The Alpha Triplets stood barefoot in the snow like it was no big deal. I turned away. I was not ready to see them. I caught a glimpse of Felix’s though by accident and even in the freezing cold it was extremely thick and long. They were identical triplets so I was worried for myself. They shifted much more quickly than I did. It took them barely ten seconds to break their bones and grow fur becoming wolves before my very eyes. They were shiny black wolves reflecting their hair colour. The were huge. I hid behind a nearby snow-covered tree. They gave me my privacy. Shifting was still painful for me. It took me about five minutes. I trotted out to show them my sandy wolf. They playfully circled me. I was half their size.
We ran through the snow. I could tell them apart in wolf forms by their mannerisms. Felix bounded. He had heavy steps. He snarled and growled playfully a lot. Alex was often in the lead and had the most fluid movements. He slowed his pace to run beside me, watching over me carefully, protectively. Calix was extremely playful. He was the first to nip me. He tackled me gently and we rolled around in the snow. Then, he ran circles around me showing me how fast he could go. We must have spent hours playing as our wolves and we were adults. I wondered why we had never played together as children in our human forms.
I ran behind my tree to shift back and dress myself. The boys shifted back and dressed, following me as I walked inside.
“We need to talk,” I told them. They looked mortified.
“Get used to us having talks,” I told them. They were Alphas but I was their future Luna if I decided to be with them. They were three of them and only one of me so I had to learn to be firm with them. I wanted respect. We went to Felix’s room, the only room I had not seen yet. He had art work covering the walls which was completely not what I was suspecting.
“Who drew all of these?” I asked.
“I did,” said Felix, grinning.
Felix? A Sensitive artist? What parallel universe had I entered?
The drawings and painting depicted wolves. I recognised the triplets in their wolf forms in many of the drawings. I noticed one with five wolves. The other two must be their parents. There were random sketches of items and portraits of family members and some of their school friends. Felix did not seem to have any artwork of Tonya or his other ex-girlfriends which made me relieved. I spotted one picture of a girl. It was a painting. I gasped. It was me, sitting on the porch steps looking out at the snow. All of his artwork was dated. The painting of me was from about a year ago. I looked at Felix, waiting for an explanation.
“I told you,” he said simply. “I think you’re gorgeous.”
I blushed.
“You’re giving me anxiety, Chasity, let’s have this talk, come on,” encouraged Calix.
We all sat on the bed. Felix and Calix were sitting so close to me. I felt really warm. Alex was sitting behind me. I was so lost in all of this I momentarily forgot what I wanted to talk about.
“Talk, Chasity,” said Alex in my ear.
“Right, um, so I have a question,” I said. The triplets waited for me to ask it.
“Why did you hate me so much growing up? And please really think about it and give me a real answer not something dumb like we were boys…we were stupid…those aren’t good reasons. I’ve always wondered why we could never be friends,” I said, sighing. “Is it just cause I’m poor and burdensome in your parents eyes? What is it?”
The triplets kept silence. Were they trying to make me forget about the talk.
“In my case…” said Felix. “You…frustrated me.”
Huh.
“I thought you were a cute little girl when I was a little boy. You came to us after a tragedy and I did not get that. You were sullen and cried all the time and I was also just a little stupid at that age,” said Felix.
His brothers laughed.
“I liked teasing you but it got out of hand and the dynamic continued. I didn’t know how to fix it. Also, you would be on my mind a lot and I was angry that I couldn’t get you out of my head. It makes sense now that I know you’re my mate but back then I’d be annoyed every time I saw you. Sometimes I’d be making out with whoever my girlfriend was at the time…”
I flinched and Felix kissed my fingers, my wrist.
“…and I’d be thinking about you obsessively. Sometimes…never mind,” said Felix.
“No! Tell me!” I insisted, fascinated by his transparency.
“Sometimes I’d call a girl Charity by accident,” he said, mentioning my nickname. “Sorry for that nickname. That was rude. There’s no shame in being poor. I can’t believe I acted like that.”
Felix sighed.
“It’s so close to my real name, it really stuck. Most pack members think Charity is my name,” I said, smiling.
Felix frowned. “I’ll fix that myself, and soon,” said the Alpha. I wondered what he was going to do. I did not want to be reintroduced to the pack as their future Luna. I still needed time to make up my mind.
