#7 The Twins of Satin Moon

Maizey

I jerked awake as my brothers stumbled loudly into the living room.

“Shhh! Sissy is sleeping!” Nicky whispered very unsuccessfully.

“Shut up, Nicky!” Matt yelled back.

I grumbled and looked at my phone, it was well after midnight. I rolled my eyes at both my idiot brothers and flopped off the couch. I flipped them both off and disappeared into my bedroom.

“Sorry, sissy!” Matt fell into my door.

“Go to sleep.” I yelled back. Nicky and Matt’s drunken laughter vanished up the steps to their own bedrooms. I smashed my face into the pillow and tried to fall back asleep.

“Damn it!” I growled, chucking the pillow across the room and standing up. Those idiots woke me up and now I couldn’t fall back asleep.

I went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate, a drink notorious for making me sleepy. I sat at the kitchen table with my head leaning on my hand while I waited for the water to warm up on the stove. Suddenly, I had the feel of being watched. I sat up and looked out the kitchen window, then out the french doors that led to the backyard. I stood up and walked towards the doors, looking over the large, empty yard.

I jumped when the kettle started to rattle on the stove. I laughed at myself and walked back to the stove, pouring the hot water into a cup with cocoa powder. I positioned my chair to watch out the doors and blew on the hot liquid. Bright green eyes stared back at me. I jumped again, nearly spilling the cocoa on my lap. I ran back to the doors and tried to see what animal the eyes belonged to.

A howl cut through the silence and a chill scurried up my spine. I decided that now was as good a time as any to hang up the curtains. The curtain rod was already up from the previous owners, so all I needed were the curtains. I dug through boxes until I found a set of powder blue curtains that matched the rest of the kitchen decor. I drug the kitchen chair over so I could reach the curtain rod.

“Shit!” I cried, slipping off the chair and landing on the floor.

I clutched my wrist to my chest as it throbbed in pain. Grumbling to myself, I looked up and stifled a scream. I was face to face with the largest wolf I had ever seen. It was easily 5 feet tall, one paw bigger than my entire face. It was stark white with wild green eyes. I shook my head, trying to find reason in what I saw in those eyes because I swear they were filled with worry.

The wolf was frozen as it looked at me. Something moved in the background and caught it’s attention, I watched as it ran off and disappeared in the woods.

“Maze?” Nicky stumbled into the kitchen, “Are you alright?” He hurried over to my side.

“I’m fine, I just fell trying to hang up the curtains.” I mumbled, letting him help me up.

“Why are you hanging curtains at 3:30 in the morning?” He laughed at me.

“Because my idiot brothers woke me up and I couldn’t fall back asleep.” I said in a snarky tone. Nicky rolled his eyes and easily finished hanging the curtains.

“But, why the curtains?” He asked.

“The darkness outside was freaking me out.” I admitted.

“Well, thanks to you screaming and scaring the shit out of me, I’m awake now and apparently sober, so what else are we unpacking?” Nicky said, opening a large box.

“The kitchen’s almost done.” I shrugged, pushing the last two boxes for the kitchen towards him.

“Let’s finish it up then.” He started pulling out dish towels and shoving them in an empty drawer. The last box held the small appliances that I had saved a large shelf for in the pantry closet.

“Do we really need so many towels?” Nicky asked, sounding amused.

“You two make a lot of messes.” I mumbled, coming out from the walk in the pantry.

“Touche.” He shrugged, pushing the drawer closed.

“To the living room?” He raised an eyebrow at me before moving on to the living room.

“What has you in such a helpful mood?” I laughed, joining him in the living room.

“I had fun tonight, Covington is finally starting to feel like home, and I want you to feel that way, too.” He shrugged. I knocked my shoulder against his,

“You guys moved all the way across the country because I got a new job, you have nothing to make up for.” I said.

“I know, but I still want you to feel at home somewhere. I knew Stanford wasn’t home, but I’m hoping that Covington is.” He said, trying not to sound too sappy.

“Thanks, bro.” I smirked at him and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever.” He scoffed, pulling out a pile of blankets from a box,

“So, what’s your excuse for so many blankets?” He laughed at me.

“I have none.” I snatched the blankets from his arms protectively. I piled them into the blanket chest that sat behind the sofa.

We organized all of our DVDs in the console below the flat screen TV, putting all of our loose cords in a basket in the same console. I put our few photo albums in an open spot in the console and filled the built-in shelves on either side of the TV with my library of books. Nicky helped me hang some photos on the walls before we finally had all the living room boxes emptied.

