Chapter 5
YVAINE
After Killian left, I continued with my croissant mission—and an hour later, all my roommates were finally up, tangled in their sacred morning rituals.
Makena strutted in, wearing a knee-length T-shirt depicting a dead guy whose head was buried under a headstone shaped like a woman’s body, engraved with the words: Rest in Pussy.
Her makeup was just the right amount of smudge, giving her that ‘partied-too-hard-but-still-look-fabulous’ vibe.
Plus, with Kenyan genes, having moved to the USA when she was just ten, I wasn’t sure it was even possible for her to have a bad hair day.
“Good morning, Mak! I made you a chai.” I poked at her hip.
“Shhh! Not so loud. And thank you.” She dropped her head onto my shoulder. I hugged her tight with a grin.
Makena was like a mad scientist—lab rat by day, party animal by night. We all wondered when she found the time to sleep. Lachlan had this wild theory that she didn’t sleep at all, just secretly huffed some weird, experimental drugs from her chemistry department.
“Mrs. Heisenberg here had a busy night! I can smell it!” Tiziano whistled.
“I had to put on my noise-canceling headphones,” Amaia commented. “And stop using Heisenberg’s name in vain.”
“Sue me! Breaking Bad was revolutionary.” He handed me a cappuccino, foam bubbling over the rim in just the way I liked it, fresh from our beloved coffee machine.
I took the cup and planted a quick kiss on his clean-shaven cheek, soft apart from where his mouth was stuffed with croissant. Our coffee machine was another gift courtesy of Uncle Andrew, Mom’s twin.
“Did you at least reach a healthy number of orgasms?” Amaia asked medically, not looking up from her ancient laptop.
“A few. We ended up at some party, then I dragged him over.” Makena flicked her onyx curls back, a few escaping her purple glittery hairband as her Taylor Swift friendship bracelet jingled.
“And…? Who was the dildo this time?” Tiziano prodded.
“Some random guy from another pack’s business school.”
“Which pack?” Tiziano’s chestnut-brown eyes narrowed to suspicious slits.
Makena bit her lip, averting her eyes. “DD.”
“DD?! You traitor!”
I gawked at Tiziano’s unnaturally agape mouth. Yes, I could fit a full croissant in it.
DD was short for Dark Diamond. Among us Comet pack members, there was this ludicrous superstition that saying the full ‘Dark Diamond’ out loud would curse our wereball team for seven days and eight hours.
Internally, I shook my head at that. I understood people’s fascination for folklore and tarot, but this was what happened when fanaticism met a lack of hobbies.
“Come on, Mak, don’t stress about it.” Tiziano patted her shoulder. “Everyone slips up sometimes. You shall be forgiven if you go through the purging process. I’ll run you a disinfectant bath and book you a sexual health appointment.”
“I used protection!” Makena shot back.
“DD is the official STD founder, and you know that! STDs spread because of them.”
“I wonder how you’ve made it to your third year of medical school and didn’t get stuck in middle school when you say things like that,” I told him as I packed three croissants for my twin.
Tiziano advanced to steal one, but I batted his hand away.
Makena stretched her arms up. “He’s just sour because all the sex he gets lately is from Literotica.”
“I’m not justifying my literature choices to you horndogs!”
“Hey, Yvaine here is the one getting it on a regular basis,” Makena threw in.
“Once a week. And never around ovulation!” I argued.
“And I don’t read Literotica!” Tiziano finally shot back—then winked at me. “I’m into the kidnapping trope and being chased through a dark forest lately.”
I averted my eyes and opened today’s agenda. Kill Tiziano at 2:15 p.m.
“Besides, why are we talking about me when we have a traitor in our ranks?” Tiziano began the start of one of his heart-centric lectures.
“Have you been sad or pessimistic lately, Mak? Remember, holding negative emotions in your heart can mess up with your brain’s ability to function, leading to bad decisions…
like that troglodyte you brought home! Never forget that, Queen M.
Keep your heart happy, and your head will follow! ”
Makena nodded along, her curls bobbing as if they agreed, too.
I grabbed my to-go coffee cup that said Miss Brain—another gift from Uncle Andrew—and stuffed a second almond croissant in my mouth.
Amaia stood behind me, my bag in her hands, before she helped me slip it on over my busy hands and forearm while Makena was screeching, “Why the shower now? Let me eat in peace first, you crazy warlock!”
“You know how the DD purge works!” Tiziano was throwing water at Makena, chanting something about removing evil spirits with gonorrhea. The water wasn’t even holy, just some scented stuff from our pack.
