"Are you sure we are allowed here?" Ace's question was muffled from his face pressed against the car window. We had entered Black Hearts territory a few minutes ago, and he has been entranced ever since.
Weston patted him on the back from the backseat. "I was here last night getting wasted, so I think we are good," Weston laughed as we pulled up to Uncle Zach's house. I had texted Lilith to get Xander over there for our arrival. She's great because she doesn't ask questions, she just does.
Xander was sitting outside on the porch with Lilith. He was tapping his foot as if he was annoyed to be there. As soon as I stepped out of the car, that mood switch almost instantly as he rushed towards me.
"What's wrong? Why are you here?" Xander started, but Ace interrupted by getting out of the car. "Mate," Xander whispered before pushing passed me to examine Ace. I guess I was right about something.
Ace stood there in shock, his gaze switching between Xander and me. Xander wasted no time sticking out his hand to introduce himself once he got control of himself. I was surprised he didn't tackle the poor omega. "I'm Xander!" He chirped, smiling brighter than I've ever seen before.
Ace hesitantly shook his hand, and by the way both their eyes lit up, it was clear there were sparks. "Ace. And wow you look identical to Blaze..."
Xander scoffed a bit, rolling his eyes. "I mean we are twins. But I personally believe I'm a little bit more attractive," he commented sarcastically, which had Ace laughing instantly. Perfect match.
"I was born into this pack. There was a rogue attack that left me misplaced, leading me to our pack. This is my brother, the soon-to-be Alpha of Black Hearts," I expanded, filling in some of the blanks.
Ace made an "o" shape with his mouth before turning his attention back to my brother. "Let's talk in private," Xander suggested, but he didn't wait for an answer before tugging Ace away.
"Love is magical!" Weston shouted, clapping vigorously and wiping away a fake tear.
I scratched my arm a bit before sitting next to Lilith on the porch. She looked at my scratched arms knowingly, but didn't say anything.
Lilith and I were left to our own device as Weston went off to find Oliver. Xander and Ace talked for like two hours as Lilith and I just watched TV. Eventually we looked out the window to find them making out on the porch, so I'm going to assume everything went well.
"Want to get ice cream?" Lilith finally chirped, bringing me back to reality.
"Actually, yeah. I'm craving mint chocolate chip," I admitted, trying not to stare at the new couple sucking each other's face off.
Lilith hopped off the couch and grabbed her coat. She banging on the window, startling the boys. "We are getting ice cream, so stop being horny!" Xander glared, but Ace blushed feverishly. Lilith walked out of the house with me following.
"You're just jealous you might not have a mate," Xander snickered while sheltering Ace in his arms. It was a weird sight to see Ace so willingly being submissive. He was usually so feisty and would never be caught dead in that position.
Lilith rolled her eyes at him, but I could see that Xander's words stung. Witches don't have mates, and there was no way of knowing if her werewolf side will allow her to have one.
"Two cars," I said, holding up two fingers to emphasize the point. "I should get Ace home after this. And Luna will freak if I miss dinner." Xander nodded, digging his keys out of his pocket.
Ace stopped in his tracks to grab my shoulder gently. I know Xander didn't like the gesture, but he didn't say anything. "What about Weston? Where did he go?"
"Weston is mates with my Beta!" Xander answered for me, obviously getting a little jealous. Though, Ace turned to me to confirm this. I was surprised this didn't come up in their 2 hour conversation.
"Yeah he is. Weston also left his car here last night, so he has to drive that home. He's fine, don't worry," I reassured the boy. "It must be yours and Weston's Delta blood that's pairing you with all these Betas and Alphas," I joked, reaching my car. Lilith jumped into mine, instantly turning on the heat. She gets cold more easily because she's part witch.
Ace didn't say anything as Xander tugged him to his car. I didn't think that my brother would get jealous over me, but I guess Ace and I were good friends before they met. He could be jealous that I know him better.
The car ride with Lilith was comfortably silent, the only sound being me occasionally scratching my arms. Lilith didn't bring it up.
At the ice cream parlor, I was quick to order a mint shake. Xander ordered the same thing, but Lilith got a strawberry one and Ace got a chocolate ice cream cone. We sat inside to eat, and it was a little awkward as Ace tried to wrap his head around everything. Ace was currently trapped in my brothers arm, looking like a small puppy.
Ace pointed to Lilith, "So you are their dad's brother's daughter?"
"Just say cousin, bro," she laughed, sipping her shake while leaning against me slightly. She wasn't a very social person like me, but when engaged in conversation she always had something snarky to say. I've also grown accustomed to how touchy she can be, specifically with family. Her and Xander are constantly pushing each other around. With me, sometimes she just leans on me, just to keep her in my thoughts.
Ace looked between Xander and I. "And you two are identical, which I know. But how come no one else can tell? Like at the hockey game I couldn't tell at all!"
"Ace, us being Alpha twins is very dangerous. People have tried to kill us before. So our bond tries to protect us by manipulating what people think they see. But it only works when we are together," I explained, trying not to sound impatient because it's a lot to take in.
Xander hummed in agreement with what II said. "Yeah, so you are mates with our wolf so you can tell the difference between us," Xander continued, squeezing his mates hand.
Ace just looked more confused as his face distorted. "So I'm mates to your wolf, but I'm not mated to Blaze, just Xander. So you don't feel anything Blaze?" This question made Xander tense and tighten his grip around Ace.
