by Crystal Dawn
Placing her in bed, he scooted in next to her and they cuddled up. Nothing felt as wonderful as lying next to Moe and breathing in her lovely scent. Tonight he would sleep well in his mate’s arms, tomorrow he suspected all hell might break loose.
“Good morning, Lover.” Moe said as she stood by the bed with a mug of coffee.
“Holy hell. What time is it? How long have you been up?” Tyne asked.
“It’s your usually wake up time and I got up early because you seemed exhausted and I wanted to fix breakfast for you.”
“You are an angel.”
“I thought I was a devil last night?” Moe laughed.
“You are many things to me, my sweet.”
“You’re just a charmer, but I’ll let you get away with it today.”
He took the mug of coffee sipping the burning hot fluid. Setting it down, he began to get dressed knowing his mate was fixing him a heaping plateful of whatever she’d cooked. She was too good for him but he’d fight to keep her anyway. His mind moved to the call Moe had received and he honestly couldn’t imagine who it might be.
Tyne hoped that havoc wasn’t about to come crashing into his life. He didn’t like to deal with unknown people. It often didn’t turn out the best. Once he was dressed, he made his way into the kitchen. She’d made his eggs over medium, lots of leftover pork chops but she’d fixed white gravy for them. Hash browns, the way he liked them with fried onions and cheese, covered a second plate with some biscuits on the side. Moe was spoiling him so much it made him a bit suspicious.
He decided to let her continue until it came to its natural end. “Thank you, Honey. This is wonderful and unexpected.”
“You’re welcome Sweetie. You deserve it.” That was just so unlike Moe.
Tyne wasted no time putting breakfast away and making sure they were on time to open the doors. Today, he intended to be there to catch any weird calls and spend lunch with his female. A male could hope, anyway. “Come on, Honey. Let’s head out.” Moe had cleaned up while he ate and she rinsed off his dishes putting them in the dishwasher. Now she followed him out the door.
“It’s a beautiful day. Let’s hope everything goes good.” Moe observed.
Tyne thought he certainly was hoping for the best and with good reason after yesterday. Maybe today things would go right and the mystery of the unknown female would be solved in a way that wouldn’t cause him grief.
They arrived just before the others as was usual. Moe had coffee made before the team came in and she put out some cookies he hadn’t noticed. He grabbed one and ate it. Oatmeal raisin, one of his favorites so he grabbed a few more. Going to his office, he turned on his computer and Moe set his coffee mug beside him. The coffee was black just the way he liked it.
Relaxing in his chair as he scrolled through his emails and munched on cookies, his day was starting out pretty good. His phone lit up and he answered. “Your mystery woman is on line one.” Moe noted.
Well, hell. Best to get it over with. “Good morning, this is Tyne Wolf speaking. How may I help you?”
“Tyne?” A hesitant female voice asked.
“Yes, who is this?”
“Tyne, it is Twila.”
“Twila as in my twin sister Twila? The sister I’ve thought was dead for twenty years?”
“Yes, your sister. If I let you believe I was dead, it was to keep you and the family safe.”
“Why now Twila?”
“The male who took me is dead now and I escaped. I need somewhere safe I can go.”
“Where are you?”
“I am in Blue Eye, just down the street. I didn’t want to come to you without talking to you first.”
“Do I need to send someone after you?”
“No, I’m close enough to walk to you. Are you sure you want me to?”
The hesitation in her voice was killing him. He was pissed at her, but he would never turn his back on his sister. “Come to me. You are always welcome. There’s someone special I want you to meet.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Talk about a bomb dropping right on him. For years after Twila had disappeared, he’d dreamed of finding her. The dream had died and they’d all given up. It had caused an emotional turmoil in his family. It hurt his parents to see him, because it reminded them of Twila. She’d been the gentle delicate one growing up, at least she had been until she’d gone to college when she became rebellious. His parents tended to forget that she’d changed, because they had thought it just a phase she would get through. They had always remembered her as she had been years before.
His father had blamed Tyne for not protecting her. Tyne had blamed himself too. Would this change anything between himself and the rest of his family? Probably not, because there was too much water under that bridge.
Tyne got up and went to Moe’s desk. “The mysterious female is coming here and I want you to come to the back office with us.”
Moe stared at him. He wasn’t sure what she saw, but she nodded her head slowly. “Alright, Honey.”
Seconds later a buzz alerted them to a customer, only it wasn’t. Damn she looked nothing like she had the last time he’d seen her. Tyne slowly approached her and held his arms open. Twila walked into them and collapsed, crying.
Moe stood quietly observing, but saying nothing. She followed them as Tyne half dragged and half carried his sister to his personal office. Moe closed the door as they stepped inside. “This is my twin sister, Twila.”
“You have family?” Moe asked.
“My sister disappeared over twenty years ago and it caused a breakdown in my family. My parents and I are estranged.”
“I’m so sorry.” Moe said and he could tell she felt for them.
“Twila, Moe is mine.”
“Nice to meet you Moe.” Twila said.
