I had learned three absolute truths in my life.
To never give up.
To never underestimate anyone.
To never ignore what my beast of a brother Brayden said.
Bardou was a wise, visionary wolf and an extraordinary element in the triad of beasts that complemented us. My own beast respected Bardou to the point that he saw him as an ultimate reference, so I never ignored what that beast said.
“Bardou can be wrong,” Jayden said immediately.
I knew we were going to have problems with him and his youngest child syndrome.
I adored my brother, but he was a problem of epic proportions. If there was a problem in the herd, the first thing my father and the council did was rule out Jayden as the originator. That's how bad his reputation was.
We knew the disasters were his way of getting the attention he sought, but I was sick of it. Everything Brayden and I did with our hands, Jayden would mess up with his damn feet.
“When has he ever been wrong, Bardou?” I asked Jayden with annoyance. “Point out a single time he has, and I'll grant you the sentence.”
“You don't have to concede anything to me, just because I'm the next Alpha doesn't give you the right to want to assume the role of an almighty god,” Jayden said with golden eyes.
I want to fight; don't fall for their game, said my wolf, Akela.
“Focus on the most important thing,” said Brayden. “We have the same mate.”
“I refuse to share my soulmate with you,” Jayden said angrily and stood up angrily, ready to leave. "It's impossible. I can't believe it."
The birthmark of the three moons on our shoulder began to light up immediately, a sign that we were to remember that we shared in the same destiny. Whether Jayden liked it or not, the three of us had to share the same things.
Whenever any of us said loudly that we didn't want to be close, didn't want to share the same opportunities, or didn't want the same life, the three-moon mark would light up.
It was a clear way for destiny to rebuke us.
“Damn,” Jayden said angrily before lying back down on the puff. “Does the light indicate that it's true?”
“Yes,” Brayden said with surprise. “Like it or not, we share mate.”
“And a very peculiar one,” I said in surprise and then cursed through my teeth.
“What's wrong?” asked Jayden with a frown.
“Theo,” I said and looked at my brothers with annoyance. “Their mother won't accept Elara; they gave her a hard time while Tracy is in the hospital.”
“Shit, I saw that Beta David went to the hospital, but I didn't think it was because of Tracy,” Jayden said. “What the heck happened?”
Brayden had a frown on his face, but he pulled out his phone and started texting. Minutes later, he gave us a brief rundown of Elara's stay from the time she had bequeathed until that night.
“They treated her that badly?” questioned Jayden angrily.
“She's a clear target,” Brayden said with annoyance. “It was what you told our mother, do you forget?”
“No, but—”
“They hate her because she makes Tracy feel bad,” I said as I read my friend's messages. "I told Theo they couldn't do that, that at the end of the day the new girl was his sister, but he didn't answer me anymore. Maybe I should go have a chat with him."
“Come on, the three of us,” Brayden said, and I raised my eyebrows. “Theo's a friend of ours too, so it's not weird.”
“Better invite him over here,” Jayden said. “It's more natural than the three of us showing up at the Beta's house.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at my younger brother in surprise.
“You really don't want to go crawl into Elara's bed?” I asked calmly.
The question wasn't asked with malice; it was just something so normal, I didn't see the blow he gave me with such speed coming. I fell on the floor so violently that I shook my head. Sometimes I forgot his damn powers.
I wiped my bleeding lip and glared at Jayden angrily.
“Don't talk about her like she's a whore,” Jayden sneered. “She's your mate; she deserves respect.”
That made me feel like shit, and I looked at Brayden, my other brother, who just glared at me, which was unusual. He usually used to be on my side.
You fucked up, Akela growled angrily.
“I said it without thinking,” I said and swallowed spit before standing up. “If you ever weigh me like that again, I swear to the goddess I'm going to give you the worst beating of your fucking life.”
“I don't care; you say anything that dirty about her again and I'll kill you,” Jayden said.
“Don't argue anymore; you're missing the most important thing in all of this,” Brayden said calmly. Jayden and I looked at him with a frown. "She's ours, no matter how or why something like this happened. She's ours, and she doesn't recognize us. Don't you think it's more interesting to find out why she doesn't recognize us?“
”Her beast," I whispered in surprise.
