The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate-Chapter 38: Back Home

Scarlett’s POV

​"Leave for where?" I asked, my voice thick with panic. "Is he taking me back to the rogues? To my real buyer?"

​She didn’t answer. She simply set the tray down and gestured toward the bathroom. A cold dread settled deep in my stomach. In sixty minutes, I would be back in that black SUV... heading toward a destination only the Goddess knew.

​I forced myself to eat, knowing I would need the strength. Every bite tasted sour in my mouth.

I showered quickly, dressing in a fresh set of clothes the maid had left—a thick sweater and sturdy boots. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The bruises on my cheek were healed, but my eyes... my eyes looked different. There was a flicker of something in them. Not hope, exactly, but a desperate need to survive.

​Exactly one hour later, the door opened. Ethan stood there, dressed in a sharp charcoal shirt, looking every bit the breathtaking man I remembered.

​"Ready?" he asked, his gray eyes scanning my face.

​"Do I have a choice?" I countered.

​A devilish smirk played on his lips. "None at all."

​He led me downstairs and out to the gravel driveway. The SUVs were lined up again, engines already idling. I climbed into the backseat, expecting him to join me, but he stayed outside for a moment, talking into his phone.

​"They’re already at the gate?" I heard him say, his voice vibrating with dark amusement. "Impatient."

​My heart skipped. They? Who was at the gate?

​He entered, and the car began to roll forward, moving down the long, winding drive toward the massive iron entrance of the Obsidian estate. As we rounded the final curve, I saw them. Three familiar SUVs were blocked by a line of Ethan’s armed guards. And standing in front of the lead vehicle were three men I never thought I’d see again.

​Liam, Leo, and Leon.

​They looked like they had been through a war. Their hair was disheveled, their clothes were wrinkled, and even from this distance, I could see the raw, wild fury in their eyes.

​"Stop the car," I whispered, my hand reaching for the door handle.

​"Stay back," Ethan said calmly. He pushed his door open, stepped out of the car, and shut the door behind him.

​I watched through the tinted glass, my breath fogging the window as Ethan approached them. He moved with a terrifying elegance, stopping several feet in front of the triplets. Liam, Leo, and Leon were staring directly at the SUV. They couldn’t see me through the dark film, but I felt their gaze like a burning heat against my skin. My wolf, Zoe, began to pace frantically in my mind. Even after everything they had done—the rejections, the coldness, the two years of hell—the mate bond stirred and hummed deep in my blood at the mere sight of them.

​I watched as they spoke to Ethan. I couldn’t hear the words, but the tension was thick enough to choke on. Liam looked like he hadn’t slept in a week; Leo was practically vibrating with a restrained need to shift and tear someone apart; and Leon’s eyes were fixed on the car with a haunting, desperate longing.

​Then, to my horror, I saw them nod. They didn’t move toward the car. They didn’t demand to see me. Instead, they turned in unison and climbed back into their own vehicles.

​"Where are you going?" I screamed, my voice muffled by the soundproof interior. I lunged for the door handle, but it was locked from the driver’s side. "Don’t leave me! Please!"

​Their hatred... their cruelty...It was far better than this. Better than whatever this life with Ethan was.

​Ethan got back into the car, his expression completely blank.

​"Drive," he commanded.

​As our SUV rolled past the gates and onto the main road, I realized the triplets weren’t leaving. Their cars pulled out from the shoulder of the road, forming a tight, protective escort behind us. They were following us...

​I looked through the rear window at the three black SUVs trailing us like an escort, then turned back to Ethan.

​"What is happening?" I demanded, my voice trembling with confusion and fear. "Why are they following us? Where are you taking me?"

​Ethan leaned back, crossing one leg over the other.

​"Relax, Scarlett," he said calmly, his gray eyes finally meeting mine. "We are going to the Full Moon Pack. You’re going home."

​"Home?" I whispered, my eyes widening. "The Alphas sent me away. They told me never to come back. They’ll just throw me out again."

​"Not this time," Ethan replied, sounding certain. "This time, the terms of your stay have changed."

​"My stay?" I whispered, my brow furrowing in deep confusion. "What do you mean, my stay? I was ordered to leave, Alpha Ethan."

​Ethan didn’t respond. He simply reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sleek, silver cigarette case, though he didn’t light one. He just turned his head back to the window, watching the blur of green trees as we crossed the official boundary line. His silence was a wall—one I knew I couldn’t break. He had ended the topic, and no amount of pleading would make him speak until he was ready.

​I sank back into the leather seat, my hands trembling in my lap.

Through the rear window, I could see the triplets’ SUVs tucked tightly behind us. They were so close I could almost feel the heat of their engines—or perhaps it was just the pull of the bond, screaming at me that my mates were right there.

​After a long drive, the car slowed as we reached the final checkpoint. The Full Moon guards approached the lead vehicle, but as soon as they saw the Obsidian Pack insignia on our SUVs and the familiar plates of the triplets’ cars behind us, they scrambled to open the gates.

​My heart skipped a beat, then began to race with a terrifying rhythm. We were in.

​The familiar sights of the pack lands began to roll past. The training fields, the orchard where I used to hide, the small cottages of the pack members. But it didn’t feel like home. It felt like walking back into a lion’s den after barely escaping with my life.

​"They’ll kill me," I whispered, more to myself than to him. "If the Alphas see me, they’ll think I came back to cause trouble."

​"They won’t touch a hair on your head," Ethan said, his voice authoritative, sounding like a true King. "They don’t have the authority anymore. Not where you’re concerned."

​We rounded the final curve of the driveway, and the main mansion came into view—the place where I had been a servant, a pariah, and a secret.

Standing on the front porch, looking like statues of judgment, were the three Alpha fathers. They looked furious, their arms crossed over their chests, waiting for the convoy to stop.

​The SUV came to a smooth halt. The triplets’ cars screeched to a stop behind us, and before our doors even opened, Liam, Leo, and Leon were out of their vehicles, their eyes locked on our car like nothing else in the world mattered.

​Ethan turned to me, his hand reaching out to finally unlock the door.

​"Take a deep breath, Scarlett," he said, his gray eyes flashing with a sudden, sharp intensity. "From this moment on, you are not a servant. And you sure as hell are not a traitor’s daughter... or a rogue."

​I furrowed my brow. What was he talking about?

But he didn’t say anything more.

​He pushed his door open and stepped out into the morning air, leaving me shivering in the backseat, staring at the fathers who had sent me away and the brothers who were now looking at the car as if their entire world was trapped inside.

​