Five

Lira's POV

My heart pounded so hard I feared it would tear through my ribs as I stood outside Alpha Jax’s door, trapped in the middle of three Alphas who were close to tearing each other apart.

Fear should have been the only thing in my veins. Instead, my body betrayed me with a rush of heat, my thighs slick with need. 

I hated it.

Hated that I couldn’t control the way my body answered a call I desperately wanted to silence.

Lady Selena’s presence was both a blessing and a curse. I seized the chance to dart behind her like a coward, tears welling up and spilling down my cheeks. Trembling, I used her body as a shield between me and the Alphas.

Selena’s voice dripped with false kindness. “It's okay dear. I've got you.”

Then she turned to face them. “This omega cannot be taken if she’s not willing to submit, my lords. She’s just a servant.”

“Please,” I choked out, sinking to my knees, tears streamed down my face. “I am nothing. Just let me go.”

Then, with a sharp motion, Selena dropped her robe. It pooled at her feet, leaving her completely bare.

She stood tall and proud, her full breasts and smooth, naked skin on display.

Her eyes locked on Alpha Kain as she tilted her chin in invitation. “Why waste your time on her,” she purred, “when I am right here?”

The air turned heavy, almost suffocating.

Jealousy hit me like a punch. Even though I despised Selena for throwing herself at him, a darker, shameful part of me burned at the thought of Kain’s hands on her instead of me. My body ached, heat pooling between my thighs, while my mind screamed at me to run.

Kain’s gaze flicked to me, then back to Selena. He scoffed.

“I am not touching you,” he said to her. “Take her and leave.”

Selena didn’t move at first. The rejection was so sharp. Her lips trembled. Even though I hated her, the sight of her humiliation struck me unexpectedly. She had stripped herself bare, only to be dismissed like she was worthless.

Snatching up her robe, Selena spun on her heel and stormed away.

I knew she would unleash her fury on me the moment we were alone. I couldn’t let that happen.

I tore free and sprinted down the corridors, my feet barely touching the ground. My lungs burned, but I didn’t stop until I reached Lady Astoria’s chambers. 

I pounded on the door. After a moment, it opened, revealing Astoria in her nightgown, bleary-eyed and annoyed. The loose fabric slipped from one of her shoulders.

“What in the gods’ names, Lira?” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. “It is the middle of the night.”

“Please,” I gasped, my voice hoarse from crying. “Hide me. Lady Selena will hurt me… and I don't know why the Alphas summoned me. Please, my Lady.”

Astoria frowned but motioned me inside, locking the door behind us.

“Sleep on the mat,” she ordered, pointing to a corner of the room.

Sniffling, I curled into myself, making my body as small and pitiful as I could.

Astoria hovered over me, her tone curious rather than cruel.

“What are you doing that makes them circle around you like predators?”

“I don’t know,” I lied, my voice shaking.

I couldn’t tell her the truth.

If she discovered my mark, she would sell me out before sunrise.

She huffed and climbed back into bed. “You are hiding something. Powerful Alphas do not look at a servant without reason.”

I lay awake, trembling. The skin beneath my bindings burned where the three crescents were hidden. Eventually, exhaustion dragged me into a restless sleep.

And in my dreams, they came for me.

Alpha Kain, powerful and brutal.

Riven, slow and deliberate, his touch claiming every part of me.

Jax, flirty and teasing, his mouth on my skin while his brothers pressed against me from either side.

Their hands, their mouths, their cocks. They filled me, marked me, and broke me apart, their wolves merging as they took me again and again.

I woke with a gasp, drenched in sweat, my thighs wet and my core aching with desperate need.

The first pale light of dawn crept through the window. My chest heaved as I slipped silently from Astoria’s room and descended into the ruins beneath the fortress. My grandmother’s rituals were the only thing keeping me safe, the only barrier between my secret and the world.

With shaking hands, I mixed ash and herbs, smearing the paste over the crescents on my chest. Tears blurred my vision as I fought to keep my sobs silent.

Why couldn't I be normal? Why did this cursed mark have to be mine?

The pain of missing my grandmother cut through me like a blade.

If she were alive, she would know what to do. But she was gone, and I was alone.

Her old warnings echoed in my mind: stories of blood moons and forbidden bonds.

Tales of the triple mark, and of kingdoms that had burned because of it.

Stories I once thought were myths—but they were my reality.

My mother had died only hours after giving birth to me, leaving my grandmother with an impossible choice: obey the decree and kill me, or defy it and risk everything.

She chose defiance, chose to protect me, even though it cost her everything.

We fled to Blackwood when I was still a baby.

She taught me how to disguise my scent so no Alpha would sense what I truly was.

She taught me how to act ordinary. How to survive.

But right now, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to keep going.

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

By afternoon, a guard arrived with a summons to Alpha Garrick’s hall.

My knees shook as I knelt before him.

Selena stood at his side, her face flushed with fury.

“This omega is a problem!” she hissed, stabbing a manicured finger at me. “She has the visiting Alphas fighting over her and undermining our authority. Sell her to General Knox before the other omegas get ideas!”

My blood ran cold.

General Knox was a monster who broke slave girls until they begged for death.

Part of me wanted to die rather than be discovered by the triplets, rather than risk igniting another war. But another part of me, terrified and desperate, still wanted to live.

Alpha Garrick raised a hand, silencing his sister. “Earlier at breakfast, Alpha Kain mocked us for mistreating slaves. We need their alliance, Selena. Do not ruin this.”

Selena’s lip curled, but she stepped back, seething.

Alpha Garrick motioned to a guard. “Fetch General Knox.”

Moments later, the general entered, a sick smile twisting his face. His eyes roamed over me with greedy hunger.

“Ah, I like this one,” he said. “But first, I require a full inspection.”

I froze.

If he saw my mark, my life would be over.

His hand reached for the laces of my dress. I opened my mouth to beg him to stop—but the doors slammed open.

Alpha Jax stormed into the hall.

In one swift motion, he seized the general by the collar and struck him hard enough to send him sprawling. The sound of the blow echoed through the chamber.

“Hands off,” Jax growled, yanking me to my feet and pulling me against his chest.

Alpha Garrick raised a brow, his voice amused.

“What is this, Alpha Jax? Packmates are free to buy omegas. We take care of our own.”

“In that case,” Jax said sharply, “I am buying her.”

He scribbled a note and shoved it into Garrick’s hand.

Garrick’s eyes went wide as he read the sum. “W-what—”

Lady Astoria burst into the room. “She’s my personal slave!” she snapped, glaring at me. “You cannot just take her!”

Garrick smirked and tucked the note into his pocket.

“She belongs to him now, darling. The deal is done.”

I trembled in Alpha Jax’s iron grip.

Kain entered next, his face dark with rage, followed by Riven, whose cold, sharp gaze seemed to pierce right through me.

Jax’s grin turned cruel. “Brothers. I have acquired a new pet.”

I tried to yank free, but Alpha Garrick’s stern voice rang out.

“Young girl, you belong to him now. Show no disobedience, or you will not survive the punishment.”

Jax’s cruel gleam told me everything I needed to know.

He hadn’t bought me to save me. He was hiding our bond—waiting to decide what to do with me.

And I no longer knew which fate was worse:

being at the mercy of General Knox…

or belonging to my three fated mates.