The brothers eyes flickered amongst each other. Each triplet wore a different expression that displayed their feelings on the matter quite clearly.
Ryker’s smile burned brighter than the sun, with excitement and hope gleaming in his crystal blue eyes. He felt as though he had been waiting an eternity to find their mate, even though it was actually only a matter of months ago he decided to stop sleeping around with random she-wolves. Reid appeared skeptical, with his lips slightly pouted and his eyebrows furrowed. His eyes cautiously observed the pack house before him, wondering if it was really true that their mate could be found inside. Reid had always found himself on the fence when it came to meeting their mate. He wasn’t infatuated by the idea, like his brother, but he wasn’t exactly against meeting her either. He always figured they’d meet her when the time was right, but the time was absolutely not right at this moment. He had a date with Penelope at 7pm, how would he get out of that one? He also figured he had a few more years of messing around and dating before he would find himself settling down with their mate, but was he excited to get inside and meet her? Perhaps he was, slightly. River stared wide-eyed at the ground, with his sharp jaw tense and a vein threatening to burst out the right side of his neck. His brows snapped together, as he pondered on the inevitable implications this could cause. He never wanted to meet their mate, if he was being honest. He’d seen the way his warriors were effected when they met their other halves, they were constantly distracted by their partner and slowly would begin to remove themselves from the frontline of defence, not wanting to risk the chance of being wounded in a battle and unable to return home to their mate. Mates had made many of his men weak, something River couldn’t afford to be. Ryker quickly glanced at his brothers, before he dramatically threw his hands in the air in an attempt to get their attention. “What are you both doing?” He questioned. “Let’s go find her!” He pleaded, even though he was completely aware of both of his brother’s feelings on the matter. River’s expression closed up. “No.” He stated clearly. “We’re here on official pack business, that’s all. We don’t have time to run around chasing your fairytale, Ryker.” River scolded, as he turned on his heel to continue entering the pack house. Ryker roughly grabbed his brother’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “So what are you going to do, River? Just ignore the fact that our mate is in there?” Ryker scolded. Reid sighed as he approached his brothers. “He’s right, River. What exactly is your plan here?” He questioned. River shoved Ryker’s hand off his shoulder, removing his brothers hold on him. “If we see her, then I’ll reject her.” He coldly confirmed, refusing to acknowledge his wolf Kane whimpering within him. “That’s not your decision, River. This involves all of us, not just you.” Reid added, screwing up his face in disgust at the eldest. River rolled his eyes, ignoring his brothers protests, and headed into the pack house with an infuriated Ryker and conflicted Reid on his tail. Brielle headed out her bedroom door first, closely followed by Harlie and Scarlett. She wore a look of determination, as a fire blazed in her green orbs. She didn’t care what dumb, dumber and dumbest had to say, over her dead body would she surrender her pack. As they descended the staircase from the fourth floor, Brielle’s sense of uneasiness worsened with each step. By the time the trio had reached the final flight of stairs, Brielle came to an abrupt halt. Brielle lifted her nose in the air as she detected something unusual lingering around her. She was firstly hit with a strong whiff of sandalwood, so strong that her knees almost fell beneath her. The scent was intoxicating to her, almost calling out to her. Seconds later, she was hit with another scent. The sweet smell of peach danced around her, inviting her to bask in the scent as it consumed her nostrils and set her nerve endings alight. Finally, Brielle completely and utterly drowned in the scent of vanilla. Her legs had truly gone weak as she clung on to the staircase bannister, unable to catch her breath as she indulged in the three blissful scents. Only when she felt Ocean anxiously stir within her did she realise what was happening. Her heart rate quickened to a dangerous beat as Harlie and Scarlett watched her warily. “Bri…” Harlie gently rested her palm on Brielle’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” Harlie’s concern grew as she watched the colour drain from her sister’s face. As Brielle’s eyes locked with her sister’s, Harlie had an instant gut feeling shoot through her. “Oh, shit.” Harlie muttered, before rushing down the stairs so she could be face to face with her