The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate

Chapter 159: Everyone in the family knew... except you three.

Leo’s POV

​The morning air was thick with the scent of lilies and deep sorrow. Thousands of pack members stood in the courtyard, a sea of white clothes that blurred together under the bright sun.

I looked at my fathers. They looked serious, but I felt something strange emanating from them. It made the hair on my neck stand up.

​I looked at the crowd and felt a wave of guilt. I was a liar. I wasn’t here to mourn; my mind was thousands of miles away, locked in a hotel room in Nigeria with a woman who was supposed to be a ghost. I was just counting the seconds, waiting for this memorial to end so I could run back to Scarlett. I didn’t care about speeches or ceremonies; I just wanted to feel her heart beating against mine again.

​"Let the ceremony begin," my father, Lennox, said, his voice booming through the speakers.

​The crowd went quiet. Usually, we would tell stories about how kind my mother was, but my fathers didn’t move to the front to speak. Instead, Lennox turned and looked at the large doors of the pack hall.

​"Five years ago, our light went out," he said. His voice was shaking, thick with an emotion I couldn’t understand. "And we killed the people who took her life."

​I felt a cold shiver run through me. He was talking about Scarlett’s parents. I remembered that day perfectly. I remembered how Scarlett had screamed until her voice broke. I remembered how she begged for mercy, her eyes wide with a pain no eighteen-year-old should ever have to know. I watched her whole life fall apart as she watched them die.

​"But today," my father said, with strange tears glistening in his eyes, "we fix the biggest lie ever told."

​The doors opened.

walked out into the light. She wore a long white dress that moved softly in the wind, looking like an

gasped, the word catching

I shook my head, my brain refusing to accept what I was seeing. I stared at the woman walking toward us, my heart thumping against my

like my mother. No—she was my mother. I could smell her scent now—the sweet, comforting mix of nutmeg and honey. It hit me hard, making my legs feel weak. Inside my head, my wolf was howling, a wild,

whispered as she stopped in front of

always had, the one that showed the deep dimples in her cheeks. "My

out slowly, my hand shaking uncontrollably. I touched her arm, half-expecting my fingers to pass through her like mist. But her skin was warm. She was

I said, my

at me, her eyes wet with

until my back hit the wall. I should have been happy. I should have been shouting with joy. But instead, I felt sick. A dark, heavy rage started to pool in my stomach. I looked at the rest of my family standing

sorry," Lana said, her voice filled with

I barked at

Liam yelled. He was

meet our eyes. "Yes, brother. Everyone in the family

a mean, loud laugh. "Is this a joke? Our mother is

my father, Levi,

turned back to the doors, and my breath caught in my

was Scarlett’s father and Scarlett’s mother. The two people my brothers and I had sentenced to death by

said, his voice shaking with pure horror. "What the hell is going