I shook my head quickly to ease the tension. "I'll admit I've felt the bond. Ever since your birthday I've felt the need to protect you. Today I didn't feel anything different," I shrugged, trying to calm my brother. I felt his jealousy course through me, but decided to ignore it.
Ace continued to ask us questions until we finished our ice cream and it was time to leave. As we walked to our cars, Xander was a little reluctant to let Ace go. I watched painfully, thinking about how I wish life would've worked out for me to have that.
The only thing that pulled Ace away from Xander was Lilith talking about possibly doing a Secret Santa for Luna's Day, which was now only two weeks away. Ace voluntarily hopped in my car while trying to convince me to participate. I felt Xander's sadness as we drove off.
Only a few minutes into the drive Ace was scratching his arms. He didn't seem to take notice of the action, but I couldn't not notice.
"I have something for that," I interrupted him, glancing at his arms.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just a little itchy," Ace brushed off, obviously not understanding what it meant.
I looked over to him again before responding. "Strong bonds can cause itching when you aren't with the other person in the early days. Xander and I were close to death after three days," I explained, watching his face pale. "You're going to have to see him tomorrow probably. Our wolf is strong, so it forms strong bonds."
Ace stared embarrassingly at his red arms, then glanced to mine that showed several red marks. "Oh, I didn't realize. So you have cream or something?" He tried resisting the scratching, scrunching up his face in discomfort.
"Yeah it's like a balm our aunt gave us. I have two, so I'll give you one," I offered, feeling the need to protect him again. It was a very overwhelming feeling with my wolf pushing through
There was another long silence as I focused on the road. We were only a few minutes away from the pack now.
"Is this the reason you became friends with me? The pull?" Ace suddenly spoke, looking out the window. His voice cracked a bit, which wasn't a good sign.
I sighed, not really sure on how to tip toe around the answer. "I wasn't going to tell this to Xander, but I thought you were my mate for a while. I had a huge crush on you," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. It was a weird confession, but it felt okay to tell him for some reason. My wolf felt comfortable around him.
"Really?" Ace's eyes glowed with hopefulness. "I've had the biggest crush on you for months! I was a little disappointed you weren't my mate..." he trailed off, cheeks turning red. He was always so confident in himself, it was so funny.
"Well, you got the next best thing." This made Ace giggle as we pulled up to my house. "You can come in, and I'll grab the balm for you." Ace hesitated but followed me inside anyway.
I smelled Lyle instantly, making me frown. I wonder if Ace could sense that Lyle was my mate. We walked into the living room to see Alex and Lyle watching some football game like they did every Sunday.
I could sense Ace grow uneasy, so I grasped his arm and tugged him passed the boys. Lyle was burning holes into us with his stares, but Alex was too engulfed in the game to even notice us. We walked up the stairs, straight to my room.
My greatest nightmare happened. "Lyle smelled... different," Ace observed as he waited for me to find the balm.
"I'll tell you about it when I'm ready," I stated, looking him directly in the eyes. Ace seemed satisfied with that answer because he simply smiled and nodded.
I pulled out the balm and placed it in his hands. "I'll drive you home now. Just use it as needed and make sure to see him tomorrow." I grabbed his hand and lead him down the stairs.
He changed the conversation back to convincing me to do the damn gift exchange. He was very passionate about me participating. "I really don't care for it to be honest," I admitted.
"I can't believe you don't want to do secret Santa!" He whined as we walked down. "This is why you aren't my mate," he laughed, gripping my hand tighter as we neared the living room.
I rolled my eyes at him, still tugging him along. "Pfft, I'm the definition of your type. You would've been happy if I was your mate. You already admitted that." Ace continued to giggle, not denying my words he knew were true from the conversation we had in the car.
As we walked passed the two boys, there was a loud crunching sound. Everyone turned to Lyle who was holding a broken remote in his right hand. He had obviously been listening to the conversation.
"Oh Blaze! I didn't even see you come in!" Alex suddenly said, which only made Lyle growl lowly. Alex was too entranced by my presence to realize, but Ace put all the pieces together almost instantly. In this moment, I actually wished Alex was my mate instead.
"Yeah, I just needed something from my room. I'm about to drop Ace back home. But Alex, I need to talk to you later if you're around," I twisted the conversation, trying to ignore the piercing gaze of Lyle.
Alex sat up straight, now even more fascinated with the conversation. "Oh, yeah, I'll be here for another hour." His eyes looked wide and hopeful. I felt a little guilty for the fact he had this unrealistic crush on me.
"Great," I said quickly, pulling Ace out of the house.
Ace released a loud breath as soon as we were far enough from the house. "Wow. The ten-sion! That was so intense! You've got your mate who's your adoptive brother who is best friends with a guy who is completely head over heals for you! Your life is literally a movie!" Ace gushed once we were in the privacy of my car. I wasn't positive how he knew Alex was practically in love with me, but I had feeling Xander probably mentioned it.
I let out a shaky laugh, raking through my hair with my fingers. "Yeah, I've never had this much going on in years. I mean Lyle is probably rejecting me, and I'm switching packs... so all of this should be over with soon." It felt good for someone to finally know the whole story. And I was even happier that this someone was Ace. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him that he would be important in my life.
Ace gasped, his hand covering his mouth. "You really think he's going to reject you?" Ace was astonished by my comment, but I wasn't sure why. I just shrugged as I drove him down the street to his own house. Ace was hesitant to leave the car, but once he finally got out, he spoke before closing the door shut. "Everything will work out how it's supposed to," he whispered before scurrying inside his own house.