Chapter 6 - Alanna

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I am so late.

I know I’ve missed the pack meeting already so at this point I’m just aiming to get there in time for the tournament - something I’m not looking forward to, especially after the morning I’ve had.

I’m hustling my way across the pack, cursing myself for moving to the secluded cabin when everything started happening with me. I couldn’t stay in the packhouse anymore. I couldn’t have anyone seeing or finding out what has been going on.

Now I’m running through the deserted streets, praying and hoping the exertion brings warmth to my skin. I’ve been freezing cold since I woke up to the disaster that is to blame for me missing this meeting and nothing I’ve done so far has been able to warm me up.

I sat in front of the fire I lit this morning to try and rid the evidence of what happened over night while I was asleep in hopes it would unfreeze my blood but it didn’t work and I’m internally freaking out about it.

They’re going to want me to spar today and I can’t afford to touch anyone.

Please Moon Goddess, get me through this day.

I’m panting while cold sweat coats my even colder skin when I finally make it to the training grounds. I weave between bodies, looking for Kace or Nina when I run head first into a boulder. I gasp as the ice in my veins gets worse.

I look up into dark eyes. Nope, not a boulder. Just my new alpha who I have spent the last few days avoiding. The strange things happening to me have only gotten worse since he arrived and took over.

It makes me hate him a little bit, even though I know he’s not really to blame. I’m sure the two have nothing to do with each other. I just want my life to go back to normal.

Strong hands shoot out to steady me and I flinch from the touch, not wanting him to feel how cold I am, even through the fabric of my long sleeve shirt. There’s no excuse for my skin to feel like icicles when it’s the middle of summer in the southwest. Today’s temperatures are pushing ninety degrees.

Which reminds me I forgot to put on sunscreen. Motherfucker.

With my pale skin and light hair, I’m an anomaly down here in the south. Everyone else has darker hair and tan skin while I look like an outsider - something the other pack members love to call me.

Being an orphan doesn’t help.

His warm touch burns on my shoulders and I quickly move out of reach. That one second he touched me is more than enough and now my inner panic is rising to new heights. This is why I’ve barely left my cabin or seen anyone the past few days. I can’t control what is happening to me and my wolf is no help. If anything, her being out makes everything worse.

Plus, the stifling heat is too much for her thick white fur.

The rare times it ever snows down here is a gift for her. It’s always been that way even before this… weirdness started.

I take an extra step back from him just in case, which shows me the two Dracos standing on either side of the original Draco.

Wait…

My heart drops to my feet.

“Oh fuck,” I mutter under my breath. “There’s three of you.”

Draco stands tall in the middle, half his shoulder length dark hair pulled up in a knot. He’s shirtless, his thick tanned arms and chest decorated in extensive tattoos, wearing only a pair of training leathers that hug his thick thighs before tucking into a pair of combat boots. 

The Draco on his right has his dark hair pulled all the way back in a knot, wearing the same amount of clothes, though his expression is the most serious of the three. The Draco on the left has his long dark hair blowing in the small breeze, just as naked as the other two, but there’s no mistaking the amusement shining in his dark eyes.

Triplets.

What in the name of the Goddess is going on. Please tell me I’m hallucinating.

Three alpha auras brush against my skin, but they tickle more than anything. I’m not sure why auras don’t seem to have much of an effect on me. It was something Shaun used to hate, causing him to smack me around extra hard when I wouldn’t do as his alpha command tried to force on me.

I look between the three of them and the ice in my veins grows colder. I feel myself shiver, my teeth chattering, and I notice the skin on my hands begin to turn a tinge of blue.

Something about these three is not good for whatever is happening to me and for the first time since everything happened, I wish Shaun had won that stupid fight. He was more worried about sticking his dick in any willing hole to care about his pack members.

Something tells me these alphas are going to be up my ass, and not in a good way.

“Alanna,” says middle Draco, the one I’m a hundred percent sure is the actual Draco. “How nice of you to finally join us.”

No matter how I feel about these triplets, my snark always finds a way to come through. “And who might ‘us’ be?”

Left Draco with the hair down smirks at my tone. He just looks like trouble.

“Since you missed the mandatory meeting, let me introduce you to my brothers. This is Hunt,” he says, pointing to the serious brother. “And this is Ryder,” he finishes, nodding his head toward the unserious brother.

“Three new alphas. How lovely.” There’s no missing the sarcasm in my voice.

Hunt’s nostrils flare as his body wounds tight and I wonder if I’m about to have another alpha who likes to use his fists. Too bad for these three, I won’t take it lying down like I did with Shaun. I’m already in a shit mood and all I feel is panic living beneath my skin.

I feel like a ticking time bomb and who knows what will escape from me if I explode.

It doesn’t help that my body temperature keeps dropping and I’m starting to notice puffs of condensation escaping every time I open my mouth. I need to get out of here and hopefully track down a pair of gloves to wear. If I spar with someone and they touch my bare skin, there’s no telling what will happen.

I’m already dressed in a long sleeved black shirt, tight leather pants, and boots. Everyone around is in much less clothing but they’re also not freezing from the inside out despite the raging heat and blaring sun.

Can’t relate. Must be fucking nice.

“Well,” I grit through clenched teeth, hoping it stops them from chattering, “as nice as this has been, I gotta go.”

I turn on my heel and walk away without letting any of them get a word in. I hear one of the triplet alphas call my name but I just walk faster, getting as far from them as I possibly can. I feel my body temperature rise a few degrees but it’s still not enough.

If I could just find Kace, he can locate me some gloves and tell me where I am in the line up. If I’m lucky, I can somehow manage to talk him into giving me a free pass today but I don’t have my hopes up. I’m dreading every second of what’s to come.

How much longer am I going to have to endure this?

Maybe I should just denounce the pack and leave.