Two

My knees wobbled. I gripped the tray harder until the metal bit into my palms. If I made a sound, every eye in the hall would turn. 

I did not get the chance to escape. 

The first alpha reached me before I could step back. His hand closed around my wrist. 

Heat tore through me. Not slow. Not gentle. It ripped through my veins like fire. 

"Mate."

My wolf slammed against the walls I had forced around her. The mark beneath the paste pulsed, hot enough to steal my breath.

He did not let go. 

Storm-gray eyes locked on mine. His scent hit me full force. Pine and power. It clogged my thoughts until there was nothing else.

“You’re mine,” he said again, firmer.

I forced the lie past numb lips. "That's impossible, my lord."

His brow lifted. Then he smiled.

My heart slammed so hard it hurt.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

I shook my head. My hands would not stop shaking. 

“I'm an omega slave. I don't have a wolf. I can't feel any bond. "

His body went still.

Hope flared. That might work. Disgust might save me.

Then the second bond hit.

It knocked the breath from my lungs. My wolf screamed inside my skull, tearing at the walls. The mark burned hotter.

The Alpha's brother was coming toward me.

Dark hair tied back. Pale gray-green eyes fixed on me like he saw straight through skin and bone. His breath caught when our gazes met.

The bond drove deeper.

I bit my cheek until I tasted blood and swallowed my wolf’s cry.

I stumbled back. Hands caught me before I hit the wall.

The third alpha stood over me. His steel-gray eyes met mine. Shock flashed, then vanished behind control. 

His bond locked into place.

Heavier. Deeper.

Three bonds.

Three alphas.

Three irreversible mistakes.

I stood half-naked in the middle of this hall, exposed and trapped.

"Alpha Kain. Jax. Riven!"

Alpha Garrick’s drunk laugh cut through the moment.

“The Triad circling one of my servants?” he said, amused. “She’s plain. I saved better girls for you. Oiled and ready.”

"I'm fine with her," the first alpha said. “Perhaps my brothers require more.” 

“Take your hand off her, Jax,” the second said. “She’s mine.”

The third said nothing.

He shifted closer. His body blocked the room from me.

Garrick’s gaze jumped between them, delighted.

“All three want the same cunt?” he laughed. “Is that a shared taste? If so, my wife will prepare her for you.” 

The first alpha snarled. His grip tightened until pain flared up my arm. 

"She's not for sharing."

Alpha Garrick had no idea about the mate bond. To him, this was just another night of rut and amusement. 

Soon this hall would drown in blood, just like the stories. Brothers tearing each other apart over one woman.

And I was standing at the center of it.

The three alphas went distant. They were talking through the mind-link.

When they refocused, they were controlled. 

The first alpha loosened his grip but did not release me. The second stepped back. The third turned, no longer looming.

Lady Selena swept into the hall then. She was Alpha Garrick's sister, beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. Tonight she was barely dressed. She moved through the crowd, laughing, touching, offering girls like gifts.

She went straight to the War Alpha. 

“Alpha Kain,” she said, voice smooth. “Congratulations on your recommendation as Alpha Primus. The Council chose well.” 

“Thank you,” Kain replied.

“This is the right time to take a proper Luna,” she said softly. “Your wife’s death was tragic. But it has been five years. Tradition demands a bride from one of the great houses.”

"My sister speaks sense," Alpha Garrick said. “A man like you needs the right woman.”

Selena reached for Kain’s wrist.He pulled away.

Her smile didn't falter, but I saw the flash of anger in her eyes. I could already sense the rejection. Then her gaze landed on me. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the way all three brothers still stood around me.

"You're interested in this thing?"

She looked me up and down like I was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

"She's beneath you," she said to them. “Poorly trained. Useless. I have better girls. Girls who know how to please an alpha.”

None of the brothers spoke. They stood silent.

Protecting me. By hiding the bond. By keeping the truth buried. Triple bonds were taboo. Dangerous.

Lady Selena's smile turned sharp. 

"You're dismissed."

I did not hesitate.

I dipped into a clumsy curtsy and ran. I shoved through the crowd and did not look back until I reached the servants’ exit.