The Triplets' Silent Mate のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 71 - チャプター 80

Ayla's POVThe packhouse infirmary smelled like antiseptic and anxiety, and I hated it immediately.I pressed myself against the wall just inside the door, out of the way, watching Dr. Hale and the nurse move around Kael's still form with the kind of practiced urgency that made my stomach twist.They had managed to shift him back to human—I didn't know how; I hadn't been watching; I couldn't stomach it—and now he was lying on the medical bed looking nothing like himself.Kael always looked like he controlled every room he walked into. He didn't look like that now.Now he was pale and still, with a long, furious gash alongside his ribs. Every time Dr. Hale pressed near it, I had to look away."He's strong," Tala said. "He'll pull through and give his brother an ass whooping.""I know," I said, but I wasn't sure anymore—he looked too still and pale for someone who should be back on his feet in a few hours.Ryker stood at the foot

Ayla's POVI hadn't meant to stay the night.I told myself I would leave once his color returned. Then again, I planned to leave once his breathing evened out. Then, after Dr. Hale checked on him one more time and said something reassuring that I could actually believe, I decided to leave.The hours passed. His color returned. His breathing steadied.I still didn't leave.I tried twice. I got as far as the door both times, with my hand on the frame and looking back at him, but my feet simply refused to complete the movement. The distance between me and the door felt manageable. The distance between me and the bed felt overwhelming."You don't have to justify staying," Tala said. "He's your mate. You're allowed to watch him sleep."My feet dragged me back to the chair beside the bed, and that's where I stayed.Ryker came back sometime in the evening with a plate of food. He set it on the small table beside me, squeezed my should

Ryker's POVMy father's office smelled like old books and authority.I had sat in this office more times than either of my brothers, mostly for reasons that had seemed justified at the time. I knew every crack in the leather chair across from his desk, every scratch on the mahogany surface, the way the afternoon light hit the pack crest on the wall and made it look more imposing than it probably needed to.Right then I couldn't focus on any of it.I shifted in my seat for the third time and caught Kael's eyes cutting to me from across the room—that flat, patient look that meant sit still.I ignored him. I couldn't shake the feeling sitting at the bottom of my stomach, and the more he gave me that look, the worse it got.Ayla was beside me, close enough that our arms nearly touched, which did nothing useful for my concentration. She sat with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes fixed on Dad like she was storing every word away for later.Soren was at the far end of the seating arra

Ryker’s POVAyla was already through the front door by the time I hit the hallway, and I followed without thinking, with no jacket, no plan, just the instinct that had been running the show since the moment I understood what Ayla was to me.The bond in my chest pulled sharply and urgently, signaling that Ayla was not okay and was moving away from me, and every wolf instinct I possessed refused to accept either of those realities.The cold air hit me the moment I stepped outside. Ayla was already at the tree line."Ayla—" I yelled, hoping she’d stop, but she didn’t.I watched the shift take her mid-stride, and Tala appeared a moment later.She turned her massive white head toward me and pinned my gaze for just a moment, then flicked her tail like a silent invite before she bolted toward the treeline and disappeared into the pines without breaking stride.I didn’t hesitate; Duke tore through me, and I followed."She’s fast," Duke said, with some wonder in his voice as we sprinted after

Ayla’s POVWe walked back to the packhouse instead of running. My legs felt like jelly, that particular wobble that came from the inside out—muscles pushed past their usual limits in the best way possible.Every step through the snow was deliberate and careful, and I was very aware of each one."You’re walking like a newborn deer," Tala chuckled.I ignored her."A very satisfied newborn deer," she cooed, giggling with a smug warmth in her chest.I ignored her harder, feeling my face warm.She laughed with that knowing sound that lived somewhere behind my ribs and settled into a comfortable, smug silence that was somehow worse than if she’d kept talking.Ryker walked close beside me, not quite touching but near enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off him through the cold air.He hadn’t said much since we left the cave, nor had I, but that wasn’t unusual. What was different was the quality of his quiet. Ryker was never still inside, never truly at rest; that restless crackling