“Did I do that?” Casey tilted his head and brushed his thumb across Georgie’s bottom lip. A tingle followed his touch.

Georgie flinched. “No. I-”

“Eating too fast?” he chuckled. His hand dropped a little to cup Georgie’s chin, stroking the sides.

He didn’t want to lie, so he laughed awkwardly back and leaned into the petting. The guilt burned his gut. He was lucky Casey had scented him so thoroughly and so often that the touches of Cove hadn’t managed to penetrate it. Not that he allowed their bare skin to brush much. Just as he had admitted in those growls in the kitchen – he was actively avoiding him.

“Wanna help me make the final choices?”

Georgie cocked his smile and reminded him, “Of the shortlist I approved?”

Casey pretended to keep the catalogue from him, offence plastered over his features. Georgie hopped beneath the raised booklet, reaching for it and letting him toy with him. A puppy on its hind legs under his alpha. Both arms in the air, he stilled, pushing out his bottom lip.

“Okay,” Casey sighed, grinning. “You win.” He put the catalogue in his hands and pulled Georgie to the bed with him. He was a big, fluffy pillow cuddling him with the strength of a beast restrained beneath the surface. He loved that about Casey, he was a genuine gentle giant… until you needed him to be the wolf he kept inside. Across their lifetimes he’d seen it less often than he had fingers on one hand and hadn’t forgotten a single instance. Cove was faster when they were young, Casey was ballsier. They grew up and bulked out and Cove didn’t have the step ahead in speed any more but maybe half a step in strength… and Casey still had the edge for the unexpected. He fought wildly, unpredictably, and it hadn’t lost him anything yet so maybe he just made it look erratic...

Georgie flicked through the pages, pausing on those that had the finality of red pen circling products. “I love these…”

Casey nuzzled behind his ear. “I should hope you do, you picked them.”

“How much do we need to cut out?”

“The budget only stretches to two-thirds of what we have circled now.”

Georgie turned a sigh into a hum and sunk deeper beneath Casey’s chin.“I really love the bench for under the window…” he muttered.

“I know. We’re keeping that.” The finality warmed his tummy.

“We don’t need the vanity…”

“Speak for yourself! I don’t look this good naturally.” What a lie. Casey woke up every morning stunningly handsome, flawless all over, glowing with youth and alpha power.

“You’re perfect without any preening,” Georgie cooed.

Casey kissed his neck and reached around to cross out the picture of the vanity table. “Okay, vanity is off the list.” It was another item for Georgie anyway. He appreciated Casey pretending that it wasn’t all Georgie’s shopping under his name.

“What else...”

They reviewed their selection over and over until they managed to drag themselves back beneath the budget by a matter of coins. There had better be no complaints from the pack members, even in passing, or Georgie might just have to show his own wild side.

―

Beside his morning tea a freshly plucked pink snapdragon lay. He traced the petals with his fingertips and thought of Cove’s lips on his, the bite that had left the swelling to catch Casey’s eye. He couldn’t prove Cove had left the clipping for him, but he knew the tea was Casey’s doing. It still held some heat that he let his hands leech from the sides of the teacup.

Slow sips and watching the world pass through the kitchen windows suited Georgie just fine for his morning activity. It did remind him, however, that he should be trying again to make an effort to learn from Alpha Calvin and Alpha Mate Lara… Casey and Cove were working so hard to become the best alphas they could be, he should be doing the same. One day, alpha mate would effectively be his job title.

A pair of girls with bows, quivers and a stack of freshly killed birds hung over their shoulders nattered as they passed. Not close enough to hear their words. Close enough to evoke a wondering in Georgie… of what he would have been if his soulmate situation hadn’t chosen for him. A scout would have been the dream… if not that, maybe a hunter like them? Some form of forester or mushroom forager?

He took his teacup and saucer to the sink and washed them up languidly. His duty within his pack was decided – twice fold – and it didn’t change anything to daydream. He would insist on more training alongside the twins. After the one errand he had planned for the day, he would put forward his request, again. Georgie dried the delicate pieces and put them away. He would be a great alpha mate, one day, he thought. Stood beside a great alpha… or two.

The community collection of texts were cared for by the same wolves that schooled the children. It was the next best option to falling to his knees in the temple and asking a priestess for advice, and Cove had him under uncomfortable pressure to keep their situation to himself.

There wasn’t exactly a specific question he wanted answered, he just needed to know anything there was to. The better he understood the situation he was in, the better he might be able to handle it… the better he might be able to explain it to Casey…

“Twins?” the teacher repeated.

Georgie was breathless when he specified, “Anything to do with twins or their soulmates would be great.”

“Hmm. It’s quite a niche subject… I can’t say we have any books about that specifically, Alpha Mate.”

“I see…” Georgie shifted on the spot, uncertain as to whether that was the teacher’s attempt at a polite dismissal.

“Twins are so rare I’d start with the soulmate subject, Alpha Mate” chimed in another who was carting around returned tomes.

“Is this research for your mate?” the first woman asked with a shy smile.

Georgie reflected it. “Just… looking to learn all I can. Like you said, twins are so rare…”

She nodded and hurried away to a filing cabinet that ran wall to wall behind the desk. “Let me check my references and if we don’t find a match we can direct you to the soulmate subject texts for some general reading.”

“Thank you,” Georgie breathed, slumping a little against the desk, deflating with the mild scrutiny gone.

He was set up at a low table with a medical textbook that referenced twins (which could hardly be trusted when it claimed alpha twins had never been recorded and therefore did not exist) and a stack of books on soulmates that ranged from mushy romantic guidebooks to strict sex ed informational illustrations. Not a sniff of a situation anything like his.

Long after he had flicked through all the weakly-relevant pages, he stayed seated. Most noise was muffled in the space, it made for a good spot to meditate for a while on the roads ahead. He had a choice. As much as Cove was acting as though they didn’t. Georgie mulled over it until he was politely ushered out of the building. They were closing for the day and he had his answer.