Calix’s POV
Waiting for Chasity here was pointless. She was probably working on the party planning downstairs. I was wasting time. I needed her in my arms right now. I could only imagine the effect she would now have on me in person if just her scent was driving me wild.
“This is stupid!” I declared. “I need my mate, right now. I want Chasity!”
I stormed out of her room and down the stairs with my brothers following behind me. I was surprised to find Ronda in the kitchen at this early hour.
“Where’s Chasity?” I asked. I was sleep-deprived and grumpy and I didn’t want to deal with Ronda’s thirst right now.
“Hey, sleepy head! Good morning!” Cooed Ronda.
“Have you seen Chasity, Ronda?” Asked Alex.
“I have presents for the birthday boys!” She squealed.
“Is she here?” Felix asked. I could tell he was getting annoyed.
“Who?” Asked Ronda, handing each of us a gift bag.
Who? How did she not know Chasity? They were working together on this party. She must not have heard us properly.
“Thanks, Ronda!” Said Alex. “Chasity! Where is she?” Repeated Alex.
Ronda frowned. “She shifted and went for a run,” Ronda said, clearly pissed that we were looking for Chasity when she had shown up early to surprise us. I felt slightly bad but my wolf was growling. He was getting agitated. He needed his mate. He wanted to shift and run through the snow with her.
“Oh yeah!” Said Alex. “She can shift now,” he said, grinning.
“Ok,” said Ronda slowly. She rolled her eyes at us. “Since when do you guys care about Charity?” She asked.
I snarled before I could stop myself. I glared at Felix. This Charity nickname was his fault. Alex glared at Ronda. Ronda was taken aback at our unfriendly and short-tempered behaviour.
“It’s Chasity,” corrected Felix, though he was the one who responsive for the stupid nickname.
We left a disgruntled Ronda in the kitchen.
“Calix, try to get some rest and as soon as the malls open, we’ll go looking for Chasity’s birthday presents!” Said Alex excitedly.
“I don’t think I could sleep now even if I had a tranquilliser. I’m so anxious to see Chasity,” I admitted.
“Try to keep your cool,” said Alex encouragingly. “We need to keep a calm head if we’re gonna talk Chasity into accepting the mate bond right away.”
I sighed. I felt a little cheated. I had not been as vicious towards Chasity when we had been little. Now, I was likely to pay for my elder brothers’ behaviour.
“I won’t be able to sleep,” I grumbled. “I just know it.”
I went upstairs and flopped onto my bed. Chasity’s gorgeous scent tantalised me. Ugh.
Alex’s POV
I tried to get some more sleep but it was futile. I was up again around half past nine. I showered quickly and woke up my brothers. We drove to the nearest mall.
“So what are we getting Chasity?” Asked Felix as we walked through the mall.
There were hardly any other customers this early.
I had realised some obvious things she didn’t have that she could really use. I felt guilty just thinking about some of the simple things she was missing.
“I noticed she doesn’t have snow boots or a proper winter coat. She also doesn’t even have a backpack for school,” I admitted, feeling immensely guilty.
I should have noticed these things before. I knew she was paying off a debt so my parents didn’t want to spend money on her but that was them. I had been a man for the past three years. I could have made her life a lot easier. I should have.
“Fuck yeah, she always carries her books in her hand or uses one of those sturdier grocery bags on mornings when I’m seeing her off to the bus stop. Her winter coat is yours, Alex, and she wears normal shoes,” said Felix.
He squirmed uncomfortably too.
“Ok so we have three practical things but she deserves luxury! Let’s just give her a credit card,” suggested Calix. “One with a really high limit so she can just treat herself whenever she wants.”
“Look at Baby Boy Calix all grown up into Sugar Daddy Calix,” joked Felix.
I chuckled.
I remembered seeing Chasity in one of Mom’s dresses on new year’s eve one year. It had been baby blue and she had looked so pretty in it. I spotted baby blue snow boots. I had written down all of Chasity’s sizes. We got a matching winter coat.
“Chasity doesn’t even have a cell phone,” I realised aloud.
“Or a laptop,” added Felix.
“Or a tablet,” said Calix.
