Chapter 5

TYSON

"Good night?" Blake smirked at me, as he caught me entering the packhouse after I'd gone for a run, his eyes crinkled in an amused expression.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I saw that girl you had here last night doing the walk of shame this morning. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." He chuckled. "I see you're enjoying everything my pack has to offer."

"You saw her?" I asked.

"Yeah, her family was worried about her so we put out a search. Like the pack security? Make sure you report that back to your family."

"Do you know who she was?"

"You dog!" Blake pushed on my shoulder with an amused smile. "You didn't even get her name? I always at least got the name."

"Well, what's her name?" I kept my expression neutral, not sure whether it was better for Blake to think I'd banged her or not. I still needed to find out what she was hiding from her parents. As much as she infuriated me, I didn't want to blow whatever cover she had for whatever the fuck she was doing—which I also wanted to know.

"Gigi."

"Gigi? Is that a nickname?"

"Not sure. Only met her once. But that's what Jasmine and her sister call her."

"Jasmine knows her?"

"She's friends with her twin sister." She has a twin? Well, damn, I'd always fantasized about sleeping with twins.

"Are they identical?" I asked, my mind instantly going into the gutter. Damn, two curvaceous miracles existed. And maybe her twin wasn't so prickly. Maybe her twin actually liked men.

Blake laughed heartily. "They look alike, but not sure they're identical."

"Hmm," I responded, trying to decide if this was a good or bad thing.

"Oh, by the way, Jasmine was looking for you earlier. Her parents wanted to invite you over for dinner before the service tonight."

"Oh, I'll text her and let her know I'll be there," I replied, turning to go upstairs. Now that my mind was in the gutter, I couldn't get it out. Just like last night, I was quickly becoming hornier and hornier, my cock hardening in my pants. Goddess, that girl had me so worked up. And now that I knew she was a twin, all my twin fantasies started playing out in my head.

I fell into my bed that still smelled like her perfume, only putting me more on edge. I pulled off my shorts and angrily stroked my cock. Goddess, the way she wouldn't leave my mind was pissing me off, but damnit, I wanted to fuck her so badly. Her and her twin.

***

GINGER

By the time we were on our way to the Sunday temple service, I'd had a chance to get cleaned up, and collect my phone, shoes, and crystals from the place where I'd left them. I was feeling much better at this point, having finally recovered from the terrible hangover the herbs had caused. Thankfully Heidi had gone home so I didn't have to deal with her. I was still angry about what she'd done. Although, she'd definitely be at the service that night, being just as religious as the rest of our family.

We took our normal seats, by my parents' other temple friends. I relaxed into my seat, thinking the day would soon be over. The service started as normal, with a sermon from our priest, Bernard, and him leading us through different prayers, chants, and meditations. Having attended my whole life, I could basically do everything in my sleep.

As the service was wrapping up, I was surprised when Bernard called Blake to the podium for an announcement. I sat up and was further shocked to see that someone else was following him to the front of the congregation—someone just as tall and muscular as him, someone with intense amber eyes. It was him—the guy from the fortune-telling shop. The guy who I thought I'd dreamed about the prior night.

"Good evening, Midnight Maple Pack!" Blake's voice boomed as everyone quietly listened. "As many of you already know, we have a very special guest in our pack, visiting us for the summer. Luna Jasmine's cousin, Alpha Tyce, has come all this way from the Jade Moon Pack in Alaska so that we can build our alliance. This is very important to me and an honor for our pack as this alliance was built not due to politics but blood. I hope all of you will treat Alpha Tyce with the utmost respect as if he is your own alpha while he is here with us. He will be leading in many of our pack activities such as training and patrol duty. So, please, everyone, give Alpha Tyce a warm welcome."

The whole congregation applauded loudly and my mouth fell open. My face burned as I realized that all those things I'd said in the fortune-telling shop had been directed at an alpha. No wonder he asked me if I knew who I was speaking to. Oh Goddess, I couldn't believe I'd done that. And not only that, but he was from an ally pack, a pack that we were aligned with due to familial relations. He was the cousin of our very own Luna! I'd totally put my foot in my mouth.

"Very good-looking young man," my mom winked at my sisters and me. She had always had a thing for alphas. When he was still alive, my mom had had a schoolgirl crush on the late Alpha James, Blake's father. She cried all day when she found out he'd passed in battle over a year ago.

