The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate

Chapter 95: Switching places

Liam’s POV

​The air in the room was toxic. I could smell Leo’s scent all over her—lake water and heat—and it made my wolf want to rip his throat out. I looked at Scarlett, expecting her to pick me... of course she has to pick me... I’m her mate. She wants me... she’ll feel more comfortable in my arms than in my brothers’, who were nothing more than crushes.

​"Scarlett, choose," I demanded, already confident she would pick me.

​"What nonsense is this?" she rasped, her face flushed with a feverish glow. She looked at us with glazed, glassy eyes, her mind clearly still half-submerged in whatever nightmare had broken her. "Fine. You can all fucking stay."

​"Scarlett—" Leon started, but she cut him off with a weak, trembling hand.

​"But I’m not choosing," she whispered, a delirious edge to her voice. "Since you’re all so worried... you can switch places. Every fifteen minutes. One stays on the bed, the other two wait... I can’t... I can’t deal with the fighting."

​I stiffened. Switching places? Like we were guards on a shift? I looked at Leo, who was still holding her, his face full of smug triumph that shifted into annoyance at her words.

​"I’m staying first," Leo snapped, tightening his grip. "I’m already here."

​"The hell you are," I growled, stepping toward the bed. "You’ve had your time. Leon and I just got here."

​"Stop it!" Scarlett cried out, clutching her head. The fever was clearly taking hold; her skin was radiating a heat that was unnatural, even for a shifter. "Leo... fifteen minutes. Then Liam. Then Leon. If anyone growls, everyone leaves."

​Leo let out a frustrated huff, but he stayed put, glaring at me over her shoulder. I checked the clock on the wall. 2:15 AM.

​I sat on the floor at the foot of the bed, my back against the wood, while Leon took the rug by the window. It was the most humiliating moment of my life. Three Alphas. The future of the Pack. Sitting in the dark like dogs waiting for a bone.

of the clock tick by. I could hear Leo whispering

he look at her like she’s his soul? I wondered, my eyes narrowing. It wasn’t just a crush. Leo was acting like a male

second the hand hit the mark.

let out a soft moan of pain in her sleep, and he froze. He reluctantly slid out from under the covers,

comfortable, Liam," he hissed

I climbed into the space he had just vacated. The sheets were hot—from her fever and from him. I pulled Scarlett into my arms, and the second her skin touched mine, my wolf let out a

her small hands clutching my shirt.

course she would react differently to me...

tight, his eyes tracking my every move. And Leo

wasn’t just protective. It was possessive. It was the

it be? I thought, a chilling realization starting to take root in my mind as I felt Scarlett’s pulse thrumming against my

mind for a split second before I crushed it. No. It was impossible. The Moon Goddess

just confused. They had always been protective of her, and after the way Ethan treated her today, their hero complexes were probably just working overtime. They were feeling the echoes of my bond because we were triplets. Yeah, that had to be it. They were just picking up

hummed softly against my chest, her arms tightening around my waist as she buried her face deeper into my shirt. A surge of triumph

my fifteen minutes felt

from the rug, his movements silent and heavy. He didn’t say a word, but the air in the room grew dense. I looked up, ready to snap that I wasn’t moving, that she needed me more. She was my mate,

He was slow to anger, never impulsive like Leo, and never as loud as me. But I knew that look. It was the calm before a hurricane. If I pushed him now, he wouldn’t just growl; he’d burn the whole room down,

carefully untangled myself from her. I felt her whimper at the loss

pacing like a caged animal. I leaned against the doorframe, watching Leon slide

low and full of worry. "Don’t give me

just a nightmare. It’s like she’s living through a war in her head. She

roll. Shifters had vivid dreams, but this sounded like something