Chapter 13 Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Chapter 13
MIRA
The full moon was tonight.
And I could feel it in my veins.
The mansion had gone too quiet, like it was holding its breath. Every creak in the walls sounded alive, every flicker of candlelight seemed to watch me. The air felt charged, thick, like the world was waiting for something to happen.
I hadn’t slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Luca’s face — the look in his eyes when he’d slammed me against the wall, the tremor in his voice when he’d said he’d never slept with anyone. I kept replaying it, over and over, even when I didn’t want to.
I wanted to hate him. I wanted to forget the way his breath had hit my skin or how my heart had pounded for no reason I wanted to admit. But his words kept haunting me.
“I’ve only wanted to with my mate.”
It made something deep in my chest twist painfully.
I turned onto my side, staring at the shadows stretching across my room. Somewhere downstairs, I heard voices — low, urgent, male. The kind that made your stomach drop even when you didn’t know why.
Darius’s voice carried through the halls. “It happens tonight. No more waiting.”
I froze.
“Alpha, this isn’t—” That was Luca.
“It is,” Darius said sharply. “One of you will claim her before dawn.”
My body went cold.
The words echoed inside me like gunfire. Claim. He meant fuck me. He meant bond. My chest tightened until I couldn’t breathe.
I slipped out of bed, feet silent against the cold floor, and crept down the stairs. The moonlight bled through the tall windows, pale and cruel. From the gap in the half-closed doors, I saw them — Darius standing like a shadow in the center of the room, the triplets facing him.
Zane looked furious, his fists trembling at his sides. Luca’s jaw was tight, eyes burning. Jax stood silent, calm in that terrifying way he always was.
“She doesn’t have a choice,” Darius continued. “If none of you claim her before sunrise, the bond between your wolves will tear you apart. You’re already feeling it, aren’t you?”
Zane cursed under his breath.
Luca stepped forward. “She’s not ready.”
“She’s an Omega even without a wolf,” Darius said simply, as if that answered everything. “And you are Alphas. Nature decides readiness, not me.”
I couldn’t listen anymore. My stomach turned, my vision blurring as I stumbled back a step. The floor creaked beneath my heel.
All three heads turned at once.
“Mira?”
Luca’s voice cracked the air open.
I didn’t wait. My body moved before my mind did — I ran.
The hallway blurred, my heart pounding so loud it drowned out everything else. I didn’t even feel the marble floor under my feet as I tore through the front doors. The night hit me like ice, the scent of pine and earth flooding my senses.
But they were fast.
“Mira, stop!” someone shouted behind me. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.
The forest loomed ahead. Dark, silvered by the moon, whispering with the sound of the wind. I sprinted into it, branches tearing at my arms, cold air burning my throat. My breath came in sharp, shallow gasps, but I didn’t stop. I could still hear them — the crack of leaves, the growl of a voice, the sound of pursuit.
And then a hand caught my arm.
I screamed, twisting, but Zane’s weight hit me from behind, knocking me down into the grass. The world spun, and before I could fight back, he had me pinned — his breath hot against my cheek, his eyes glowing like liquid gold.
“Get off me!” I kicked hard, my knee connecting with his balls.
Zane groaned, rolling off and clutching himself. “Fuck, Mira!”
I scrambled to my feet, backing away. My chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. “Don’t touch me!” I shouted, my voice cracking in the night.
Luca and Jax stopped a few paces away, both raising their hands like I was a cornered animal. “We’re not going to hurt you,” Luca said, breathless. His hair was damp with sweat, his eyes too bright.
“You expect me to believe that?” My voice shook, but I didn’t care. “I heard you. I heard everything. Your father ordered you to—”
“We’re not him,” Luca cut in, too fast, too desperate. “We won’t touch you, Mira. I swear.”
“Then what the hell is this?” I pointed between them, my pulse hammering. “You were chasing me like—like I’m prey.”
No one spoke. Only the sound of their breathing filled the clearing. Heavy, uneven and strained.
The moonlight spilled across us, painting their skin silver, catching in their eyes. I stood there barefoot in my oversized shirt and shorts, heart racing so hard I could barely stand still. They looked wild, beautiful, dangerous — sweat dripping down their necks, muscles tensed like they were fighting something inside themselves.
Jax was the first to move. He stepped forward slowly, his voice low and rough. “We have to come to an arrangement,” he said. “You might not feel it because you don’t have a wolf, but we do. And right now, that bond is tearing us apart.”
Luca’s eyes flicked toward him sharply. Zane still sat on the ground, groaning, muttering something about needing an ice pack.
Jax’s gaze returned to me. “We don’t want to hurt you. But the full moon doesn’t care what we want.”
The words sent a chill through me. The forest seemed to grow quieter, the air thicker, the night itself watching.
For a moment, none of us moved.
Then Luca took a hesitant step closer, his voice breaking the silence. “We just need to find a way through tonight without any of us losing… control.”
I swallowed hard, not trusting my voice.
“What do we do?” I asked in a whisper. “Because I am not letting anyone of you touch me ag—tonight.” I added sharply, my breath heaving.
They all glanced at each other and then back at me. “We not sure Mira, but we won’t touch you. I promise,” Luca said, his eyes pleading and for the first time, I believed him.