All Chapters of The Triplets' Silent Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Kael's POVI watched her walk ahead of us and said nothing.She'd shaken her head when I asked what happened. One small, deliberate movement that told me everything except the truth.There was a stillness in her; it was brittle and carefully maintained, like someone balancing something fragile inside themselves and daring the world to notice. Her shoulders were straight. Her steps were measured. Her eyes forward. She moved through the snow as if she could will herself invisible, as if the world might pass through her if she kept her pace even."She's holding something in," Fenrir said.I could see it. The tension radiating from her in waves she was working very hard to contain."Do you believe her?" Ryker muttered beside me, his voice sharp."No," I said.He exhaled harshly and frustratedly, dragging a hand through his hair. His energy was restless, caged, the tension of someone who wanted to break something because breaking things was the only fix he knew how to make."I'm going to t

Ryker's POV"She's still ignoring us," I muttered as I made my way to my room.Ayla had slipped out of the dining room without anyone noticing, like always. The girl had perfected disappearing into thin air so well it almost impressed me. Almost.I unlocked my door and dragged myself inside, not particularly wanting to be there, but Kael had told us to get some rest, and arguing with Kael was its own kind of exhausting.I sat on the bed and felt the familiar dip under my weight.How do you mend something you broke? How do you get someone out of your head when every time you close your eyes she's right there?Ayla's face surfaced without permission, her silver eyes like a full moon held still, her expression always carrying a guardedness that made me want to understand what was underneath it. I had this pull toward her that lived in my bones, in every cell, insistent and constant and entirely inconvenient.Goddess, what are you doing to me?My hands balled into fists. Why bond all thre

Ayla's POVI was awake before I opened my eyes.Warmth seeped into my bones, gentle and steady, the kind you didn't question but just breathed into. For a moment I floated somewhere between sleep and morning, caught in the space where dreams hadn't fully faded but reality hadn't crashed back in yet.The warmth was the first thing I registered. Not my surroundings, not the pale light pushing through the curtains. Just warmth, solid and sure, and a quiet heartbeat beneath my ear.Soren.Memory came back in broken pieces. The hallway. The hand that grabbed me before I could react. The shove sideways, the door slamming, and the click of the lock. The dark pressing in from every direction. Panic growing as thick as water in my lungs. The door that wouldn't open no matter how hard I hit it. And then, light, and voices, and hands that found me and didn't let go even when I'd wanted to fall apart entirely.My fingers had twisted into his shirt without me noticing. I let go carefully, not want

Kael's POVI felt it before I saw anything.The same pulse as earlier, except it was faint now but still there, like something that hadn't fully settled, a bruise beneath the skin that was fading but not gone.I pushed the door open, every sense sharpening immediately.Warm air greeted me, thick with coffee and cinnamon, while voices blended into a hum, punctuated by the clatter of mugs and the hiss of steam. On the surface everything looked ordinary, comfortable, and safe.Except it wasn't.My eyes swept the room and catalogued it quickly.Ryker by the wall, arms crossed, jaw tight, eyes hard on a fixed point.Ayla was behind the counter, face carefully composed, hands moving with mechanical steadiness.The space between them felt wrong. The tension was tight in a way that had nothing to do with physical distance. It felt like a wire that had been pulled several degrees beyond its intended position.Soren stepped in behind me, quiet but present. He didn't speak, but I felt him readin

Ayla's POVThe flowers stayed where he'd left them, right at the edge of the counter.A silent offering. A question I didn't know how to answer.I didn't touch them. Not at first.I kept working. Cups. Milk. Orders. The steady, mindless rhythm of my hands was the only thing keeping the world from tilting sideways. Froth the milk, pour the shot, and wipe the counter. Repeat. The repetition was a shield, one I clung to, because if I stopped, the quiet would find me.The ache in my chest threatened to rise every time I glanced at the green and white bouquet sitting at the edge of the counter. Simple and soft. The bouquet was patient in the way that only things without expectations could be."They didn't pick those by accident," Tala said, her voice dry but without its usual sharpness. "Someone actually paid attention for once."I ignored her.She lingered anyway, humming softly, watching through my eyes.My fingers drifted over the counter as I moved slower than I needed to, catching on