5. PREDATORS

Kayla.

We arrived in a spacious open garden.

The sudden openness after days of confinement made my lungs expand painfully. The sky stretched above us, wide and mercilessly bright. The ground beneath my feet was firm, flattened earth, scarred in places, as though countless battles had been fought there.

It looked less like a garden and more like a training ground.

Weapons racks lined one side. Wooden posts stood upright at intervals. The air carried a faint metallic scent, mixed with sweat and something feral that clung to this place like an invisible fog.

We were arranged quickly into a single line.

Shoulder to shoulder.

Silent.

Our bodies faced the opposite side of the garden, where something waited.

Three thrones stood elevated on a stone platform.

They glittered under the sunlight.

Dark wood carved intricately with symbols I did not recognize. The armrests curved like claws. The backs were tall and imposing, designed not for comfort, but for dominance.

Power radiated from that platform.

My fists clenched tightly at my sides as I stared at the empty seats.

So those were meant for them.

The Alpha triplets.

My jaw tightened. My nails dug into my palms until I felt the sting.

“The Alpha triplets have arrived.” A guard’s voice rang out across the field.

Instantly, every girl around me lowered her head slightly in submission. Shoulders dipped. Eyes fell to the ground.

But I didn’t bow.

I couldn’t.

Raw anger burned through my veins, scorching away any instinct to submit. My gaze remained fixed forward, unyielding.

I felt their presence before I fully saw them.

Heavy footsteps, a shift in the air, authority that demanded obedience without words, and then…..I moved.

Without thinking.

Without hesitating.

I surged forward from the line, my body acting faster than reason. My hand shot out and grabbed one of the Alphas by the collar of his shirt, yanking him toward me.

Gasps erupted behind me.

I leaned in close, so close I could see the faint flicker of surprise in his eyes.

And without hesitation….I drove a sharp metal pin straight into his belly.

I felt the resistance of flesh give way.

The second Alpha lunged forward instantly to assist his brother, fury blazing across his face, but he was too late.

I moved faster than I thought possible.

My arm swung upward and I slit his throat cleanly, watching as crimson spilled down his chest.

The third Alpha barely had time to react.

I bent swiftly, pivoting on my heel, and with the same metal pin, I pierced straight into his eye.

A sickening sound followed, then silence, their bodies collapsed to the ground one after another.

Lifeless.

Still.

Just like my parents had been.

I paused.

For a brief, suspended moment, satisfaction flooded my soul. It seeped into every crack inside me, filling spaces grief had hollowed out.

I stared at their bodies sprawled on the earth.

Justice.

My scream tore from my throat, raw and unrestrained.

And then I laughed.

Loud.

Unhinged.

Victorious.

“Why are you laughing?” A cold voice sliced through my ears like ice.

A sudden rush of wind hit my face, snapping my hair backward.

The scene shattered, the bodies were gone, the thrones were untouched, the Alphas stood upright before us.

Alive.

Unharmed.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

Shit!

It was my imagination.

The metal pin wasn’t in my hand.

There was no blood on the ground.

Had I laughed out loud?

My chest rose and fell rapidly as reality settled back into place, heavier than before.

The revenge I had just tasted…Had only existed in my mind.

The figure standing before me leaned in closer.

Too close.

His shadow swallowed mine as he bent slightly at the waist, his face inches from mine. I could feel the heat of his breath against my skin, warm, controlled, unsettling. It brushed across my cheek and down my neck, and I stiffened instantly.

My spine locked.

My hands curled into fists at my sides, though I forced myself not to step back.

He was one of the triplets.

Up close, he looked even more dangerous than I had imagined. Sharp features. Eyes that held no softness, no hesitation. Power radiated from him in quiet waves, pressing against my chest until breathing felt heavier than it should.

“You haven’t answered my question,” he said, his voice low, almost a whisper, but it carried weight.

It wrapped around my ears and slid down my spine.

He tilted his head slightly, inhaling, sniffing me, not casually, not politely, like a predator testing the scent of prey before deciding where to bite.

My stomach twisted.

“I… I…” I tried to speak, but my tongue felt thick and useless in my mouth.

My earlier laughter—imagined or not—now felt like a mistake carved in stone.

“You what?” Another rush of wind swept past us.

Stronger this time.

It carried a strange pressure, one that made the loose strands of my hair whip across my face. I blinked as the second triplet stepped forward.

So that was it.

Their powers.

The air itself seemed to respond to them.

This one stood straighter, his expression stern and unreadable. His gaze locked into mine without wavering. It was colder than the first, assessing and calculating.

“She seems a bit interesting, Seth,” the first one said, his lips curving faintly as he glanced sideways at the second.

Interesting?

The word made my heart skip.

“Interesting? I don’t think so, Sage,” another voice echoed.

The third Alpha approached us then, walking with an almost effortless majesty. Each step was slow, deliberate, commanding attention without demanding it.

He stopped beside them.

“Exactly, Scott. She looks disgusting,” Seth replied, his tone flat.

Disgusting.

The word struck harder than I expected.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, sharper than the wind that had surrounded them moments ago. It crawled beneath my skin and settled somewhere deep in my chest.

So this was them.

The Alpha triplets.

Ruthless didn’t even begin to cover it.

There was no warmth in their expressions. No humor in their eyes. No flicker of humanity in the way they studied me.

The people I was up against were not simple tyrants.

They were predators.

And I was standing alone in their territory.

“Let’s see if you can still laugh,” Seth said, taking a slow step backwards.

Another chill ran through me, deeper than before, more deliberate. It felt like a warning.

Or a promise.

My throat tightened.

What does he mean by that?