sister. “What’s going on?” Scarlett queried, innocently naive to the situation at hand. “Her mate is here.” Harlie confirmed, her face contorted as she told Scarlet. Brielle inhaled a deep breath before frantically shaking her head. “Nope,” she exclaimed. “I don’t have time to deal with this right now.” Brielle quickly composed herself before finally descending the last flight of stairs, pushing down the overwhelming urge to find her mate and run into his arms. She had bigger issues at hand and finding the mate who she planned to reject anyway wasn’t at the top of her priority list. “But Bri-” Scarlett shouted after her, but soon decided against finishing her sentence as Brielle and Harlie both shot her a warning glance. As Brielle turned the corner, the scent’s were only growing stronger. She knew her mate was down here somewhere and it was the last thing she needed at this moment in time. Pushing down the urge further and growing in frustration, Brielle swung open her office door a little too forcefully. As the wooden frame clashed against the painted white wall, Brielle’s eyes landed on the three men stood before her. Brielle and the three six-foot-four triplets gawked at one another as reality sunk in for them all. Brielle’s eyes flickered between the three pairs of blue eyes staring back at her, observing how each of their dark brown hair was styled perfectly in a small quiff, with the sides and back shaven to a number one. With the sharpest jaw lines she’d ever seen and three sets of full, plump lips, these identical men before her were the most handsome men she had ever cast her eyes upon. And in this moment, as they all silently gaped at each other, they realised just how complicated this situation was about to become. “Shit.” Both Brielle and River concluded in unison.The triplets stood bickering in the said Alpha’s office, contemplating their plan of action for the so called mate nearby. River groaned as he threw his head back in frustration, he felt like he was fighting a losing battle. “Ryker, for fuck sake. We’re here for one reason and one reason only, to take control over this pack.” He argued, before issuing Ryker a warning look. Ryker rolled his eyes before dismissively flicking his hand in front of River. “Well our mate is in the pack, whether you like it or not. When we take over, she’ll still be here.” He objected. River sighed as he began to massage his temples. “We’ll deal with that later.” River couldn’t understand his brothers infatuation with meeting their mate, he’d been clear for as long as he could remember that he wouldn’t accept whoever it was. “Aren’t you even a little curious to see who it is?” Reid shrugged, as his hands fiddled in the glass jar of mints on the Alpha’s desk. “Why?” River asked flatly. “It doesn
River scoffed at the girl in disbelief. He wasn’t going to fight her, it was against his morals to fight a woman unless he was paired with one during training. Much less was he going to fight his mate as a way of taking her pack. Ryker was right, it didn’t have to be like this. Granted, he didn’t plan to accept her as his mate either but he certainly wasn’t going to get what he wanted this way. “You can’t be serious.” River laughed at the petite woman. She was barely tall enough to reach his shoulder, let alone take both him and his brothers on. Although, he didn’t disagree with Reid either. He was certain he would have plenty of fun throwing her around the bedroom. “Scared?” Brielle taunted, as she confidently placed her hands on her exposed waist. She was dying for the opportunity to show this idiot how capable she truly was. River chuckled again as he rolled his eyes. His deep, baritone laugh set Brielle’s nerves alight. There was something about the sound that she found
“What the hell is the Battle of the Alpha’s?” Scarlett blurted out, as she finally found her voice in the overcrowded room. Harlie frowned as she stepped forward, narrowing her eyes at the smug challenger. “You can’t be serious.” She questioned. “That hasn’t been done in over a century, you really think King Nathanial will waste his time over you spoilt men spitting your dummy out because my sister won’t just hand over her pack?” She glared at the triplet in disbelief. River shrugged, before turning his back to his mate’s sister. He lifted his brow as his eyes locked with Brielle’s. “I guess we’ll find out, if your sister accepts the challenge.” Brielle thought for a moment as she glared back at Alpha. She was never one to back down from a challenge but where the price of her pack was concerned, she couldn’t afford to make the wrong decision. However, just like River, Brielle was too strong willed for her own good. Brielle knew if she didn’t accept the challenge, it wouldn’t