“Nice to meet you as well. So what’s going on here?” Moe asked.
“I was taken and enslaved. The male who took me died and I escaped, but his son is after me. He considers me part of his inheritance. My hope was Tyne could forgive me and find a safe place for me.”
“What the hell is there to forgive?” Moe asked her gaze bouncing back and forth between them.
“Nothing.” Tyne said. “I didn’t know she was taken. We always thought she ran away.”
“Well now you know better. We need to call Damon. She can’t be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.” Moe decided.
“You are right. Why don’t you call him and me and Twila will talk some more?” Tyne asked.
“Certainly. I’ll be right back.” Moe said.
“She’s impressive.” Twila observed.
“If she claims you, you can never have a better friend.” Tyne declared.
“Or a better mate?” Twila asked softly.
“I’m working on it.” Tyne admitted. “Now tell me everything including names, dates, and places.”
“It started when Graves asked me to mate him.”
“He was old as dirt. You were even young for his son.”
“That was why I politely declined his offer. It made him angry and he continued to pursue me. It never occurred to me that he would take the matter into his own hands.”
“Why would you? He was supposed to be a gentleman.”
“Ha, that’s not what he was. He was a monster.” Tyne got angrier the more his sister told him about being abducted, hidden in a cave, treated like a slave, and punished for the slightest things.
“How did he manage to hide you later?” Tyne wondered.
“He kept me either in the basement or the attic. Once our parents moved away, he made me his hostess. There was no one who cared then.” Twila admitted.
“There would have been had we known. There was the note left where you said you were tired of living with rules. You wanted to be free and you would never come back. It crushed our parents. They never recovered from that pain.” Tyne explained.
“I never wrote that.”
“We were se
t up by that dastardly creep.” Tyne explained.
“It seems it was only too easy for him.”
“I am so ashamed that you went through that all because we believed what was easy to see.”
“It’s true I became rebellious. The reason was Mom and Dad wanted to pick a mate for me and I didn’t agree. I know they always thought I’d change my mind, but I still haven’t. Not about that anyway. I’d never intended to take anything that far. He told me our parents were glad I was taken off their hands.” Twila admitted.
“Never! We were all torn up and hurting because we thought you didn’t want to be around us anymore. Why didn’t you find our parents first, Twila?”
“He told me they started a new family. They wouldn’t want me anymore. Their new daughter was well behaved.”
“They do have more children, but they weren’t trying to replace us. The goddess blessed them, you know they always wanted more children. Maybe they did learn how to be better parents this time around.”
“What do you mean? They always thought you were perfect. You were perfect.”
Tyne laughed but it wasn’t with mirth. “Not true. When you left, they blamed me. I joined the military to get away from them. I keep up with what goes on, but I’ve not spoken to them in many years. They didn’t care as much about me as I once thought.” He hadn’t noticed, but Moe had come back in and stood quietly listening. Her face showed her sadness for him. She was someone he could always count on.
“That doesn’t sound like the parents I knew.” Twila said.
“One thing life has taught me, all things change. When you disappeared, they became strangers to me.”
“I’m so sorry, Brother.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You were the biggest victim of all.”
“Damon is on his way. He’ll be here in ten.”
Tyne wasn’t surprised. Situations like this always brought out the protector in Damon. Had he known what had really happened, he would have saved his sister. Was it his fault for not questioning things? Would his parents be happy their daughter was alive, or would they prefer she’d stayed gone? He didn’t know, because he’d never really known the people who had raised him at all.
“Do you want to call them?” Tyne wondered.
“How do you think they will react?” Twila asked.
“I have no idea. Honestly? You’re taking a chance on being rejected. They certainly rejected me.” Tyne had felt the pain of that rejection too. Being in the military with his best friend Blake had helped keep him too busy to dwell on things. That only meant he had never allowed himself to deal with the loss of his family. He’d just buried it and left it be.
“I think I’ll wait until I feel stronger. Hostility from my parents is more than I can handle right now.” Twila said.
“Honey, do you have any belongings?” Moe asked.
“No, I was lucky to escape at all.” Twila said.
“You’re a little taller than me, but I’ll find you something to wear. I keep some stuff here and we have a full bath. You never know what the team might get into.” Moe explained. She disappeared and returned about five minutes later.
Moe escorted Twila to the bathroom and left her there to clean up. Tyne felt guilty for not being more practical. “I should have thought about some of that stuff.” Tyne admitted.
“Nonsense. You are a male. No one expects you to.” Moe insisted. “I ordered some food and we’ll eat when Damon gets here. She doesn’t look like she’s had a good meal in years.”
“She was always trying to lose weight when we were younger. I always told her males liked curves.”
“I know you do, Honey. Sometimes it’s hard for us curvy girls to believe you like it when we hear so much negative stuff on TV and the internet.”
“You better believe it. I love every curvaceous inch of your body.”
Moe smiled. It lit her up from the inside out and it reminded him of how beautiful his female was. He heard the sound of a throat clearing and looked up to see his sister standing there. She looked so slim and delicate. It was clear she’d not been fed or taken care of properly. Tyne didn’t even want to think about what horrors she’d been subjected to.