“Exactly, she is the daughter of a powerful Beta, and even if her mother was a half-breed, she should have an awakened beast,” Brayden said. "When I touched her, I felt part of her core; that's what really scared me, not the mating bond as such. It was the fact that her power vibrated with mine."
“It's not normal,” Jayden said in disbelief. “When I touched her, I felt a lot of things, but I didn't realize what it was; I just wanted to have her.”
They both looked at me, and I lifted my shoulders.
“What I felt when I touched it I can't even describe; the bond itself terrified me,” I said truthfully. “It was powerful.”
Brayden raised his eyebrows, understanding what had happened to me, but Jayden just frowned, though he didn't say anything.
“Text Theo; don't talk to him because of the pack's shared mental link, so no one notices anything strange,” Brayden said, and I pulled out my phone.
Aiden: Is everything okay?
Theo: This is bullshit. The damn half-breed made my parents fight for the first time since I can remember, Tracy almost died, and I just want her to get the hell out of here. I'm not going to let her have her way to replace my sister. Tracy is my only sister.
I showed the message to my brothers; Jayden cursed, and Brayden sighed.
“This is going to end badly,” Brayden said. “We need to figure out a way to get her out of that house, to get her here so we can protect her and study her.”
“Do you want us to tell everyone that she's ours?” asked Jayden eagerly.
“No,” Brayden said carefully. "The kind of bond we have is somewhat unusual, so we shouldn't take anything for granted; the best we can do is study the interactions we have and investigate. It may be somewhat unwise to openly claim her as a mate."
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they can't believe us,” Jayden said. "How do you explain to a purist council that the three heirs to the most powerful Alpha of all share the same woman as mate and that she's a half-breed? It would be a fucking pain in the ass."
I raised my eyebrows at Jayden's perception.
“Exactly,” Brayden said before sitting down next to him. “Tomorrow she's going to be submitted for blood testing; we need to check that we feel the bond, and following that, we need to make the decision to involve our parents.”
“Do you think that's a good idea?” asked Jayden seriously.
“The fact that we have the same young woman as our mate is going to shake our parents up, but I know Mom will be okay with it, and if she is, Dad won't hesitate to help us,” Brayden said confidently. "The informant I have at the Beta's house said the situation doesn't look good for Elara. So depending on what we see tomorrow, let's be cautious."
“This is all so strange,” Jayden said with some disappointment. “I always had the belief that each of us was going to have a woman who suited only us.”
“Fate is giving us a woman who is designed for all three of us,” I said in disbelief. “That's not common; don't belittle that.”
“What if she's not one of the three?” asked Jayden. “What if she just has to choose between the three of us?”
Brayden and I frowned.
“We need to look into that, but in the meantime, we need to stay out of it, look out for her, and keep things from going wrong,” Brayden said. “We have to find answers before we even take a big step.”
“What step are you talking about?” my mother asked with a frown.
We had been so deep in conversation that she slipped into my room and made it to the terrace without our noticing. Mom folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.
“I want to know what's going on with my children right now,” my mother said.
“Tracy is in the hospital,” Brayden said. “She tried to kill herself because the Beta's daughter came in and things got out of control.”
My mother was surprised.
“By the goddess!” she said in surprise. “I'll call Lauren; this is serious.”
My mother left, and Jayden and I looked at Brayden in amazement.
“You're good,” Jayden said and laughed.
“I had to distract her,” my middle brother said.
I hoped that ability to get us out of trouble didn't end up backfiring.
