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

Georgie flinched. “No. I-”

“Eating too fast?” she chuckled. Her hand dropped a little to cup her chin, stroking the sides.

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

“Wanna help me make the final choices?”

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

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

“Okay,” Casey sighed, grinning. “You win.” She put the catalogue in Georgie’s hands and pulled her to the bed with her. She was a big, fluffy pillow cuddling Georgie with the strength of a beast restrained beneath the surface. She loved that about Casey, she was a genuine gentle giant… until you needed her to be the wolf she kept inside. Across their lifetimes she’d seen it less often than she 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. She fought wildly, unpredictably, and it hadn’t lost her anything yet so maybe she 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 her 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…” she muttered.

“I know. We’re keeping that.” The finality warmed her 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 beautiful, flawless all over, glowing with youth and alpha power.

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

Casey kissed her 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. She appreciated Casey pretending that it wasn’t all Georgie’s shopping under her 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 her own wild side.

―

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

Slow sips and watching the world pass through the kitchen windows suited Georgie just fine for her morning activity. It did remind her, however, that she 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, she should be doing the same. One day, alpha mate would effectively be her 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 she would have been if her soulmate situation hadn’t chosen for her. A scout would have been the dream… if not that, maybe a hunter like them? Some form of forester or mushroom forager?

She took her teacup and saucer to the sink and washed them up languidly. Her duty within her pack was decided – twice fold – and it didn’t change anything to daydream. She would insist on more training alongside the twins. After the one errand she had planned for the day, she would put forward her request, again. Georgie dried the delicate pieces and put them away. She would be a great alpha mate, one day, she 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 her knees in the temple and asking a priestess for advice, and Cove had her under uncomfortable pressure to keep their situation to herself.

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

“Twins?” the teacher repeated.

Georgie was breathless when she 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.

She 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 hers.

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