The Twin’s Bedroom

Everly

“ P lease, don’t be upset, beta.” Dassy holds me a little tighter. He’s been weirdly quiet this evening. Ever since Mari’s sudden headache. “Mari will be okay,” he says. “Izan knows what he’s doing.”

I snuggle deeper against his side, wishing Hutch would lie down with us on the bed, but he’s too busy pacing. “Why does Izan have to mate her now ?” I ask yet again. Hutch stops in his tracks, not bothering to hide his agitation at my repeated question. I sit up, growing more restless by the second. “She wasn’t feeling well and her head hurt.” I look at Dassy to confirm and he nods. “And her heat is going to start soon any way. He could have waited a few more days.”

“I know this is impossible for you to believe,” Hutch moves around the bed, sitting next to his brother. He reaches across Dassy, taking my hand. “But Mari was going to run away.”

I open my mouth, ready to argue in her defense once again, but Hutch holds up his finger, stopping me.

“You need to trust me and Izan.” Hutch’s voice isn’t hard or angry, but he’s definitely annoyed with me.

“All I’m saying is,” I look from Hutch to Dassy and back again, wanting to make sure they both understand that I’m not trying to be a brat, “none of you saw Mari try to sneak out, or pack a bag, or book a flight.” I pause, waiting for either one of them to cut me off, but they don’t. “All you have is a map and a suspicious feeling about her sleepwalking one night.”

Dassy’s mouth pulls into a thin line, and I immediately know he agrees with me, but he won’t say it. He’s third in line. While Izan and Hutch value his opinion, Dassy doesn’t get to question their decisions, especially Izan’s.

“There’s a bit more to it than that,” Hutch says in his forcefully calm voice. I need to back off. I’m clearly pushing all his buttons. “But it’s been a few hours,” he leans down, looking deep into my eyes, “Izan has probably already marked her. There’s no point in worrying about it anymore.”

He’s right. He’s always right, and I nod, telling him so. “It just seems so unfair to mate Mari outside of her heat, based on a single folded-up piece of paper. We have no idea why she had that map.”

Just then, the bedroom door bursts open, and Izan stumbles in. He’s completely naked. The base of his hard cock is swollen and shiny—Is that what a partially deflated knot looks like?!—and his bare chest heaves as if he’s out of breath. “Mari ran away,” he snarls, and both of the twins jump up, immediately on high alert.

But I’m so dazed, I just sit there, watching as Hutch and Dassy frantically speak over each other.

“What the fuck?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened?”

“Where did she go?”

Everything is so chaotic, it takes me a few moments to even realize that Izan has blood dripping down his face. “You’re bleeding!” I jump off the bed, grabbing one of the twin’s shirts off the floor as I race to my pack alpha. I press the black fabric to his temple, trying to stop the bleeding.

“I marked her,” Izan says to Hutch, and all three alphas tense. The urgency in the room seems to immediately double and I take a step back. “I marked her, then she hit me with the lamp and ran. We need to find her before she falls into her heat.”

Hutch sucks in a deep breath, looking at the door as if he’s ready to go to war, while Dassy scrubs his face.

“But why?” I ask, unable to hold it in any longer. All three of my mates turn to me, each one looking torn between searching for Mari and comforting me. I know she’s our priority, but I’m freaking out right now. I just don’t understand. “Why would she run away?” My voice pitches higher, almost a whine. “Doesn’t she like it here? Did I do something wrong?”

Izan lets out a heavy sigh, then he swallows hard, before looking directly at Dassy. “Don called. Let’s just say that Mari knows about Brea being a black-market omega. It seemed to really upset her.”

“Why the fuck was Don calling you about Brea ?” Dassy asks. “And why would that upset Mari? She doesn’t know who Brea is.”

Hutch speaks up, answering the second question for Izan. “A lot of educated omegas have strong opinions on the black market. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mari was one of them. It’s probably upsetting in general for her.”

Deep regret slams into me, and I can feel Izan’s eyes on me. He knows that I told Mari about Brea. I shouldn’t have but I did. I’m so stupid. “Mari probably hates us.” Tears sting the back of my eyes, and I sniffle loudly. “But Brea would have never found a mate.” I begin to cry. “We couldn’t?—”

Izan grabs me by the upper arm, cutting me off. “We don’t have time for this, beta. We need to find Mari before someone else does.” He winces as if in pain, then squeezes his eyes shut tight. “I’m struggling to concentrate right now.” He pulls in a deep breath and a bit more blood trickles from the cut above his eyes. “I need your help.” He looks up, staring right into my eyes.

I glance up at Hutch, nervous for our pack alpha. Izan is usually so controlled and focused, it’s weird to see him out of sorts. “You need a doctor.” I examine the cut above his brow. It looks very deep.

“We need to find Mari,” Izan says firmly, squinting like it’s hard to see.

“Does this help?” Dassy reaches between Izan’s legs, gripping the alpha’s cock. Then he squeezes the bulb at the base. Hard . Izan groans loudly, then he stumbles, falling into Dassy’s side. It’s obvious from the look on our pack alpha’s face that the pressure feels good, but it all looks so painful.

“Check the house,” Hutch gives me an order, taking charge since Izan is incapable. “Look everywhere. Closets, cupboards, anywhere that’s small enough for her to fit.”

I nod, ready to do as I’m told.

He turns to Izan. “I’ll check the treeline. And Dassy,” he looks at his brother, “see if you can get Izan’s knot down, and then?—”

“Just go!” Izan shoves Dassy away. “Find Mari.” He stumbles toward the bed, squeezing his swollen cock, trying to jack himself off with a trembling hand. “Go now!”

The twins don’t wait another second. They both fly out the door, and down the hallway. Within seconds their heavy footsteps disappear somewhere deep inside the house. But I hesitate, needing to help my pack alpha before I go.

I walk around the bed to Hutch’s nightstand. I open the drawer and pull out exactly what Izan needs to fix his problem. Purposefully deflating an alpha’s knot isn’t a great idea, it’s better to allow them to go down on their own, especially the first few times. But sometimes an alpha needs a little help.

“If it doesn’t go down soon,” I place the small black object in Izan’s hand. “This should help. Just a few seconds at the base should be enough.” I slip my arm around his waist, then look deep into his dark green eyes. “I’m sorry I told her about Brea.”

Izan’s mouth pulls tight, but he doesn’t yell or scold me. Instead, he just examines the lighter in his hand, then he presses it to his chest like it’s something precious. “Go,” he says softly. “Find our Mari. Find her before someone else does.”