Chapter 20 Chapter 20
MIRA
I didn’t expect a knock.
I’d barely finished brushing out my hair when it came—sharp, impatient, very Zane. For a second I thought about ignoring it. Today had already exhausted me, and the thought of facing any of the triplets made my stomach pull tight in too many directions at once.
But the knocking continued, so I opened the door.
Zane stood there with a box balanced in one hand, the other shoved into his pocket like he was trying too hard to look casual. His eyes swept over my face, then flicked away quickly, almost like he was avoiding something.
He lifted the box. “This is for tonight.”
His tone wasn’t harsh. Just controlled. Like his voice was wearing a leash.
I blinked at the box before taking it. It was light—silk-light—and a strange flutter stirred in my chest. “Tonight?”
“Our father wants you at the meeting,” he said. “You need to look like you belong.”
There it was again. That odd… softness under his words. It made me uneasy, like stepping onto a staircase you thought had one more step.
I opened the box right there in the doorway and the breath left my lungs.
A red dress lay inside, deep and velvety, like it had been cut out of wine and danger. Thin straps. A low neckline. A slit that would definitely expose at least half my dignity. It was beautiful—too beautiful. Not the kind of thing I was supposed to wear. Not the kind of thing anyone had ever gifted me.
Zane shifted his weight, rubbing the back of his neck. “Luca picked it,” he muttered like it embarrassed him.
I looked up. “Luca?”
“Yeah.” His mouth curved, just a little. “He said… red suits your skin.”
My cheeks burned before I could stop them. I hated how easily these men got reactions out of me. In my last life, they got reactions too—fear, humiliation, shame. In this life… it was something else. Something confusing. Something much harder to run from.
Before either of us figured out what to say next, a woman stepped into view behind him—middle-aged, polite smile, a makeup kit strapped around her waist.
“She’s here to help,” Zane said, stepping back so she could enter. His eyes darted toward my face one more time, and then he left like he was escaping.
The door clicked shut behind him.
I let the pack woman do her job. She was gentle, quiet, efficient. She curled my hair, pinned pieces back to frame my face, blended gold shimmer across my eyelids, brushed rouge along my cheekbones until I looked… soft. Alive. Beautiful, even.
It scared me.
It reminded me too much of the other life, where beauty made me vulnerable, and vulnerability got me killed.
But I stayed still. Let her paint me.
When I finally stepped into the dress, it slid over my skin like it knew exactly where to cling. The slit flashed my thigh with every step. The neckline dipped dangerously. I looked like a Luna, which felt like a lie.
When the woman left, I stared at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look like the girl who’d escaped through a window. Or the girl who’d died.
I looked like something the world could swallow whole.
A shiver rolled down my spine.
“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “Just… breathe.”
I wasn’t ready. But I opened my door anyway.
The stairs creaked under my heels as I made my way down the mansion’s grand staircase. The air changed halfway down—not colder, not warmer, just heavier. Charged. I could feel eyes on me before I reached the bottom.
Zane looked first.
He stood so fast the chair scraped the floor behind him and a curse slipped out of him. His gaze dragged down my body, slow like gravity worked differently on him.
Luca rose next, and his glasses slid a fraction down his nose as his mouth parted. He didn’t even bother fixing them at first. His throat bobbed.
Jax didn’t move, but his eyes lifted… and held. His jaw tightened, almost imperceptibly, like he was fighting the urge to say something or drag me somewhere safe.
Then Alpha Darius turned.
His stare was cold, assessing, far too interested to be polite. I stiffened automatically, body remembering the fear even if this version of him hadn’t yet earned it.
“You clean up well,” he said.
My fingers dug into the fabric at my sides.
The boys instantly shifted closer, subtly but clearly—Zane half a step toward me, Luca adjusting so he blocked part of Darius’s line of sight, Jax angling his body so I wasn’t fully exposed.
For a moment, the room stretched thin around us.
Then Alpha Darius stood. “We leave in ten minutes.”
He walked out first, because of course he did.
When the front door shut, I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. The boys didn’t say anything, but their presence tightened around me like a protective ring.
“We’ll take our car,” Zane said quietly.
Luca nodded, offering me his elbow without meeting my eyes. I ignored it, but the gesture left a strange warmth under my skin.
The ride was tense, silent, unbearably close. I sat between Zane and Luca, Jax in the front seat watching the trees blur by. I could feel all three of their scents pressing into me—cedar, mint, cold smoke.
It should have suffocated me.
Instead, it steadied something inside me.
But the moment the car reached neutral grounds, the world changed.
The doors opened and a wall of pheromones slammed into me—dozens of Alpha signatures pulsing through the air. My knees nearly buckled. I grabbed the door frame, gasping.
Zane’s hand was instantly on my waist, steadying me. Luca leaned close enough for his breath to brush my ear.
“Stay close to us.”
Even Jax nodded, barely perceptible but fiercely serious.
Inside, the meeting hall glittered with chandeliers and too many powerful men. Champagne was passed around, and I drank more than I meant to—my nerves were already frayed, and the alcohol softened the edges just enough to keep me upright.
But every so often, I caught one of the boys watching me with an intensity I didn’t know how to interpret.
And slowly, quietly, I realized…
These versions of them weren’t the same monsters from before.
They were dangerous—yes.
Possessive—absolutely.
Overbearing—always.
But cruel?
Not like they once were.
Not like the ones who had chained me, laughed at me, left me to die.
A strange ache tightened in my chest.
