Page 3 of A Chance at Love for the Twin Alphas

Man, he should learn how to smile. We’re talking about Christmas parties, not about a tax problem.

Elodie nods. “It was fun. Finn’s not been there, though.”

“I bet he wanted to celebrate with his mate instead,” I point out. Christmas is not really important for us. Furthermore, our friend Finn only found his mate recently, and he probably wants to spend as much time with her as possible. He was the leader of our mission. He met his mate in the pack we tried to free and has only just become alpha of that pack.

We try to talk and chat regularly, and I know he has a lot on his plate.

“Before we forget,” Elise nudges Elodie and giggles a bit.

Elodie nods, and I can barely contain my grin. Similar to Henry, she is quite serious, though not as hot-headed as he is. She is more of a composed and rational person. To my surprise, she pulls two envelopes out of her bag and hands it to both of us.

Henry is faster with opening it. “Your birthday party,” he looks at Elodie and smiles. I wonder if he is aware of how he looks at her. The two of them hated each other in particular and clashed constantly until they finally cleared the air between them. I had an inkling that he had the hots for her. I assume he never approaches her because she’s a friend and might be mated to someone else.

Well, we’ll know this weekend when she and Elise turn eighteen.

“Finally eighteen?” I grin at Elise.

She laughs. “Yes, I can’t believe it’s finally happening. It doesn’t feel real.”

“You have accomplished so much already,” I point out. “That’s awesome. Weren’t you only seventeen when you were hired by the Council?”

“Sixteen, actually,” Elodie corrects me. “Prince Eric hired us as his advisors then but wanted us to finish school first.”

“Not going to lie, that’s pretty amazing,” I mutter.

Henry nods. “You accomplished more than we ever did.”

Elodie looks a bit flustered for a moment. “I know I said that to you,” she says quietly. “But it’s not true. You’re working hard.”

“Yes, ever since we returned, I noticed how much work you put into your pack and how you try not to let them down,” Elise says with a smile.

I feel like they are praising us for something we didn’t do. It’s true that once we returned, we decided to man up and finally show some responsibility. Seeing that suppressed pack and their goddess-forsaken fuckhead of an alpha made us realize we couldn’t continue the way we did before. Our pack and family need us, and they need to be able to rely on us.

Alpha is not just a fancy rank; it’s also a responsibility.

Fortunately, the waitress approaches us to take our orders. We all order breakfast and coffee and chat for a bit longer until she brings our food to us.

“The invitation to your birthday party, which we are looking forward to, by the way,” Henry starts. “Isn’t the sole reason you wanted to meet, right?”

They both nod in unison. “It’s—” Elise starts.

“—not.” Elodie finishes.

A cute habit they have, I think. They tend to talk at the same time and finish each other’s sentences. Though they don’t do it that often anymore. I wonder why? Maybe something changed for them too.

“We wanted to show you something.” Elise takes her phone out of her bag.

“The Council has recorded weird… sightings,” Elodie explains.

“Sightings?” I blink.

“It’s a bit hard to explain.” Elise hands me the phone and lets me skim through the screenshots there. Henry leans forward to look at it with me. I frown in confusion. They are screens from the night sky, from a starry night sky, to be precise.

Henry suddenly makes a sound of surprise.

“What?” I blink at him.

“Let me look at it.”

---