After the service, everyone fell into conversation with their friends. My parents instantly went over to greet their own group of friends. Paige pulled my hand, heading toward the front. "C'mon, Gigi, let's go get introduced to the new alpha! Jasmine will introduce us!" I didn't know what to do, horrified by the idea as if I were witnessing an oncoming trainwreck.

"Hey, Paige!" Jasmine pulled her in for a hug as soon as we approached. "And nice to see you again, Gigi," she said, wrapping her arms around me. I just let her hug me, frozen in place.

"So, any chance to meet the new alpha?" Paige elbowed Jasmine.

"Of course!" Jasmine brightened. "Hey, Tyce!" she called out to him, and he turned to look at her, distracted from whoever he was talking to, excusing himself.

"Hey," Tyce approached our group, glancing at Jasmine first and then turning to look at us, his amber eyes locking with mine, and then I realized exactly whose eyes his reminded me of. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten Jasmine had the same eyes, recalling how distinct I'd thought they were when I first met her.

"This is my friend, Paige," Jasmine introduced my sister to him first.

"Nice to meet you, Paige," he smiled, shaking her hand.

"Pleasure's all mine, Alpha!" she squeaked out. Don't tell me that she was getting a crush on him now! She did always take much more after Mom than me.

"And this is her twin sister, Gigi," Jasmine introduced me next. My heart was beating so loudly in my chest I was sure everyone could hear.

He reached out his hand as if this was totally normal, grasping my small hand in his huge one, gripping it tightly, practically crushing it. "Nice to meet you, Gigi. I heard you have a lot of opinions about chipmunks." His eyes twinkled with amusement as he smirked at me.

"Chipmunks, what?" Jasmine laughed. "What does that mean? You've heard things about Gigi?"

"Yes, I have." His smile widened. "I've heard she has many opinions—besides chipmunks, also about magnifying glasses, predators, and receding hairlines. Maybe you should share them with the group, Gigi." My face burned. Goddess, what had I done?

"What!" Paige was joining in with Jasmine's laughter. "Is this some sort of joke? Gigi, what is he talking about? Have you two met already or something?" Then something flashed across her face and she was glancing down at his feet.

Fuck!

"What size shoes do you wear? Your feet are really big," Paige remarked innocently, leaning closer to him, nostrils flared. Paige wasn't stupid.

"You like them big?" His eyes were really twinkling with amusement now as he showed off his shoes. Locking eyes with mine again, he said, "If you're wondering, the answer is yes. They are proportional to everything else. I'm definitely not chipmunk size." His eyes never left mine. I wanted to die. Goddess, why hadn't those herbs just killed me yesterday?

"Why do you keep talking about chipmunks?" Jasmine giggled. "I feel like you have some inside joke with Gigi that we're not privy to."

"Oh, Gigi and I have shared many jokes, mostly at my expense. And I haven't forgotten. Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies, I have an entire pack to meet tonight." I let out a deep breath as soon as he left, relieved he was gone. But the way he said he hadn't forgotten, it was chilling. He clearly wasn't someone I should have fucked with. Not knowing what he had planned completely terrified me.

"So, spill, Gigi! How do you know Tyce?" Jasmine asked brightly. She did seem much livelier than when I'd met her five months earlier.

"I don't," I replied. "I just met him once. I don't know what he was going on about," I laughed nervously.

"Hey, Jasmine, can you come over here for a second?" Alpha Blake called his mate over. "Sorry to interrupt," he apologized to Paige and me.

"No problem!" Paige replied, instantly grabbing my shoulders after they were gone from our vicinity. She looked at me fiercely and whispered loudly, "Did you sleep with Alpha Tyce?"

"No!" I instantly responded.

"Don’t lie to me. You smelled just like him this morning. It was him. Those were his slides you were wearing."

"It's not how it looks."

"What was all that stuff about chipmunks?"

I groaned.

"Well?" She looked at me eagerly.

"Okay, I may have said some stuff to him that wasn't very nice," I admitted. "But I didn't know he was an alpha! How was I supposed to know?"

"Oh, Goddess! What did you say to him?"

I groaned again. "Please, can we not talk about this right now?"

"Okay, but you better tell me later." And that was when I prayed silently to Artemis that later would never come. I prayed that she'd just kill and burn me.