Accepting My Twin Mates

Chapter 4 - Two V's?

Evie

My next shift in the pack kitchens would be coming up soon and, since everyone wanted to point out I smelt like fermented milk, I headed back to my room. For a second shower of the day. Was I going to tempt fate again with dinner service?

Goddess, it was going to be so cold in my room to be wet through again.

Get an electric heater then, you gigantic muffin.

Why didn't I think of that before!...

I was momentarily thrown off my step… did I just really think that? I had never called myself a gigantic muffin before in my life. A sarcastic moron that didn't know when to quit, plenty of times.

I shook my head clear. This day was just f*****g with me. That was all. It had started as a s**t-show and had thrown me off my game. And this damned pounding in my head was just exacerbating the situation.

I stopped by the storage room and rummaged around for a portable electric heater, finding no joy. I tested my waning luck with the storage room by the events hall; I knew we had some heaters somewhere. I was about to give up as the only thing I had found were those huge, fancy ones for the patio and I wasn't about to be dragging that all the way to my room; it was hardly inconspicuous. I spotted what I was looking for, one of those bladeless tower fans that doubled as a heater, perfect.

Back in my room, the temporary ‘borrowed’ heater had dramatically taken the edge off of the air and that painful pounding within my skull had eased off too. My dinner service had been smooth, I hadn't had anything dumped on me and, surprisingly, people had kept their distance from me as well. If I had thought slapping Janet with a tray would have gotten me somewhere, I would have done it months ago.

I wasn’t sure why, but my bed felt better than any other night I had slept in it. It was just as comfortable, it smelt no different, although those incredible faint scents of spices and sweet tree sap were back. There was no other discernible change and yet, this night, it had never felt so calming, so warm, as though it was its own blanket of tranquillity.

Whatever this sudden enhancement was, I was going to take full advantage of it for my lie-in tomorrow… if only this unrelenting buzzing that had started up before climbing into my bed would end.

*

*

*

I rolled over with a groan and to the threads of dim sunlight sneaking through the gap in the curtains, catching me in the eyes.

Just five more minutes.

That was the most perfect plan anyone could suggest and I instantly cocooned myself further into my blankets. I had left the heater off last night as it was a little loud while I slept, plus I didn’t want anything catching fire overnight. That was all I needed to add to my repertoire as the wolfless rogue.

Wolfless? What the exact f**k do you think I am?

The sleepy fog that had encased my mind was slapped out of me at hearing the words clearly ring out from another voice that sounded suspiciously like myself but rougher, more animalistic. I snapped my head to the side, looking all around for another body in my bed, but finding no one. The scents of my room smelled more distinct, the colours clearer, the images sharper.

Was the mysterious voice… me?

‘After a fashion, I suppose. But in wider circles it’s pronounced wolf,’ the voice continued, in a rather chillingly familiar snark that I was used to hearing directed at others.

My wolf?

…I had a wolf!

Tamlyn really was smack on the money.

‘Slow on the uptake first thing in the morning. I’ll tuck that little tidbit away,’ the voice sighed.

‘Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to show up?! I think I’m allowed some semblance of freak-out,’ I snapped back… to what felt like myself. This was trippy.

‘So… do you have a name, or do I pick one, or what?’ I was having a full-on conversation with myself, this was insanity.

'Evva feels right, spelt with two V's!'

'Ok? Why exactly?' I inquired about the random emphasis she had placed on her name.

'Why not? You can 'basic b***h' to your heart's content. Don't drag me down with you,' she snuffed, raising her metaphorical nose in the air.

…Shit, was this how I sounded to others?!

'Probably,' she shrugged. 'My voice is simply an auditory manifestation of our wolf spirit's desires and emotions.'

'You're a what now?'

'f**k me with sprinkles on, I thought you were smart?' Evva huffed with far too much attitude. 'I sound like you because we live in your brain. That's why, to you, we have words, but to others' wolves that we link with, we're a ball of various emotions.'

