The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 37

CAULDER

\tRemy went to her room the moment we got home, and I headed to my room, exhausted from everything that went down. I didn't like that she had been hanging out with a vampire, especially with the looming threat, but if Blade was telling the truth about everything, he could be useful. I would have to talk to my parents about it, but that wasn't a conversation I was looking forward to either.

\tl entered my room, ready to crash, but the moment I shut the door, Harper sprung to her feet off of my bed and ran over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed. I instantly winced as a searing pain ran through my ribs. \tHarper pulled back, and her face was twisted with concern. "Are you okay? What happened?"

\tl took a shallow breath, trying to keep my ribs from moving too much. When Blade had hit me to get me off of him, he left my ribs bruised and hopefully not broken. I had kept the injury hidden from Remy and Blade, because I didn't want them to know how much pain I had been in, but there was no way I would be able to keep Harper from knowing.

\t"It's just a small injury. It's nothing. There was a miscommunication between me and the guy Remy was meeting up with," I explained, trying to downplay the wound. If I was going to give Blade a proper chance, I didn't want the first thing I said to people to be that he nearly broke my ribs.

\tHarper grabbed my shirt and lifted it up. Her eyes went wide, and she gently touched the dark bruise forming on my side. I winced, even with her gentle touch. "This is not minor. You need your mom to take a look at this." \t"No," I quickly said. "She'll want to know how I got it, and I can't tell her."

\tHarper's hands fell, and she looked up at me. "How did you get that wound?"

\t"Long story short, I attacked Remy's boyfriend because I thought he was attacking her, and he hit me in self-defense. Don't worry. He looks worse than me," I chuckled, hoping it would make light of the situation. \tHarper gave me a pointed look that told me I wouldn't get out of this that easily. "Okay, there are several points that need to not be a short story. First of all, Remy has a boyfriend?"

\t"I think so at least. She claims she found her mate." I started to take my shirt off, but even lifting my shirt up was painful.

\tHarper stepped forward and started helping me pull my shirt off, so I didn't have to lift up my arm as much. "She found her mate? That's pretty incredible. She's been wanting to replace her mate for as long as I can remember. Shouldn't this be a good thing?" \tIn theory, Harper was right. Remy meeting her mate was a good thing, and the way she looked at Blade was a look I hadn't seen from her. She looked blissfully happy, so I knew I should be happy for her, but there was a rock in my stomach, stopping it. \t"Her mate is a vampire," I said simply.

\tHarper dropped my shirt on the ground. "Oh."

\t"He seems like a good guy. He even put himself in harm's way to make sure she was safe when he thought I was attacking them. He has offered to help the pack train against vampires, in case a vampire coven attacks the pack-" \t"Wait, what's this about a vampire attack?" Harper interrupted.

\tl hadn't had a chance to update Harper on all of the things going on with the pack. Or maybe I had, but I didn't want to dwell on the serious news when I was with her. She had been a safe place for me for the past couple of days, and I preferred to just enjoy her time.

\t"It's not confirmed, but there's information the Council of Magic discovered that it's this vampire coven that's trying to release that creature that went after Remy. We're keeping an eye on them for now, and it doesn't look like they are going to attack, but my dad wants to be prepared, you know? The fact that Blade, Remy's mate, found this pack tells me the vampires are even more of a threat than I realized. It means that the coven could replace us-replace Remy." My chest felt tight as the weight of all of this hit me. I hadn't had a moment to really process what Blade's presence even meant.

\t"Come here." Harper grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards the bed.

\t"What are you doing?" I asked, following Harper's lead.

\tShe sat down on the bed and tugged my arm until I sat with her. She moved behind me and put her hands on my shoulder. She started massaging my back, and her touch sent tingles down my spine.

\t"You need to relax. I know Remy is your sister, and you will be the future alpha, but if you keep this up, you are going to give yourself a heart attack. All of this is not your responsibility." She leaned forward and kissed my shoulders.