We bought her an iPhone, an iPad and a MacBook at the Apple store. We put one of our credit cards in an envelope with a bow on it so she could buy other things.
“Guys, I kinda got Chasity a car before I even knew she was our mate,” revealed Felix.
I was stunned and so was Calix. We stared at him, our mouths agape.
Felix’s POV
Now that I knew Chasity was my fated mate, I was too scared to give her the range rover I had gotten for her. She would probably just get in and drive away. I didn’t need her to have wheels right now. I was thinking I should work on our relationship stability and give her the car at Christmas.
“I’m so scared she’ll run away,” I confessed.
“We all are,” admitted Alex.
“Even I’m scared she’ll skip town and she actually likes me,” said Calix.
Alex and I glared at him. He smirked at us.
“Jelly,” he said.
“You are so childish, Calix,” Alex said, shaking his head.
“Well Chasity wants to play with me. If you want your mate to stay put, you need to listen to me,” said Calix, his expression smug as he folded his arms.
“He’s right,” I said softly.
“What do we do?” Said Alex, sighing.
“Hold off on giving her the car. It’s a great gift but it’ll be way too easy and tempting for her to just drive away from a place that she hates and never look back,” explained Calix.
My stomach was in knots.
“Can it be her Christmas gift?” I asked, feeling a tad odd taking advice from my little bro.
“Yes,” he said confidently.
I smiled.
“Here’s the game plan!” Said Calix, reminding me of when we had all been football players together. “Our only objective today is to make sure Chasity understands that she’ll no longer be a maid and housekeeper at the pack house. She won’t have any responsibilities other than her school work and whatever stuff she chooses to do. She won’t even be expected to be Luna right away or to be mated or marked soon,” said Calix.
My wolf growled, not liking those limitations.
“If Chasity thinks we’re rushing her romantically or foisting the position of Luna on her, she’ll run for the hills, trust me!” Specified Calix.
“So how and when are we gonna get…physical?” I asked.
I didn’t want to rush her either but I needed my mate to be my mate not my roommate.
“She needs to feel safe. Safe enough to feel comfortable alone with us. We need to eliminate as much stress from her life as possible and then we need to get her away from the pack house, far away,” explained Calix. “My Christmas present to Chasity is gonna be a vacay in the tropics and that is when we make our move.”
“You think she’ll mate us just because we take her to the beach?” I said dryly.
“No, she’ll mate us when she feels safe, relaxed and sexy,” said Calix.
“No more calling her fat,” added Calix.
I winced. Fuck. Why had I ever said that? Fuck. She probably hated me the most by a mile. I felt sick. My Baby was everything to me and I was gonna do whatever it took to make her comfortable. She had a lot of bad memories in the pack house. Now was my chance to replace them all with good ones…
Alex’s POV
“We’re forgetting one very important thing!” I said as we waited for Chasity’s gifts to be wrapped and gift-bagged. There was a store in this mall devoted to that. Dad had introduced me to it. He always got Mom’s presents wrapped here as she was the one who did the gift wrapping usually at Christmas.
“What’s that?” Asked Felix anxiously.
He was a bundle of nerves today. I had never seen Felix like this.
“The girls,” said Calix.
I nodded.
“The girls,” I agreed.
Felix sighed. “Tonya already had suspicions regarding how much I would bring up Chasity. I think Sandra did too,” said Felix.
“Avery didn’t,” said Calix.
“Avery is not too good at putting two and two together,” said Felix bluntly.
Calix frowned and narrowed his eyes but he didn’t say anything. I knew whatever feelings he had for Avery would already be on the decline. The mate-bone was inevitable.
“Are we really gonna break up with them over the phone like Felix suggested?” Asked Calix.
“We shouldn’t,” I said. “They’ll still be members of our pack. We don’t them resenting us. We can’t go about it in a tactless manner. They need to still feel comfortable with us being their Alphas and know that there are no hard feelings,” I explained.
I appreciated the time I had spent with Sandra. She had been a little difficult at times but she was still a decent person in my eyes. Like all my ex-girlfriends, she was beautiful. No one held a candle to Chasity though. Chasity was the sun. Everything and everyone else merely revolved around her.
“We should ask them to meet us here at the mall,” I said.
