Chapter 77
epting My Twin Mates Chapter 77
Chapter 74 – How Did He Get Hold Of This?
Astennu
‘Make this quick. I don’t like being apart from our brother,’ Aasim paced, bing increasingly uneasy.
Our two strongest bonds were those between our mate, who had been forcefully ripped from us, and
our twin, our strongest that had existed since the womb. With one bond unresponsive, my wolf needed
the reassurance that Badru was there, that he wouldn’t vanish either.
‘I don’t wanna be separate either, but we’re gonna have to adopt a divide and conquer approach,’ I
huffed, having galloped up several flights of stairs.
Several pack members were leaving my destination, Konstanin’s room, a few of them carrying items in
their hands. I hurried down the hallway, my bare feet thudding on the naked floorboards, finding my
father overseeing thest two wolves about to leave. Nothing much was left of the door, except a few
splinters strewn on the floor that had been missed on what looked like the first clean-up. The hinges
were all that remained, fastened to the doorframe and with shards of the former door affixed to the
screws. The temperature seemed several degrees lower too, as though a window had been left open
for hours.
“How did he get hold of this?” My father never turned when I stepped into the room. Instead, he held a
sheet of paper aloft once the wolves had walked out, leaving us alone.
I picked it from his grasp, my brows puckered in confusion that this would be his first question and what
importance a piece of paper could be. My expression sobered as soon as I saw what was scrawled on
the surface, my heart returning to pound in my ears in a cold shiver of dread.
It was a rough draft of a patrol schedule for the week. I had written it in pencil till I had been happy with
it and then typed it out properly to send to my father… one that I had left in Evie’s room when her heat
hit, because that’s all I or Badru were focused on. I hadn’t given it a thought, until now.
“When I sent a couple of warriors here after making sure your mother arrived at the hospital,” my father
finally turned around, his jaw tight and his voice thin. A faint tinge of red rimmed his eyes. He had
cried? I had never seen my father cry. “They had no reply and had to break the door down. The room
was empty and the window wide open with items strewn on the bed. Trackers have been searching
around the pack house, as far as they can, and not one of them can pick up his scent. So, I will ask
again,” he snatched the paper back from my hand, crushing it in his fist. “How. Did that man. Get a
hold. Of this?”
“I… we had it in Evie’s room before we went up to the lodge,” my throat began to run dry. “But nothing
looked disturbed there when we came ba-”
“Why was it left there?” He interrupted my excuses and, suddenly, I felt like a pup in trouble. “Why
didn’t you lock it away in your office? Why didn’t you destroy it?”
“We didn’t have time when we took Evie away and we were going to file everything properly after
training toda-”
He sighed heavily and angrily, his nostrils ring. “So, you’re telling me Konstantin had three days,
unsupervised, where he could have gotten hold of any of our pack documents that you left casually
lying about?”
“You think Konstantin did this? You think he kidnapped his own daughter?!” My voice rose. “He could
have been taken too. Or he’s out there,” I gesticted at the window, “trying to look for her-”
“Wake up Aste!” My father roared, his aura ring in a shuddering wave. “The man yed you!”
“He didn’t! He’s clearly being framed here!”
My father tutted in exasperation, throwing his head back.
“He is! How do you exin the scent cover? Or whatever drug was used-”
“Did you search him?”
My mouth bobbed, seeking an answer that didn’t involve a no, because I hadn’t. Not that I needed to.
What Konstantin had told us was the truth, I… I was sure.
“No, of course you didn’t. You had that sufficient two minute conversation which was all you needed,”
he took several deep breaths, closing his eyes. “You may be a grown man, but you still have so much
to learn.”
He swiped a hand over his face, rubbing the short ck beard of his jaw. When he opened them, his
eyes were softer but pensive, filled with a sombreness.
“Without a routine search, how did you know what the man had on him? Perhaps he wanted his
daughter and knew she wouldn’t leave? All I know, is I have a mate drugged and in the hospital,” his
chest rumbled in a snarl, ck hair sprouting from his knuckles and receding in the same breath. “We
have a human pack member that has been bludgeoned, your mate is missing, and there’s not one
trace of anyone breaking into the pack. Yet, in all this, the rogue that waltzed into this pack, without
being searched or properly questioned, is gone. Along with what few belongings he brought and a
patrol schedule in his possession that gave him everything he needed to escape. Astennu, what else
am I meant to believe?”
“Finley!” I yelled, pissed off that the most obvious person appeared to have fallen from his head. “I’m
positive he did this, to get back at us. And he’s obsessed with Lucy, Konstanin’s second chance mate.”
“He was already on the list of suspects, but Kate has confirmed he isn’t even in the state. She dropped
him off at the airport herself two days ago.”
“No, that… that can’t b-”
“It is,” he cut through me. “Apparently, he wanted to get away from here for a while and went to New
York. I rang the hotel Kate told me he was at and they confirmed he checked in and everything. It’s The
Moon’s Courtyard near Central Park, caters to werewolves. Feel free to make your own inquiries.”
