The Legend Of The Alpha Twins

Chapter 5

Harmony

"Good morning Harmony, you look lovely today." Cody teased playfully, watching me shuffle in wearing yesterday's wrinkled scrubs with my flaming red hair in a sloppy bun and an energy drink in hand.

I normally wasn't so unprofessional looking, but last night I received several emergency calls that kept me up most of the night. Anyway, it didn't matter because it was my business. I could do what I wanted, show up looking however I wanted to. Not that I made a habit of looking like that. Thankfully, tonight Cody was on call, and I could sleep soundly again.

"Long night?"

"You have no idea." I huffed, pulling on my lab coat. "First, I got a call that the female Cerberus we had been watching finally went into labor. She had eight pups. So many heads to check." I shook my head as I turned on my laptop. "Then I got another call that a Griffin got hit by a semi. He was fine, just a sprained ankle. I can't say the same for the semi. Then I had to put down a dog, Sampson, which ruined me. And to wrap things off, I got a call from a Minotaur who had a piece of metal embedded in his hoof and needed help. It took me almost two hours to get out and clean properly, he just wouldn't hold still!" I grumbled, flopping down in my chair exasperatedly.

"So I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that we are overbooked today?"

I groaned in response and Cody laughed. "I'm just teasing, we actually have part of the afternoon open, you might be able to leave-"

"Don't finish that, you'll jinx it." I warned, pointing a finger at him.

"Alright," he laughed. "I gotta go see my first patient, I'll catch you in the hall." He winked and left, laptop in hand.

I started looking through my schedule for the day. Half the animals were normal, the other half...not so much. I went to a human school years ago to become a veterinarian and, since then, have expanded into 'mythical' creatures as well. My office was open to everything; fur, fins, feathers, you name it, if it looked like an animal and had a heartbeat, I took care of it. I was the only all-inclusive vet in the entire....well world. At least that I knew of. Most would serve one or the other, but not both. I took them all. Some called me stupid, but it made my life that much easier. I lived in the country, not far off from humans or werewolves, like myself, somewhere in the middle. My business was visited by humans and supernatural beings, and it was far easier to help the humans instead of explaining to them why my office, which was absolutely enormous and meant to help animals, couldn't see their jack terrier.

Plus, I didn't want any creature to suffer, so I took them all, anytime, any day. Cody joined my practice several years back, before we rebuilt to make more space for some of my larger clients. Since then, I have hired four more vets, and we have been running smoothly for a while now. It was everything I had ever dreamed of. Though part of me still felt...empty.

"You need mate." My wolf, Hadley, said.

She wasn't wrong. I am twenty-eight now. This last year really had me wondering if I should just bite the bullet and finally take Cody up on his offer to grab drinks. He wasn't my mate, but we were good friends. He was a nice guy, not bad to look at either, but he wasn't my mate, and that soured the deal for me. Ten years have passed since I shifted, ten long years I stayed single, partially because I was too focused on school and building my business to care about a mate, and the other part because I only wanted my mate.

"I will consider it." I said, getting up and getting ready to see my first patient. A cat named Lucas was waiting for me to get him neutered in just a few minutes. Lucky him.

I grabbed my things and went to the lobby to grab him when the TV caught my attention. Everyone was watching it intently, the news that is. There was a familiar looking building in flames with firefighters, police, and EMT's arriving at the scene.

"....four people were found dead inside, but not from the fire. It was just confirmed that the victims were killed with a gun before the club was burned down. Police believe it was an act of gang violence and urge anyone with any information to call..."

I could feel my pulse in my ears and quickly ran back to my desk, picking up my phone. She didn't deserve my concern. I shouldn't be so anxious. I set my phone back down. But then years worth of incidents flooded through my head. So I did it. I texted her.

Are you okay? Are you safe?

Send.

I saw four patients before my phone dinged. I looked at my messages and saw a black heart emoji in response and my nerves eased up. It took her long enough. Though it was only one in the afternoon, why would I think she would be up right now? She only worked at night.

As stupid as it was, I was able to relax the rest of the day. Just that one stupid little emoji gave my mind the ability to think straight again. I hated that her well-being had so much weight on me. I wish it didn't. She didn't deserve it.

- - - - - - - -

"You are staring at me again, is there something on my face?" Cody asked with a chuckle as he finished up his notes.

I somehow made it through the day without crashing, though my lingering thoughts about Cody probably helped. I had been working up the nerve all day to ask him out for dinner later. Hadley was right, it was time to move forward.

"No." I shook my head, my courage wavering.

"The last patient is gone and everything is closed, minus the doors." Erica, our receptionist said, keys and purse in hand. "Do you need me to stay and lock up?"

"No, go, get out of here, its getting late. I'll lock up."

"Thanks, have a good night." Erica smiled, leaving through the front door.

"Four-thirty is not late," Cody laughed.

"It is when you are running on fumes and get up at the crack of dawn to get to work." I laughed.

"Why don't you leave now?" He asked. "Finish your notes tomorrow."