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Ryker yelled out to River. His eyes blazed with fury as he ground his jaw, he was livid. He couldn’t wrap his head around River’s stupidity, all he could think about was how selfish his brother had been. River rolled his eyes as he let out an exasperated sigh. “Liven up, Ry. What’s the worst that could happen?” River wasn’t shocked by Ryker’s outburst, quite frankly he had been anticipating it. However, he had presumed his brother would have waited until they were off the Shadow Pack land before kicking up at fuss. “She is our mate, Riv! How can you be so god damn narrow minded!” Ryker spat, as he took threatening steps toward the eldest. “All you think about is yourself, who cares what Reid and I want, right?” Sick of Ryker being in his face, River forcefully shoved his brother away from him. “Are you kidding me, Ry?” He exclaimed as his face hardened. “This is what you and Reid wanted, remember? Until thirty minutes ago, you were sat in my
The last few days had been intense for Brielle, she had been none stop. Her days had mainly consisted of carrying out her Alpha duties to ensure smooth and sufficient running of the pack and practicing various challenges Harlie had discovered during her time researching the Battle of the Alpha’s. To say she was exhausted, well that would be an understatement. At quarter to twelve at night, Brielle finally collapsed on her bed. Her eyes landed on the ceiling as she let out a heavy sigh. She had barely had time to think recently, but now the opportunity arose, she wasn’t sure she wanted too. Her mind wandered to what was to come, would the triplets really stick to their word and follow through? But it had been several days and she’s received no word, so she couldn’t help but consider if they’d had second thoughts. She hoped they had because this would mean she could put the whole thing behind her and forget they ever existed, despite Ocean’s consistent pleas to see them. Bri
River threw his suitcase in the back of his boot, before slamming down the door. He’d spent the last few days receiving the silent treatment from Ryker, which had inevitably led to him being in a funky mood himself. He wasn’t used to his brothers and him not being on speaking terms, they usually did everything together. Before this, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone longer than merely a few hours without speaking to one of them. River accepted he had acted hastily when challenging their mate to the Battle of the Alpha’s, but she struck against his pride and backing down just wasn’t in his nature. Besides, he knew this was the only way to merge the two packs without blood being shed. He wasn’t completely naive, however. He knew there was a very slim possibility he would have convinced the girl to give them Shadow, but his backup plan hadn’t factored in that the girl could be his mate. Initially, he had no issue with formulating a forceful takeover, but now Kane refus
Brielle paced along the wooden flooring, muttering the odd swear word here and there as she rushed back and forth past her Beta and Gamma. The corner of Scarlett’s lips turned upright as she watched her best friend work herself into a frenzy of frustration. As insufferable as Scarlett found the triplets to be, she did enjoy the amusing affect they appeared to have on her Alpha. Brielle was never known to lose her cool, but these idiots seemed to really get under her skin. Harlie sighed as she plopped herself down on the edge of Brielle’s bed, before resting back on her elbows and twisting her lips. “Can you stop? You’re giving me whiplash with all this back and forth.” She groaned as her eyes glanced over the ceiling. Brielle came to a halt and faced her sister. “We weren’t supposed to see them outside of the challenges! The mate bond will be a distraction enough with the limited interaction, let alone if we’re getting freaking cozy over a dinner table! Ocean is stirring li
Brielle allowed a smug grin to grow on the edge of her lips as she sashayed her hips across the room, feeling confident she had managed to throw a curveball the triplets way. She looked hot and she knew it. Ocean whined within her as the leggy blonde still clung to one of the triplets like a koala bear, desperately trying to regain his attention, but Brielle knew better than to give them the satisfaction of knowing it had effected her. She had her game face on. “Wait until I get my paws on that bitch.” Ocean growled as she paced back and forth. Brielle chuckled at her wolf’s jealous threats as she took a champagne flute off a passing by waiters tray. She brought the glass to her lips, carefully taking a steady sip, before turning her attention to Harlie and Scarlett. Harlie crinkled her nose as amusement flickered in her blue orbs. “Worked like a charm.” She sighed contently. Scarlett burst into a fit of giggles as she shook her head in dismay. “Thing one l