\tl closed my eyes and focused her hands on me. "I know it's not my responsibility, but I can't just ignore everything." There was a pressure that was constantly looming over me, knowing what my future held, and it had only grown worse. \tHarper kissed me again. "I know, and that's just one of the things I admire about you."

\tl shifted so I could look Harper in the eyes. Our faces were mere inches away from each other. "What else do you admire about me?"

\tHarper bit her lip and looked me up and down, clearly checking me out. She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

\tl smirked, feeling cocky as I knew she was admiring my body. I grabbed the back of her head and gently pulled her into a kiss. I ran my tongue over her lips, tasting her sweetness. I started kissing her jawline, tracing up to her ear. "Are you sure you don't know?" \tHarper's hands moved to my chest, and she ran her fingers up my bare skin, sending tingles down my spine. Her hands hooked my neck and pulled me towards her until I ended up on top of her. I winced at the sudden movement, but I tried to push past it. I leaned down to kiss Harper, but she put her hands on my chest.

\t"You're hurt. We should stop. Plus, I don't want to get carried away." Harper's voice was a soft whisper, and the way she looked up at me with her doe eyes made it nearly impossible to not kiss her again.

\tBut she was right.

\tl wouldn't be able to properly enjoy anything if any small movement caused pain in my side. Plus, Harper deserved better than this.

\t"Right." I gave her a soft kiss before shifting my weight off of her. I lowered myself onto my back slowly to avoid irritating my ribs as much as possible. As soon as my head hit my pillow, I closed my eyes, and the exhaustion started to set in. \tHarper turned to her side and snuggled into me, which was a little surprising. She draped her arm over me, and the warmth of her body lulled me into sleep.

\t-

\t"Caulder. You're going to be late for school-"

\tThe door to my room swung open, jolting me awake. My mother stood at the door, and she had a horrified look on her face. She looked between me and Harper, and I knew what was going through her head. Harper had fallen asleep in my bed unintentionally last night, and she was still there.

\t"Mark!" my mother called out to my father, shutting the door behind her and stomping down the hallway.

\t"Shoot," Harper muttered under her breath, throwing the blanket off of her and rolling out of my bed. "Shoot, shoot, shoot. This isn't good."

\tl climbed out of bed and grabbed the first shirt I could replace. "It's fine. It's not like we did anything. Even if we had, we're adults."

\t"Your mother-the luna of our pack-just caught me in her son's bed. I don't want her to think of me like that." Harper's voice was strained as she combed through her hair with her fingers.

\t"Think of you like what?" I checked my hair in the mirror, and it was all over the place. That mixed with the bags under my eyes didn't do me any justice.

\t"Like one of the sluts you have hooked up with." Harper's voice was harsh and filled with panic, and something about her comment stung a little. This wasn't the first time Harper had made a comment like that, but before it had always been in jest. This felt more personal and targeted.

\tMy door swung open again, and this time it was my father who was there. I really needed to start locking my door at night.

\tHe raised his eyebrows at me. "Your mother is pretty freaked out right now. She's telling me I need to give you two the talk." My father didn't sound worried or concerned, and it was clear he was only standing there because of my mother. \t"Nothing happened," I insisted.

\tMy father looked between the two of us, and he was skeptical. "Is that so?"

\tHarper moved towards the door, and she quickly slipped past my father. "Sorry, Alpha. I need to get ready for school."

\tl pinched the bridge of my nose as Harper dashed away. I felt a little sick from this interaction. "She fell asleep here on accident. Nothing happened. I swear."

\tMy father crossed his arms and hummed in response. "Still, you need to be careful. Harper deserves to be treated better than that."

\tl let out a frustrated sigh. Being jolted awake and then dealing with this awkward conversation was not how I wanted to start my morning after last night. "I know Harper deserves better. I am treating her better, and I don't need 'the talk. When and if Harper and I take it to the next level, I know how to be cautious and treat a woman right-not that it's any of your business. Now, I have to go, or I'm going to be late for school."

\tl grabbed my jacket and stormed out of my room.