The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate

Chapter 45: One Day

​Scarlett’s POV

​"What?" Ethan rasped, his voice rough, heavy with alcohol. He didn’t let go of my wrists. Instead, he pinned them above my head. "Can’t I touch you? I bought you, remember?"

My heart slammed against my ribs. I frowned, searching his face for any trace of the man who had defended me downstairs.

​"Ethan, you’re drunk," I whispered, my voice trembling. "You don’t know what you’re saying."

​He stared at me for a long, agonizing moment, his thumb brushing lightly over the pulse at my wrist. The raw power radiating from him made it difficult to breathe. Even like this, intoxicated, he was still an Alpha.

Fear tightened around my throat.

​Then, he suddenly scoffed. The intensity vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a bitter, dark humor.

​"Relax, Scarlett," he muttered, the iron grip on my wrists loosening. He rolled off me, the bed creaking under his weight as he flopped onto his back. "I was joking. I don’t take what isn’t offered, and I certainly don’t take things that belong to my pathetic cousins."

​I sat up quickly, gasping for air and pulling down my clothes. My hands were still shaking. I watched him as he reached down, blindly grabbing the edge of the heavy duvet and pulling it over his chest.

​"Go to sleep," he grumbled, his eyes already drifting shut. "The couch is comfortable enough. Or stay on the floor. I don’t care. Just stay in this room until the maid comes for you in the morning."

​Within seconds, his breathing leveled out into the deep, heavy rhythm of sleep.

As if nothing had happened.

racing. I grabbed a spare pillow and a small throw blanket from the armchair. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him, but I was too terrified to leave the room. I settled

​Sleep didn’t come easily.

the mansion sounded like footsteps. Every gust of

when a soft tapping on the

on the bed, his

the hallway. "It’s Mara. I’ve been sent to

to get away from the suffocating tension of this suite. I unbolted the door, finding Mara

whispered. "Lead the

down the hall, but as we passed the library,

look angry. He looked devastated. His clothes were rumpled as

he choked out, ignoring Mara entirely.

trembling as I glanced nervously at Mara. The last thing I

forearm. Before I could protest again, he

snapped, backing away from him as he turned around. "You can’t just snatch me into

His eyes were bloodshot,

frowned. "About what

heaving as if he’d just run a marathon. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He looked absolutely lost, his fingers twitching at his sides

my heart hammering against my ribs, but his silence was the same silence I’d lived

head and turned toward the door. "You don’t even know what you want to say, Leon. You just didn’t want Ethan to have me, but you don’t actually want me for yourself either. Not if it costs

stepped forward, his hand slamming

against the back of his hand on the door. "Just... give me some time.

"Time for you to find a way to keep me in the servant quarters without

in his eyes was replaced by a flickering, desperate spark. "Time to figure out how to announce our bond to everyone. Time to

wolf purred excitedly inside