The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate

Chapter 80: His Smell On Me

Scarlett’s POV

​His claws dug into the mossy rock, tearing chunks of earth away as he struggled to keep the shift from taking over. He wanted to claim me. He wanted to mark me right there on the mountain, and his wolf didn’t care about "waiting a few weeks" or being a gentleman. It wanted its mate.

​The sound of his struggling breath was the only thing filling the silence of the ridge. I stayed still, my heart hammering against my ribs, watching the man I loved battle the beast inside him just to protect me from his own intensity.

​Slowly, the tension began to fade. His shoulders dropped, and the growling stopped. He stayed there for a long minute, his forehead resting against the stone, his skin still steaming in the cold mountain air.

​Finally, he turned around. His eyes were back to their deep sea-blue, though a ring of gold still lingered around the pupils. He looked exhausted, like he had just fought a war.

​He crawled back toward me on the stone and pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me so tight I could barely breathe. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his heart racing against my back. He stayed like that for a moment, just holding me, before he pulled back and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. It tasted like love and raw hunger.

​"I’m sorry," he whispered, his voice a gravelly wreck as he pulled away completely. "I have to stop, Scarlett. If I don’t stop now... I won’t be able to let you go. And you deserve more than a frantic mating on a pile of rocks."

​I looked at him, my own body still aching, my skin cold where his hands had been. I wanted to tell him I didn’t care about the rocks, but the look in his eyes stopped me. He was choosing to honor me. He was choosing to be the man he should have been for the last two years.

​"I know," I whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek.

kissing my palm and helping me

pants, my skin feeling agonizingly sensitive against the rough denim. My lace undies were damp and ruined, so I shoved them into my pocket, my face heating up

as I struggled with my bra. He stepped forward, his bare chest still heaving, and helped me pull the leather jacket back over my shoulders. He

brushing against the spot he had been sucking

"Every wolf in that house is going to

​My heart raced.

interlacing with mine, and led me back toward

silence was different from before. It wasn’t the silence of strangers; it

can’t hide this for long, Leo," I

into gear. "But just hold on, Scarlett. A few more weeks, and I’ll make sure everyone

swallowed hard, not knowing

back was quiet, the only sound being the low hum of the engine. As the familiar lights of the packhouse flickered through the trees, my anxiety spiked. I couldn’t walk in there with

I said, my voice tight. "I’ll

He didn’t seem happy about it, the Alpha in him clearly wanting to escort me right through the front doors, but he finally nodded and pulled over into the shadows of the

in silence for a long moment, the tension from

His voice wasn’t demanding; it was soft, almost vulnerable. "Not for... anything. I just