The Triplet Alphas' Regret

"I..." I stuttered, my words failing me.

I could still remember the pain that churned in my lower half after drinking that bottle of alcohol. It was the worst sensation alive. It felt like my life was slowly slipping from my grasp.

But possibly worse than that was Cassian’s nonchalant expression. He was entirely alright with watching me die at that moment.

Did he truly believe that I was the one who killed Violet and her child? He was also the only one who knew I was pregnant. I didn’t know if he told Rowan and Soren, but they didn’t seem like they had a clue.

My hands slowly moved down to my lower belly. It was flat. To be fair, the pregnancy hadn’t been that far along for me to have a baby bump, but I felt oddly empty inside. A part of me mourned its loss, but another part of me was relieved.

However, either way, I refused to let Violet get away with this. Rage flooded my veins. Never had I ever wanted someone dead so badly.

"Maybe we should give her some space to rest," Zeke suggested. "Come on." He turned to look at me and calmly said, "We will come back to check in on you in a couple of hours. For now, get some sleep."

Ralph nodded. He approached the entrance, right behind Zeke. However, both of them stopped by the entrance and frowned when they realized that Lucien had not moved a single inch.

"Lucien," Zeke said flatly. "Come on. Stop being a nuisance."

"That’s no way to speak to your Alpha," Lucien said, though there wasn’t any heat behind his words. "I would like to stay with my fated mate. Is that so wrong?"

I jolted in the bed, turning to look at Lucien in surprise. My eyes were wide, and my lips were slightly parted. As though he could sense me looking at him, he tore his gaze away from the two other guys to meet my eyes.

Lucien wore a gentle smile, and he tilted his head to one side, amusement in his eyes.

"What’s with that expression?"

"Alright," Zeke muttered from the doorway. "Come on, Ralph. I have no time for this nonsense."

Ralph nodded, retreating from the room with Zeke. The flap fluttered as they walked through and closed right behind them after they had passed.

"I’m just... surprised," I said. "You... I... You’re my fated mate?"

It felt odd to hear him willingly confirming this.

"What?" Lucien said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you planning on rejecting me too?"

"What, no!" I exclaimed.

My eyes widened when I realized I had freaked out a little too loudly. In fact, I was so panicked that my hands automatically grabbed Lucien’s, and I quickly withdrew them with a blush.

"I mean... no... I have no intention of rejecting you."

But I had every intention of rejecting the other three imbeciles, if only they would accept my rejection. It was a horrid thing to require their acceptance before I could cut this bond between us for good.

"But you have every intention of rejecting Rowan, Soren, and Cassian?" Lucien supplied.

I looked at him curiously.

"How did you know?" I asked.

His expression darkened for a second. I could see his thoughts had gone far away.

"Lucien?" I prompted when he didn’t reply.

He blinked, slowly returning his attention to me. "You will be safe here," he said. "Those three won’t be able to find you here. Even if they do, they will need a while to catch up, considering the state their own pack is in."

I nodded. The last thing I remembered of Shadowclaw was indeed that the whole pack was in ruins. Many buildings were destroyed, and there were so many dead bodies littering the grounds. I felt mildly bad that this happened, but at the same time, it was difficult to pity the people who wanted me dead or suffering.

As the Alphas, Rowan, Soren, and Cassian had a duty to the pack. They wouldn’t abandon Shadowclaw in this vulnerable time to come looking for me.

Initially, I had a burst of adrenaline when I realized I was in a foreign place. But Lucien’s scent had been so calming that my body quickly relaxed, and exhaustion found me. Even though I had been unconscious for a while, it still felt like I needed more rest.

"Sleep," he said. "I will be back soon."

I nodded, already feeling my eyelids droop. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep once more.

***

[SOREN POV]

"What do you mean she is missing?!" Rowan growled.

"It’s exactly as I said," I said through gritted teeth. A flash of pain tore through my arm, and I hissed, flinching.

Plenty of buildings in Shadowclaw were now mere rubble. Even a portion of the pack house had crumbled due to the enemy catapults. Even the infirmary was now in shambles. The injured were housed in the unaffected parts of the pack house, while every capable warrior was sent to patrol the perimeters for lingering enemies.

Most warriors did not manage to escape unscathed. Some had minor injuries, while others were severely injured or even dead. There were nearly a hundred casualties in this surprise attack.

However, what I couldn’t understand was how they managed to successfully attack us without us knowing. There were no reports from the scouts until minutes before the attack. Only the children and elderly were successfully moved away into safe houses.

As for the injured, there was only one person in the infirmary during the time of the attack.

I scowled, looking down. My arm should’ve healed right after the fight ended. However, those rogues who attacked us were savages. Some of their fiercest fighters had silver coating their teeth to ensure that every bite would be deadly.

Wounds caused by silver took an incredibly long time to heal, reducing our healing capabilities to nothing more than a human’s.

"You were supposed to get her," Rowan said, pinching the skin between her eyebrows. "Not only is she gone, but you’ve also gotten yourself badly injured. We don’t even have a clue where she is."

My jaw clenched tightly together. I looked up at Rowan, meeting his gaze.

"I think I know who took her."