Alex went next. “I always thought you were cute too but our parents hated your parents. They’d racked up so many debts. You’d always talk about how great your parents were and how mean mine were. I started to think you were ungrateful but now I realise that…if my parents were gonna treat you like that then you might as well have gone to an orphanage. There’s really no excuse Chasity. I’m sorry,” said Alex.
Calix took a deep breath. “I just went along with everything. Mom also said you were here to repay a debt not to be a playmate. There were a lot of things I liked about you and I should not have picked on you like that. That was totally wrong. I’m so sorry.”
I sighed. We had to talk about the incident. It was bothering me.
“Last night I was a little afraid being in bed,” I admitted.
“Because you’re a virgin,” said Felix. “Baby, I know.”
“No, not that. I kept thinking about when Calix insulted me and said my parents were dead and I broke his nose. Then you guys…” I paused, shuddering. This was really hard to talk about.
All the triplets stiffened, their faces pale.
“Then you each slapped me then you put me in the ice fishing hole until I went unconscious. I screamed for my life that day when you were dragging me to that hole. I really thought you were going to kill me. I could’ve died,” I said, holding back tears.
The triplets were silent.
“You don’t ever have to forgive us but just be ours anyway,” said Calix.
“For what it’s worth, we really weren’t trying to drown you. We just wanted to scare you. But even before the mate-bond I would feel sick when I would think about that day. That was a heinous act and I’ll never forgive myself,” said Felix.
“If you had drowned we would never find our mate and not know why. We would be searching for someone already lost to us. We would deserve that but you, Chasity, after all you’ve fought for…you deserve the best life imaginable. Please let us give you that life,” said Alex.
“Please, Chasity, we’re so sorry,” said Calix.
I sighed. I could get used to this. They were all looking at me with hungry eyes.
“Have you ever kissed anyone?” Asked Calix suddenly.
“No,” I said blushing. The triplets exchanged glances.
“We wanna kiss you,” Felix said.
I bit my lip nervously.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready yet,” I said.
“That’s ok,” said Alex.
My inner wolf was howling at me to kiss them.
“Were you guys disappointed when you realised I was your mate?” I asked.
“No! Of course not!” Said Alex.
“I went inside your room and lay on your bed,” Said Calix.
I remembered Calix’s scent on my bed and smiled.
“I went through your things,” said Alex sheepishly. “Sorry, it just hit me how little you actually had so I wanted to see what you needed me to buy you.”
I nodded. Alex was the practical one.
“I freaked out because I thought you’d reject us because I knew we’d been horrible to you,” mumbled Felix.
He was not entirely wrong. I had considered leaving.
“I realised what was up when I came back from my first shift and smelled something amazing and it was each of your rooms,” I explained.
The Triplets grinned.
“So, I went into Calix’s room to investigate. I was too terrified to go in either of the other two rooms in case you guys got pissed. I was least afraid of Calix,” I admitted.
Calix smiled. Alex and Felix stiffened uncomfortably.
“Then I was not sure what to do…I tried to avoid you all for as long as possible while I worked out some of my feelings. I thought you guys would reject me actually,” I said.
“What?!” Said Felix, laughing. His eyes widened.
“Never,” said Alex.
“We’ve been waiting for our mate three years since we shifted,” said Calix.
“So how come you always date random girls?” I asked.
“We’re men. We have needs,” said Felix simply. His brothers glared at him but did not say anything to the contrary.
“When I was setting up the party, I thought I’d have to watch you three slow-dancing with your girlfriends while I served drinks,” I said, chuckling sadly.
Their jaws literally dropped. The Triplets looked aghast. I giggled at their expressions.
Felix’s blue eyes darkened a little. I remembered how I had to be careful with my giggles around him and his wolf. He pulled me into him. Tingles shot through me.
“I wanna take you on a date, Baby!” Felix said, his voice husky.
“Um…sure,” I said weakly.
Chapter 9: Date Night
After a late burnt brunch made by the former Alpha and his Luna, I went around the house with Alex to choose my new room. I had cleaned all of these guest rooms and their adjacent bathrooms before. I knew exactly which room I wanted but not because of the bedroom itself. It had a bathroom with a huge bathtub attached. I had always wanted to soak in that tub. Sometimes I would lie in it and take a nap in the midst of cleaning. I was too afraid to try to use it in case someone realised and I got in trouble. The room was on the ground floor though and Alex was disappointed.
“I want you on our floor,” he said, sighing.
“I want to bathe in that bathtub,” I admitted. Alex laughed.
He grumbled to himself.
