The sun was Georgie’s chosen means of wake-up call. Out in the forest, it easily penetrated their canvas tent and flooded her with lovely light to rouse to. This morning, she woke before it had truly begun to shine. Dawn brought just enough brightness for her to see a fuzzy version of her best friends’ bedroom ahead.

As the bleariness in her vision cleared, blink by blink, a figure materialised. White hair, green eyes, covered to his chest in a purple blanket. Staring at her with pouches underneath that matched his bedding. And the very sight of him flooded her with the golden rays missing from the morning.

“Not. A. Word,” her soulmate hissed.

Georgie leapt from Casey’s bed into the gap between them, Cove lunged forward to grab her mouth with one hand and her arm with the other. The moment their skin met, Georgie was winded. Pleasure surged from every point of his touch. It was the feeling of Casey playing with her nipples or kissing her into a tree, but all from a brush of contact. If Cove did so much as flick one or peck her she might just come undone right there.

He jolted, his body freezing up with her still locked in his hands. The sensations hit him, too, then. Georgie let him hold her upright, her lips twitching against his palm, her cheeks ridged under his silencing squeeze, her heartbeat pulsing in her upper arm against his harsh hold. He was glaring at her with... frustration? Uncertainty? Indecision? He glanced at his brother for half a second. Georgie hadn’t the time to follow his eyeline. Twisting on his back foot, he shifted his grips to both sides of her waist and and flung her down onto his own bed. Her body bounced on impact with the sheets.

Cove caged her, mounting the bed atop her. He took the outsides of her thighs in what should have been a painful press and mashed his lips to hers. Georgie’s body shuddered. Her mind was grappling for control again, to get some thoughts through her head that weren’t some variation of, ‘mate, kiss me, touch me, fuck me, mark me.’ There was something amiss here, something she needed to consider. Cove’s tongue took hers in a curling tug that opened her legs reflexively. What it was doing up here, she wanted it doing down there, please.

His hands slid further and further up under her t-shirt nightdress as he kissed her, until it was bunched at her collarbone and finally he broke off the kiss that had almost brought her to convulsions. She was wearing nothing beneath it, everything bared now that it was pushed up. Her mate looking upon her: soft belly up and presented to him.

When the material was pulled back down, her heart sunk with it.

“Get back into his bed,” he murmured into her ear.

Her arguing whine was snatched from her mouth by his hand, clasping her tight enough to keep the sound from reaching Casey’s ears. His other hand dragged her up by the arm until she was sat upright, scooting his hips back and away from her, keeping so much awful distance between their bodies there and everywhere else. It throbbed, the air itself pulsing. He manhandled her back off his mattress and shoved her towards Casey’s slumbering form.

Casey. Her heart twisted itself like a sponge wrung out. Even with evergreen eyes closed she knew he held a match in his soul for her, too. The eyelashes that fluttered through his dreams were still. She wondered for only a moment if he had heard, if he was pretending to remain asleep for their benefit. If he knew that his mate was the mate of another. He still had his arms out where Georgie had been held between them all night. Where she thought she had belonged. Where she had gone to sleep thinking was her place for the rest of her life. When she slotted herself back between them, facing him this time, the rush of his touch shivered through her. Identical in sensation to Cove’s. Behind her, her other mate dragged blankets about until his breathing turned long. It was impossible to be unaware of his presence now, but she refused to roll over and look again. She was in her mate’s arms, he should be all she needed.

Georgie lay stiff in his embrace until Casey finally awoke with the arrival of golden sunshine. The light gave his eyes an ethereal sparkle, like fireflies. He was breathtakingly beautiful, always had been, sure, but now… Georgie let a light sigh slip through her lips.

“It’s like I’ve never seen you in daylight,” she croaked.

Casey cracked into loud, rasping laughter. “I know what you mean! I thought the same when I first saw you on my birthday – see now why I couldn’t keep it to myself?”

Georgie nodded, her smile small.

“And you feel it now, too?” He traced swirls up her arm, leaving behind intense tingles. Setting off a chain reaction down to where she was wearing no underwear.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Now imagine what it’ll feel like when I-”

“Morning,” Cove huffed.

Casey only laughed some more. “Good morning, grumpy guts!” He beamed over Georgie’s head at his brother. His elation was infectious, filling her with an energy that sparkled all the way down to her toes. Georgie did not wish Cove a good morning. She couldn’t bear to rise and see him again. Not yet. “You look like shit,” Casey added cheerfully.

“Thanks.” A long creak and a pair of thumps to the carpet told her he was up. Only when the bathroom door clunked did she flip to her back.

Casey scoffed and turned into her, pausing right before what she could feel in the sparks of her skin was about to be a kiss. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Breathless. “It’s a lot at once.” Waking up to one mate was a huge moment to process. Waking up to two? It shouldn’t even be possible. How was she supposed to react to this? She wasn’t a pack that could be split into two. Although… Cove had made it pretty clear his intention was to pretend it wasn’t happening. Georgie couldn’t tell if that was more or less stressful.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s just jealous he hasn’t found his mate yet.”

Georgie stared back at Casey. Waiting for him to break, for his smile to tweak and the words to tumble out that he knew all along about Cove being her mate too. He watched her back without a hint that anything was off.