Elara“Is everything all right, sons?” asked Luna Kate.That made the triplets stop looking at me with golden eyes and focus their attention on their mother. I got a good look at them and noticed more differences between them, ones that weren't so obvious.Aiden would tense his frown when he paid attention to something.Brayden would stare intently at the source of his attention.Jayden was nibbling on his lip, as if ready for a quick response.It wasn't too hard to figure out who each triplet was; after all, they were very different from each other.“No, Mom,” Brayden said. “Everything's fine; Elara's just having breakfast.”“That sounds great to me,” Luna said. “I want when she's done eating, one of you to take her to the velvet room; she'll be comfortable there.”I saw joy in Jayden's eyes, surprise in Brayden's face, and bewilderment on Aiden's.“The room that connects to ours?” asked Aiden with a frown.That made me turn to look at Luna Kate, in disbelief, gave me a big smile.“Y
ElaraI was in shock.Of all the things I thought could happen by coming to the Black Ice Pack, staying to live in the Alpha's house was not one of them. Not even in my wildest dreams could I have visualized an opportunity as good as that.Going into the Alpha's house allowed me to get a broader view of the pack's power and how much the Alpha might be involved in the crime I was investigating. It was a complicated situation, but I had to be astute about it.Beta David took me by the arm and led me to the other end of the room.“You're going to refuse,” he said, and I looked at him incredulously. “Our family's problem will be settled in private.”I released my grip quickly and looked at him very seriously.“It's very easy for you to talk about family when I don't even have a chance to integrate and your son disowns me in front of much of the council,” I said earnestly.“What Theo has is a temper tantrum and—”“Let's not lie to each other,” I said earnestly, and Beta David scowled at me
JaydenTheo didn't come home, but Brayden's informant's summary was detailed.Aiden looked for more information among other witnesses willing to talk about it, and when he returned, he was furious. Normally he didn't bother with Theo; the two of them had a very good relationship. They had been friends since they were little and worked very well together.I didn't tolerate Theo because he was a jerk.He used to have a certain moral superiority that unhinged me.So when we grew up, I distanced myself from the common friendships I had with my brothers. I discovered at a very young age that most of them were too much of a bootlicker for my own good.It was all rooted in fucking interest, and Theo fit that mold, although he did show some brains and sanity at times.Lauren and Tracy were worse.The Beta's wife was overbearing, dismissive, and thought she was important because of the power she had.Tracy was an exact copy of Lauren; that's why she always sought attention from one of us, alth
AidenI had learned three absolute truths in my life.To never give up.To never underestimate anyone.To never ignore what my beast of a brother Brayden said.Bardou was a wise, visionary wolf and an extraordinary element in the triad of beasts that complemented us. My own beast respected Bardou to the point that he saw him as an ultimate reference, so I never ignored what that beast said.“Bardou can be wrong,” Jayden said immediately.I knew we were going to have problems with him and his youngest child syndrome.I adored my brother, but he was a problem of epic proportions. If there was a problem in the herd, the first thing my father and the council did was rule out Jayden as the originator. That's how bad his reputation was.We knew the disasters were his way of getting the attention he sought, but I was sick of it. Everything Brayden and I did with our hands, Jayden would mess up with his damn feet.“When has he ever been wrong, Bardou?” I asked Jayden with annoyance. “Point ou
BraydenThe moon was at its highest point when I arrived home.And I didn't know if it was the effect of it or the fact that I had stumbled upon the most important discovery of my entire existence that had me upset. A part of me had emotions running high in a way that I had never felt before.Never in all my years of existence had I felt such a disturbance.I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or worry; I could only remember the shocking silver-gray eyes that had consumed me less than three hours ago. Those eyes were like a spell; I could think of nothing but them and their bearer, the beautiful young woman who had stolen my breath.She is ours, my wolf Bardou said excitedly.That in itself was a feat of extraordinary levels.My wolf was more even-tempered than I was; to feel him upset was something completely unheard of, and that left me confused. When I entered the house, I avoided the long hallways and the guards. I was in such a state of bewilderment that I didn't feel like talkin
EloraI returned to the house after two full hours of quiet.When I walked in, I saw Liz picking up a tray of leftover peanuts and a glass of leftover liquor. It was easy for me to visualize my supposed father in space, thinking at what point his life had gone to hell. I was about to make a joke about it, but Liz gave me a pitying look.From her expression, I knew she wasn't going to give me good news.“Sorry to bother you, miss... Did you check the contents of your suitcase?” asked Liz. I frowned and shook my head. "I'm sorry to tell you that I had to open the suitcase because the dirt seeped all the way to the bottom. I took the clothes out to wash and dry them, but a lot of clothes were cut up."“Shit,” I said between my teeth.“I can bring you the suitcase with everything in it, and you can check it.”I nodded, and Liz walked away, but I stopped her.“Is there a maid's room I can stay in tonight?” I asked carefully, and Liz, bless her, nodded, no questions asked. “Take me to that