satisfaction was short-lived, for it wasn’t long before they started with the snide comments, calling people weird names and snickering like a bunch of adolescent teenagers at the least thing.

At first, I tried to ignore them, but it became increasingly difficult as we went from store to store.

Shade would look at outfits on mannequins, and then shout, “Yo, this is ugly! Who would wear that? Seriously, naah, I’m telling you, man… only a clown can rock this, Gun.”

“Or a complete lunatic,” Gunner would add. Then they’d snicker some more, and then shake hands over it.

Such idiots.

In no time, Shade had left the mannequins and extended his comments to actual people, and that was when I lost it. “Can you two actually stop being so judgmental and rude for once? You’re acting like entitled little brats,” I said, my voice shaking with anger. “Look, just because you come from a privileged background doesn't give you the right to act like you're better than everyone else. It's disgusting.”

Shade turned to me with a smirk. “We're not acting like we are better than everyone else. We are better than everyone else. What are you going to do about it, Rogue?" he taunted. “Our mum is not here, and you don’t have any power to actually do s**t around here.”

“Look, I don't need power to stand up for what's right,” I shot back. “And I won't stand by and watch you two bully people just because you think you can.”

Gunner actually took me by surprise when he chipped in with a snicker, “What are you going to do, tell on us to our mommy?” He jeered teasingly.

I didn’t hide my disappointment. “You know, for a hot second, I actually thought that you were the better twin, but I guess you two were really cut from the same cloth after all.” I turned to walk away from them, but then I stopped in my tracks, “On second thought, I think you guys can leave, you could go and come back an hour later to pay up or something, I find that I’m actually better off without your snarky comments and harsh judgements.”

For a moment, there was silence as Shade and Gunner stared at me, clearly taken aback by my outburst. Then, Shade rolled his eyes and turned away. “Whatever,” he grumbled. “Do what you want. We'll be at the food court. Come and get us when you’re done.”

As they walked away, I let out a deep breath, feeling both relieved and frustrated.

How could they be so different from their wonderful parents?

I wasn’t sure I was going to understand that anytime soon.

Squaring my shoulders and forgetting all about them, I marched into the nearest store, determined to do it all on my own.

The shop attendant I met was actually very nice, and she helped me pick out clothes that were pretty but inexpensive, given that I didn’t want to make Luna Avery waste too much on me. I didn’t pick much, just jeans in blue and black, (the attendant insisted I get one in white too, which I would have refused if she hadn’t given it to me at a discount), five blouses in different colors, one coat for the cold times and one sweater. For shoes, I picked the cheapest I could find and added one pair of simple crocs, and then I picked two simple, beautiful dresses for situations where I would need to dress up and one pair of sandals to go with it.

That was it.

And then it was time to try them on.

The jeans and the blouses were a perfect fit, and every time I came out of the changing room to model them out for the attendant whose name was surprisingly Gayle too, she would whistle and catcall me in ways that had me shaking in laughter.

Soon, I only had one more dress to try on, the most beautiful one of them all.

I shimmied into the dress, and then tried to zip it up, but unfortunately it got caught in my hair.

“Gayle?” I called out, trying to get her to come help me out, but there was no response. “Gayle? I need a little help, the zipper’s gotten stuck in my hair and I can’t get it out.” A smile was on my face as I said the words. I could hear footsteps approaching, and I smiled harder, wondering what she would say when she saw me, but when the curtain flipped to the side, it wasn’t the tall, tomboyish girl I was expecting that stepped in.

“Shade! W—what are you doing here? Where is Gayle?”

Why was I nervous all of a sudden?

Did it have something to do with the fact that I was in a confined space with an attractive guy?

Most certainly.

But this attractive guy was bad news, bad news I really couldn’t deal with right now.

“Do you want my help or not?” He asked impatiently, “Gayle isn’t coming back any time soon, and I’d rather be out there than to waste my time in here with you.”

Right, right.

That was enough to snap me out of whatever daze I was in. I turned my back to him, “Please,”

I felt him close the distance between us, a little closer than I would have liked if I was being very honest. His hands were warm as they lightly lifted my blond hair out of the way, freeing the zipper, and his fingers lightly skimmed my back as he zipped me up, sending an uncontrollable shiver running down my spine at his touch.

I turned to face him, to thank him for being civil for once, but my breath caught in my throat at the warmth in his green eyes. Our eyes locked for a heated moment, and I felt him lower his guard a bit, introducing me to the person I was positive he really was, but just as quickly as the moment had come, it was gone in a split second, and the Shade I knew and loathed appeared, a sneer forming on his lips. “You know, for a rogue, you sure do clean up nice,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “But let's not forget that you're still nothing more than a lowly wolf without a pack. Don't get too comfortable thinking you're one of us now, because no matter how you try, you will never be.”

My heart sank at his words even as I watched him step out of the changing room.

I wasn’t going to lie, it hurt.

I had allowed myself to be swept away by the warmth in his eyes, and it had softened my heart just enough for him to tear at it a little further.

But never again.

I quickly changed out of the dress and walked out of the fitting room, trying to shake off the disappointment I felt.

“What happened to you?” Gunner surprisingly asked when I stepped out, but I ignored him, carrying all the stuff I had in a giant bag and walking past him and a blank-faced Shade.

I couldn’t bring myself to care anymore.

I really couldn’t afford to actually, and perhaps, Shade’s weird display in there had been exactly what I’d needed to put things into perspective.

I was starting school tomorrow, and this was nothing if not a harsh reminder that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be accepted by the people of the Pack.

Deep down, a part of me wondered if I even wanted to be.