A secret between the twins? Another thing Georgie had never thought possible. And now Cove would be expecting her to keep it too. Was that fair? To him, yes. To Casey, no.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Georgie sat up, it was a struggle against the pillows and the wobbly feeling that had filled her. “I am. Sorry. I just need to wake up properly.”

Casey laughed. “I get it, I slept like a log but you must have been anxious for the big day.”

“Yeah.” Georgie’s laugh was a little less confident. “Not sure I’m ready for the party.”

Casey checked the time. “I hate to be the one to tell you but we haven’t got long before it all starts.”

“I’ll head back to mine to change, then.” Under the oversized tee she pulled on yesterday’s shorts. Covered up enough to skip between buildings.

“I’ll come to escort you right before,” Casey called after her.

“Thank you!” Georgie pulled the door shut and hurried away.

The second biggest pack event of the year was close to beginning, in her honour no less, and she felt like she needed to go hide in a dark room alone and calm down. She had a fancy outfit to wear, and hundreds of people to greet, and a speech to make, and a mate to look lovingly at while the other werewolves cooed over them. Above all, she needed to seem at ease and gracious like a true alpha mate. How could she keep her cool when every touch, from either twin, caused a frisson?

The shower was rushed. The lotions and perfume were rushed. The birthday dress was rushed onto her. She needed to be ready before Casey arrived so she could give herself a bit more time to just think-

A thumping on the front door stilled her.

“Coming!” she called and rushed into her shoes as she stepped outside.

―

A surprising number followed the human tradition of presenting gifts to Georgie, probably following the cue of the ostentatious party. Casey conspired in her ear that it was all to gain alpha mate favour down the line. She accepted every one with a bow of her head and gratitude on her lips.

His parents presented her with a blanket woven with the pack’s crest: an ivy leaf circlet encasing a paw print that ended in pointed claws that resembled thorns. It almost toppled her with its weight as she attempted to lift it for the pack members gathered ahead to appreciate the beautiful artistry. Casey took a corner, and Alpha Calvin the other, and they held it aloft to plenty of ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s.

The last present snuck in right as they were clearing away torn paper and ribbons. Casey slid it onto the head table and into Georgie’s hands. More shiny paper like that which her tin teacup and necklace had come in.

“You already got me presents,” she chastised him, although she didn’t halt her fingers from peeling off the tape.

“I wanted to save something for today. You needed the cup for our trip, and I wanted you to wake up wearing the necklace.”

It made sense. Still, it was very generous. Too generous, her mother would say soon enough. Georgie shook her head and pushed open the paper like a blooming flower. A hunk of light metal was revealed. “It matches!” she whispered excitedly. A teapot to pair with her teacup, detailed with scenic engraving that included fir trees and mountain tops. “I love it! Thank you so much.”

A kiss to the crown of her head and the crowd went wild. “You’re welcome, my mate.”

The head table, which had seated herself, her parents, Casey, and the current alpha and alpha mate for a light and early lunch, was dragged up against the far wall to make room in the centre for the music that began to play and the balloons that were thrown in amongst the revellers. The pups and young wolves were happy to play and tussle and bounce to the tunes, the adults were all still eyeing their opportunity to approach Georgie and her mate. She didn’t get a toe onto the dance floor before someone was congratulating her. At least she had Casey at her back to keep her from being surrounded.

“What a blessing it is that you should both find your mates so easily!” an old woman cooed. “It took me years to find my Roger and what a fuss it was with pack transfers and…”

Georgie nodded and smiled and nodded some more. Her hands were held and her cheek mock-stroked and one man attempted to kiss her palm before Casey grumbled a growl. Low, subtle, a clear warning. As soon as a pause appeared, a slight break in the stream, she excused herself for the bathroom.

Instead, she slipped out the side door that most in the pack believed was bolted. Georgie knew from many an escapade with the alpha’s twins that the lock had rusted and ceased to hold years ago. The thought that the door was locked was enough to keep people from attempting to use it. Except, that was, three adventurous pups.

Georgie pressed it closed again quickly with her back, slumping a little. She just needed a moment. Hidden in the alcove that cornered the community hall, the forest in sight, the air clear and free of chatter.

Alpha Calvin, it seemed, was also taking a breath of fresh air away from the madness. Hunched against the other side of the alcove, he chuckled sheepishly. Hard candies the colour of burnt sugar filled his palm, tipped from a paper bag the size of a coin purse. He offered her first choice. Georgie grinned gratefully and took the wonkiest one.

When his mouth was empty again, the alpha sighed without weight. “It isn’t always like this.” He looked down at her. “I want you to know that. They won’t always have such intrusive interest in you.” His smile was kind. “It will get easier, I promise.”

“Thank you, alpha.”

He left her alone with the breeze. It didn’t last long. The side door bumped open again soon enough, only this time the scent that came with it sent sparks of arousal along all of her skin.

They both were still, yet Cove’s breathing got heavier and heavier, his eyes locked to her, as though they were running the forest. When the door fell closed from his loose hand the noise jolted them both. It didn’t awake them from the bind, though. The step he took towards her was a stumble, the force humming between them only growing stronger and more insistent the closer he came. His breath tickled her forehead. A kiss. He was restraining it, she could feel it in her very soul.

Bang.