When the champagne finally made my bladder protest, I leaned toward Zane.
“I need to pee,” I whispered, annoyed at even having to tell him.
His jaw flexed once. “I’ll be right outside.”
I nodded and slipped off through the maze of hallways, heels clicking softly as the meeting noise faded behind me.
The bathroom was quiet enough that I could hear my own heartbeat. I washed my hands slowly, letting the cool water calm the heat in my cheeks. My makeup still looked perfect. The dress still fit like temptation had been sewn into every seam.
I didn’t feel perfect.
I didn’t feel like temptation.
I felt… exposed.
But I lifted my chin anyway, pushed open the bathroom door—
—and froze.
The boys weren’t there.
Instead, four unfamiliar men leaned against the hallway walls, their bodies big and broad, the kind of Alphas who didn’t need to introduce themselves because their pheromones did all the talking.
They turned toward me like they’d been waiting.
My breath caught.
“Even better in person,” one murmured.
“Triplets really hit the jackpot,” another added, stepping forward. “Didn’t think they’d share, though.”
His smile twisted.
My fingers twitched at my sides. “I need to pass.”
“Oh, you’ll pass,” the third one said, dragging his gaze down my dress. “Right through us.”
The fourth man chuckled. “Heard she takes all three. Maybe she’ll let us try a turn too.”
My spine turned to ice.
I stepped sideways—
they mirrored the movement.
The scent of their dominance pressed into me from all angles, heavy enough to choke. My wolf-less body reacted instinctively, knees trembling, vision blurring at the edges. Submission clawed at my mind even though I fought to stand straight.
My voice barely came out. “Move. Please.”
One of them lifted a hand like he was about to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
That was when it hit me—
the memory.
The past life.
The exact same hallway, the exact same tone of mockery, the exact same sinking in my stomach before everything went wrong.
Before chains.
Before humiliation.
Before they let strangers lay hands on me while they laughed.
A sickening question rushed through me: What if the triplets set this up again?
My chest tightened painfully.
No, no, no—
Not again.
Not this life too.
One Alpha leaned closer, hand brushing my waist—
And then the sound cracked through the air like thunder.
A growl.
Deep, violent, primal.
Then another.
And another.
The four men stiffened immediately, stepping back like prey sensing the predator before seeing it.
I turned.
The triplets stood at the end of the hallway.
Zane in front, eyes burning gold, his jaw clenched so tight a vein pulsed down his neck. Luca beside him, glasses gone, pupils blown wide like he was barely hanging onto rational thought.
Jax behind them, silent and terrifying, the kind of stillness that screamed danger far louder than sound ever could.
They didn’t speak at first.
They didn’t need to.
Their pheromones hit the hallway like a warning shot. The four men lifted their hands defensively.
“Relax,” one said with a nervous laugh. “We were just talking.”
“Yeah,” another added. “Just wanted a taste too. Didn’t think you three would mind—”
Zane moved so fast the man flinched backward like he’d been slapped.
Luca stepped in next, eyes blazing. “Say one more word.”
Jax didn’t even blink. He didn’t have to.
The men scattered like cowards. Like they weren’t Alphas at all.
When the hallway emptied, the world snapped back into place and the boys turned to me.
And everything spilled over.
My breath came fast—too fast—my chest rising and falling like I couldn’t pull enough air in. My hands shook so badly I had to press them to my stomach. The walls felt too close. The lights too bright. The pheromones still clung to me, heavy and suffocating.
Panic hit hard and sudden like it had been waiting under my skin since the moment I reincarnated and had just now found an opening.
“I—” I tried to speak. “I can’t— I can’t breathe—”
Zane stepped forward instantly. “Mira—”
I backed away, hitting the wall, sliding down until my knees bent.
My vision blurred.
My pulse stuttered.
Luca crouched in front of me so quickly he nearly dropped to his knees.
“Mira. Look at me.”
I tried.
Everything shook.
Zane’s hand landed on my shoulder, Jax touched the back of my head like he was grounding me silently.
But nothing worked.
My breaths came shallow and fast, fast enough to hurt—
Until Luca suddenly cupped my face.
And he kissed me.
Not softly.
Not politely.
He crashed into me.
His lips were warm, soft, moving against mine like he was trying to drag the air back into my lungs. My eyes flew wide, shocked, but Luca didn’t pull away. He tilted my head, deepening the kiss, guiding my breath into his rhythm.
His thumb stroked my cheek. His other hand slipped behind my head to steady me. His lips kept moving, coaxing, grounding, demanding air from me so I had to breathe.
And I did.
A shaky inhale against his mouth. Then another.
My fingers clutched his shirt without meaning to, pulling him closer. My knees stopped trembling. My heartbeat slowed, syncing with his.
A soft, helpless sound slipped out of me— part relief, part instinct, part something I didn’t have the courage to name.
When Luca finally pulled back, both of us were panting.
His forehead brushed mine, breath warm against my lips. “Breathe,” he whispered. “Just breathe, Mira.”
I did.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Because he was there holding me together.
When I opened my eyes, he looked wrecked.
And Zane and Jax looked like the world had tilted.
Shock widened their eyes. Heat flared under it.
Possessiveness.
I wiped my shaky fingers across my lips.
“What…” My voice cracked. “What was that?”
Zane took a step toward us. Jax’s jaw moved like he was clenching down a snarl. Luca swallowed hard.
“To calm you down,” he said but his voice wasn’t calm at all.