“Sure, I guess it’s temporary. Eventually all four of us will sleep in the same room anyway. We can each keep our separate rooms to work in,” Alex mused to himself.
Alex seemed so certain that I would stay and become their Luna. I felt guilty. Maybe I had not been clear about how conflicted I was.
Felix and Calix were off somewhere.
“Our date is at seven.” Alex informed me with a small smile as he moved stuff to my new room. He did not want me carrying anything and got grumpy every time I tried so I was lying on my new bed while he arranged my stuff according to my instructions. This was a departure from the norm: me relaxing, the eldest Alpha triplet working.
“You need to have respect for your Alphas, Charity,” Alex said, using my awful nickname.
The memory hit me out of nowhere. I sat up so quickly, panting a little. Alex dropped what he was doing and rushed to me.
“Chasity, what’s wrong?” He said, holding my shoulders and scrutinising me.
“Just a memory,” I mumbled without thinking. Alex winced. I feel his guilt as if it were my own. I felt his regret and shame too. I had to get away from him to breathe a little bit. I had nothing to do now that my day was not filled with the upkeep of the huge pack house.
“I’m going for a walk,” I said.
He looked upset but he did not try to stop me. I ran out the front door. The wind tossed my curls about, tangling them. It was freezing. The snow was crunchy and deep. It was dark already despite being early in the afternoon. There were not any other houses for miles. It was about a mile walk to the nearest bus stop but no buses worked here on Sundays. I sighed. I wished I had a car but I did not even have my license. I looked at the five cars parked in the driveway, one SUV for each triplet, one for the former alpha and one for his luna. I knew the triplets would get me a car and teach me to drive if I asked but we had not discussed finances properly yet. What about all the money my parents owed their parents? I was no longer working off my debt and the triplets had bought me so many expensive things for my birthday, it seemed like I was incurring more debt. I knew those were gifts but what if I decided to leave in seven months. Would they turn on me and want their money back?
I was so lost in my thoughts I walked right into Felix. He caught me. He was bundled up in his coat and boots. He was furious. I assumed it was towards me. He scooped me up and ran inside, slamming the door. Calix appeared.
“What the fuck was she doing out there like that, Alex?” Bellowed Felix, stomping back into my new room with me in his arms to confront Alex.
Felix threw me on the bed. I bounced a little. I yelped not expecting that.
“Felix, what the fuck?” Yelled Alex, referring to how he had tossed me.
“Sorry, Baby,” said Felix, quickly running his hands all over me looking for bruises. We both knew there were none. My inner wolf was purring. Felix was her favourite because he was the most in touch with his lupine side. Felix was definitely not my favourite. I scampered away from him, coming to my senses.
“What was she doing out there, by herself, no coat, no boots, in the snow?” Snapped Felix, glaring at Alex.
Alex folded his arms.
“I thought you were watching her,” Felix added.
I was not a child. I had been taking care of the family a few days ago. I had more responsibilities than them before they became Alphas.
“She wanted to go for a walk,” Alex said simply.
“And you let her go like that?” Felix snarled.
Alex sighed. “Yeah,” he said softly.
“She was thinking about some…difficult memories and she was a little panicked. I could tell she needed to be away from me, from all of us for a little while,” Alex added.
I was surprised he had understood me so well. Calix sat on the bed and pulled me to him while his elder brothers talked. He breathed in my scent. He groaned. He started kissing my neck, licking and biting the skin without breaking it. I was trembling but I was not scared of him. He focused on a spot. I knew he was giving me a hickey on purpose. Tomorrow I had school where there were a lot of unmated males. Females who had found their mates but were not marked properly yet usually had hickeys. It was an unspoken thing, a “don’t touch” sign. I had never seen hickeys on any of the triplets’ ex-girlfriends. Alex and Felix stopped their argument noticing what Calix was doing.
The other two Alphas climbed the bed, their eyes lustful and hungry. I shivered. Calix handed me to Alex who started peppering my neck with kisses until he found a spot he liked. He sucked on it, relishing the way my skin tasted. Calix was taking my shoes and socks off. The youngest Alpha started massaging my feet, soothing me. He could tell I was anxious. Alex gently gave me to Felix who immediately latched onto my neck. Felix’s hands roamed my body. I tried not to get excited but my inner wolf was going crazy and Felix could tell. He released me though, panting. I quickly jumped off the bed, hyperaware that they were looking at the three fresh hickeys on my neck with great satisfaction. They got up to leave.
