The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 11

REMY

\tCaulder entered my room, but I stayed at the door, holding it open for a moment. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't exactly want to be alone on my birthday. \tCaulder raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "Please shut the door, Remy."

\tl hesitated to do what he said. The rebellious side of me was urging to come out, which was a new feeling. Usually, I was eager to jump at the chance to follow orders, but I was tired of following orders tonight. Finally, I shut the door and leaned against it. I crossed my arms and looked at Caulder pointedly. "What is it?" My voice was snarky, and I felt a little guilty about it, even though I felt justified in my frustrations.

\t"I'm sorry things didn't work out the way you wanted them to tonight. I know you have been looking forward to this night for a while, so I wanted to check on you. Are you okay?" Caulder was genuinely concerned for me. I could feel it through our twin bond, but he didn't get it.

\t"I don't care that the party was ruined. I'm just glad everyone is okay. I do enjoy our birthday parties, but it's because I enjoy celebrating with you. If you asked to have a quiet evening with me for our birthday, I would be perfectly happy with that." \tCaulder folded his eyebrows. "Are you serious? But you love parties."

\t"Yes, I'm serious. I do love parties, but there is always another excuse for a party, especially with Scythe and his love for decorations." I brushed my fingers through my hair, but they got caught in the hair sprayed curls. "But you never ask for anything for our birthday, so I just decide what I want to do and you go along with it."

\t"So if you don't care about the party, then why are you so upset?"

\tl rolled my eyes, unable to control my sass. He didn't get it at all. Usually he understood me the most, but at this moment, he just seemed like a clueless guy. I didn't understand how he didn't see what the issue was when it was so obvious to me. \t"Mom and Dad never let me help out with pack issues. That's your future responsibility, so you're the one who needs the practice. I hate it, but I have grown accustomed to their expectations of me. What upset me the most was when you told me to sit back because I had no obligations to this pack. Coming from you, that cut deep."

\t"Remy." Caulder's voice was quiet. He took a step forward. "I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to protect you. I shouldn't have said that you had no obligations to the pack, but I was scared. You said that thing was coming from you, and Mom asked me to keep you safe. I didn't know what else to do."

\t"Let me help," I quickly said. I knew Caulder felt guilty, but that didn't diminish my feelings, and I couldn't hold back any longer. "Do you know what it's like to be constantly in your shadow? I want to help. I care about this pack, and I would be a kickass leader if given the chance. I try so hard, but no matter what I do, I feel like I can't be seen. I'm not the future alpha. I'm not the future luna. I'm not the future anything in this pack, and that won't change no matter how hard I try. I thought you at least saw me, understood how much I care about this pack, but tonight it didn't feel that way. You treated me like I was weak and helpless. You put me down and treated me like I didn't matter."

\tCaulder's jaw tightened at this. "You think I hid you in the pack house because you don't matter? Remy, it's the opposite. If anything happened to you tonight, I would have lost it. And something almost happened to you. If I had been a second later-" He cut himself and looked away from me.

\tl had been scared when I started falling into nothing, but Caulder was suddenly there and saved me. It was terrifying for me, but I hadn't stopped to think about how that had affected him.

\t"And have you ever stopped to think about what it was like to be in my shoes?" he continued. "As the future alpha, all eyes are on me every second. I can't fail, or people will question if I will actually be a good leader. I have to get good grades, train hard, and know everyone in the pack. That kind of pressure is absolutely suffocating, and I don't want it. I don't want to be the alpha." Caulder shut his mouth quickly.

\tHe had made jokes about trading places with me in the past, but he had never admitted to me that he didn't want to be the alpha. Life seemed so easy for Caulder, so I never stopped to think about the pressure he faced.

\t"Have you told Mom and Dad that?" My anger was quickly fading away as I looked at Caulder. I couldn't stay angry with him for just trying to protect me, especially when I never stopped to see if he was actually okay with the future that was being forced upon him. \tCaulder ran his fingers through his hair and then stopped to tug at the roots. "Of course not. How do you think Dad would feel if I told him I didn't want to follow in his footsteps? He worked so hard to set up this pack and make a good home for the werewolves here. He is a legend among our pack. I can't run away from that. I can't dishonor him or our family like that."

\tMy heart hurt for Caulder. I wanted to be in his shoes more than anything, but he wanted to be in mine. He wanted the freedom that came with having no expectations. I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry," I muttered into his chest. \tCaulder chuckled, patting me on the back. All of the tension between us seemed to disappear. "Why are you sorry? This isn't your fault."

\t"Because I'm being selfish," I said. "Because I'm always wishing I could be more for this pack and wallowing in my future, but I never stopped to realize I could at least support you more, even if I could never take on the responsibility I want to." \tCaulder half-laughed, half-sighed in response. "Remy, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't treat you like you're helpless. Mom made me promise to protect you and always be there for you, and I let myself think that you couldn't protect yourself." He pulled away and held me by the shoulders. "You're incredible, you know? You saved Jessica tonight. She is extremely grateful you risked your life for her. Not many people would have run into the face of danger for someone they barely knew." \tl felt myself blushing at the compliment. Caulder's opinion meant more to me than anyone else's. "She is a part of our pack. I had to do something to help."

