Twenty-One

"Good morning, what can I get for you?" The barista smiles over the counter. 

 "Just a small dark roast coffee please," Amira says and hands over a bill. This has been her morning routine for the past 3 years and she has been working part-time at her father's head office. She discovered this small café around the corner from the building, giving her somewhere to go during lunches if she didn't feel like sitting in his stuffy office. 

 The barista hands her the small cup and she waits in line for the sugar and cream bar. She looks around the brightly lit seating area and her heart nearly stops when she spots Evander clear as day seated at the far end of the café by the window. 

 There is a jacket over the back of the chair opposite of him and soon after a young red-headed woman sits down across, only the side of her face visible to Amira. She peers at the woman's face and wonders why she looks so familiar; she has never seen this woman before she can swear, but something about her face reminds her of someone. 

 The line moves forward, and it is her turn, giving her no time to dawdle over it. She fixes her coffee moves quickly outside to get a good angle of the window and snaps a picture of the two before heading to her father's office. She will have to mention this to Calix when he picks her up later. 

 She tries to go about her day normally, but she can't shake the uneasy feeling she has from what she saw. In truth, there isn't anything wrong with Evander doing whatever he wants and meeting with a young woman at a café on the weekend isn't a big deal, but that isn't what concerns her. It's the girl herself and how familiar she feels to Amira despite not knowing any female with red hair. 

 I do know a guy with red hair. Malachi. 

 What are the chances they are related? This city is rather large, she is a fool to think that just because they have a rare hair colour, they must be related in some way. It is something to consider, however, and if she really is related to him, the meeting she just witnessed might have a deeper meaning. 

~*~ 

 Amira can't wait until the end of her work day to see Calix and tell him what she saw and finally shake the uneasy feeling she has been suffering from all day, but to her surprise, it is Malachi who is waiting in the foyer when she gets to the main floor. 

 "Sorry for the change of plans, apparently there is a meeting at the college and Calix will be a little late, he asked me to pick you up for now." 

 "That's not a problem, I have a question for you. I can ask in the car, let's go." She walks past him without giving him a chance to respond and hopes he follows quickly enough to show her where she is going. 

 He gets to the door and opens it for her, leading her toward the same black car that Calix always drives in. 

 "I haven't done anything wrong, have I?" he asks once they're inside. 

 "Why is that your first concern?" 

 He shrugs, looking a little nervous. "Just making sure. Calix is a little sensitive when it comes to you." 

 She isn't sure what that means but at the same time she can take a wild guess, feeling kind of guilty that due to her, this pressure has been added to him. 

 "Don't worry, I just wanted to ask you if you have a sister, a younger one." 

 "Oh, that's not what I was expecting. Uhm, why do you ask?" His panic just seems to grow rather than show any relief. 

 "Just curious, I thought I saw someone who looked just like you and it made me wonder, I don't know much about you." 

 He lets out a shaky breath. "Yes, I have a twin sister named Myla. Has she done something to offend you? I apologize if she has done anything to show disrespect." 

 "I haven't really met her, and even then, why is that the first thing you would assume about your sister?" 

 Malachi parks the car, and she realizes they have arrived at the pack house. 

 "Calix wants to keep this information from you, but I have already advised him that you're going to find out sooner or later, so please, don't tell him I've shared this with you." 

 Amira nods her head and holds out her pinky. Malachi chuckles but wraps his pinky around hers.

"I advise that if you ever do run into my sister, that you try and avoid confronting her at all costs, or it won't end well. The three of us have known each other since we were little with my father being the Beta of Calix's father, we have always been close. Due to that, Myla has grown up always thinking she is something special to Calix because of the way he dotes on her like a sister, but that quickly turns to affection on her part that has never been accepted by Calix." 

She starts to nod her head slowly in understanding, already seeing where he is going with this. "You're worried that we might get into an argument over Calix because I'm the woman he wants and not her, right?" 

Malachi shakes his head. "I wish it were that simple, an argument isn't the worst I am fearing. My sister has a temper, as you have probably heard already." 

Amira thinks of what he means and remembers the commotion from the first day she arrived at the pack house, and the name Myla suddenly rings a bell to her. She is the girl who kept complaining to Calix and was throwing constant fits that day. 

"Do you think she will do something to harm me?" she asks. 

"Myla didn't take the news of Calix finding his mate too well, so when she heard that he was bringing you to stay at the pack house and that he was treating her as an errand girl for you, she completely lost it and refused to acknowledge anything about you. She acted as if you didn't exist and wouldn't agree to get your things until Calix spoke to her one last time, but she saw the staff members all treating you as a member already and she lost it again. Calix saw and threatened her to smarten up, and I guess that broke her, she hasn't been acting the same since." 

Amira chews her lip nervously. She has never dealt with a jealous ex-girlfriend before, but this sounds like it goes beyond that, she never stood a chance. 

"If her feelings have never been returned all these years, why does she still seem so obsessed with the idea of him one day returning them?" she asks. 

Malachi sighs. "That isn't something I should tell you, but I will say there is a reason you will never catch Calix drinking a drop of alcohol around Myla. We should get inside before he finishes his meeting, I have to pick him up after." 

Amira wants to ask him more about what he means by that, she wants confirmation that it isn't what she is thinking, but it's obvious he is making an excuse to cut the conversation short, leaving her with dark thoughts clouding her mind. She tries to wipe them away when she enters Calix's bedroom, remembering that she has no reason to be upset over who he has been with in the past. 

But she feels he could've at least told her that he has slept with someone who sleeps in the same house as him, let alone someone he grew up with and already knew before was obsessed with him. If it was a drunken mistake from the past she can understand, and he has even taken measures to make sure it never happens again. Did it just slip his mind, amongst all the havoc she was causing over him bringing Amira there? 

She decides to take a shower to try and sort her thoughts as she waits for Calix to come back, but it doesn't do much justice as she just festers over what she has discovered today instead. She grabs the robe left for her and ties her hair up with a towel before leaving the bathroom, barely noticing Myla rifling through the dresser drawers until she screams. 

"How dare you enter the Alpha's room and use his personal bathroom! Who do you think you are?" Myla shouts. 

Amira covers her ears. "Can you quiet down? I should be the one asking you that, this is my room for the time being." 

"Impossible, this is Calix's room. He would never let someone sleep so close to him, even if you're his supposed mate, you only just met." 

Amira walks over and opens the bottom drawer of the dresser, the last one Myla has to check, and reveals all of her clothes and a few other bathroom belongings shoved inside. 

"Is this the drawer you were looking for?" Amira asks. 

Myla's eyes widen and her face grows pale. She starts to look around the room and sees more evidence of Amira's presence, seeing her pants from this morning on the ground with a pair of socks on top, a few skin products on the nightstand and the robe that fits her perfectly despite the difference in size between her and Calix. 

She watches as her eyes cloud over before Myla lets out a gut-wrenching growl and lunges. Amira barely has enough time to lift her hands and push against her shoulders, but Myla is much stronger than her and has clearly lost her mind. She overpowers her easily and bares her teeth, lunging once more for Amira's neck and biting down hard. 

Amira feels a hot, stabbing pain prickles all over her body like tiny knives dipped in fire. Her vision starts to blur with black dots but she still manages to call out for Calix, her voice weak and barely audible. Just as quickly as the heat comes to her body, it suddenly disappears, and she is left feeling frozen solid. 

Just before the block dots cover her vision entirely, she sees the door fly open and Calix comes rushing in with Malachi right behind him. Myla is thrown off of her and is replaced with his sweat-covered and panicked face, calling out to her silently as she welcomes the sweet slumber approaching her.