The Triplet Alphas' Regret

Just hearing his voice made all the hairs on my body stand at attention. I could feel my heart drop into the pits of my stomach. Dread flooded my veins, and I refused to turn around, hoping that if I didn’t, he would just magically go away.

I was so close. If I had just a ten-second head start, I would’ve probably been able to make it out.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed the option of pretending I hadn’t heard him. Before I could move, a hand plastered itself on my shoulder, forcing me to turn around.

I came face-to-face with Soren’s enraged eyes. He had a couple of scratches across his face. Dirt and dust caked his body, and several areas of his clothing seemed torn. It looked as though he had been caught in the crossfire.

"You’re trying to leave again," he said. It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement.

One that was very correct.

I shrugged his hand off, taking a step back to put some distance between us.

"Don’t you have a battle to fight, Alpha?" I snarled back, glaring hotly at him.

It was odd. Just a few days ago, it felt as though I was being stabbed by a thousand needles if I so much as raised my voice at him. Every nerve in my body screamed for me to forgive and forget― to make peace with the people who were destined to me.

Back then, it was as though my body subconsciously knew that I was meant to live with this person for the rest of my life. We were tied by fate, and would never be apart so long as this string of a bond remained between us.

But now, those scathing words seemed to leave my lips so effortlessly. Maybe it was because with the lost child, my body realized that this person couldn’t be a proper mate for me.

Whatever it was, I was grateful. I didn’t want to be in their disgusting presence for a second longer. I needed to leave Shadowclaw, and it would only benefit me to be gone.

"Rowan and Cassian can handle that," Soren said. "Right now, we need to get you somewhere safe."

"I am not going anywhere with you!" I yelled. "What happened? What is going on?" I asked, gesturing to our surroundings.

Soren clenched his jaw.

"Now’s not the time," he said. "He’s coming for you―"

"Who’s coming?" I snapped back, cutting him off.

Soren did not reply. He took a step towards me to close the distance between us once more. Before I could back away, he roughly grabbed my elbow, tugging me close.

"Let go―!"

"You’re not leaving Shadowclaw," he hissed, his eyes turning slightly gold. "Not now, not ever!"

I gritted my teeth together. Before Soren could react, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face. His face veered to one side, his eyes widening as he remained in that position. Slowly but surely, his cheek started to bloom scarlet due to the force of the slap.

"Fuck you!" I yelled. The back of my eyes burned hotly, and I felt my heartstrings start to tug.

Turns out, it wasn’t completely gone as I thought. Bits of my soul were still chained to his, and they demanded I feel sorry for him. It was as though my emotions weren’t even mine to control.

"You have no right to tell me that!" I continued, ignoring the suffocating feeling in my chest.

"I am your Alpha," Soren said, gritting those words out.

He slowly turned to look at me. For the first time ever, rage crossed his eyes. His irises burned with so much fury that it took me by surprise. I had never seen such an expression on Soren’s face before.

"You will not leave. I will never allow it―"

Soren was abruptly cut off when a snarling wolf ran in our direction. It leapt into the air, and both our eyes widened as soon as we realized it was headed straight for us.

In a split-second decision, Soren pushed me out of the way. My back slammed against a cracked chunk of the wall, and I hacked in pain. Meanwhile, the wolf had landed in between us― if Soren hadn’t pushed me, we would’ve been locked under its claws without a doubt.

The sound of cracking bones resounded through the air. Within the blink of an eye, Soren had shifted. His massive black wolf growled at the attacker, who snarled back.

I didn’t manage to see who attacked first, but they were soon locked in battle. Claws and fangs flashed through the air as they ripped at each other. I gasped, rolling out of the way when Soren slammed the foreign wolf on the ground where I was.

A sharp pain tore through my leg, and I yelped in pain. My voice had slipped out, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed. Another wolf that was a short distance away noticed my cry. When I raised my gaze, it met with theirs, causing my blood to chill in my veins.

That wolf originally carried a dead body in its jaws. It spat the body out before growling, slowly edging closer and closer towards me.

Horror flooded me as I stepped back. However, it seemed pretty intent on locking me in as its kill.

My eyes landed on a thin metal rod lying on the floor. It looked like it had been a part of the building’s structure before it collapsed. More importantly, it looked light enough for me to lift, but heavy enough to make an impact.

Slowly, I bent down, trying to reach for it without being too obvious. I watched the wolf’s body language up until it decided to pounce. When it did, I instantly grabbed the rod, swinging it as hard as I could.

The small metal rod slammed against the wolf’s head with much more force than I thought was possible. It bent almost immediately, sending the wolf flying a short distance away with a whine of pain.

"Holy shit," I breathed out, dropping the bar. My fingers trembled― they felt so numb that I could barely control them.

Adrenaline rushed through me, followed by a wave of relief. The wolf tried to stand up, but it quickly fell back to the ground with a thud. The simple rod had knocked him straight out. Even if it didn’t, he looked a little too out of it to come after me for a good while.

However, just as I dropped my guard, I heard a snarl behind me. I turned around, just in time to see that yet another wolf had joined its comrade in attacking Soren. Unfortunately, it was attracted by the sound of the metal rod hitting against flesh and bone, and had turned to look at me.