Felix took a deep breath.
Calix nodded.
We called the girls and asked that they meet us at one of the mall restaurants. We chose a bistro that doubled as a coffee house. The girls showed up with our birthday gifts in hand. My stomach lurched. I felt like such a jerk but honesty and a clean break was the best way to do this. Sandra wrapped her arms around me and leant in for a kiss. I cupped her face in my hands and leant backwards so that our lips wouldn’t meet.
“What?” She asked.
“Please sit down,” I said gently.
Tonya looked alarmed. She eyed Felix curiously. He gave her a chaste hug and encouraged her to sit too. Calix kissed Avery on the cheek and led her to her seat. It was a large booth so all three of us sat facing the girls. I was directly opposite Sandra who sat in the middle. Avery was in the corner of her side of the booth facing Calix, and Felix and Tonya were on the ends. I joined my hands and rested them on the table, making sure to choose my words carefully.
“Girls, you are all beautiful and special and one day some lucky guys will realise that you three are their mates and they’re gonna be over the moon,” I began.
“Yeah,” said Felix eagerly. “When you meet your mates, you will all be so happy! My ex met hers while we were together and it hurt but I understood. I couldn’t deny her true love like that. She’s so happy with her fated mate now and I waited my turn and now that turn is here,” said Felix.
I looked pointedly at Felix, ensuring he would not be too blunt.
Tonya’s eyes widened. Sandra’s eyes narrowed. Avery looked at us intently, her smile unchanged.
“So we love you. You’re our friends and pack members and you can always come to us if you need anything but we have found our fated mate,” said Calix gently.
Avery’s smile faltered. “So,” she said.
“So…” said Calix, pausing, “…we wanna be with her as we are well, fated.”
“Who is she?” Asked Sandra blatantly.
“That’s not important right now,” I said gently. I didn’t want this to be more dramatic than it had to be. I didn’t need Chasity having to deal with cattiness on top of everything else.
“How long have you known?” Said Tonya, her tone tense.
“We found out this morning,” said Felix.
“And there’s just one of her?” Asked Sandra.
“Yes,” I said simply.
“Lucky her,” said Sandra snidely, glaring at me.
“You have every right to be upset. All I ask is for you to understand that this isn’t being done with any malice in mind and Ch…” I stopped myself, my pulse quickening.
I heard a sharp intake of breath from Calix. Felix looked at me with wide eyes. I had almost said Chasity’s name. That was a close one.
“Our mate is totally innocent in all of this and we haven’t even had a proper chat with her yet. We wanted to speak to you first and clear the air,” I said.
“Will she be at the party tonight?” Asked Sandra angrily.
“Yes,” I said stiffly.
Sandra laughed humourlessly.
“Who are all those gifts for?” Demanded Tonya.
“Us,” said Felix quickly.
“You wrapped gifts that were meant for yourselves?” Asked Tonya incredulously.
“Well, they’re from each one of us to the other two. We had to shop for each other,” said Felix. Quick thinking. It was a lie but it would help spare them some pain. They didn’t need to know we were excited to shower and lavish Chasity with gifts right away. It was her birthday though and she had had so many shitty birthdays which were totally undeserved. She was a sweet girl who hadn’t asked for such a complicated life.
“So we’re not gonna be your dates for the party?” Asked Sandra incredulously.
“No, sorry,” I mumbled.
Felix’s POV
Obviously we wanted to take our fated mate and future Luna as our date to our birthday party and Alpha ceremony. It would be the only sensible thing to do.
“Why can’t we have one last hurrah together?” Said Sandra, sighing.
Alex held her hand. “Because there’s no point in delaying the inevitable. I have no plans to be unfaithful to you so I’m telling you the truth and I also don’t plan on playing around with you behind my mate’s back. I have respect for both of you and I wanna show you that,” said Alex.
Alex always had the political answer ready for them. I would let him handle the PR when we became Alphas officially. I would throw in a joke here and there to keep the crowd warmed up whenever we gave speeches in future. Calix would do his usual sweet-talking.
“I wanna talk to you alone, Alex,” hissed Sandra, clearly annoyed.
Those two went for a walk and so did Calix and Avery. I sat there with Tonya.