Two minutes with my wolf and I was already getting a Ted Talk.

‘This is all from your memories, you dense human muffin. Maybe you should have paid more attention in school and then it’d be in the forefront.’

Muffin?

‘That was you yesterday!’ I finally realised.

‘You did hear me? I wasn’t sure. It was like I was stuck beneath the water’s surface, trying to break through but never strong enough.’

‘Does this mean we’re going to shift soon?!’ That thought both terrified and excited me. To have a real wolf form had been my dream. But the shift, as I had heard described, sounded horrifically painful.

‘Not yet, not for a while… it doesn’t feel time, something is missing,’ and it was as though I could feel her staring into the distance, searching for something and not quite being able to put her paw on it.

Strange. I had heard others in the pack say once their wolf’s voice appeared, the shift followed just moments later. The symptoms experienced before our wolves manifested and emerged from their hibernation could be anywhere from a few hours, to a few days. Why wasn’t she fully ready yet? Was it because of her premature surfacing nine years ago?

Oh goddess, I could mind-link!

Following my wolf's innate instincts, I reached out in my mind to just across the hall, to Lucy. Somehow, I could feel she was awake, she was responding to a link formed.

‘I got my wolf!’ I excitedly called out, hoping she was in fact hearing me.

‘Shut your ass!’ She squealed and not a second passed before I heard a much clearer bang than I was expecting as my door was thrown open.

“Tell me everything!” She bounced onto my mattress, grasping my hands. “Are you about to shift? Do we need to get you outside?!”

“I don’t think so. She says there's something missing?" And I proceeded to tell her what my wolf had said.

"Yeah, that's definitely weird," her brows furrowed in thought. "But if your wolf is saying she needs to wait, then there has to be a reason. Has she given you her name?"

"Evva. And she was very specific that it's spelt with two V's." I already knew Lucy's wolf's name, Lobelia.

"She's just like you, isn't she?" My friend cackled, almost falling backwards.

I pushed her the last inch and she toppled, continuing to laugh that my wolf was as sarcastic as I was, with no filter. I dropped down next to her, resting my head against hers.

"Advice I wish someone would've told me: be careful about mind-linking in a room full of people. Just focus on one person till you get the hang," she turned over so she was on her stomach. "I accidentally broadcasted my thoughts once to everyone in the room… and it was awkward."

"Oh, was it smutty?" I smirked, only to regret it instantly when a painful frown shadowed her features.

"No… I just said something dumb about a guy… and he heard. I didn't mention names, but he knew it was about him," and she looked truly devastated.

"Luce?"

"It's nothing. It was just… embarrassing," she sighed, looking tired.

"How about I cover your shift at the stables this morning?" I offered, hating to see her so exhausted.

"What? No! It's your day off," she tried to argue, but I wasn't having it.

"I actually like being around the horses. And I really think you should take a day, just for yourself."

She looked like she wanted to argue, so I stood to push her back to her room and into bed, "nope, not hearing it. I'll ask if someone can bring you some breakfast too? Live like a queen."

She finally relented, kicking off her pants to snuggle up in bed. I quickly brushed up, changed and headed out to swipe some breakfast for Lucy.

'There’s something she’s hiding, I could feel it within her wolf when she mentioned about mind-linking. She let me in, but she was guarded,' Evva said as I walked to the kitchens.

Like how our human sides could mind-link, our wolves could link with each other too. But they didn't share words, they shared emotions and body language, when in wolf form, as wild wolves did.

What could Lucy not be telling me? If she was keeping it to herself, then it was something deeply personal. Maybe she really mind-linked the wrong person and it blew up terribly?

‘Maybe, but I think it’s worse than that,’ my wolf uttered. And as serious as she was trying to be right now, I still couldn’t keep the spring out of my step at having another voice in my mind, one that I had been waiting on for years.

