Twin Lunas

Aurora

I slipped through the front door carefully, watching my surroundings closely. Mr. Celestino should be at work right now, but I could never be too careful. Estelle left the door open for me, as she always did when she wanted to give me something. Aunt Mira hadn’t been able to afford much when she took me in, leaving her in sizable debt, thanks mostly to Mr. Celestino. Until she met her mate eight years ago, that is. Uncle Cato pays for everything now, at least until Aunt Mira is out of debt. Because of this, Estelle gives me her things when she grows bored of them.

At least that’s what she tells her dad when she packs up unworn clothes a few months after buying them. He couldn’t be prouder of her donating to charity, as long as he doesn’t know I’m the charity. My car is thanks to her totaling her sweet 16 present a year after getting it. I’m unsure what she’s planning on giving me today. She already gave me her winter clothes from last year.

This was my last stop before I headed out of Moon Forest Pack. It would take me two days to drive to the Moon Cove Pack, where I went to school. Going to the same elementary school as Estelle was hell in study desks. Mr. Celestino almost got me stuck in homeschool, which Aunt Mira couldn’t afford, until the Alpha intervened and stopped his warpath.

That was the day Estelle and I decided to get me a scholarship to an Academy in another pack. Crescent Academy not only accepted my application, but also gave me a full ride scholarship with a stipend. The stipend was enough to get me one of their uniforms, necessities for the school year, and enough gas to get Aunt Mira there and back.

Now I am going back for senior year.

A rustling noise froze me to the entrance. I never entered too far into Estelle’s house, too afraid Mr. Celestino would notice my scent when he got home, even when I masked it. Today was no different, but I didn’t need to enter that far to see my own face vulnerable and open in pleasure.

Estelle was bent over her plush couch, hands tangled with a man’s. I silently gasped, not expecting to find my twin in such a compromising position. Before she noticed me, I turned and exited the house.

The shock lasted until I was in my car, sitting in the driver’s seat. I recognized Estelle’s rose scent easily. She was my identical twin, even if Mr. Celestino tried to keep us apart, we were sisters. The reason I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes had to do with the other scent I recognized.

Cyrus.

We were neighbors before Aunt Mira and I moved to live with Uncle Cato. Somehow, we’d managed to stay in contact through letters over the years. Estelle sent me postage to contact her and I sent some to Cyrus. Those morphed into summer hangouts when we got older.

Cyrus always enjoyed soccer, he’d often been seen in the street practicing. That practice paid off when he got a full ride scholarship to Elysian Academy. The same Academy Estelle went to. I didn’t realize they knew each other. I had never had a reason to tell them about the other. A part of me wanted to keep Cyrus to myself. He was the boy I was stupidly in love with for my entire childhood after all.

My entire life was more accurate, considering how painful my heart felt.

Maybe it wasn’t him. I could be mistaken. It could be someone who smelled similar.

I watched as Cyrus, the Cyrus I used to throw grass at, sauntered out of Estelle’s front door. It was his same fluid gait, trained to be quick. His same dirty blond hair that had a cowlick in the front. The same prominent cheekbones, partially from circumstance, partially from his bone structure.

Oh. Heartbreak certainly felt like how all of those broken hearted songs sounded.

My phone vibrated. It was a cheap flip phone, one of my Aunt’s old phones. Uncle Cato paid for the family plan so I would always be able to contact Aunt Mira, but I couldn’t ask him for a new phone. He’d offered once and I almost started crying in fear.

I breathed deeply, pushing all of my emotions away. A quick check in the mirror showed my eyes were clear. The tears hadn’t fallen.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I opened it to see Estelle’s name pop up. I opened her message and read, ‘Hey you can come in now’. So she knew I’d been at the door. Hopefully, she thought I’d only gone to the door and not entered. As much as I loved my sister, I really didn’t want to talk about what I’d seen.

As identical twins we would share a mate. Our mate wouldn’t be able to reject one without rejecting the other. I’d already resigned myself to being the extra mate, tossed aside for Estelle. Still, getting such a stark reminder thrown in my face unexpectedly was painful.

I walked into the house again, slipping through the door.

Estelle already managed to cover the smell of sex. I was impressed and saddened at the same time. When we started High School I tried to convince her to join me at Crescent Academy, or even to try to get her into another Academy, but she denied me. She never talks to me about it, but I can tell she is slipping somewhere dark. I know Mr. Celestino is the cause, I know what he’s doing, but if Estelle didn’t ask me I couldn’t help her besides staying by her side.

“Here.” Estelle held out her phone for me, flipping her beautifully curled hair behind her shoulder. “You just need to put your sim card into this and it’ll connect to your plan.”

Looking at her in shock, I froze.

She scoffed, taking my phone and removing the card before putting it into the case of the smartphone. It took her a moment before she was handing both back to me.

“Everything is set up for you.” Estelle said.

“Oh.” I breathed. “Thank you, Star.”

“It’s about time you got a decent phone, Dawn.” Estelle said. She was checking her manicure.

“I’m heading out, then. I’ll text you when I get to the hotel tonight.” I said, leaning in to give her a cheek kiss.

“Yes. Drive safe.” Estelle leaned in as well, reciprocating the cheek kiss.

With that I was off. Driving for hours without a break until I finally reached the motel I’d reserved for the night. I sent a text to Estelle and one to Aunt Mira. It wasn’t until I was in the shower that I cried.