“I know how it is. Trust me. Roxie left me for her mate,” I said.
“And you were just fine with it?” Asked Tonya incredulously.
“Well, yeah,” I said, shrugging. “Because I knew one day I would be the one who to find my mate. The same will happen for you one day and you’ll have to tell some guy the truth and I hope he’s patient and understands and wishes you all the best. If he gets loud with you, just call me,” I said, grinning. I was still protective over Tonya. I did care about her but Chasity was everything to me. She could make or break me with one word. She gave me nose-bleed highs and swimming-with-the-fishes lows with one look. I hoped she would accept me.
“You said you hadn’t talked to her yet?” Clarified Tonya.
I nodded.
“What if she rejects you?” Asked Tonya.
My stomach did backflips. Fuck. Just the thought of that alone was excruciating.
“I hope not,” I said simply.
“No hard feelings?” I asked.
I went over to her side and hugged her. She reluctantly hugged me back.
“I wanna know who it is,” she said.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” I said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. I couldn’t have her going all lifetime movie network psycho on my baby, Chasity.
She sighed. We sat there. The silence was heavy. Alex and Sandra returned. Sandra looked furious. Alex looked uncomfortable. As soon as Calix and Avery came over to us, Sandra barked, “Girls, let’s go!”
The three held hands and strutted off, taking the birthday presents they had gotten for us with them. I didn’t blame them. I felt like such a jerk. I picked up my phone and called Roxie on our way back to the house. We had spent all day at the mall and essentially had lost track of time.
“Hello,” said Roxie.
I could hear her mate asking who it was in the background. I was gonna be the same way once Chasity started receiving calls on this new iPhone we had gotten her.
“Hey!” I said.
“Felix!” Squealed Roxie.
I heard the guy ask why her ex was calling her.
“We’re friends,” she said to him.
“What’s up?” She asked.
“I found my mate!” I said, the excitement hitting me all over again.
Roxie gasped.
“He found his mate,” she said to her mate.
The guy said “Good”.
“It’s Chasity,” I admitted.
Roxie laughed.
“What’s so funny?” I said, immediately feeling protective of Chasity.
“I knew it!” She said.
“You did?” I asked.
“Yeah! It was obvious! You were so obsessed with her! You called me Chasity or Charity half the time!” She said.
“Not half the time maybe twice tops,” I said defensively.
“So are you gonna announce Chasity as the Luna later at your Alpha ceremony. It’s perfect timing,” said Roxie.
“I don’t think she’s ready for that,” I said honestly. “I fucked up. I feel like a fuck-up. Tonya probably hates me now and I feel guilty about that and I feel even guiltier about how shitty I was to Chasity growing up!” I admitted.
“Tonya will get over it! Didn’t you?” She asked.
“I was happy for you from the start though,” I said.
“Yeah, but she probably just feels blind-sided. Just a few hours before all the glory of your boyfriend becoming alpha and he finds his real Luna. Sandra must be pissed!” Said Roxie.
I glanced at Alex who was driving. He had heard. He nodded. Yeah, Sandra was pissed.
“And Avery, well, Avery is Avery,” said Roxie.
I couldn’t have put it better myself.
“How am I gonna get Chasity to love me?” I asked blatantly.
Roxie burst into laughter. “You’re pretty endearing when you’re ready you know,” said Roxie, making me feel a little better. “Chasity is probably so thrilled she never has to wash a dish again in her life,” chuckled Roxie. “Give her your credit card and let her blow off some steam at the mall for the shit you put her through!” Said Roxie.
I laughed.
“We are giving her a credit card actually,” I said. “And we just came from the mall.”
“So she’s shopping up a storm already,” said Roxie.
“No!” I said. “She didn’t go with us. Should I have taken her shopping rather than picked out gifts for her.”
“You’ll learn what she likes as time passes. There’s no clear-cut answer to that. Just take it easy,” she said.
“Thanks Roxie,” I said, feeling a little relieved.
“I still appreciate you being cool about it when I found my mate,” said Roxie. “You play tough but you’re sweet so show Chasity that.”
I wasn’t so sure about that but I would try.
“See you later, Felix. I gotta go!” Said Roxie.
