Chapter Five: The Tri-Alpha Territory (Triplet Domain)

*************

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was the ceiling. It wasn’t familiar. It was a strong wooden ceiling. It was very clean, as if it were new. Not the kind of place I expected to wake up in.

I blinked slowly. I was lying on a soft bed. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. Then the pain came back. Not as sharp as before, but enough to remind me everything was real.

“You’re awake.”

I turned my head slightly. A man stood nearby, dressed simply, but his posture was straight and controlled.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“Our territory,” he replied.

I frowned. “Why am I still alive?”

He didn’t answer immediately. “Because they decided so,” he said instead.

They. Before I could ask more, the door opened.

The flirtatious one walked in first. He looked exactly the same, relaxed and unbothered.

“Look who decided to wake up,” he said.

I pushed myself up slightly. “You didn’t kill me,” I said.

He smiled. “Clearly.”

“Why?”

“Curiosity,” he replied.

“That’s a bad reason,” I said.

“It usually is,” he agreed.

Footsteps followed behind him. The other two entered together. The calm one stood to the side, watching. The cold one stood in front.

“We ask. You answer,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“I don’t feel like it,” I replied.

“You don’t have a choice.”

“I didn’t have a choice before,” I said. “That didn’t stop anything.”

“Your name?” he repeated.

“I am Lena,” I said carelessly.

The calm one stepped forward slightly. “You were rejected,” he said.

It wasn’t a question. They already knew. I stayed silent.

“You crossed into rogue territory,” he continued.

“I was dragged,” I corrected.

“And something awakened,” he finished.

That made me look at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

“You do,” he replied.

“I don’t.”

The cold one’s voice cut in. “She’s lying.”

“I know,” the calm one said.

The flirtatious one leaned against the wall. “She’s consistent at least.”

I looked at them. All three. “You already decided something,” I said. “So why ask?”

They didn’t deny it. The calm one spoke again. “If you stay here,” he said, “you live.”

“And if I don’t?” I asked.

The cold one answered this time. “You don’t,” he said slowly.

I let out a slow breath. “Then what do you want?” I asked.

The flirtatious one pushed himself off the wall. “You,” he said lightly.

I frowned. “For what?”

The calm one stepped forward. “To survive here,” he said, “you have to belong here.”

“I don’t belong anywhere,” I replied.

“You will,” he said.

Something in his tone made me uneasy. “How?” I asked.

There was a brief silence. Then the cold one spoke. “You will be ours.”

My chest tightened slightly. “What does that mean?”

The calm one held my gaze. “It means,” he said slowly, “you will be the mate of the three of us.”

The room went quiet. I stared at them. All three. Waiting for their reaction, a joke, anything. But they were serious.

“You’re not serious,” I said.

“We are,” the cold one replied.

“That’s not how it works,” I said.

“It does now,” he said.

I let out a small, breathless laugh. “This is insane.”

“It’s necessary,” the calm one said.

“For you or for me?” I asked.

“For both.”

I looked down at my hands. I had no strength. No pack. No place. No choice. I already knew the answer, even before they asked.

I closed my eyes for a second. Then opened them again. “Fine,” I said quietly.

The word felt heavier than anything I had said before.

“I accept.”

The flirtatious one smiled slightly. The cold one didn’t react. The calm one watched me carefully.

“Then at least tell me who I’m talking to,” I said. “If I’m going to stay, I should know that much.”

The one by the wall pushed himself up and walked closer. “Fair,” he said.

He stopped a few steps away from me and gave a small bow, exaggerated just enough to feel intentional.

“I’m Kai,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. “The one you should like the most.”

I didn’t respond.

He smiled anyway.

The calm one stepped forward next. “Kieran,” he said simply. His voice matched him, steady and clear, with no extra weight.

Then the last one spoke. “I don’t care if you know my name,” he said.

There was a pause. Then, “But you will.”

His eyes held mine.

“Kael.”

The name fit him too well.

For a moment, I tried to study them, even as I wondered if I would survive here. I didn’t know if I was safe or not.

The flirtatious one, Kai, looked like he wanted to say something, but Kieran cut through my thoughts.

Then he said, “I don’t think you can survive what is awakening in you.”