The Alpha Twins and their Runaway Witch

81

The next morning, Ariel awoke in a comfortable bed that was all her own. Safe in a house with Alex, August and Binh. It should have been a good morning, except it felt like there was a weight crushing down on the entire house. Ariel did not understand. She had done her best to ignore the auspicious feeling, gotten ready in the main floor bathroom and dressed. Joining Alex, August who were in the kitchen. It felt like a funeral not breakfast.

Alex was busy puttering around the kitchen. His brows knit together as he prepared what looked like far more food than Ariel. Alex and August could eat. "Did something happen?" Ariel asked. There was too much tension in the room to ignore.

Silence. Ariel grabbed a branch of grapes from the bowl of fresh fruit on the counter and started to feed Three Hours Past Midnight, and feeding herself along with the raven a light breakfast to start their day. Alex didn't answer her. August breezed around the room, gathering things to set the table. Answering Ariel's question "Pandora, her mate, son and some random friend all arrived in the middle of the night."

Ariel still didn't understand why Alex was in such a mood. "Your mom said your sister was coming home, is she really that bad?" Ariel felt her body grow tense. She was already overwhelmed by almost everything happening in her life right now. An evil sister coming home was not the fairy tale movie twist she wanted to add.

"No" Said August.

Alex sighed. "You ever met someone who has never been happy with what they have?" Ariel nodded. That sounded like an accurate way to describe to describe Gisella. "Pandora has never been happy because she always wants more." Ariel saw August nodding, not disagreeing with his brother.

August moved around Alex in the kitchen, arranging plates as Alex served up a diner style breakfast. Alex gestured for Ariel to sit as the brothers brought over the perfect plates of food, that smelled almost as good as the breakfast platters made by Tyrone. A moment later everyone was seated ready to dig in. Three Hours Past Midnight perched behind Ariel, indicating to her strongly that it was time to share bacon.

"So in an effort to shield you from a second rough meal we are hiding from our big sister here like the big brave wolves we are." August cracked a joke. Alex gently kicked his brother on his foot in a playful way under the table. Ariel smiled. She liked this kind of meal much more than the one in the pack dining hall where she felt like she was a goldfish trapped inside a bowl, on display with nowhere to hide.

Alex grumbled something under his breath. Before August called on him to speak louder. "Might keep her inside for lunch too." Another grumble and another call out from his brother. "I forgot how the pack can be sometimes. I want to show you our home at its best." Alex was looking directly into Ariel's eyes when he spoke. She could feel how much he meant it.

They were staying in for breakfast, because Alex and August wanted to protect her. Ariel went to look towards Binh for reassurance. Except Binh wasn't there. Three Hours Past Midnight was pointedly not thinking of Binh.

Sensing her confusion, August tried to redirect her thoughts, "I heard him step out before the sun was up, he's been in the city for a while, maybe he wanted a country sunrise?" Three Hours Past Midnight refused to comment, which Ariel found strange, but considering that almost everything since she had met the raven had been a strange dream like experience, Ariel didn't pay it much more attention than anything else.

She also had a more pressing problem. She wanted to go to her appointment with the therapist in secret. She liked August and Alex. She wanted them to like her back. She didn't want them to know she was so broken she literally did not have the first clue about how to love them back. She was embarrassed of herself. Her lack of family, resources, everything in her, she thought was lacking.

Ariel looked at the time on her phone. Reread the instructions for how to reach the place for her appointment. Ariel wished Binh was here to reassure her that things would be okay. Instead she had to trust herself, and trust Alex and August. "Would it be ok, if I um," She always struggled to get past the part where she wanted to ask for something. It had slowly been getting easier with Binh. Alex and August were not Binh. "If I wanted to walk in the woods a bit? Alone? Aspen said the trees would listen and I kind of liked that idea a lot." She did not lie, she would talk to the trees as she went to the appointment. "I want to be in a good head space for the family barbeque tonight." Her voice so soft and quiet as she said wonderful things.

Alex and August looked at each other. Ariel wanted time alone, on their lands. She felt safe with the tree spirits of their father. She wanted to go to the family event. There was no reason to say no. August mind linked his brother. If Ariel was safely hidden in the forest, they could put in a moment of face time with Pandora, ideally where their mother would catch a glimpse and their obligations would be met, without Ariel being subjected to Pandora anymore than was necessary.

"Not a problem," Alex said grabbing a piece of paper, and drawing out the rune that marked the protected boarder of the pack lands. He didn't imagine Ariel would venture too far, but all things considered he wanted to err on the cautious side of things. "The pack a magic boarder, you'll sense it, but it is also marked with this sign on trees." August took over, cutting his brother off.

"The signs are all marked facing towards the centre of the pack," Smiling, Ariel was more relaxed, even without the demon security blanket. Ariel smiled at both of them, excusing herself to go and finish getting ready for her day.

The moment her door clicked closed Alex and August were both mindlinking over top of each other creating cacophony in their heads as they rushed to try and plan out a perfect, romantic date day for the three of them to enjoy tomorrow. If she wanted. They realised they should have a few options arranged.

Allow Ariel to have choice for how they spent their first, official date. Grinning as they started to brainstorm. They could hike, have a bonfire, make s'mores together Alex suggested. Dreaming of the possibility of perhaps sitting next to her tucked under a warm blanket in the glow of the fire to keep warm against the cool night air.

August nodded. Agreeing that was an excellent suggestion, offering that they could go away from the main village into the dark of the wild land and share the constellations papa Aspen had taught them in stories when they were children. Neither brother were certain if the stories from Aspen aligned with what modern people would tell each other. It didn't matter. They both liked Aspen's version and it could become a family tradition, one they could hand down to any children they might have someday.

There was a spa, water park, mini golf, fine dining restaurants, and bars as well as dance halls, and endless other entertainment options at Rose Gold Resort on the far side of the pack. They decided they might need Penny to help soften some edges to get access to some of the club options on short notice. They could quickly call, but PenPen wouldn't be able to say no if they asked her in person. Penny had a big soft spot for all her baby brothers.