Part 28

The twins were leaning against the car door, looking extraordinary, as if they put some effort into dressing up. My eyes trailed between, that impish twist to their mouths almost identical, meanwhile I was forced to focus on keeping even breathing.

The breeze was pulling at their hair, and Rowan was gently tucking it into place every so often while Reed gave up. Their skin looked as warmly tanned as ever, and they were just as infuriatingly attractive as on any other day.

Do not show them you are affected. I harshly reminded while crossing my arms together, pinning them with a glare. “You do realise that there’s no way I am coming with you both, right?”

Rowan took a step forward, his lips cracking in a barely concealed grin, towering over me. “Trust me when we say this, Erin, but we are fully prepared just in case.”

I suppressed a shiver, my cheeks heating up at the intense stare trained on my face. His scent hit my nostrils, clouding me and making my omega vulnerable. Ever since that drop I have been feeling extra sensitive towards certain smells.

“Must you make this difficult?” Reed lazily asked. “We already asked your father, and he has no objection to our dinner plan.”

I whirled around as those words echoed in my head, my mouth gaping. “You did what?!”

Something akin to rage simmered in my belly, skin feeling hot as I narrowed my eyes. Why would he do that? Now that’s done, I have no choice but to go along with his silly plan. My father would find it suspicious if I stayed back home.

“We had to.” Rowan licked his lips. “It’s part of our courting.”

My mouth opened and closed at that, unsure, clenching my fingers into fists. What should I even say to that part? The Alphas did promise my father that they would court me.

“Right.” I huffed, avoiding their eyes and staring at my shadow. “We could have done this dinner some other night.”

“No. As I mentioned, it’s not wise to prolong the dinner. Besides, the announcement date is nearing, and we all have work to do.”

I sunk my teeth on my bottom lip, pondering over what Reed said, arms still by my side. He was right. We were already busy as it is and barely had time.

My heart began thumping heavily against my ribcage as I sucked in a sharp breath. I could feel my nerves sparking at the realisation that there was no escape, and I was forced to spend the evening with them.

“Fine!” I exclaimed, withholding the urge to scream as I tilted my head. “Give me ten minutes to dress up, and then we can leave.”

“I don’t see the need as we are going back to our place anyway.”

Rowan pinned his brother with a glare. “Take your time.”

Suppressing a smile at that, I turned on my feet and rushed to my room.

***

Finding an appropriate dress for dinner proved to be an impossible task. In the end, I settled for a dark maroon full-sleeved skintight dress, slit at the two sides of my knees, paired with black pencil heels and a set of matching earrings.

They both stood frozen on their spot as I rushed out, hair falling over my shoulder. I shifted on my feet subconsciously, heat creeping up my neck. Was the dress too much?

“Uh…is this okay?” I tugged on my sleeves, mouth twisted.

Rowan choked, dumbly nodding his head, flustered at being caught. He coughed, slowly tilting his head to meet my eyes, something shifting in those green orbs. “Y-Yes! I mean, of course, you look fantastic.”

“Oh.” I breathily said, taken back by his reaction, toes curling and heat sizzling in my belly. I shyly nodded, tongue feeling heavy in my mouth to form a proper sentence. “T-Thanks.”

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Reed still hadn’t moved an inch from the spot, gaping at me like I was an alien.

“Reed?”

“We are getting late!” He grunted, briskly walking towards the car and ignoring us. What was his problem?

***

As the car pulled up at the rocky pavement leading to a huge cabin, I got out, my heels digging into the crushed rocks underneath. There were flowers alongside, but most were tiny wildflowers that bloom without special care.

The air smelled sweet, overwhelmingly so, but also clean and fresh.

“We are having dinner here?”

“Yes. Unless you prefer walking to the packhouse.” Rowan’s voice almost made me jump, not realising the Alpha was standing next to me.

I shuddered at the thought of stepping inside the pack house, having several prying eyes on me. It’s been several months since I voluntarily walked in there, my chest aching.

“No…” I cleared my throat, my voice slightly wavering. “It’s fine. Did you two move in here?”

Reed locked the car behind us, catching up with his long legs in a few seconds. He made a sound.

“Yes. It’s closer to the pack house and quieter too. There’s rarely a property like this around town.”

I nodded my head. With the expansion of pack, the residence areas have skyrocketed but also away from the main centre.

“Come in.” Rowan’s eyes were still glinting with something, though, and part of me hated it, but also significantly smaller part of me, as ferocious, embraced the pinch in my stomach that appeared each time I was struck by this man’s stupidly handsome face.

I inhaled a heavy breath, unable to rid the intoxicating scent as soon as I entered. My eyes laid on the floorboards in an attempt to never meet their eyes again, placing an unsteady hand atop my breast as if I could physically stop the hammering in his chest.

As the two of them started chatting, my eyes averted, glancing around the room once more.

It was only a moment before Alpha Rowan’s low voice was bringing me back to the conversation I had been trying so hard to disregard, offering me a seat. I politely refused, instead deciding to step towards the fireplace and run my fingers along the white frame of it, glancing up to see a line of frames on top, noticing the white tall candles alongside.

The squirming in my stomach did not lift. The cool air of the room prickled across the bare skin of my shoulders and chest, and blew across my exposed collarbones.

“Looks like you both are all moved in.”

“You can say that.” Rowan murmured, still standing in the middle of the room.

There were lot of pictures, I noticed, mostly their combined photos throughout the years. A bittersweet smile tugged on my mouth, watching how they went from goofy pups to tall, young men. My hand fell away as I watched their photo before going to States, faces hardened and lips in a line.

They were dressed in matching suits for our graduation, standing outside the school. I skipped the ceremony, too involved in my grief and miserable about them.

Reed cleared his throat as if he sensed the shift in my mood, the sound snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Let’s eat.”

I put on a fake smile, bobbing my head at him. “Sure.”

The beginning of our meal was quiet. For all their combined experience, neither Reed nor Rowan was able to broach a topic of conversation. The Alphas were sitting on the opposite side, backs straightened, the light from ceiling making their faces glow.

At the very least, we had some time before it became awkward.

Considering I was dining with the richest Alphas in the town, I was not that surprised at the quality of the food. I tried to forget about the circumstances for a moment and fully appreciate the tastes before me—the sweet, juicy fruits, the chicken breast cooked in bell peppers and creamy sauce, the buttery bread and of course pasta.

My wine glass was still untouched, not trusting my drunk self around them.

We could only proceed without conversation for so long, however, and as the pace of the meal slowed down, the expectancy of properly engaging in conversation rose. I racked my brain for topics to open up a conversation and was about to resort to talking about weather when Reed stepped in.

"I think it might be easiest for us if we discuss the reason we bought you here. There's not much sense trying to pretend otherwise."

The tension eased from my shoulders marginally. The sooner we figure out where we stood with one another and discuss the nature of our future the easier it will be to learn about one another’s goals.

“Yes, I agree. I think that would be best.” I delicately set down the knife I had been using to cut and spread cheese on my bread. “So what did you two want to talk about?”

“You have to meet our family.”

***