“I’m off to class.”
With that, I gave Zeus a quick pat on the head.
My parents owned the apartment—and thank Stephen for that, because finding a place that allowed a pet like Zeus would’ve been impossible.
I saluted Spiky and paid my respects to Gertrude B.
Elion’s shrine before exiting the apartment.
I wasn’t superstitious, but I was a creature of habit—and a fan of remembering important women.
“See you at The Baxter tonight!” Tiziano called after me.
Oh, right. The bar.
I had also noted that on my agenda. Social plans needed to be fit in as well.
I skipped down the stairs and paused at a specific door one floor underneath ours. With my hands full and a croissant sticking out of my mouth, I knocked on the door with my knee.
“Coming!” I heard a sleepy voice call, followed by laughter. Lachlan lived with four wereball buddies, all from our pack. Their place was the ultimate hangout spot, while ours had earned the nickname ‘The Doctor’s House.’ Not that we minded—we embraced it fully.
The door cracked open.
“Morning, Ivy.” Gaius yawned so wide that I got an unsolicited view of his healthy-looking uvula. He stretched with a crack of his back, standing there in nothing but his striped boxers, face all sleepy and disheveled.
I waved at Lachlan’s best friend, the man who was totally head-over-paws for Makena.
“How are the roommates today?” he asked. As expected, the first question was about her, in that cowardly, casual sort of way. I smiled around my croissant, a slice of almond dropping onto my shirt.
From dating to being on the verge of marriage to a brutal breakup, they were stuck in this endless cycle of hurting each other and seeking revenge. Like a real-life soap opera.
“Everyone’s healthy,” I replied, matching his vague question with a vague answer. “Some are studying hard, some just got back from partying. You know, the usual.”
Gaius narrowed his yellowish eyes at me, rubbing his chest.
Before I could change the subject, Lachlan bumped into Gaius. Both their athletic forms couldn’t fit in the door at the same time.
“Was that Sabrina I heard when you were showering?” Gaius questioned him, dark brows raised and a playful smile on his lips.
“It’s weird when you listen in, man.”
“Just looking out for you. You were singing ‘Please, Please, Please!’”
“How thoughtful. Morning, Vy,” Lachlan grumbled. The ends of his wet, messy hair dripped on me as he leaned down to plant a kiss on my sugar-dusted cheek.
My twin had inherited all the classic Scottish genes—curly red hair, freckles, pale skin, and eyes as blue as the skies above the Highlands.
Over the years, people had called him all sorts of names, from Black Catapult to just plain Lad.
On the wereball field, though, everyone knew him as the Highlander.
I, on the other hand, only got the blue eyes of Loch Ness. I was a mini version of our dad, with hazel-brown hair and olive skin, though I never actually allowed it to tan.
Lachlan and I ate breakfast on our way to class, a routine we’d grown fond of as our schedules constantly clashed.
“You’ve got your volunteering gig today, right?” Lachlan stuffed the last of his croissants into his mouth.
“I do. Double shift.”
Lachlan tugged at the front of his blue hoodie, dislodging the sugar that had landed right on the big white number three.
Team captain since his first year. Right away, he’d challenged the previous one, a chemist four years older than him—exactly what our dad did back in his day, before he finished college and took over as Alpha. “I’ll pick you up with lunch.”
“Then I’ll go with you to your training today.”
He grinned, showing that warmth that nobody else saw. It was a werewolf twin thing.
“I might hit up The Baxter with the guys if I can squeeze in some more studying between classes and volunteering,” I said, thinking out loud.
He winced at my words, then shook his head with a light smile.
“We could go all together,” I added.
“Alright. I’ll bring my crew, minus Gaius.” He paused. “Do you think Amaia will join?”
Unless we had a code red situation, we would not be hanging out with Amaia.
Her never-ending to-do list made her too busy to even smile through her permanent frown.
It was hard to tell if that was just her personality or if it was the result of the tough past she’d been through—the destruction cancer had caused in her family, prompting her to realize how little time we had to defeat this invisible, silent enemy.
I also knew something about that.
“If you ask her, for sure.” I pretended not to notice the slight blush over his cheekbones. He hated it, since it made his freckles stand out more.
We landed into this world together, with a twin bond stronger than regular siblings. We could practically read each other’s minds with just a look.
It was a comfort I couldn’t live without.
As Uncle Andrew used to say, we started life holding hands, and we’d been doing everything together ever since.