“I’m gonna go back to bed now.” Nicky was beginning to actually look like a hungover person. I heard him throw up in the bathroom before he drug himself up the steps and into his bedroom.

“Idiot.” I shook my head at him. I picked up my phone again to check the time: 6:00am. I forfeited sleep for the day and went to my room to get dressed.

The master suite was on the first floor of the farm house and both the boys agreed to give it up to me. Not that they had much of a choice in the matter. Of the five bedrooms upstairs, they took the two biggest ones and each had their own bathroom to use. There was a huge TV room for them to use up there as well for their loud all nighters on the Playstation.

Downstairs, the master bedroom took up a large portion of the level with a lushish bathroom and walk-in closet. I had a queen sized bed, two end tables, and a large dresser in the room along with a TV hanging over the electric fireplace.

I stripped out of my pjs and tossed them on the bed, pulling out a matching underwear set from the dresser before walking into the closet. I decided on a tea length dress, one of my favorite style choices, in a navy blue color. I paired it with nude sandals before moving on to the bathroom.

I used a comb and lots of detangler on my red curls. They were unruly and unkept, impossible to tame, but I liked it that way. I twisted my hair up into a messy bun and adjusted my dark blue glasses on my nose. I despised wearing contacts, touching my eyes made me feel squirrely and I hated the shape of my face; I hated the freckles that plagued my too plump cheeks and my pointy nose. My large framed glasses were something I could hide behind.

I knew I wasn’t winning any beauty competitions with my looks and I was self-conscious about 75% of it, but my eyes were one of my favorite assets. They were a swirling mix of green and brown, the perfect combination of my mother’s eyes and my brothers’. I blinked those hazel eyes at my reflection in the mirror before I flicked off the light and left my room.

I scribbled a note on the counter for my brothers to let them know that I was going out for coffee. I grabbed my small, crossbody purse from the entryway closet and stepped outside. I nearly ran face first into a stranger standing on my porch.

“Oh, uhm, hello?” I stammered, looking at his hands on my arm as he steadied me. I looked up at his face and waited for a response. He had none.

“Hello?” I said again.

The stranger blinked his alluring green eyes at me, his cheeks clearly flushed. I couldn’t help but notice how handsome this man was, and how tall. He was taller than my brothers, hovering above me at least six feet tall. He smiled at the sound of my voice, dimples etched into his perfect face.

“I’m sorry, please excuse me.” His voice was dark and smooth like velvet, his hands still gripping my arms.

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” I looked down at his hands and he released me slowly.

“You must be Maizey.” The way my name rolled off his lips startled me.

“Who are you?” The fact that he knew my names was also startling.

“Forgive me, I’m Hunter Greyback, a friend of your brother. I just wanted to make sure that they got home okay last night, they were a little worse for the ware.” He chuckled and the sound made a strange feeling rise up in my chest.

“Oh, Mr. Greyback.” I stuttered nervously.

“Please, Mr. Greyback is my father. I’m Hunter.” He smiled at me again.

“No, you don’t understand.” I shook my head. His eyes pulled together in concern,

“I understand that you work for my company now and that you’re nervous about what people might say if you’re seen associating with me.” Okay, maybe he did understand. I looked at him in surprise.

“Your brother told me last night. Maizey, you can be rest assured that no one will ever question you or your merits. People aren’t like that here.” He said. The look on his face made me want to believe him, but my past told me not to.

“You have no idea what it’s like, Mr. Greyback.” I pressed my lips together stubbornly.

“You’re right, I don’t, but I do know what it’s like here. You won’t be questioned.” His tone was almost threatening, like he was daring someone to question me.

“It’s of no consequence anyway. We don’t have a reason to be around each other.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Don’t we?” Hunter’s tone changed as did the look in his eyes and I wasn’t sure that I liked it.

“No. Thank you for checking on my brothers. They’re fine, just sleeping it off. I’m going for a coffee, if you’ll excuse me.” I brushed past him and hurried down the steps.

“I could use a coffee.” Hunter came up behind me as my hand paused over the door handle of my car.

“I’m sure you can find a coffee shop closer to your house.” I said.

“You really don’t like me, do you? What did I do?” He looked genuinely upset but was clearly trying to hide it. I sighed,

“I feel nothing towards you, Mr. Greyback.” I opened my car door and slipped inside, leaving Hunter standing on my front porch.