Chapter 71
After a long but much needed night with the twins, I woke to an empty bed. Well—it wasn’tpletely
empty. A head of ming hair was the first thing I saw as I opened my eyes, followed by Tori’s smirking
face. She was perched on the edge of the bed, her chin resting on her hands.
“Um, how long have you been here?” I grunted; my voice thick with sleep. As I rubbed the cobwebs
from her eyes, she straightened and shed me a cheeky smile.
“Oh, a half an hour or so.” She shrugged, brushing some strands of hair from her forehead.
As my senses sharpened and the thick haze of post-sleep faded, I noticed she was wearing an
emerald sports bra and ck leggings. Her thick curls were pulled back from her face, and her round
eyes held a flicker of impatient excitement.
“Do you always watch your friends sleep?” I snickered, sitting up against the wooden headboard.
“I most certainly do not, that is an honor bestowed only to my Luna.” She smirked, which quickly turned
into a humorous grin. “I must say, Luna Aurora, you have horrible bed-head in the morning.”
“Oh, shut up.” I hissed, tossing one of the plush pillows at her face.
“Oh, testy.” She tsked, jumping from the bed before the pillow managed to hit her square in the face.
“Alec and Kade must love morning Aurora. So feisty, so fierce. Keep that mindset for training today,
you’re going to be one grumpy Luna once were finished.”
I grumbled incoherently as I stood from the bed and meandered over to the walk-in closet across the
room. I had learned pretty quickly that Tori was one of those infuriating people who could wake up at
five in the morning, chipper as can be. It took me a little longer to wake up, and even longer to shake
the initial grumpiness that followed. Caffeine helped, but I had always hated waking before the sun
crested in the sky.
“Chipper as always, I see.” I snorted, rummaging through the clothes hanging in the closet.
Alec and Kade’s Mom had taken it upon herself to purchase me an entirely new wardrobe. Her style
was very different from my own, but I was beginning to like the clothes she had chosen for me. What
made me most ufortable were the frilly sets of bras and underwear; that I would probably never
get used to.
While I was used to the thought of Alec and Kade as my mates, the epting nature of their family was
taking a bit longer to get used to. They opened up their home to me without issue, and even let the
three of us share a bedroom. Alec and Kade had briefly told me that werewolves weren’t worried about
mate’s being intimate with one another. It was a natural urrence, they said.
“Oh, you’re not going to want to wear that.” Tori shook her head, leaning against the door frame.
“Why not?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at her.
I stuffed the ck t-shirt I had clutched in my hands back into the drawer it hade from. The shirt
belonged to Alec, just as the sweat pants I had picked out belonged to Kade. Their clothes were more
comfortable to roam the house in, and had the added bonus of smelling like my mates. They never
minded when a few articles of their clothing went missing, only to reappear dayster on my body. If
anything, they had the pleasure of removing said clothes at the end of the day.
Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.
“You’re going to be miserable wearing that.” She shrugged, and chuckled boisterously. “All sweaty and
what not. Opt for a sports bra and leggings. You’ll show a bit of skin, but think of how much Alec and
Kade will enjoy thatter on.”
“Fine.” I scoffed, rummaging through the drawers of the dresser that sat in the walk-in closet. “Only
because you put it that way.”
“Tell me, what’s it like having two mates?” She giggled, ending her words with a devious smile. “At this
point, I’ll take one!”
A horrid blush stained my face, and I could practically her thoughts about what everyone knew went
down between the three of us. The day after first sleeping with Alec and Kade, I had noticed a change
in my own scent. I seemed to carry a piece of Alec and Kade wherever I went, and couldn’t ignore the
knowing looks I received from quite a few people. They had sheepishly told me that when first mating,
our scents would merge. Not only did I carry a piece of them with me, but they carried some of my
scent as well. As much as I wanted to be angry with them, I couldn’t—not when I could feel their
emotions and see the happiness on their faces.
“It’s fun, more fun than I initially thought.” I smirked, offering up no further details. “I’m sure you’ll find
your mate eventually.”
“Oh,e on!” Tori groaned, a hand against her heart. “Give me some juicy details! Judging from the
blush on your face, I’m sure there’s plenty of nice tidbits you can tell me.”
“I should probably get dressed now, before we’rete for training.” I smirked, stepping into the
bathroom with my clothes clutched in hand.
I could hear Tori’s groan from inside the bathroom and chuckled at her expense. I tugged down the
thick hem of the sports bra I wore, scowling at how my entire mid-section was exposed. It’s not that I
typically dressed modestly, but I had never worn something quite as revealing as this. If what Tori had
said was true, I’d take an exposed stomach over being hot and miserable any day.
Alec and Kade’s Mom had set out an entire breakfast for us, one I was d***g to dig into. It was my turn
to groan when Tori handed me a foul looking smoothie and a couple protein bars before dragging me
out of the house.