Could Konstantin have nned this?
To kidnap his daughter and flee the pack?
Had he been ying us from the beginning or had he upped and decided he truly hated packs this
much and the mate bond be damned…
‘He wouldn’t,’ Aasim was adamant, a tinge of unease in his tone. ‘He might not have trusted pack, but
he trusted us. Dad is wrong about him… he’s wrong.’
The doubts had flitted from my mind as soon as they entered, too. In spite of that, though, a speck of
doubt clung to my mind against my will.
I shook my head, “if Konstantin wanted to leave, he’d just say so. He’s like Evie, blunt and to the point,”
all this subterfuge and underhandedness was not his style. “Finley is involved in this. I don’t know how
and I don’t care what you say otherwise.”
“I’m not discounting the boy as a suspect, but it’s a little hard to believe when he’s clear across the
other side of the country.”
“Supposedly,” I rified.
“Precisely why he isn’t discounted fully yet,” my father moved to leave, pausing by the obliterated
doorway. “Son, we’ve done all we can here. We need to regroup and discuss everything we know.
Tamlyn is still running her squads around the pack garage and the cafe. Aside from a few generic boot
prints, there’s nothing more for her to go on. Your mother’s awake, so I’m going to her. Go check your
mate’s room, see if anything else is missing.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. The idea of setting foot in her room, with her spiced vani scent drilling into
my senses, pounded my heart in my ribcage. Every sh of memory of her stormy blue eyes or dark
golden hair reminded me of my failures, my mistakes. That was where Evie existed now… in a
memory…
‘Until we get her back,’ my wolf affirmed.
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I wanted to agree and share his earnest conviction, but to hear and see how I had fallen short as a
mate and Alpha chiselled away at any optimism I may have had. And the rm I was feeling from my
twin was doing nothing to calm me. Lucy had to have been there, in her room. Because if not, he would
have mind-linked to say otherwise.
‘Ru? What’s going on?’
‘It’s Lucy, someone drugged her water. I’m rushing her to the pack hospital in town.’
Oh hell… this would be another mark against Konstantin, in the eyes of my father. For me, it solidified
his innocence. If she had woken during this bizarre ambush, she would have raised the alert that
something was amiss.
‘Ok, I’ll be with you soon… I need to stop somewhere first and then I’ll tell you what happened up here,’
I sighed, watching my step on the way out to head to Evie’s room, no matter how much I didn’t want to.
‘I’m certain Konstantin is being framed for all of this and, unfortunately, our dad’s not hearing anything
else.’
‘Well s**t. We’ll add it to the list of fires to put outter. Just get down here as fast as you can. The
hospitalb is screening for the tranquilliser used. Whatever it was, it doesn’t look as though it was cut
with wolfsbane.’
That was of somefort as we didn’t know how badly wolfsbane would affect Evie with her being half
lycan. But it was also unusual. Most tranquillisers used on werewolves contained wolfsbane, to cut the
connection with our wolves. However, there was no mistaking the instant it was ingested. Whether a
wolf partook in wolfsbane training or not, ingestion or injection of it caused a burning sensation on
contact, as the toxin stimted the pain receptor nerves. The more wolfsbane training that was
undertaken, the greater tolerance was gained.
Steeling myself outside Evie’s room, I slowly punched in her numberbination and creaked the door
open. Her sweet and beautiful aroma hit me, full force in the face, as though she would be waiting on
the side with her arms outstretched to soothe me that all of this had been a mistake, that she hadn’t
gone anywhere.
‘Dammit, this is the worst torture,’ Aasim whimpered, wanting to curl up on her mattress and bury
himself in her scent and our self-pity.
‘Then we better make this quick.’
There were only a few files Badru and I had left behind, all of which were present, say for that one
damned schedule… one stupid mistake that I never once considered.
‘Kick yourselfter. Focus presently!’
Listening to my wolf, I moved through the rest of our mate’s items, not finding anything of consequence
absent. I hadn’t a clue if any of her clothing was missing; I wasn’t too well acquainted with her
wardrobe. But I spotted the items my brother and I had given her, plus our own clothing was there.
Changing out of my borrowed sweatpants so I could put on some underwear and a pair of jeans, I
shoved my feet into the boots I had left behind and found my thick id shirt, putting aside a change of
clothing for Badru too.
Just as I flicked up my cor to straighten out the nnel material and button up my shirt, I noticed a
small yet prominent missing item. By the side of her bed should have been her locket. Evie didn’t wear
it this morning and her silly little joke she chuckled rang clearly in my ear.
“Just in case ites to blows and I have to smear tea leaves on my face like war paint, I think I’ll
leave it here.”
And I was positive Evie took off the locket and left it right where I was crouched. I looked high and low,
under the mattress, on the nkets, on her dresser table and even in the bathroom. She wouldn’t
miy it, that locket meant far too much to her. It was all she had of her mother’s.
Someone came in here after we left to take it.