“Sure, bye!” I said. “Thanks by the way!”
I hung up.
“You’re not gonna believe what happened with me and Sandra,” said Alex.
“What?” I asked, intrigued.
“She demanded break-up sex,” said Alex.
“What?!” I asked angrily. “And you fucked her?” I demanded, immediately angry on Chasity’s behalf. How could he? We were already on thin ice with her? Ugh thin ice. I stopped thinking about that half-faded memory.
“No! Of course not!” Said Alex indignantly.
My wolf and I relaxed. We were relieved.
“And she specified no condom,” said Alex.
“And no pulling out either I bet! That girl is psycho!” I said.
“She just wants a little Alpha Alex to raise so he can challenge you and our son with Chasity for the pack later,” I added.
Alex squirmed uncomfortably.
“She’s not all bad,” said Alex. “I hope she and the others find their mates soon! I cannot stress enough how carefully we need to manage Chasity’s stress levels. She has every reason to leave us.”
I sighed deeply. She could go wherever she wanted. I’d follow her, that was all.
Calix’s POV
I felt anxious about us being late for our own birthday party and Alpha ceremony where Chasity was undoubtedly being made to do chores by our mother.
“We’re late to our own birthday party and Alpha ceremony,” I said to my elder brothers.
“We heard you the first ten times, Calix,” said Felix.
“The later we are, the longer Chasity has to spend doing whatever stupid party chores Mom and Ronda are probably delegating to her!” I pointed out.
Felix flinched. Alex looked worried.
“I don’t want her to be pissed when we get there and need to have the mate talk with her,” I specified.
What I was saying dawned on my brothers. Alex sped up. I couldn’t wait to see Goddess Chasity. I couldn’t wait to experience my first pack gathering with my mate. I envisioned Chasity sitting on my lap, dancing with me, feeding me birthday cake, kissing me. I hoped I wasn’t kidding myself. Maybe not the kissing part. She wouldn’t be ready though we’d kissed already. My elder brothers didn’t know that but one New Year’s Eve when we had all been teenagers, I had kissed Chasity at midnight. I had never felt my spirit soar so high because of a kiss even though it had just been a peck. I should’ve been more honest with myself and Chasity and everyone else including my brothers and just started dating Chasity back then. At the very least, I wished I had befriended her properly and openly. I sighed. I couldn’t take the past back but I could give her everything I had in future starting today.
ok a champagne glass and nodded at her. Chasity turned to us next and she seemed startled. She looked at us, trailing her eyes over the three of us and biting her lip. She was clearly physically attracted to us but that might not translate into a proper relationship. I could not take my eyes off of her. I could not speak either. She held out the platter of champagne glasses, offering them to us.
Alex’s POV
Our mother was making Chasity serve champagne even though it was her birthday too and it totally wasn’t necessary. We had a party planner. Could she not have called out a last-minute server? My thoughts were racing. I was trying to find the perfect words that would make Chasity consider giving us a chance. I just needed a chance. I knew she would love being with me. I was ready to give her any kind of relationship she wanted. I just needed to be in her life. The mate bond would endear her to me eventually. Hopefully, it was working already.
Chasity looked stunning in her mini dress. Other males were glancing at her. Some staring. My wolf growled. He wanted his mark in plain sight on her neck but I kept him under control. She got closer to us and her delicious scent made me woozy. She offered us the champagne she was holding. I took the tray from her and gave it to Ronda. My mate was signing off duty indefinitely.
Felix’s POV
Chasity came into view serving champagne. She was in this little dress that showed her pretty legs and a bit of cleavage. Her hair was down in her usual loose curls. She was so effortlessly beautiful. I did not know what to say to her. Her mouth-watering scent was numbing my mind. I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. Alex took the tray of champagne from her and gave it to the party planner. Good! My Baby was not to be working. I forbade it. Once she said yes to giving us a chance, I had some ground rules to lay down. No working. No staying out all night. No talking to those salivating unmated males in the pack.