“Don’t forget date night,” Calix reminded me cheerfully on the way out.
I realised I had been holding my breath and exhaled as the door closed. I was excited to soak in the huge tub. I sat in the water, thinking. I had always wanted to bathe in this luxurious tub as though the elegance of it would solve all my problems. Now I had the tub and a whole host of other problems. Money would no longer be an issue for me as long as I remained in the Triplets’ good graces. I knew I could hold them at bay for a while but I had a feeling they planned to mark and mate me before my last seven months of high school were up as collateral so I would not be able to easily leave. Once properly marked, they would be connected to me and able to find my location through the connection. It was a protective thing between mates. Also, with three Alphas the chances of me conceiving were astronomical and I knew myself well enough to know I could not bear to leave them if I was pregnant for one of them. I had been robbed of my parents and no child deserved that. I sighed. My head hurt.
After my long bath, I sat on my new bed in a robe and tentatively put on the television. I had not watched television in years outside of random movies every now and then during school. I felt like I should ask someone’s permission to watch it. In the past, I had not been allowed to “increase the electricity bill” because my parents owed the former alpha and his luna so much money. I found a show about a teenage witch. I was getting really engrossed in it when I noticed it was already six o’ clock. I wore a baby blue sweater and matching mini pleated skirt over black stockings. The outfit was from my Mina and Tina makeover. I put on the baby blue winter coat and boots from the Triplets. I met them downstairs. They all looked so handsome. My heart raced and my skin flushed. Felix insisted on carrying me to the car, saying the snow was deep. I rolled my eyes, I had shovelled that snow myself before.
Felix was in the backseat with me. Alex was driving us in his car. Calix was in the passenger seat. He kept looking back at me to check on me as well as shooting warning looks at Felix. Felix smirked at his younger brother and raised his hands to show they were not all over me but they resumed roaming my body as soon as Calix turned frontwards again. I honestly did not mind. It was an amusing game.
The Triplets took me to a restaurant that the family frequented apparently. I had never been there before. The staff all seemed to know the brothers well and regarded me with curiosity. They were the pack’s Alphas so I should get used to all the attention. The restaurant was called Winter Moon Snack after our Winter Moon Pack. I thought it was clever but I also did not get out much. I sat in a booth between Calix and Felix and Alex begrudgingly sat facing us. My stomach rumbled. I was used to not eating for prolonged periods of time but the Triplets were anxious to get some food in me.
A blonde, pale waitress in her forties approached us in her white uniform. I looked at my menu.
“Do you want me to order for you, Baby?” Purred Felix in my ear.
“No!” I said stiffly. My wolf promptly made me feel guilty for the hurt in his eyes at my tone.
“No, thank you…Baby,” I said hesitantly. Felix’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. He began massaging my shoulders while I looked through the menu, describing everything he had already tried to me which was everything on the menu.
The waitress whose name tag said “Martha” was glaring at me, the envy in her eyes blatant. I knew a lot of girls in the pack fantasied about being the triplets’ mate. They were handsome and rich and Alphas and there were three of them. When word spread that I was theirs, I would have a lot of animosity to deal with. However, I was used to my life being shitty so who cared if it was differently shitty? The Triplets did not seem to notice her dislike of me.
“Hey boys,” she said. “My new Alphas.”
“Hey, Martha,” said Felix, grinning.
“Hey!” Said Calix.
“Speaking of Alphas, meet your new Luna,” said Alex, nodding towards me.
Martha’s suspicions were confirmed. She looked crestfallen but immediately recovered. I had never been more uncomfortable.
“Luna Charity! I’ve heard of you,” Martha said, smiling.
“It’s Chasity and make sure everyone here knows that. That’s an order ok,” said Felix tensely.
Martha nodded fervently.
“What does Luna Chasity want to drink?”
“A cookies n’ cream milkshake, please,” I said.
“In this cold weather?” Martha said. The triplets laughed.
“How about a hot chocolate?” Asked Felix.
“No!” I said, truly angry this time. The triplets stopped laughing and placed their orders. We ordered food one time.
As soon as Martha was out of earshot I could not help myself.
“Stop bossing me around, Felix, how is now any different from before with you telling me what to do?” I snapped.
Alex and Calix glared at Felix. The mate bond was so powerful, it actually trumped their bond as identical triplet alphas considering they could easily be made to fight due to me. I felt powerful for once and then I felt gross.
