Landon
“Footwork is getting sloppy!” Mum yelled at me over the clack of moonlight sticks.
“Bend your knees!” I gave a grunt as one of Mum’s sticks tapped the outside of my left knee.
“Stop lifting your shoulder!” A tap on the top of my right shoulder had me flinching.
“You’re opening your guard!” Mum twirled around me and landed a tap on my ribs.
Fuck! That one hurt! A growl of frustration slipped past my lips.
A similar growl echoed from Mum. The next thing I knew, my moonlight sticks faded as they flew from my hands and a leg was swept out from under me. I was pinned face down on the mats in the training room.
“Frustration, anger, sadness, desperation, can give us the strength we need when we are lacking, but only if we can channel those emotions properly. Only if we do not let them control us. If you had fought like that just now in a real battle, you would be dead, Landon. Understand?”
“Yes, Mum,” I said with a defeated sigh. “I’m sorry.”
Mum gave a sigh and released me. We sat on the mat facing each other.
“Landon, what’s going on?” Mum asked, concern lining her voice. “And don’t give me no bullshit ‘nothing’ line,” she added, her tone leaving no room for argument.
I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair.
“It’s… it’s not any one thing per se….” I started, trailing off because I couldn’t figure out how to form the words needed. I fiddled with the pendant hanging around my neck. I saw Mum’s eyes travel to my fidgeting hand.
“Something off with your powers lately?” she asked.
“Only the usual,” I said. Between my twin brother and fraternal twin sister, I was the more powerful of the three of us.
My younger twin siblings together didn’t reach my power level.
My youngest sister, Vivian, is special. Her power is already on par with mine, but it’s… different. She’s also the only one of us that doesn’t have a wolf.
I, however, was stuck in a catch-22. I needed to train myself to handle my powers, but the more I trained the more powerful I became; I couldn’t go without training either, otherwise, I would end up falling ill.
“Nolan still bugging you about being his Beta?” Mum asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve told him no like a million times already, but he’s insistent that I’m the only one good enough for the job.”
“Want me to talk with him?” she asked. “I might be able to get him to back off and look at other candidates.”
“I don’t know. Maybe?” I sighed. “Growing up I thought it would be cool to do everything together, but….”
“That’s not what you want anymore?” Mum asked after several seconds of silence from me.
I nodded.
“Landon, it’s okay to want different things than your brother. Just because you are physically identical, doesn’t mean that you are mentally identical as well. At the end of the day, it’s your life and you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your own happiness for someone else’s.”
“Logically, I know, but….” I lapsed into silence once more.
“You feel guilty that you might have been leading him on this whole time?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“You’re allowed to change your mind about things,” Mum said.
“I know….” I sighed.
“How about you stay for dinner tonight? I’m making slow cooker curry,” Mum said, trying to entice me. “We can talk to Nolan together if you want, but I’ll let you take the lead on that. Plus, I know Vivian has been missing her favorite brother.”
I gave wry a laugh.
“Sure, Mum,” I said. “You had me at your cooking, and I’ve been missing Vivi, too.”
“Lan!” Vivian yelled as she—quite literally—flew at me, almost knocking me off my feet as I walked through the door to my old home.
“Vivi!” I greeted, spinning her around in my arms so we didn’t fall down.
“Vivian! No flying in the house!” Mum exclaimed, amused annoyance on her face. Vivian vanished her wings and gave Mum a cheeky grin.
“Sorry, Mum,” she said, then crinkled her nose. “You both stink.” Mum and I laughed.
“Hey Lan, how are you? I’m good. Thanks for asking, Vivi,” I said as Vivian rolled her eyes. Mum held up a paper bag dangling off a single finger from a pack lands art supply store.
“Ya know, I was in town earlier today and just so happened to pick up a few more of your favorite sketchbooks, but I don’t know….” Mum said, looking contemplative. Vivian’s eyes got wide.
“I’m sorry! You’re the bestest mother in the whole wide world!” Vivian said, eyes pleading.
“Did you finish your subject assignment?” Mum asked.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Vivian answered.
“Dishwasher?”
“Loaded and ran.”
“Bathroom floor?”
“Picked up and I even scrubbed the toilet.” Mum nodded with a satisfied smile on her face and handed the bag over to Vivian.
“Good job,” Mum said.
“Thanks, Mum!” Vivian said, taking the bag and hugging it to her chest. Mum tapped her cheek with an amused smile. Vivian gave her a kiss and Mum nodded, giving Vivian a playful wink.
“Now, may I ask one more favor before you dive back into your art and Landon and I go get freshened up?” Mum asked.
“Sure,” Vivian said.
“Can you set the table for eleven people, please?”
“Sure, sounds like we’re gonna have a full house tonight,” Vivian said.
“It’s amazing how everyone comes out of the woodwork when they hear I’m cooking,” Mum laughed.
“It’s cause your cooking is amazing, Mum,” I said. “Why do you think we’re always asking you for a home-cooked meal instead of going out for special occasions?”
“Because you kids think it’s hilarious when I start going crazy in the kitchen trying to cook for almost a dozen or more people,” Mum said.
Vivian and I cracked up laughing because there was a kernel of truth in that.
“You kids are gonna drive me ape-shit bananas one of these days,” Mum added, joking.
“I thought you already were,” I teased. Mum narrowed her eyes at me and, before I could blink, I was bent over in a headlock, her knuckles rubbing fire on my scalp.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I yelped. Mum released me and gave me a pat on the head.