\tCaulder smiled and poked my chest. "You have a heart of gold, Remy. Don't ever change that, okay?"

\tl rolled my eyes. Caulder was getting into the mushy territory, and it was making me itch. "If you say so."

\tA knock on my door drew our attention away from each other. It cracked open, and Harper poked her head through it. "Remy, are you okay? I just wanted to check on-" She stopped talking when she noticed Caulder in the room. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you weren't alone. Sorry for interrupting. I'll come back later."

\t"Wait!" I rushed over and pulled Harper into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."

\tHarper hugged me back, but I could feel she was tense. "I'm glad you're okay," she said back. "Have you told anyone what you saw before everything happened yet?"

\tl shook my head. "No. I haven't had a chance yet. There's been too much going on."

\tHarper glanced at Caulder before looking at the ground. The air was a little tense, and I knew there was something I had missed between the two of them. "Well, make sure to tell your parents as soon as possible. I don't think your wolf's warning and that vision were just a coincidence. Has your wolf said anything else?"

\tMy chest felt tight at the mention of my vision. My legs felt a little shaky, so I moved over and sat down on my bed to hide how much this was affecting me. "No. But when I was near that c***k, whatever was there was calling out to me."

\tCaulder curled his fingers until his knuckles turned white. "That thing was after you, but why?"

\tl chewed on the inside of my cheek and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Mom or Ginger knows. It was magical, right? They would probably know more about what it was."

\t"I don't like this," Caulder said. He showed no signs of relaxing. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

\tl did too, but I was afraid to say my fears out loud.

\tHarper moved over and sat next to me. "Well, there is nothing we can do until they finish taking care of the business of the pack. I'm sure your mother is busy healing wounds and whatnot. Why don't we do something fun to take your minds off everything? It's still your birthdays after all." \t"I don't think we can go anywhere," I said. I had been ordered to my room, and I knew tonight was not the night to challenge authority, especially if there was something out there that was after me.

\t"We can watch a movie and eat popcorn," Harper suggested. "I know it's not a grand party or anything, but at least we'll be together."

\tl looked at Caulder and smiled. "Sounds perfect to me."

\t- \tCAULDER

\tl couldn't focus on the movie in the slightest as we watched it. I ended up sitting between Remy and Harper, and I was confident Remy had orchestrated it somehow. Harper was on edge throughout the movie, and I could tell she was being careful not to touch me, but I still didn't know what was going on in her head. She kissed me earlier, but now she could barely look at me.

\tl wanted to reach over and hold her hand, but I didn't want to cross a boundary. I kept glancing at her, trying to figure out if I had done something to upset her, but she kept her eyes glued to the TV.

\tWhen I had finally had enough of the awkward tension, I linked to her, "Are you mad at me?"

\tShe looked at me sharply with wide eyes before looking back at the movie. "Pay attention to the movie."

\tl looked over at Remy, and she was shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth, completely oblivious to the tension filling the air.

\tl turned my attention back to Harper. "Are you really paying attention to what's happening in the movie, because I can't concentrate knowing you can't stand looking at me. Just tell me what I did wrong." \tHarper didn't look at me this time. "Nothing."

\t"Then why are you acting like this?" I kept my eyes glued on her, and I could see her cheeks starting to flush.

\tShe didn't respond right away. She bit her lip and looked in the opposite direction as me. "Because I shouldn't have kissed you. It was rash and stupid."

\t"Oh." My heart raced as I heard her words. The kiss had been magical for me, and my lips tingled at the thought of her soft lips against mine again. But clearly she hadn't felt the same way as me. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I tried to pay attention to the movie instead.

\tAfter a few minutes of silence between us, Harper looked at me. I looked back at her, searching her eyes for what she was thinking again.

\t"It's not that I didn't enjoy the kiss," she admitted. I blinked at her a few times, not understanding what she was trying to say. She inhaled deeply. "I just think it was too fast, and I'm embarrassed by my actions."

\tA smile graced my lips, and I felt myself growing cocky. "Don't be embarrassed. That was a great kiss."

\tHarper hit me, and Remy looked over at us with raised eyebrows.

\tHarper laughed, twisting her hair in her fingers. "Caulder wasn't sharing the popcorn."

\tRemy looked at us for a moment, and I knew she didn't believe Harper in the slightest. She shoved the popcorn bowl towards us. "Don't be a wimp, Caulder. Share the popcorn."

\tl glared at Remy's not so subtle hint. I grabbed the popcorn and handed it to Harper. Her hand brushed mine as I passed the bowl to her, sending a spark up my entire arm. All I wanted to do was hold her hand, which was a foreign feeling to me. I had never cared

to hold a girl's hand before, but Harper was different in so many ways. I wanted to hold her and cherish her. I wanted her to know I was completely serious about her.

\tl settled back into my seat, trying to let the moment pass, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Finally, I reached over and intertwined my fingers with Harper's. She looked at me with wide eyes, but she didn't pull away, which was enough for me.