Chapter 33 Chapter 33

Chapter 33 Chapter 33
I couldn't help but laugh, though there was no humor in it. "Let me guess. Melissa and her friends are devastated that their dreams of becoming the next Luna just went up in smoke?"

"Among others," he admitted reluctantly. "But Dad shut it down quickly. Made it clear that the Goddess herself had blessed the bond, and questioning it was questioning her will."

"Right, because that'll definitely make them love me more." I pressed my palms against my temples, feeling a headache building behind my eyes. "So now I'm not just the freak who talks to the Goddess, I'm the freak who stole their precious Alpha heirs."

"You didn't steal anything," Kyle said firmly. "The bond chose us, all four of us. We don't get to pick and choose who fate decides we belong with."

"But they don't see it that way, do they?" I already knew the answer from his expression. "They see it as me somehow manipulating the situation. Using magic or trickery or whatever else their jealous little minds can come up with."

Kyle was quiet for a moment, and I could feel his internal struggle through the bond: he wanted to comfort me, yet he knew lying would only make things worse.

"Some of them, yes," he said finally. "But not everyone. Elder Sarah spoke up in your defence. So did Marcus, actually."

That surprised me. Marcus Chen had always been polite but distant, and after the whole fake love letter debacle, I'd assumed he wanted nothing to do with me.

"Marcus defended me?"

"He said anyone who'd actually met you would know you don't have a manipulative bone in your body. That you're too honest for your own good." Kyle's lips quirked up slightly. "He also pointed out that if you had the kind of power they were accusing you of, you probably would have used it to make your life easier years ago."

Despite everything, I felt a small warmth in my chest at Marcus's unexpected support. It was nice to know that someone in the pack saw me as more than just a convenient target or a supernatural curiosity.

"What about the Luna thing?" I asked, returning to the issue that was making my stomach churn. "How exactly is that supposed to work with three mates?"

Kyle shifted uncomfortably. "Technically, the title would go to whichever one of us becomes Alpha. But since we're triplets..."

"It's complicated," I finished for him. "Everything about this situation is complicated."

"Dad's consulting with the Council of Alphas," Kyle continued. "There are precedents, apparently. Rare ones, but they exist."

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "Great. So now I get to be a case study for supernatural law experts. This just keeps getting better."

Through the bond, I felt Kyle's desire to comfort me, to make this easier somehow. “Marcus said something else as well. He might be gay, but pointed out that we won’t be worthy of you as a mate, rather than the other way around. Which had all three of us on edge when other unmated males said that they felt the same way.”

"So they all think I'm not worthy of you?" I asked, feeling my face flush with a complex mix of emotions. "That's... unexpected."

Kyle's eyes darkened. "It shouldn't be. And they're right, we aren't worthy of you. Not after everything we put you through."

I stared out the window, watching as the last light faded from the sky. Pack members were still moving across the grounds, some heading toward the pack house for dinner, others returning to their homes. From up here, they looked so small, so normal. None of them carried the weight of a Goddess's blessing or a triple mate bond or a blood contract with an enemy pack.

"I don't know how to do this," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. "Any of this. I don't know how to be an Alpha's daughter or the Goddess's chosen or the mate of three future Alphas. I've spent six years trying to disappear, and now everyone's watching me."

Kyle was quiet for a moment. "You don't have to know how to do it all at once," he said finally. "None of us do. We'll figure it out together... if you'll let us."

The bond between us hummed with his sincerity, making my chest ache with a longing I wasn't ready to acknowledge. Part of me, the lonely, broken part I'd tried so hard to bury, wanted to lean into that connection, to accept the comfort he was offering. But six years of pain couldn't be erased by one conversation, no matter how honest.

"I should rest," I said, turning away from the window. "The Goddess said I'd need time to recover."

Kyle nodded, accepting the dismissal even though I could feel his reluctance through our bond. "I'll have dinner sent up," he said, moving toward the door. "And Imogen?"

I looked up, meeting his amber eyes across the room.

"Whatever you decide about us, about the bond, we'll respect it. All three of us. But we're not going anywhere. Not this time."

After he left, I curled up on the window seat, watching as stars began to appear in the darkening sky. The enormity of everything that had happened in the past forty-eight hours crashed over me like a wave, threatening to pull me under.

I was no longer just Imogen Lancaster, orphaned outcast. I was the last heir of an Alpha bloodline, chosen by the Goddess herself, bound to three wolves who had once been my tormentors. And somewhere out there, Xavier Silverclaw was plotting his next move, determined to claim me based on a contract I hadn't even known existed until today.

My phone chimed from the bedside table. I ignored it at first, not wanting to read whatever new cruelty the pack had thought up. But when it chimed again, curiosity won out.

I picked it up warily, bracing myself for more insults. Instead, I found a message from Marcus Chen:

I wasn't expecting a text from Marcus. We'd barely spoken since the letter incident, both of us avoiding each other out of mutual embarrassment. I opened the message hesitantly.

Hey, Imogen. Just wanted to check if you're okay. What they did at the meeting today wasn't fair, announcing all that without you there. If you need someone to talk to who isn't a Williams, I'm around.

I stared at the message, unsure how to respond. Marcus had never reached out to me like this before. A second text appeared below the first.

And for what it's worth, I never believed what they said about you back then. I knew that letter wasn't meant for me.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard. I'd spent so long avoiding Marcus, convinced he must hate me for being unwittingly dragged into the Williams brothers' cruelty. But here he was, offering friendship when I needed it most.

Thanks, I typed back simply. I could use a friend right now.