“Thank you for the help, Vivian,” Mum said, giving her a peck on the cheek and heading towards her bedroom for a much-needed shower.
“Sure thing, Mum!” Vivian called out to her retreating form.
“I’m gonna follow Mum’s example and freshen up before dinner. Wanna catch up afterward?” I asked Vivian.
“Sure, I’ll be in the living room when you’re done,” she said.
“Sounds good,” I said, heading toward my old bathroom. Once there, I got the shower going and pulled out the fresh clothes I had packed in my duffel. I grabbed a towel, stripped out of my clothes, and jumped in the shower. After a quick scrub, I got out, dried off, and dressed.
Vivian was in the living room, her hand flying across a page in one of her sketchbooks and eyes glowing.
I knocked on the wall to get her attention. She jumped in surprise and her eyes faded to their normal light blue-gold.
Somehow, all the girls got light blue-gold and the boys got light green-gold central heterochromia eyes.
“Geesh, Lan! You scared the crap outta me!” Vivian said, a hand over her heart. I gave a laugh.
“Maybe you need to learn how to keep an eye on your surroundings while you draw,” I said, sitting down once she closed her sketchbook and placed it off to the side.
Vivian was very protective of her sketchbooks. Wyatt still has a scar on his right hand from when he kept trying to take one of her books. If he hadn’t moved his hand away when he did, she would have stabbed him with a conjured moonlight dagger.
That was one of the few times that Mum’s full fury had been directed at any of us. Wyatt was blasted for crossing a personal boundary that Vivian had made very clear. Vivian was torn into for physically attacking a family member.
They both had been grounded for a month and were made to serve several weeks’ worth of community service.
“Why does everyone say that?” Vivian groused, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Because you jump into outer space whenever someone interrupts you,” I said. “But anyway, how have you been doing lately?”
Vivian pulled her knees up to her chest and shrugged.
“It’s been kinda quiet around here. Everyone’s busy with their own type of training or responsibilities. Wy and Lils moved out of the suite to their own apartments in the pack house and ever since Mum and Dad are acting more like horny teenagers with one another,” she said, pulling a face.
I laughed, remembering many times walking into rooms and finding our parents sucking face with one another.
But it was always the little touches that passed between them that you could see truly conveyed their feelings for one another.
A kiss to the cheek, temple, forehead, or lips. Lingering fingers as they passed close. Laughing at jokes and antics. Dad pulling Mum into a quick dance when she was playing music while cooking.
They might be stupid in love, but we older kids are grateful for it.
“I kinda feel like I’ve been left behind by everyone,” Vivian added, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Hey, you’re almost fifteen. You’re still learning about the world,” I said, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.
Vivian rolled her eyes.
“I thought I knew everything at your age too, ya know,” I added
“What changed?” Vivian asked me.
“I hurt Mum,” I said. “Again.”
“But… that was an accident,” Vivian said. “Both times were.”
“Mmm,” I hummed.
The first time mum got hurt she was saving me from a falling tree after I knocked it down from a magical burst.
The second time was when I was searching my duffel for the necklace Grandma Selene gave me. One of the training instructors was a real hard-ass and made me take it off.
The more I started to panic not finding the necklace, the more I felt my powers growing. I raised a hand up to tell Mum I just needed some space.
The magic I was trying to hold back came bursting out. It sent her flying through training equipment and crashing into the mirrors lining the wall.
The shards of glass sliced through her skin, and her head collided with the wall. She had landed unconscious on the floor.
As a result, she spent several days in the hospital drifting in and out of consciousness from the combination of strong pain meds and a head injury.
“Anyway,” I said, clearing the memories from my brain, “my point is that you still have a lot of growing to do. We’re not leaving you behind, we’re just all in different phases of life.”
“It still sucks,” Vivian said.
“I never said that it didn’t,” I said. “You’re always welcome at my place if things are feeling too much.”
“Thanks, Lan,” Vivian said.
“Anytime, Vivi,” I said. “Us weirdos gotta stick together.” Vivian laughed and swatted at me. Suddenly, Vivian and I were tackled from behind and pulled into a hug.
“You better be including me in the Weirdo Club,” Mum’s voice said. “After all, I did birth it. Literally.”
We all laughed and Mum taunted us into playing a local co-op racing game. By the time dinner rolled around the entire family was in the room, including Pops and Grams. Gran came in with her current guide dog, a giant golden named Bruce.
Bruce and Ranga thundered through the apartment as they played with one another.
We all started to get competitive and were switching out and cheering on the players.
Parents versus kids. Twins versus twins. Kids versus computers.
It finally got to the point where we were too hungry to play anymore. We completely demolished the three large slow cookers worth of beef curry and rice that Mum had made.
It was amazing. Mum had taught all of us kids how to cook, but we all agree that nothing tastes the same as when she makes it.
At the end of the night, I bid everyone goodbye and headed home. I didn’t live in the pack house anymore. I moved out when I turned eighteen to one of the lakeside cabins the family owns.
I closed the front door and the silence of an empty house filled my ears.
It was better this way….
I sighed and trudged to my bedroom not bothering with the lights, Grandma Selene’s light filtered through the windows and provided more than enough to see by.
I stripped down to my underwear and flopped on my bed, exhausted from the long day. It was then that I realized that I forgot to talk to Nolan tonight. I’m sure he’ll come find me again soon anyway.
