Alpha's Twins Chapter 114

Adrian walked into the pack house with his officials trailing behind him. I shot to my feet, completely blindsided. But Jason didn't even flinch—like he'd been expecting Adrian to show up all along. He stood up from the couch too.

I watched Adrian stride toward us like he owned the place, his four guards flanking him like some kind of royal entourage.

I recognized Beta Patrick right away. And I knew Delta Julian too—he was the one who'd picked me up from the hotel and brought me here when I was staying with the Crystal Blood Pack to help Adrian's father with that cure.

The other two guys behind Adrian were total strangers to me. They had to be the Theta and Gamma of the Crystal Blood Pack.

"Alpha Adrian, welcome back to the Blue Blood Pack," my brother said, stepping forward to shake hands.

I just stood there gaping. I glanced at their joined hands, then immediately looked back at my brother.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he being so damn polite to Adrian?

I felt like a complete idiot just standing there while all these big shots shook hands like they were at some corporate meeting.

"Brother, why is he here?" I whispered to Jason.

But Jason answered me loud enough for everyone to hear—like he wanted Adrian to catch every word.

"Come on, baby sis, don't be like that. Be professional and say hi to our guests."

I shot Jason a look. What was going through his head? He gave me this pointed nod.

I sighed and turned to face Adrian, who was standing right there staring at me.

He stepped closer and held out his hand. "We meet again, Miss Natalia."

His deep voice brought back memories of that night at the party—when he'd kissed my neck and left his mark. I'd had to deal with that thing for four damn days before it finally faded.

I forced a tight smile and glanced at his outstretched hand. "Yeah, welcome to our pack."

I didn't shake it. No way in hell. Last time I shook hands with this guy, he held on for way too long.

I wasn't about to risk it with my brother watching. What if Jason lost it and tried to kill him right here? My brother had a serious temper problem, especially when it came to his little sister.

When Adrian realized I wasn't going to shake his hand, he stared at it for a second, then slowly clenched it into a fist.

"My sister doesn't really like strangers touching her," Jason said.

I caught the dig in his words—he was throwing the party incident right back at Adrian.

Adrian just nodded calmly. "That's probably a good thing," he said, looking directly at me before adding under his breath, "She shouldn't let just anyone touch her." Then he shot a look at Eric like those words were meant for him specifically.

"Did you say something?" Jason asked, pretending he hadn't heard.

"Nothing."

Adrian took a seat on the couch across from us, and we sat back down where we'd been before.

Eric came over and sat next to me, while everyone else found spots on the other couches.

"The pack meeting's tomorrow. You're here a day early. I didn't realize Alpha Adrian had so much free time to go pack-hopping."

Jason's words dripped with sarcasm. Now I got why he was being so polite—he wanted to insult Adrian with every single word. He couldn't exactly punch another Alpha in his own pack, so he was going for psychological warfare instead.

Adrian actually chuckled. I glanced over at him. He seemed to be in a weirdly good mood. What the hell was making him so cheerful?

"I heard other Alphas have been working pretty hard to convince you, so I figured why not give it my best shot too? Alpha Jason's a smart man. I'm sure he'll give everyone a fair chance."

I swallowed hard as these two men traded thinly veiled threats disguised as polite conversation.

Both Alphas started diving into the politics while I sat there completely lost on how to handle any of this.

This was seriously stressful for me. I had no clue what to do.

For years, even mentioning Adrian's name had been off-limits in our house.

But here he was today, sitting in our living room, casually discussing the possibility of forming an alliance with us.

I really wished Mom and Dad were here. They would've handled this whole situation way better than me.

*Who knows what might set my brother off and make him attack this guy? That would just break years of careful diplomacy,* I thought.

I started coughing as my mind went into overdrive trying to process everything.

"You want some water?" Eric asked softly.

I turned to look at him and shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

He leaned in a little closer. "If you don't want to be here, you can go inside."

"No way. I can't trust that guy alone with my brother. By the way, why didn't you tell me he was coming?" I asked Eric.

He gave me this totally confused look. I frowned back at him. "What?"

"Didn't I tell you about it last night?"

"When?"

"Right when you got into bed."

I was shocked. I guess I didn't realize I was talking a little too loud.

"You put me in bed? Wait—you carried me all the way to my room?"

"Of course. Who else was going to do it?" Eric said, shrugging.

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver." I laughed awkwardly, feeling embarrassed.

He shook his head. "I'm not accepting your thanks. You need to have drinks with me, then we'll call it even."

Apparently he was still holding a grudge. I remembered what he'd said last night—asking why I never drank with him like I did with Max.

Eric and I were pretty close friends, so I thought about it and said, "If my brother says it's okay, I can drink with you tomorrow. Happy?"

He was about to nod when his eyes drifted over to the others. I turned around and realized everyone was staring at us.

Weren't we whispering? Had we been talking loud enough for everyone to hear?

I noticed Adrian's face wasn't calm anymore. His eyes had gone dark. I quickly looked away and focused on Jason instead.

"You two can save the lovey-dovey talk for private time. We have a guest here. How can my beta and my sister—who's also my company's CEO—be so unprofessional?"

Even though his words sounded angry, I could see the amusement in his eyes.

But when did we start talking about anything lovey-dovey? Was he only saying that because Adrian was here?

"So, where were we, Alpha Adrian?" Jason asked, clearing his throat.

"I've heard about your hospitality," Adrian replied, looking around the pack house before asking, "How about giving me a chance to experience it firsthand by letting me stay here for the day?"

I almost smacked my forehead. How could my brother possibly say no to that? Did I really have to put up with this guy for a whole day?

But then I heard Jason's ice-cold response.

"I can't let you stay here. Only certain Alphas get the privilege of staying in the Blue Blood Pack house, and you're not one of them."