“It smells like feet.” Imented, wincing as I took arge gulp of the fruity concoction.
“Plug your nose.” She teased, “It’s a protein shake, Aurora. They’re not meant to taste fabulous.”
“Are there vegetables in this?” I grimaced, ncing down at the dark green shade of the shake.
“..Among other things.” Was all she said, snorting at the look of h****r on my face.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the local gym, a look of confusion had formed on my face. The
gym in our pack was nice, much nicer than the one that sat by the High School I went to. What
confused me was why we were here to begin with.
“Here, you’re going to need this. Layer up, Luna!” Tori chuckled, tossing a small stick of deodorant at
me.
I did as she said andyered the deodorant on my underarms, shrugging as a strong floral scent
wafted into my nose.
“Better than stinking like sweat.” I murmured appreciatively.
“You gotta train in your human form first.” Torimented, rummaging through the trunk of her car for
arge, pink duffel bag. “The stronger you are in your human form, the stronger your wolf is.”
“Does that mean I’ll be lifting weights?” I grunted, a slight sour tone to my voice.
It was no secret that I had the coordination of a toddler, but I had yet to see what finally shifting had
done for me. Back when I absolutely failed at sports, I had thought I was merely human. My senses
were sharper now, my eyesight crisp in a way it hadn’t been before. Above all, I desperately hoped I
could be useful to this pack—besides my strange white-wolf abilities. I wanted Alec and Kade to know
that I could take care of myself instead of relying on a power I had no idea how to control.
“We’ll both be lifting weights.” Tori quipped with a cheeky grin, “Don’t worry, we’ll firm up that perky
behind in no time!”
“It’s not my behind I’m worried about.” I huffed, following her to the front door of the building. “And my
behind is already perky!”
The gym in town was arge modern building with a parking lot that could easily amodate
everyone in town. Arge window gave me a clear view inside the gym, where I could see a multitude
of men and women wandering from machine to machine.
We stepped inside and was greeted by the scent of disinfectant and something simr to leather. Upon
entering, I found myself surprised. Whenever I thought of a gym, I had a pretty clear image in my head.
A bunch of muscr, sweat-stained men grunting as they flexed and lifted weights in front of a mirror. It
was just another thing I had been wrong about.
Sure, there were plenty of muscr men in this gym but there were also just as many women. The
scent of sweat was so diminished, it was easily ignorable. If anything, the most noticeable scent was
that of cleaner and deodorant.
The bottom half of the gym was huge. Apart from a long desk that sat a few feet from the entrance, the
rest of the room was filled with machines of all types. Half of the wall was lined with floor-to-ceiling
mirrors, and there was a plethora of those water bottle refill stations everywhere.
The woman at the front desk was casually dressed and was merrily chatting with some of the current
gym-goers. Her golden hair was pulled up in a high pony, and she wore simr athletic clothes to what
Tori and I wore. When she caught my eye, her spine seemed to straighten a bit, and just a tad of that
easy-go humor left her eyes.
“Luna Aurora, it’s an honor to have you here!” She grinned,ing around the counter to approach us.
She gripped my hand firmly and gave it a shake before shing Tori an equally polite smile. “Everything
here is at your disposal. Your trainer is upstairs in one of our private rooms. Feel free to use any of our
faculties. On the second floor you’ll also find a smoothie bar, and on the third floor are the locker
rooms. We have showers, and even a sauna, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
I managed to stammer a suitable thank you and followed Tori through the maze of weight machines.
The quiet sound of weights clicking could be heard, along with the ever-so silent murmur that came
from many of the people working out. While many eyes darted over to meet my own, none strayed any
lower than my face. Men and women of all ages greeted me with a slight nod before turning back to
their workouts.
Alec and Kade had exined the pack dynamics to me a few days ago. They hadn’t nned on
introducing me so soon, but my appearance during the rogue battle spurred attention. Men and women
of all ages would show me nothing but respect, as my word was alsow.
“While I love and respect you, my benevolent Luna; I will never hesitate to call you out on your s**t.”
Tori grinned, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as she steered me towards the stairs.
“Honestly, I appreciate that.” I chuckled along with her, “I’ve been treated like vermin my entire life, and
now I’m suddenly royalty. It’s really strange, and kind of unnerving.”
“You’ve been surrounded by worthless a******s your entire life, what did you expect?” She grunted, but
quickly wiped away the grimace that formed on her face. “Think of it this way, now you’re surrounded
by people who know how awesome you are.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t all go to my head.” Iughed.
“That’s also in my job description.” She winked, “As the Luna’s best-friend, it is my job to make sure
you don’t be all snooty and full of yourself.”
“I hope you know I’m not paying you for this.” I scoffed.
“To be in your glorious presence is payment enough, Luna Aurora.” She cooed, poking he tongue out at
me.
“If you keep talking to me like that, I’m definitely going to get a big head.” I replied, giving her a genuine
smile.