Calix grabbed her hand and I instantly felt jealous at how easy it was for him top initiate physical contact. Alex was motioning for us to take Chasity upstairs. I hoped she didn’t swat my hands away and get angry. I placed my hands on her waist from behind, gently prompting her forwards. We went up to Calix’s room. My whole body was on fire with lust for her as I held her by her perfectly narrow waist and deliciously wide hips. They would be fun to hold onto when we began getting to know each other. I could smell her core getting wet for us because of the physical contact. Her body was anticipating our first encounter with her. I could only imagine how heavenly it would be when I buried myself in her to the hilt and buried my nose in her beautiful hair. I snapped myself out of it. I needed to focus.
We arrived in Calix’s room and Chasity immediately let go of Calix’s hand and extricated herself from me, scurrying over to the far wall and pressing her back to it. It hurt me to see her so afraid of us. My wolf was whining.
“Don’t be scared, Chasity,” pleaded Calix, already crestfallen at her reaction to us.
“We’re not gonna hurt you, Baby,” I promised her.
She was getting wetter between her legs and it was driving my wolf and me crazy. Her body yearned to be mated and mine needed to claim his mate.
“We need to talk,” said Alex sternly. “Ok, Chasity?”
We three sat on Calix’s bed while Chasity sat in an office chair with wheels by Calix’s computer desk. She span on it nervously. She was looking around his room with curiosity. I realised Chasity had never been inside any of our rooms before today. We usually cleaned our own rooms.
Without warning, my Baby Chasity began to cry.
My heart broke for her. She was so scared or perhaps disappointed to be fated to us.
“Shh, Baby, it’s ok,” I said softly, handing her a tissue so she could dry her eyes.
Calix grabbed her hand and pulled the chair, wheeling it over to us so that she was within arms reach of all three of us. Her scent made my dick harden. Fuck. I tried to calm myself. I could hear her heart racing while her flower continued to lubricate itself in anticipation of her three huge alphas. She was apprehensive but her she-wolf was readying herself to be marked and mated. I had not prepared myself for this, the smell of Chasity’s sexual excitement. My wolf was begging me to mark her so she could not choose to reject us or leave. I couldn’t do that her. It had to be her choice. I wanted her love for real.
“As you probably already know, Chasity,” Alex said gently, “you’re our mate. All three of us. Triplets tend to have just one mate because…”
“I know,” she said, getting annoyed with us.
She paused as if waiting for us to react to her annoyance. We merely watched her intently.
“Because identical triplets are naturally occurring clones, one fertilised egg that split into three so one mate,” she explained further.
I was glad she knew how it was with multiples. I had twin cousins whose mate had been floored with shock when she realised she was mated to two of them. She was more than happy now though.
“Exactly,” said Alex smiling and agreeing with my Baby. She dried my eyes and blew her nose. She was so cute. She smelled so yummy. I wanted to put my tongue deep inside her to taste the source of that aroused smell.
“You smell so fucking good, Baby,” I told her. I could feel my eyes turning black as my wolf came forwards, fighting me for dominance. Before I could stop him and myself, we reached out and caressed her knee. She shivered in response to our touch. Her skin was so smooth. I wanted to lick every inch of it.
“Easy, Felix!” Warned Alex, removing my hand from her knee. Alex sighed. I tried to snap out of it.
“We’re so so so sorry, Chasity,” murmured Alex. “The way we’ve treated you is disgusting. We won’t make any excuses for it. We don’t deserve you but we want you as our mate and Luna. We’re willing to spend the rest of our lives making everything up to you.”
I watched her expression carefully. She seemed shocked and pensive. My wolf and I were waiting on her response with bated breath.
“We’re so sorry, Chasity,” said Calix. “Please let us love you!”
She blushed. God, I wanted to make her whole body flush while I pinned her under me.
“We’re really sorry, Baby,” I said, pausing to search for the right words.
For some reason, Chasity giggled suddenly. It was the cutest, most innocent, little sound. She was so perfectly soft and sweet, a contrast to our rough and harsh ways, and she was ours to claim. That was it. Something inside of me snapped. Something clicked like a switch turning off or maybe on. My wolf grabbed control completely.
MARK HER, was all he commanded.
“Oh, you’re so fucking cute!” I growled, eyes black and canines bared, as I grabbed my little mate and pinned her to the wall intent on making her mine immediately.