Accepting My Twin Mates by Unwise Owl

Accepting My Twin Mates Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37 – THIS IS THE DELTA?

Evie

Astennu shifted to his wolf, joining his twin. I folded his clothing and stuffed them, along with Badru’s, into the saddlebag he had fixed in place.

‘Don’t damage the papers,’ he warned. ‘And there’s a flash drive in there too. It’s all for Elan.’

I grasped the carved eagle horn, about to haul myself up into the stirrups, when Astennu nudged me.

‘Hang on, don’t get up just yet. Aasim and Heru usually play chase for a while.’

I stood back, watching the giant ebony wolf lower his chest to the ground and wave his tail around, barking to initiate the game. Heru began to rear his head, swishing his tail and the two took off out of the stables, running at full pelt down the riding trail heading east.

Guess I was walking for a while.

‘Wanna catch up?’ Badru rubbed up my flank, trotting along beside me.

‘You that desperate to play Heru too?’ I teased, earning a loud grumble of protest.

‘I would have asked if you wanted to ride me,’ he muttered. ‘But last time I asked that, you scowled.’

‘That’s because you said it in a gross way,’ I patted his head.

‘Ok, you wanna ride me in a non-gross way?’

I let loose a sharp burst of laughter, ‘crouch down then.’

Once I was situated on his back with a firm grasp on his thick fur at the scruff of his neck, he took off to catch up. We were over halfway to the wiccan commune by the time Aasim and Heru had finished playing chase, and I was able to actually get some horse riding in. The stallion was always a ball of boundless energy and kept up with the two Alpha wolves easily. The twins, too, lacked no limits to their stamina, tumbling and pouncing on each other as they ran through the shallow covering of snow. I noticed Astennu was the faster of the two, always just a whisker ahead. Badru was stronger. The few times he managed to catch his older twin, he pinned him with a little more ease.

The wiccan Family’s land became apparent as we neared, gradually becoming greener and warmer, the snow retreating. Blooms and trees, in full leaf, flourished when they should lay dormant given winter’s beginning. While I had never met any personally, we had been taught in school about all the beings we shared our world with. As the legend went, wiccans were humans blessed by the moon goddess and entrusted to protect the primordial spirit of the earth, gaia, by manipulating the energies of nature around them. Earth wiccans were the most numerous, able to grow plants no matter the season and enhance their natural properties, making them quite potent. Others could see the aura of those around them, some could communicate with animals and there were those that could heal injuries, and even receive visions of the future.

As the treeline receded, Astennu and Badru halted our run to shift and dress. Elan’s home lay just up ahead on the edge of the wiccan commune. I could hear the excited sounds of another horse nearby and as soon as I had removed my mates’ clothes from the saddlebags, handing them over, Heru was off. About to panic I had let him run away, I ran after him, only to pull up a short distance later in front of a log-built cottage with a thatched roof and climbing roses and ivies growing up the exterior. A large paddock lay at the side with an attached stable and a roan-coloured appaloosa hanging its head over the fence to greet the pale gold stallion.

I heard a light chuckle behind me from Astennu as he approached, sliding on his jacket.

“That’s Elan’s mare, Sugar,” he placed emphasis on the mare’s name, a knowing smirk teasing his lips as he looked on at his horse nuzzling the pretty appaloosa. “That’s how we met him. He was out for a ride at the same time I was breaking in Heru.”

The two were quite smitten. My boy liked him some Sugar, it seemed.

tan complexion and a fairly broad build from what I was expecting; he had to be Elan. The man greeted Heru, who didn’t seem to mind, although his attention was still

no clue what I did for that horse to hate me,” Badru grumbled,

his pouting, taking his as he and Astennu led

man grabbed each of their hands in turn, pulling them in for one of

twins ushered me forward

his arm across my back

tried to as best he could despite our height difference; he was about a half foot shorter than me. He also had the strangest brown eyes I had ever seen. They were an unnaturally vivid shade,

I awkwardly laughed. I wasn’t expecting such a warm greeting, having been used to seeing and experiencing more formal and

shoulder, about to ask about Heru, to see Astennu already dealing with his saddle and bridle, nodding at me to go into the house and that he’d follow soon. As I was heading through the door, I looked to see the stallion taking off into the paddock after Sugar. He had galloped the whole way and still had stacks of energy to chase the

ceiling and in full bloom. Pots hung from driftwood branches along the walls and huge potted plants lined

couldn’t help but gape, having never

I watched a couple of the vines reach out slowly and uncurl towards Elan,

small tickle on my cheek, making me jerk at the unexpected sensation. One of the trailing vines crept around my shoulder

smiled, obviously amused

“How do you know?”

have been written all over my face because he

on the exterior didn’t seem to react at all

take on their own life,” he nodded

vines snaking all over him, a few even blooming against his cheek. The same with Astennu, too, when he

got competition from a plant?” I

voice joined in from what looked like the kitchen. “For some reason, the flowers

woman by her hand to greet me; his familiar, a wiccan version of wolf’s mate. She too had the same unnaturally vivid eye colour, in green.

one. I can only handle small injuries” she blushed. “Come on through, Elan has made you all breakfast. Sorry I can’t stay and eat with you, I’m

shoulders after leading us through to

funky stuff?” Badru

of his

funky stuff?’ I

a wiccan Family that

‘Ashen Star?’ I clarified.

for the pack there and Hazel sometimes has it in,’ Badru began pouring me a cup of the non-funky tea. ‘It is like catnip to our wolves, makes them all spacey and chilled for

a note of that tea,’ Evva quietly urged. She had been silently watching and admiring everything about the home we were

filled with soy crepes, fresh raspberries from the stalks grown in the kitchen, and

side of bacon,” Badru muttered at the lack of

can open up that tofu bacon? It went down well last time,” Elan slapped the table in raucous

Astennu exclaimed, a huge grin on his face at the inside joke between

in on the story. “They both threw it up in seconds. Badru was practically green and hurled into a