All Chapters of Marked, Tamed, Owned by the Triplet Alphas: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

Lira I woke up with my wolf clawing at my ribs so violently I couldn't breathe.The empty moonshade vials on my dresser mocked me. I'd checked every hiding spot yesterday—under the mattress, in the back of my drawer, behind books on the shelf. Nothing. I was completely out, and my wolf was pushing harder than ever, demanding release, and I had maybe days before I lost control completely.I couldn't go to the healer alone. That would raise too many questions. But I also couldn't keep pretending everything was fine when my skin felt too tight and my bones ached with the constant effort of suppression.I found Tova in the breakfast room, picking at toast she clearly had no interest in eating."I need your help," I said without preamble.She looked up immediately. "I hope this isn't about yesterday's request?""I need to see the healer. Just a checkup, nothing serious." I tried to sound casual, like this was a minor inconvenience rather than desperation. "Would you come with me?""Of cou

LiraMy heart was pounding but I kept my voice steady. "I'm from Blackwood. I grew up in an orphanage there. And yes, I don't have formal records, but that's not unusual for orphans in Blackwood.""How convenient," Zuri said."It's not convenient, it's common." I reached the bottom of the stairs and forced myself to look directly at her. "Blackwood has dozens of illegal orphanages. Small operations that take in children born to rogues or wolves who died without packs. They don't keep formal records because most of them are just trying to survive, not run legitimate institutions. The children are used for labor, for service, for whatever the operators can profit from. That's the reality of being an orphan in Blackwood. It's not mysterious or suspicious—it's just how things work in a corrupt territory."I'd practiced this explanation before, refined it based on what I'd told Athena. Making it sound unremarkable, expected even. The trick was confidence mixed with just enough shame that p

Zuri I ended up at Elora's grave.The cemetery behind the Alpha House was quiet and empty. Elora's headstone was white marble, elegant and simple, with fresh flowers in the vase—purple irises, her favorite. Kain must have put them there recently. I sank to the ground beside the grave, not caring that the damp earth would ruin my dress."I'm trying, Elora," I whispered to the cold stone. "I'm trying so hard to do what you asked. But he won't even look at me. After everything—after years of being here, of taking care of Angie, of trying to be what he needs—he won't even see me."The stone, of course, didn't answer."Am I doing too much?" I asked. "Should I just... let her win? Let them choose her or whoever and just walk away?"But I couldn't. Because if I gave up, if I admitted defeat, then what had the last five years been for? What had all the waiting and hoping and trying been about?If I gave up, it meant Elora had died and left nothing behind except a widower who'd moved on and

KainI left Zuri on the floor of my study and walked away without looking back.Elora's jasmine and vanilla perfume lingered in the hallway. I could still see Zuri standing there in that blue silk, and I could still hear the desperation in her voice when she'd confessed she'd loved me before Elora died.I felt nothing but pity.Not anger. Not even disgust, really. Just a deep, bone-weary pity for a girl whose crush had warped into something dangerous and obsessive.The worst part was knowing that if circumstances had been different, if Zuri hadn't been so spiteful toward Lira, so volatile and unpredictable, she might have been the perfect decoy. She knew the pack, knew me, had bloodline credentials that would have satisfied the council. We could have had a conversation, come to an understanding, used the situation to protect everyone involved.But Zuri wasn't capable of understanding. She was a grenade with the pin already pulled, and choosing her would mean handing her the power to d

KainLater that night, I met with my brothers in the war room.Riven had updates on two separate investigations, and the moment he started speaking, my brief moment of levity evaporated."I've sent letters to contacts who can help us dig into Garrick's operations," Riven said, spreading maps across the table. "If we're feeding him false intelligence through Lira, we need to understand what he's actually doing with it. What his real goals are.""You think this goes beyond just territorial ambition?" I asked."I think Garrick is small-minded and obvious," Riven said bluntly. "Which means he's probably working for someone smarter. Someone who actually poses a threat.""So we find the puppet master by following the puppet," Jax said."Exactly."That made strategic sense. Garrick had never struck me as particularly intelligent or subtle. If he was making moves against us, someone else was likely directing him."What's the second investigation?" I asked, even though part of me didn't want t