Edit/Re-Written: June 12, 2022
A Knight W/ Shining Eyes: Chapter Twenty; Relationships Are Different
This is late. Obviously. So I decided to do this in Lev then Luke's POV, kill me :,(
Warnings: none
LEVS POV____
There is pure nervousness coursing through me as we head back to our pack that afternoon. Princess, or Ian, needed to go back to his own back, but there is still doubt coursing through me. He had vocally rejected both me and my brother as his mates back at the restaurant before entering the Forest of Morn. Now there's no way of telling whether he would give us an opportunity, or simply reject his Omega and flee.
There was no telling if he would even give us a chance.
"Lev," My attention jitters and I snap out of my trance, looking down to where Luke has grabbed my hand. His fingers tighten around mine, rough and calloused just like mine. I stop in my tracks, the tiny, dry twigs of the forest crunching beneath my sandals. Looking up his form, I stop when our eyes meet, grey identical eyes staring into mine.
Having a twin has its perks. Having them means that there's always someone there to understand me without even trying and without doubting their own feelings in the process. Luke can read me with a simple glance, and make me vulnerable just as fast because he knows both my weaknesses and my strengths. Those were just some of the reasons why I love my brother. But I think the main reason is because I never have to be interrogated by him so he could understand what or how I feel. There weren't any games being held to know whether or not I'm lying or being truthful about my emotions.
He just knows.
Giving me a half smile and showing off a dimple in his right cheek he motions his head to the side, "Want to go to our hideout?"
A dejected sigh escapes me as I tighten my hold on his hand. "We can't. We have to help father with today's Pack responsibilities."
At that Luke sighs back at me, puffing his cheeks out as he pouts up at me - and I'm sure that if we weren't this close to our Pack, that he would be stomping his feet like a child. Tugging at my hand, he intensifies his pout and pleads, "Don't worry. Father has handled the Pack on his own for thirty years, he can handle it for a day. And besides, we'll be back before nightfall."
Falling into his trap, I'm convinced, and he knows it. With a grin he drops my hand, "Race ya?"
And damn him for knowing that I love challenges. We both quickly shift into our wolves, both of us being a mixture of white and grey, before bolting into the forest that is still considered our land. Even when we had only moved here a couple of months ago, nearing a year, we heavily considered it our home and we built something in order for it to feel like our old pack grounds. Before we moved here, we lived in a forest that had no name. It was a dense forest, but the grounds were covered with curious people, so we climbed up and lived on the tips of the trees. It boosted our agility and to make this forest feel like that, me and Luke built our own treehouse.
I reach it first, hitting my snout against the bark of the tree. Luke comes to a stop behind me.
[Lev] I win, loser. I booped the damn tree.
I can almost feel his eyes roll as he huffs.
[Luke] Glad to see you feeling better.
We shift back into our human forms and walk around the tree, heading to the part of the trunk where carved steps are placed to help us on our way up. Using them, I climb first, my brother just behind. We aren't really worried about anyone finding our treehouse, it isn't exactly a secret to begin with. Our treehouse helped us relax; we played games here, or listened to music, or simply watched through its large openings how beautiful nature really is.
Once I've managed to crawl inside I quickly head to the platform bed that rests in the corner of the small house. With a groan, I fall down onto the bed and shiver when my brother lays down behind me - his arms wrapping around my torso. We have the same build, both of us being very physically active during our highschool years. Even now when we might not have time with our jobs, we try to go to the Pack gym on a set schedule.
The only difference between us are our jobs and our hair. While Luke let his hair grow out, I decided to shave mine from the sides, only letting a bundle grow on the top of my head. As far as jobs go, Luke currently works as a Vice-Principal, leaving early in the morning and coming back around four in the afternoon with the worst parent cases one could imagine. I am still studying to become a physical therapist, only needing a couple more months to get my certification. But right now we are starting winter break, which means that Luke can work from home and I have no classes.
I guess since I'm talking about our lives I should also mention that we're both exclusively tops when it comes to sexual relationships. While intercourse between us is a no-go because. . .well, I don't think I need to explain that, we shared partners. Though because we knew that we would hopefully meet our mate at some point, that we couldn't get too invested.
"He'll give us a chance, Lev." Luke whispers against my back, I grumble and turn over in his hold to huff against his face.
"How do you know?" His eyes soften at the question. There is a con to knowing everything about me. The con is that he can read my emotions and tell them apart, that he can tell when I'm seriously angry or simply pretending to be angry to tease the hell out of him.
"Because he's like us. Just wait, okay? Tomorrow morning we'll go check on him in his pack, just waltz right in there and you'll see that he'll still be there." He explains, arms hauling me into him.
Leaning forward, I rest my head against his shoulder. "What time do we leave?" Luke hums beneath me, aused at my excitement. It's not like I can help it, while I love my brother, my wolf already loves our mate and I want them both with me at all times.
"Before 10 a.m., but we still have to tell mom and dad so they don't wake up screeching their heads off when they don't find us in our rooms." He says with a chuckle that makes me smile.
"We're adults, Luke."
He snorts, "Try telling them that."
Falling back into the warmth of his chest, I let myself finally relax at the promise of seeing our mate again tomorrow. "Thank you."
Combing a hand through my hair, he shushes me. "Of course, not get some rest, I'll wake you up when we have to head back home."
__
LUKES POV____
Having a sigh, I carefully remove my hand from my brother's waist to comb it through my hair - pushing the wandering locks back over my ears. It's scary, seeing my arrogant, confident brother break down when he overthinks but it's understandable - I understand him. Already 27 and we just found our mate, a mate that had vocally rejected us when he got the chance too. The words served to break down our wolves quickly, and with them, so did we.
When we happened to feel the presence of our mate close by, it was hard for my brother to keep up his nonchalant appearance. Instead of doing what he wanted to do (which was run towards our mate and engulf him in his arms) he chose another path, acting like he expected our mate to come running back to us all along. Which we both knew wasn't the case.
The fact that we had even bumped into him as well as the fact that we happened to live right next to the Pack that he is visiting - is pure luck.
Looking down at my brother I smile as he incoherently mumbles things in his sleep.
It's also nice. Seeing someone people think is arrogant, overconfident, and cocky, be someone real. Lev has. . .issues expressing himself. Mainly because when he does express himself people tend to misunderstand him and not see where he's coming from. They can't relate to him. Once he realized people were just as arrogant as he claimed to be, he stepped away from the thought of socializing and instead simply confided in me.
Of course sometimes I'm the one that overthinks. And in those cases, my brother is always here for me. We have come to depend and trust each other with our very lives. Brushing back his hair, I lean down to press my lips against his warm forehead.
I can keep his secrets, from everyone and anyone if he wants me to. But our mate, he can read us even if he already rejected us, that's what the bond ensured - that he's connected to us by fate. Destiny foretold our meeting, probably in her BL journal somewhere, and because of that he isn't going to escape us that easily.
I just hope we aren't too late to stop him from leaving our very reachable grasp.
><><><><><
Idk what's the deal w wolves having other jobs aside from their pack duties, but clearly this is just how werewolf stories work sometimes. I'm not gonna go into the dynamics of it when even I think it's a little odd, but I also won't b changing it cuz the story is already complete.
<3