Accepting My Twin Mates

Chapter 105

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 105

CHAPTER 102 – A MATCHING COUPLE?

Astennu

Another sparkling couple sauntered through the carved black double doors of the unostentatious establishment, the man flashing his gold ring to gain entrance for him and his partner. The building blended in with the other gothic-styled architecture of the area. The only marker that highlighted it was our target were the heavy security on the door and the bands that the patrons flashed.

All I could tell of the ring from this distance through my binoculars was that it was made of yellow gold and topped with a flat design, similar to that of a sovereign ring. The only way through those doors, and past those bouncers armed with silver, would be those rings. Meaning, we would have to, somehow, steal a pair from patrons leaving. And patrons only seemed to be entering, very few were leaving.

Entrance through the front was looking less and less possible, but what caught my eye had been at the side of the building and down a secluded, unassuming alleyway. I had spotted a couple of people, staff in their formal uniforms, exiting a plain door to smoke their cigarettes. They were most likely human, as few wolves smoked; the scent and taste were too overbearing for our heightened senses. So far, it was our most promising option.

“You better get dressed,” Badru plucked the binoculars from my hands, splitting me out of my concentration. “We can’t get in the place by staring.”

“Nice suit,” I poked his side to deliberately annoy him, since he had decided to sneak up on me. We were alone in our penthouse hotel living room for the time being. I would never have teased him for his ticklishness in front of anyone.

He flinched back, scowling, straightening the lapels of his jacket and fiddling with his tie pin. “Yeah, Catalina picked out well.”

“Careful. You don’t want her overhearing you singing her praise.”

After checking in and letting her father know we had made it to Toulouse, France in good time, she had left to scope out the front, acting as a tourist. After, she had paid a visit to some local clothing boutique so we’d fit in on our infiltration. For my brother, she selected a deep blue suit and some kind of fancy tie pin that neither of us had ever bothered with before.

“Shower is all free, mon amour,” the damned wolf male, Adrian, leisurely strolled in through the large gothic archway, fixing the gold cufflinks of his black suit.

I pierced him with a withering look that could set the high wood-carved panel walls surrounding us on fire, a growl rumbling away and rising up my throat. Of all the plans Catalina could come up with, it was this, saddling me with this hemar (ass). But the more I had seen of the parties arriving at the club across from us, the more her plan was proving to be the best play, much to my silent annoyance.

“What?” Adrian smirked, tilting his head to the side. “Don’t scowl at me like that. I’m just getting into the role of your loving mate.”

‘Keep it up and you’ll be head down in the Garonne river outside!’ I knew my eyes were flickering black with irritation.

“Down boys,” Catalina’s heels clicked on the marble inlay floor and her dark red velvet dress that left little to the imagination swished behind her. “Just you to get ready now, Astennu.”

She handed me a large square bag and began hooking in her earrings once her hands were free.

“Aren’t we supposed to be blending in?” Badru raised a brow at her. “How is anything you have on low- key?”

“The hell is that supposed to mean, pendejo?” Catalina’s head bobbed with her sass, her hands fisted on her hips. “Why don’t you keep your opinions to yourself, sabelotodo (smartass).”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, “can we save this for another time?”

“Yes, like in the fight ring we’re breaking into,” Adrian snagged one of the grapes that came in the complimentary fruit basket of our large suite. “I can make some money then.”

“You’re not helping, asshole!” I imagined popping the ahbil’s head off like the fruit he was casually flicking into his mouth.

“Goddess, I swear, this is the dumbest rescue team in existence,” Catalina closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, her red lips pursing in a tight line.

“Feel free to leave,” my twin muttered under his breath, gazing out of the tall window in the direction of our target. “We can up our game after that.”

But of course, she heard and came back swinging, taking off the earrings she had only just put on. “Do you wanna take this outside?”

Badru spun to me, with a pleading look. “Can we swap?”

“Gladly,” I glared in my partner-for-the-night’s direction.

“Like I’d let you trade me in, my little sugar ball,” Adrian smirked and I caught how my brother tried to hide his snicker, forgetting all about the she-wolf ready to duel him in the streets.

“I really want to punch you right now.”

‘You can start with knocking his teeth out,’ Aasim grumbled, focusing on our end goal to keep himself in check.

“Maybe in private, snookums,” the damned wolf reached out to pinch my cheek, but I slapped his hand away before it could make contact.

‘Just remember, we’re doing this for Evie and our little boy,’ my brother mind-linked me in solidarity.

‘If Evie were here she’d probably find this hilarious.’

The corner of his mouth twitched. ‘She’d be passing popcorn between Lucy and Tamlyn.’

“Have you boys finished playing?” Catalina flapped her arms at her side in exasperation. “Aste, get the f**k showered and changed. Honestly, the balls-to-brains ratio in this room is getting ridiculous.”

“Fine, I’m going.”

And just when I was on the threshold to leave, to enter the shared bathroom via one of the bedrooms, Adrian had to open that mouth of his.

“Remember to dress up nice and pretty for me, diddums.”

My body moved forward on its own accord, my wolf’s jaw twitching and mirroring my own.

