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I ducked my head down and bounded up the stairs toward my room. The door was open just a crack, and I was able to nudge it open all the way with my nose.
I triggered my shift, arching my back and stretching out my legs. The bones snapped, realigning until I was crouched on the floor in my human form. I stood and went to my dresser, grabbing the first things I found and throwing them on. I only took a moment more to toss my hair up so it was out of my eyes before making my way back downstairs.
The enforcers and alphas were already trickling in. Severely injured were being sent to the infirmary, and those who could heal with a quick shift were sent to the kitchen for some food. Shifting sped up our metabolism. Speaking of, I was famished, but that would have to wait. My mom was waiting for me.
I hurried down the hallway, my bare feet slapping against the hardwood as I did. I pushed the door open. My mom looked up to meet my gaze, and she waved me all the way in. She’d already set out antiseptic and stuff for stitches, along with a crap ton of gauze.
I looked around the room and chewed on my bottom lip. The room smelled sterile, and it made my nose itch. The walls were a bright white, and the lighting overhead made the room feel like a movie set. I hated it.
“What do you want me to do?”
She pointed toward the medicine cabinet. “Get syringes and some ice packs. I want everything on hand. Who knows what we might need.”
Licking my lips, I went to the cabinet, started pulling out the supplies, and set them on the table by the gurney. “Have you heard how bad it is yet?”
My mom let out a heavy sigh. “We’re still counting the casualties on our side. There are at least six severely wounded who will need immediate medical attention and can’t transition. And multiple others that I’m not sure about.”
A lump formed in my throat. Casualties. We’d lost people. I knew it was going to happen, but it didn’t make it any easier.
I closed the cabinet door and turned back to my mom. “Is there anything else you need me to get ready?”
My mom looked up. The worry lines came back, and she set the rest of the bandages she had in her hand on the table. “What happened back there, Sloane?”
I wiped my hands on my pants and did my best to avoid her gaze. “What do you mean?”
Her nostrils flared, and she smacked her hands on the table, making the tools rattle, before going to the door and shutting it all the way. “Don’t play coy with me, Sloane. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I sighed and looked down at the floor. I curled my toes against the icy-white marbled tile. “Sawyer is on our side, Mom. I already told you about how he helped Willa and me.”
She made a sound in the back of her throat. “That back there went a lot further than just helping. Are you sure he isn’t trying to lure you into a trap? Are you willing to stake the pack and your family’s lives on that?”
I snapped my head up and met her gaze. “Yes, I would bet everything on that.”
I stood taller, pulling my shoulders back. Sawyer was one of us. I could feel it in my heart.
My mom‘s jaw worked, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “He is much like his father. You are young. He could be using you to get close, to gain your trust so that he can pull the ultimate betrayal.”
I swallowed and shook my head. “It’s not like that, Mom. I know him. I trust him.”
She dropped her hands to her sides and fisted them. “How? How can you know that? Sloane, you were there for barely a week.”
It was my turn to be angry now. “You don’t know what I went through there. You don’t know what I thought, Mom. Sawyer is a good man. He’s my mate, and I trust him with my life and everyone else’s here, too.”
My mom licked her lips, and one of her hands went to the necklace at her throat. She always wore the heart-shaped gem around her neck. It had been a gift from my dad on their wedding day.
“Mate?” The anger seemed to have left her voice.
I drew in a deep breath, let it out, and then nodded.
She rubbed the necklace between her fingers. “The way you spoke earlier, I assumed that it was Lincoln.”
My pulse spiked as I tried to think of what to tell her, how to make her understand something that I barely did. It was impossible, and yet here we were. “Lincoln and Sawyer are twins, Mom. I don’t understand it, but both of them are my mates.”
My mom was quiet for a long time and just stared at me, her mouth going slack. “Both of them?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and gave myself a hug. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.”
She dropped her necklace and moved her hands to her temples. “Twins are very rare for shifters. But it’s my understanding that human twins are very close. I don’t see why it would be too hard of a stretch for that to extend to shifter twins as well.”
