“What the hell is going on here!?” A loud voice suddenly boomed.
The four of us turned at the same time to see the triplets stalking towards us.
I gasped. A strange, warm feeling suddenly surged inside me, pulling me towards them. It took all my inner strength not to rush at them and throw myself into their arms.
This was the first time I was seeing them face to face since the shift happened. I drank them in with my eyes.
They’d always been good-looking but I never paid much attention.
All my life, I’d watched girls throw themselves at the triplets because of their looks. I never wanted to be like them so I turned a blind eye to their looks. But right now, I was even worse than those girls. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of them.
Every emotion was heightened. My eyes were sharper, taking note of every curve and crevice of their faces. My fingers itched to trace those lines, to feel the slight differences between their identical faces.
“Someone explain to me right this second why there is a red mark on Hazel’s face!” Lucas growled.
I jerked, suddenly realizing that they’d reached us. I’d been so lost in my head that I didn’t even realize it until he spoke. Even the pain in my cheek had faded to nothing in their presence.
I touched my face now, wondering how red it was.
“Answer my question. Which of you dared to lay your hands on Hazel!?” Lucas snapped.
While his brother dealt with the girls, Levi grabbed my face gently in his arms. He ran his thumb over my stinging skin with the gentlest touch I’ve ever felt.
“Does it hurt? Are you okay?” He asked anxiously.
I felt like I was in an alternate universe. My mouth opened but no sound came out.
The girls also had a shocked look on their faces as they watched us. I’m sure my face mirrored theirs.
“Didn’t I warn you all yesterday that she was not to be touched?” Lucas growled, dragging their attention back to him. “Who was it?”
They were silent, trembling in fear. Terror shined in their eyes as they seemed to realize that they’d crossed a line.
“Since you don’t want to admit which one of you hit her, you’ll all be punished for it equally,” Lucas snapped.
Their eyes widened. Melanie stumbled forward. “Lucas, please don’t do this! We are your girlfriends.”
“Ex-girlfriends,” Liam countered coldly. “We broke up with you ladies, remember?”
“No! You can’t do that!” Annie exclaimed, trying to grab his hand. “Please, I love you.”
Disgust boiled in my stomach. Something deep inside me rebelled at another woman touching my mate.
The intensity of my feelings shocked even me.
Thankfully, he snatched his hand back before I could embarrass myself by clawing her eyes out.
“Don’t even think of touching me or I might rip your head off,” he snapped, his voice dripping with the same disgust I felt.
It made me feel better to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
They backed away in fear, seeing that the triplets really meant it.
“Y-You can’t treat us like t-this over a s-slave,” Melanie cried, her voice trembling.
The triplet’s eyes turned as dark as night. This time, Levi stepped in.
He grabbed her by the front of her dress and yanked her towards him. “And what makes you think you’re good enough for us? The future alphas?”
“Aren’t you just daughters of mere gammas in this pack? Maybe you think you’re even better than us now,” Liam scoffed.
“Just because we chose to date girls like you, I guess you started thinking too highly of yourselves. What makes you better than Hazel? She is ten times the woman that you are!” Levi growled.
“I will not tolerate anyone who speaks badly of Hazel from this moment on,” Lucas declared with finality.
He continued. “The next word you utter about her will be your end. I’ll not only punish you, I’ll make sure your parents lose their meager status in the pack. Will you like that?”
She shook her head wildly, her eyes brimming with tears.
“I give you 30 seconds to get out of here,” he snapped.
They didn’t wait for even one second to pass before they fled from the hall in defeat.
As for me, my mouth continued to hang open in shock. I was still shocked that they would take my side like that.
For a second, I thought about running away like the girls but Lucas turned to me.
“Hazel,” he said, his voice softer than I’ve ever heard it. “I know you’ve been avoiding us.”
‘Well, duh!’ I thought to myself but didn’t say it out.
“You have every right to do that. We didn’t treat you as well as we should have in the past. We were wrong. As the eldest, let me be the first to apologize on our behalf,” he concluded.
“I apologize too, Hazel,” Liam said with a repentant look. “We have no excuse. We can only hope that you forgive us.”
“I’m so sorry, Hazel. I really am,” Levi added.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I wasn’t. It hurt like a bitch. I let out a small cry, rubbing the spot.
Levi gasped and grabbed my hand, gently kissing the red spot.
Of the three of them, he seemed unable to keep his hands off me but I couldn’t bring myself to hate it. My skin tingled from his touch.
“Why would you do that to yourself? You’re not allowed to get hurt from this moment on,” Levi cried.
“Seconded,” Liam piped in.
“Thirded,” Lucas added.
“This is crazy,” I whispered, looking between them. It was wild having them staring at me with such deep attraction and care.
“What is crazy?” Liam asked.
“You guys are being so nice to me all of a sudden. You don’t even seem shocked about the situation. You’ve just accepted all of it—me being your mate…having to s-share me.”
I blushed deeply, feeling embarrassed to even say the word.
“It’s not strange at all,” Liam assured me, smiling warmly. “We’ve always assumed that our mate might be the same person. Most twins and triplets usually share their mate.”
“We were prepared for it,” Levi agreed. “So will you forgive us?”
I hesitated. I couldn’t just forget the years of torture and harassment I suffered from the triplets and their parents.
No matter how attracted I was to them, I couldn’t just wipe it from my mind.
I wanted to scream at them and tell them to leave me alone. I wanted to march out of the hall.
But the mate bond suddenly yanked at me, reminding me that these guys were my fate. My destiny.
An overwhelming urge came over me to reach for them.
Their eyes went dark. I knew they were feeling it too. Our bond was demanding to be completed.
My eyes met Lucas’. I could see the struggle in his eyes as he battled for control.
But he was the oldest and strongest so he won. I saw his mask of control slip back into place and breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as I was about to relax, a hand suddenly grabbed me and dragged me forward.
Levi!
“Your scent is intoxicating. I feel like I’m going crazy. I can’t resist it,” he muttered, sounding dazed.
My eyes widened as he turned my head, exposing my neck. His teeth came crashing down.