“Kill him later,” Catalina caught my shoulders and tried to spin me back to the bedroom door as I glared at the wolf male over her head. “Get dressed now.”

I whirled around and stormed off before I flung Adrian out of the window, slamming the door shut to the bedroom filled with a mix of modern and classic furnishings. Since checking in, I hadn’t taken in anything about the penthouse suite, too focused on our real goal across the way and watching for a way inside.

I left the bag on the bed and stripped, stepping into the modern blue-tiled shower with gold and blue marble. Of all the colours it could be, it was those that reminded me of Evie, of her eyes that changed colour with her mood and always kept me guessing and her hair that I could lose myself in. Ever since we had left the States, my bond with her had eased in its gnawing pain, the twist in my heart had dulled. The bond with my pup now shimmered through me stronger, too. Evie would soon be back where she belonged, with mine and my brother’s hands wrapped around her stomach, protecting her and our pup, and breathing in her scent of vanilla mixed with our pup’s scent of herbs.

My left shoulder stung as the water and soap hit the barely healed injury. The red line stood out against my deep tan skin, the edges of the wound puckering where the silver of Finley’s knife had burned through and severed the nerves responsible for accelerated healing. Even a gentle pass over of a sponge opened up a small part of the wound, a small trickle of blood from it mixing with the water. I had never received an injury that couldn’t heal before. Like my brother, I hadn’t a mark on my skin to show I had been in a fight.

‘You know our moron will want one now,’ Aasim mused, a pang of worry lancing us both. ‘He can’t be left without something we have.’

‘Then we’ll have to make sure he doesn’t put himself in danger to get it.’

Because he would, without a second thought if it meant protecting others, especially Evie, our pup and me. Act first, think second was his usual credo. But in these last few days, he had been my rock, keeping control where I had completely lost myself and he had been the one to pull me back.

Neither of us were the men we used to be. The last two months, hell, even the last two days, had left a lasting marked change. It was a change we needed. A change not only for our mate, but for our pack because we were now its leaders and our pack had a lot of sins to atone for with us guiding the way.

Shaking myself free of the water I was drenched in, I dried myself from top to toe as best as possible and took out what Catalina had handed over in the bag.

I was regretting letting her loose.

‘Cata, what did you buy?!’ I held up the black velvet jacket with gaudy gold buttons and trim. Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.

‘Just put it all on. The turtleneck will hide your lack of a mark.’

I huffed a grumble, slipping into the too-short slacks, the black turtleneck and the black loafers featuring matching gaudy gold buckles. Just as I was about to swing the unappealing velvet blazer up my arms, the she-wolf decided to mind-link me with more instructions.

‘Remember to shave and slick your back in a ponytail. We need to keep you as opposite to your clone as possible.’

A groaning sigh flared from me in irritation, but I knew it was pointless in arguing with Catalina. I did as she suggested, shaving off the heavy stubble that had grown. My brother was the one who preferred stubble and a beard. For me, the fuzz began to itch after a while.

I took in my appearance in the mirror once my hair was pulled back and let the absurd disguise sink in.

‘Goddess, even I want to slap us,’ my wolf grimaced. ‘We look like we’re about to regurgitate some bullshit on modern art to sound obscure and deep.’

‘If it means getting our mate and son back, I’ll walk the streets in drag in Catalina’s dress.’

He snorted an echoing burst of huffling laughter. ‘Now that I would pay to see. With the heels too?’

‘Shut up, wolf,’ a small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

Before I left, I threw the few belongings I had into my small duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder. With any luck, we wouldn’t be coming back and would need a swift exit. So everything we brought into the suite had to leave with us when we walked out of the door.

I dropped the bag by the others in the living room, the loud thud turning everyone’s attention to me. My brother did a double take, as though I was an alien wearing a skin, the pair of binoculars he had been using to spy dropped to his side.

“Aww, Catalina,” Adrian cooed like an infant, clutching his chest. “You dressed us to match.”

My gaze flew down, sweeping over my gold and black clothes and over to his coordinating suit. An unholy half-smirk split the side of the she-wolf’s face and I considered, there and then, how much I valued my friendship with Thiago and how it would be affected if I launched his sister with such force out of the window, she would clang of off the Eiffel Tower.

“That’s the point,” she swivelled her finger, indicating she wanted me to spin in a circle. My deep growl told her where that finger would be shoved if she didn’t stop.

‘You really look like a douchey couple,’ Badru gave me the most fake commiserating expression, biting his inner lips to keep them from pulling back into a grin.

‘Thanks, I’m aware.’

“Just one last thing,” Catalina reached into her clutch bag, pulling out and unfolding the item to shove onto my face. A pair of black square-rimmed glasses with fake lenses. “There. If it worked for Clark Kent, it’ll work for you.”

“Now,” she plucked the binoculars out of my twin’s hand and crouched to shove them away in one of the bags, heaving it to her shoulder with ease. “If you boys can start playing nice, let’s go get your mate back.”

She hid it well, but the way her foot bounced and her fist clenched and released gave her away. She was agitated. This whole time, she had been cool and unflappable. So what had gotten under her skin?