The Alphas & The Heiress

Chapter 20

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Syble (Magnolia)

Breakfast this morning is bustling, there are kitchen staff, house staff, and pack members all abuzz throughout the house preparing for tomorrow night's birthday festivities. I steal a seat next to Incandis at the breakfast bar and snag the last banana off the counter.

"Morning sleepyhead, you're just in time to head out to training." Incandis greets me through mouthfuls of eggs.

"Where did you get an omlet from?"

"If you want the good stuff you can't afford to sleep in." He smiles at me and nudges me with his shoulder.

"Why didn't you wake me then?" I smack him on the back of the head but not hard enough to hurt.

He cocks his head at me like the answer's obvious. "It's the first night you've slept well in over a month."

"Hm, so it is." I say neutrally. He's right, I managed to sleep through the night, restfully, waking much later today than usual.

"Oh my gosh, Syble, finally! I was about to break down your door." I'm surprised to see Kat come up next to me speaking feverishly.

"Good morning to you too. What, pray tell, is so urgent that you'd need to break down my door?" I spend one day with the girl and suddenly we're besties. Kat has that way about her though, she's outgoing and outspoken unapologetically so.

"I took the day off from work so we can go...shopping!" She sings the last word an octave higher than her baseline high pitched voice.

"Kat you'll have to go shopping another time, we're taking Syble out to the lake for the day." Ro says as he and Varian amble into the kitchen, dressed casually in jeans and tight, black t-shirts.

My heart rate spikes at the sight of them. It's only been a few hours and it sounds insane but I've missed hearing their voices. I wonder if spending that much time with them yesterday had anything to do with how well I slept last night. I wouldn't mind spending some more time with them again today.

"You're taking her away from training again? When did this become a social visit?" Incandis asks them incredulously. I kick him in the leg under the table and mouth "what the fuck?" at him when he looks at me to complain.

"I'll be the one taking her from training so we can shop for my birthday tomorrow." Kat says with her head held high and a triumphant grin on her face.

I'm so disinterested in being in the middle of all this. "I'm just gunna... go... You four can duke it out amongst yourselves, text me and let me know who wins." I don't want to stick around lest I be asked to choose, because I know who I'd pick.

I hop off the breakfast bar stool and make my way outside. I walk around the veranda of the house and discover that behind the manor sits a massive flower garden. There are waist high green shrubs that line the perimeter of the square garden, and dozens of rows of flower beds and flower bushes intricately woven throughout each quadrant of the garden. The garden's centerpiece is a giant pink magnolia tree with several limbs that scoop down and kiss the ground, creating a natural bench to sit on beneath the tree.

Walking around to the back of the tree I notice a sizable green house just beyond the garden's boundary. The door to the greenhouse is open and I discover the twins' mom, Accalia, tending to some plants inside. She lifts her head and smiles warmly at me, "Good morning Syble, what a lovely surprise."

"Hi, good morning. I'm sorry I was just exploring, I didn't mean to intrude."

"Nonsense, It's not often I get to have company while I tend to my plants. Please, join me." She motions to an empty flower pot on the table beside her and hands me a pair of gardening gloves.