Someone knocked on the door, it seemed the sandwiches Moe had ordered had arrived. Moe fixed a plate for everyone even Damon who wasn’t here yet. Twila looked at the food as if she didn’t believe it was all for her.
“Go ahead and eat, Sweetie.” Moe instructed.
He thought about his sister and how he would be her avenging angel raining down punishments on whoever was left that had been involved in what was done to her. Tyne couldn’t change the past, but he could ensure she received vengeance. This male who dogged her trail would find her brother harder to deal with than Twila had been.
Damon came right after Twila started eating. Moe handed him a plate which he set down near him. He had a folder with him that he placed next to his plate on the table. “Is this your sister, Tyne?”
“Yes, this is Twila. She’s been missing over twenty years and presumed dead. We had no idea she was being held against her will.”
“That would be up near Drake’s pack?” Damon asked. “Wasn’t that where you were raised?”
“Yes, we were members of a small pack that lived near Drake’s pack. The pack broke up when the alpha died. My parents joined Drake’s pack so they wouldn’t be considered rogues. They have since had more pups and I haven’t had any contact with them in years.”
“Was it because of your sister’s disappearance?” Damon questioned. “I’ve seen things like this tear apart families.”
“Yes, but not the way you think. They thought she ran away and they blamed me.”
“Why would they do that?” Damon asked sounding confused.
“We’re twins. They seemed to think that I should have known whatever was happening and I just didn’t bother to tell them. I’m not sure how they’ll take all this. Twila wants to wait until she’s stronger to talk to them.”
“You should take her to a doctor and have her checked out.” Damon suggested.
“She has an appointment with Ariel’s doctor tomorrow.” Moe mentioned.
“I’m going to take a look into this personally, but I need names, dates, and locations if known.” Damon explained.
“Here.” Tyne said sliding a paper to him. “I typed this up for you. Twila and I went over everything that she could remember.”
“This is great. I will get something started. Did you say this guy believes he inherited Twila? Is the guy nuts?” Damon asked.
“They’ve mated into the same small gene pool. Some of their relatives have been affected with mental instability.” Tyne said.
“It’s not uncommon in rural packs. It’s part of what has led to low birth rates among certain groups.” Damon admitted. “It’s one of the reasons the white wolves are so fertile. It’s the fresh blood being brought into the old tired bloodlines.”
“You make my family sound like breeders, Damon.” Moe observed.
“You know I don’t mean it that way.” Damon declared.
“I know a cousin who wouldn’t like it if you did. But I know what you mean.” Moe offered.
Tyne thought about Marissa, Damon’s mate and knew she wouldn’t appreciate it if he really thought that way. He knew Damon wasn’t like that, he was one of the good guys. Damon was a council member on the wolf’s council which was the wolf’s ruling body for the continent. The male had some power and Tyne considered him a good friend. There was no one he would trust more with the investigation of his sister’s abduction. He would do it himself, but he was too close to the situation.
“I’ve got everything I need to get started. I’ll touch bases once I have something to report.” Tyne and Damon stood shaking hands and saying good byes. Damon left and now it was just the three of them.
“What do we do now?” Twila asked.
“You don’t worry about a thing. I’m going to take you under my wing. Once we get
out of here, we’ll put you in a guest bedroom and see that you have everything you need.” Moe offered.
Tyne truly appreciated his wonderful mate right then. She asked no questions, she just accepted his sister as part of a family Tyne had never mentioned. Moe had never pressed him for information and he knew she had assumed he had no family left. In a way, that had been true until now. His sister had come back and now she was his family. The situation with his parents might never be any different, but he would claim Twila. He would be the big brother, born just an hour before, that he had once been. Protecting his sister was more than just his responsibility, it was his right.
Looking at Moe and Twila talking together, he was sure the two of them would become good friends. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and get Twila settled in?”
“Are you sure?” Moe asked.
“What’s the point of being the boss if I can’t give you time off?” Tyne asked.
Chapter 5
Surprises
Moe could admit everything had caught her completely off guard. She thought Tyne’s misery had come from being alone in the world not from having lousy parents and a disappearing sister. Twila plucked at her heart strings, the poor girl looked abuse and mistreated. That was something that she could help correct. Tomorrow they would start with a doctor visit, but there was so much more they could do.
The rags Twila had been wearing would be trashed, never to be seen again. As far as Moe was concerned, she now had a new sister, one who needed her desperately. “Come on, girl. We’re going to blow this joint.” Twila just gave her a confused and helpless look, but she followed her out the door.
Moe drove them to the house keeping a close eye on her new sister. The helpless look on Twila’s face brought out all of her protective instincts. “It’s alright. I’ll look out for you.” Moe declared, but Twila didn’t look convinced.
They arrived at the house and went in. “This is nice.” Twila said looking overwhelmed.
Moe grabbed her hand and led her along. “This will be your room.” Moe said as she led Twila into the guest bedroom. Tears rolled down Twila’s face. “Are you okay?”