The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate-Chapter 42: Not Giving Up!
Leo’s POV
I stood at the base of the stairs, my hands shaking so badly I had to curl them into fists just to keep control.
My wolf, Xerxes, was clawing inside me, screaming to tear the throat out of the man who had just touched what belonged to us. But I couldn’t.
So I turned my glare toward Father Lennox and Father Levi. "This is your fault," I spat in a tone I’d never dared use with them before. "You sent her out there. You practically handed her to him."
They didn’t even blink. They ignored our anger and, without a word, turned and walked toward the office, leaving the three of us standing in the wreckage of the foyer.
Lana gave us one long look filled with pity and disappointment before she, too, turned and walked away.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I looked at Liam. He was staring up the stairs, his eyes glowing with fury. Beside him, Leon looked like a ghost, his face pale and his breathing shallow.
I looked away, the secret in my chest feeling heavy.
Scarlett was my mate. I knew the bond was the reason my heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest, with every second she was behind that door with Ethan.
But I couldn’t say it. Not to them. If my brothers knew I’d been hiding the fact that the "traitor’s daughter" was my fated mate for two years, they’d kill me with mockery—or worse, they’d tell Father.
"We can’t just leave her there," Liam groaned in annoyance. "She can’t be his woman."
"He has the legal right, Liam," Leon whispered, though he sounded like he wanted to vomit. "He bought her. If we touch him, it’s a declaration of war."
"I don’t care about war!" I snapped, the pressure in my chest reaching a breaking point.
I saw Liam’s brows furrow as he looked at me, and for a second, I thought I saw a reflection of my own agony in his eyes.
"Why are you acting this way, Leo?" Liam asked, his voice suddenly curious. "You’ve spent two years acting like she didn’t exist. Why the sudden heroics?"
I stiffened, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Because she’s a pack member! Because it’s an insult to our blood for him to come in here and claim a girl from our territory!"
It was a lie—a half-truth designed to protect my secret.
"Is that all it is?" Leon asked, looking between us.
We all fell silent again, staring at each other. I knew my brothers still had feelings for Scarlett. It was so obvious by their attitude, and the thought of that made me jealous and furious. I wanted to scream at their faces and tell them Scarlett was mine and they should back away, but the coward in me stopped me.
"This is bullshit," Liam finally said, his voice going cold. "You know what? I don’t care anymore. Scarlett is nothing to me. If Ethan wants her, he can have her. I’m done with this bullshit," he spat before storming away.
"Me too... why are we even bothered?" Leon added before walking away, leaving me alone.
Lucky them.
It was easy for them to drop the act. To them, Scarlett was just a childhood crush, a beautiful girl they had a "thing" for before the world turned ugly. Their feelings were a flickering flame that could be snuffed out by a bruised ego or a father’s disapproval. They could tell themselves she was "nothing" and eventually believe it.
But I couldn’t.
My wolf, Xerxes, paced restlessly inside me, his claws scraping against my consciousness until I wanted to howl in agony.
They weren’t her mate. I was.
That was the curse. For two years, I had convinced myself I could be like them. I had watched them ignore her... so I did the same. I watched them treat her like a servant, so I stayed silent. I thought if I copied their behavior, the bond would eventually break. I thought if I stayed a coward long enough, the Moon Goddess would realize she’d made a mistake and give her to someone else.
Instead, I had just handed her to another man.
"Don’t just stand there... do something!" my wolf snarled, urging me to move forward, but I stayed rooted in place.
"Coward! She is behind that door with another Alpha while you stand here hesitating."
Instead of charging up those stairs, instead of claiming what the moon had promised me, I turned my back on the North Wing. I walked in the opposite direction, toward my own room.
The moment I stepped inside, the silence of my room felt like an insult. I grabbed the wooden stool near my desk and kicked it with everything I had. It splintered against the wall.
"Is that all you can do?" Xerxes mocked, his voice dripping with disgust. "Break furniture?"
"Shut up!" I hissed aloud, "Just shut the hell up!"
I forced him back, shoving my wolf into the darkest corner of my mind and slamming the mental door shut. I couldn’t handle his judgment—not when my own was already suffocating me. I locked the bedroom door, leaning my forehead against the cool wood for a second, imagining it was the door to the guest suite.
I stumbled into the bathroom and turned the faucet on high. I didn’t wait for it to get warm; I cupped the freezing water in my hands and splashed it over my face again and again, trying to wash away the scent of Ethan’s dominance that still clung to my senses.
I gripped the edges of the porcelain sink until my wrists hurt. Slowly, I lifted my head and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot. I looked like a man who had already lost everything.
"No," I whispered to the empty room, my voice trembling with desperation. "You think because I didn’t speak today, I never will?"
I leaned closer to the mirror, my breath fogging the glass. Liam and Leon could walk away. They could pretend she was nothing because, to them, she was just a girl they once liked. They weren’t bound to her soul. They didn’t feel her heartbeat in their ribs. But me? I can’t pretend.
I shook my head slowly. "I’m not letting you go, Scarlett," I vowed, the words feeling like a blood oath. "I’ve been a coward for two years... but I won’t let him keep you. You’re mine."
