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

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

“Not. A. Word,” his soulmate hissed.

Georgie leapt from Casey’s bed into the gap between them, Cove lunged forward to grab his mouth with one hand and his 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 his nipples or kissing him into a tree, but all from a brush of contact. If Cove did so much as flick one or peck him he might just come undone right there.

Cove jolted, his body freezing up with Georgie still locked in his hands. The sensations hit him, too, then. Georgie let him hold him upright, his lips twitching against his palm, his cheeks ridged under his silencing squeeze, his heartbeat pulsing in his upper arm against his harsh hold. He was glaring at him 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, Cove shifted his grips to both sides of his waist and and flung him down onto his own bed. His body bounced on impact with the sheets.

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

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

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

“Get back into his bed,” Cove murmured into his ear.

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

Casey. His heart twisted itself like a sponge wrung out. Even with evergreen eyes closed he knew he held a match in his soul for him, too. The eyelashes that fluttered through his dreams were still. Georgie 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 he thought he had belonged. Where he had gone to sleep thinking was his place for the rest of his life. When he slotted himself back between them, facing him this time, the rush of his touch shivered through him. Identical in sensation to Cove’s. Behind him, his other mate dragged blankets about until his breathing turned long. It was impossible to be unaware of his presence now, but he refused to roll over and look again. He was in his mate’s arms, Casey should be all he 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 his lips.

“It’s like I’ve never seen you in daylight,” he 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, his smile small.

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

“Yes,” he 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 him with an energy that sparkled all the way down to his toes. Georgie did not wish Cove a good morning. He 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 him Cove was up. Only when the bathroom door clunked did Georgie flip to his back.

Casey scoffed and turned into him, pausing right before what he could feel in the sparks of his 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 he supposed to react to this? He 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 his mate too. He watched him 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 him to keep it too. Was that fair? To Cove, 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 him. “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 he pulled on yesterday’s shorts. Covered up enough to skip between buildings.

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

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

The second biggest pack event of the year was close to beginning, in his honour no less, and he felt like he needed to go hide in a dark room alone and calm down. He 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, he needed to seem at ease and gracious like a true alpha mate. How could he keep his cool when every touch, from either twin, caused a frisson?

The shower was rushed. The lotions and perfume were rushed. The birthday co-ord set was rushed onto him. He needed to be ready before Casey arrived so he could give himself a bit more time to just think-

A thumping on the front door stilled him.

“Coming!” he called and rushed into his shoes as he 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 his ear that it was all to gain alpha mate favour down the line. He accepted every one with a bow of his head and gratitude on his lips.

Casey’s parents presented him 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 him with its weight as he 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 his tin teacup and necklace had come in.

“You already got me presents,” he chastised him, although he didn’t halt his 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, his mother would say soon enough. Georgie shook his head and pushed open the paper like a blooming flower. A hunk of light metal was revealed. “It matches!” he whispered excitedly. A teapot to pair with his 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 his head and the crowd went wild. “You’re welcome, my mate.”

The head table, which had seated himself, his 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 his mate. He didn’t get a toe onto the dance floor before someone was congratulating him. At least he had Casey at his back to keep him 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. His hands were held and his cheek mock-stroked and one man attempted to kiss his palm before Casey grumbled a growl. Low, subtle, a clear warning. As soon as a pause appeared, a slight break in the stream, he excused himself for the bathroom.

Instead, he 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 his back, slumping a little. He 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 him 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 him. “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 him 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 his skin.

They both were still, yet Cove’s breathing got heavier and heavier, his eyes locked to his, 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 him was a stumble, the force humming between them only growing stronger and more insistent the closer he came. His breath tickled his forehead. A kiss. He was restraining it, Georgie could feel it in his very soul.

Bang.