In the kitchen, when I asked if someone could take some breakfast for Lucy, I was pleasantly surprised to not have to beg, fail and end up taking it to her myself. The others working all seemed to straighten unconsciously in my presence, as though I had some natural authority. Was this all because of yesterday? Or did Evva’s arrival have something to do with this as well?

‘A little of column A, a little of column B,’ she snickered to herself.

I snatched up an apple and, this time appropriately dressed with a jacket, I made my way to the stables to see my favourite boy in the whole world. The crisp mountainous air wafted down around the forest below as I quickened my pace. As soon as he spotted me, he whinnied from his stable. I scratched his soft nose affectionately, pressing my head to his and fussed him as much as possible. He started to nudge and nibble at my pocket, knowing what lay within the fabric.

I chuckled, “no sneaking an apple past you, ay Heru?”

I handed over the fruit before I acquired a hole in my coat, offering it out on the flat of my hand. Heru was a large golden Akhal-Teke stallion. With most, he was spirited and unruly, but that was because the others tried to control him, instead of simply leaving him be to come to them. His name was beautiful; Egyptian, meaning ‘sun god’. An apt name, because in the sunshine, his coat was a dazzling pale gold. He was also Astennu’s horse, who was incidentally the only other person he behaved for. I was about to grab his blanket and halter when the Luna appeared, removing her riding gloves, obviously having just returned.

“Oh, Evie?” She looked at me confused. “I didn’t think you were here today.”

“Lucy’s having an off day,” I covered. “Plus I haven’t been down here in a few days,” I continued rubbing Heru’s muzzle.

“Your scent,” Luna Qamar’s steps halted just as she passed me. “It smells a little stronger?”

‘I think I got my wolf,’ I mind-linked, unable to keep the tiny smile from my lips.

‘Think? Like I'm some drunk hallucination?’ Evva indignantly huffed.

‘If you were, you wouldn't be this loud!’

“You've shifted?” The Luna’s eyes actually lit up. She was happy about this?

“No, she's just up here for now,” I tapped my head.

“Oh, pity,” she sighed. “After all we spent on your training. I would hate for it to be wasted.”

I silently huffed. Thank you for the reminder, that even though I had my wolf, I was still useless in her eyes. Why did I want this woman's approval so much? This was ridiculous! I noticed Luna Qamar's narrowed eyes in annoyance, aimed directly at me.

‘s**t. Did I mind-link any of that out loud?’ I panicked.

‘No… your huff wasn’t as silent as you thought… and I may have growled a little,’ Evva admitted sheepishly.

‘Why would you do that to the Luna?!’

‘I'm essentially you. Is it surprising I'm also a sarcastic b***h, that doesn't know when to stay quiet and has a problem with authority?’

“I'm sorry, Luna. My wolf is still learning things,” I tried to placate.

“See it doesn't happen again,” she glared, striding past me.

‘Yeah, that woman can bite my furry britches if she thinks I'm about to kowtow,’ Evva defiantly grouched. Goddess, my wolf was me on personality steroids.

“Maybe you should take him out,” the Luna stopped at the stable doors and nodded towards Heru. “He must be missing his baba (dad).”

At the mention of a morning ride, Heru started rearing his head, neighing. I had only planned on putting him out in the field. But a trek out across the mountain base trail sounded a treat too good to pass up on, and I had the Luna’s express permission. Quickly putting Heru out and serving his breakfast, I mucked out his stable and gave him time to digest. Once I tacked him up, we set out.

‘Maybe we can ride baba sometime,’ Evva sniggered.

I almost fell off the damned horse, not expecting such a shameless remark.

'I live in your head. Don't pretend you haven't thought about it, curled up in your sheets. I know what's in that bedside table,' she continued.

'That's private!' It wasn't often something made me blush.

'Not from me it isn't,' she snuffled. 'And now that Adrian guy you used to hook up with is off the market, we gotta ride something. Those twins have beautiful faces, but they have been jerks. Hmmm, hormones or common sense…' she hummed like there was any actual decision to be made here.

This was insane! I thought my wolf was meant to be all about our mate?