"No." I shook my head. "Because tomorrow becomes tomorrow becomes tomorrow. Plus, I'm almost done." I smiled.

"Me too."

"Do I dare to ask if you would want to join me for drinks later?" Cody asked just a bit too carefully.

"I...I think I would like that." I smiled.

His brown eyes looked at me with stunned silence. It took him a minute to recover before he spoke again.

"Really?"

"Yeah...I think it will be fun." I half smiled.

"Well, hurry up and finish your notes, so I can take you out." Cody said, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Alright, hang on." I laughed, finishing up the last of my work and then shutting down my computer.

Cody took me to a restaurant that was far too fancy for my scrubs and yesterday's mascara. It had dim lighting, waiters wearing pristine white gloves, and at least a dozen crystal chandlers scattered throughout the place. I told him I would be happy with a cheap burger from this shack of a place down the road, but he insisted. And we had a really great time. Like a really, really great time. I ordered a very overpriced piece of chicken and Cody the steak. We quietly picked on the portion sizes, but had nothing negative to say about the flavor and texture of our foods.

Cody and I talked and laughed for quite a while, it was nice, comfortable even. Perhaps Hadley was right, choosing a mate wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I didn't say to choose a mate, I said you need mate." She corrected.

"Is Cody not good enough for you?"

"He is not our mate."

"It's been ten years, when do we start seeking out other options?" I pressed.

She stopped talking, and I continued my date with Cody. He had to take a few calls while we were at dinner from our answering service. A few concerned pet owners, but nothing serious. Nothing that pulled him away from our dinner. Or our walk through town shortly after. A walk that included hand holding.

"This is going very well...don't you think?" Cody asked, a small smile pulling at his lips. "Or am I just crazy?"

"You are not crazy," I said, wrapping my free hand around his arm and leaning in. "This is really nice."

"Nice enough to merit another date perhaps?" He, not so subtly, asked.

"I think I would like that very much." I nodded, just before a yawn overcame me. "Sorry." I said, covering my mouth.

"Why don't I take you back now, before it gets dark outside?"

"Okay." I yawned again.

"Do you think we could continue this tomorrow night perhaps?"

"I would like that."

Cody drove us back to the clinic in a comfortable silence. I replayed our date in my head again and again and again, thinking of every cute thing he said and the way he held my hand. I don't think tonight could have gone any better.

"Here we are." Cody said a few minutes later, putting the car in park.

"Shoot, I think I left my keys inside." I said, rummaging through my purse.

"I'll let you in."

We went inside, flicking on a few lights and checking on our overnight patients. When everyone was all tucked in again, I searched for my keys, finding them on my desk next to my laptop. I could feel Cody staring at me from behind. When I turned, I could see his slightly heated gaze. I felt flushed as he stalked closer to me, his hands gently taking mine right before he planted a soft kiss on my lips. It felt nice, very nice.

"I have been wanting to do that all night," he whispered.

I blushed, like a crimson red kind of blush, and was about to say something when I heard the bell from the front door ring and voices, two of them bickering. Our faces both dropped. Of course, someone would show up now. Hopefully it wasn't anything important.

"I'll go get rid of them." Cody said, reluctantly pulling away from me and heading to the front reception.

I packed my things, figuring if they did need something it would be Cody who would deal with them anyway. He was on call tonight. I could hear some muffled talking but paid no attention, that is until Cody came back looking like a ghost.

"Harmony?" Cody asked as he made his way back to me. "Do you have a minute? There are two guys in suits asking for information."

"Men in suites?" I asked, my feet already moving towards the front, dread settling in my gut.

"They said they needed to talk to whoever knew the most about supernatural creatures, and obviously that's you." He smiled. "They seem powerful, really strong auras, must be alphas." He added.

"Oh...okay." I frowned. I wonder what they wanted.

I turned the corner and saw two very tall men standing at opposite ends of the waiting room. One was starting out the window, the other staring at the fish tank we had in the corner. I swallowed hard and took a few steps before speaking.

"H-hello, can I help you?"

They both turned at the same time and my breath hitched. My senses were overwhelmed as I took them in, and they me. They looked nearly identical, minus the hairstyles. Their scents practically wafting in my face. Sandalwood? Cedarwood? Some sort of woodsy smells, they were comforting and...mine.

"Mate." I breathed out, unable to stop the words as I stared at both men, both of whom looked like predators ready to pounce.

"Mate."

"Mate."

They echoed, an equally shocked look on both of their faces.

"Well. This just got uncomfortable." Cody said nervously from behind me. I didn't pay him any attention, nor did the two men. "I'm gonna go, and consider our plans canceled." He laughed awkwardly, scooting out of there in half a second. The three of us stood in a stand-off, listening intently to Cody grab his things and practically run out of there. "I'll just lock this...for...uh...privacy." He mumbled to himself, fumbling with his keys. When the door was shut and his car had successfully screeched out of the parking lot, they began to approach me.

And it was then that I realized that things were about to get very complicated in my life.