“Ok?” I said softly to a hurt looking Felix.
“Ok, Baby,” he said. My inner wolf wanted to kiss him. I would not let her have his lips so I kissed his cheek. He grinned. Then, I kissed his jaw and his neck. He growled a little. What had come over me? Calix nudged me. I started to suck on Calix’s neck, leaving my own hickey. That caused a lot of commotion because then Felix and Alex demanded one each. I latched onto Felix neck. He groaned at my enthusiasm. Alex waited impatiently across from us. I climbed over Felix instead of asking to be excused and got into Alex’s side of the booth. He grinned, anticipating the interaction.
Martha came over with our drinks: three hot chocolates and my milkshake.
“Food’s coming right up, boys,” she said.
She had probably known them for years. There were so many parts of their lives I was not privy too. Alex tugged on my sleeve. I planted open-mouthed kisses his neck, enjoying the taste of his skin until I found a spot I wanted. I sucked on it. His hands were under my skirt squeezing my thighs which was very unlike Alex. I broke away from him and looked at my handiwork, satisfied. My wolf was satiated for now.
My milkshake was delicious but it did make me feel cold. Alex hugged me to him. The food was incredible. The Triplets had rare burgers but I did not like rare meat despite being a werewolf so I ate chicken cordon bleu which I was shocked to find on the menu. I had seen it on a cooking show when I was little. It was delicious. The Triplets refused to leave until I at least took one bite of a dessert so I ate a bit of a warm Nutella brownie with vanilla ice cream on top. It was good so I stuffed myself with a few more bites.
It was the first time I had been this full in years. I felt sleepy instantly. I must have actually fell asleep on Alex’s shoulder. When I woke up Alex was carrying me to my room with Felix and Calix on his heels. I pretended to fall back asleep so they would leave but they tucked me in, taking off my coat and boots, and sitting on the edge of my bed, talking softly.
I peaked at the time. I had a clock on and a side table now. It was ten o’ clock. I had school. I felt overstimulated by them and annoyed for some reason. My hormones were really making me crazy. I was usually not allowed to have mood swings anyway as a servant so maybe this was all that pent-up emotion.
“I have school tomorrow, guys,” I said, startling them.
“I really wanna sleep here,” whined Calix, fixing his baby blue eyes on me.
“No, Calix, come on!” Said Alex firmly. “Good night, Chasity,” Alex said softly coming over to kiss my forehead and cheeks.
Calix kissed the tip of my nose and looked at me with sad eyes. “Good night,” he said, pouting.
Felix stroked my hair absentmindedly. “I’ll leave my door unlocked if you need me for anything,” he said.
Never in a million years, I thought, but my inner wolf heard that and she was already flashing me pornographic images of what I would need Felix for. I started to blush and Felix saw it, smirking.
“You’re such a mean mate,” he said to me. WHAT?! ME?! “You won’t let me kiss your lips,” the Alpha explained.
I shook my head no. He chuckled and sighed. He kissed the corners of my mouth slowly and carefully, lingering at each corner, as close as he could get to my lips without touching them.
“Don’t you wanna wear your pyjamas?” He said.
“I can dress myself,” I insisted but he began pulling my stockings off and my inner wolf practically tackled me mentally. I literally could not speak as the triplets slowly undressed me. I could not believe this was happening. I had refused them a kiss one second and was undressed the next. I was in my underwear hugging myself to cover my breasts as Calix had just took off my bra. Felix was massaging my legs and my underwear was literally soaked from all the stimulation. I knew he could smell it. They all could. They were trying to entice me, to make me break and ask to be mated and marked. Alex found a nightgown in my drawer.
“Raise your arms so I can put it on you,” He said, feigning innocence.
The other two grinned. If I raised my arms they would see my breasts. I got up still hugging myself and approached Alex. He seemed taken aback. Felix and Calix were behind me now so they could not see.
“Close your eyes,” I commanded. Alphas could not be commanded but Alex wanted to please me. He obliged and closed his eyes. I quickly slipped the nightgown over me. I could hear disappointed noises from Calix and Felix behind me.
“You can open them now,” I said to Alex. He opened his eyes. His eyes trailed over my form. He smiled slyly and left. Felix and Calix followed him.
I shut the door, locking it, in case Felix and his wolf came to check on me. I got into bed. I expected to fall asleep easily in this comfy bed but I tossed and turned all night, missing the intense body heat and tight grip of the triplets. Ugh. They tormented me even with their absence.