Rejected and Claimed by her Alpha Triplets

Chapter 323 - the ache

323

~Lisa’s POV

I spun around quickly, my heart leaping. "Lira!" I gasped. I hadn’t even heard her approach. She stood a few feet away, her cloak fluttering lightly in the breeze, moonlight tracing the soft lines of her face.

For a second, I just stared at her, caught off guard. "You scared me," I said, placing a hand over my chest.

She smiled faintly. "I didn’t mean to. But I heard you."

My lips parted. "You...you heard me?"

Lira tilted her head slightly, her eyes gentle yet probing. "Every word." She took a few slow steps closer until she was standing beside me, looking down at the flowing stream. "You miss him. You love him still."

I swallowed hard and looked away. "It’s not that simple."

"It never is," she replied softly. "But love rarely listens to reason, does it?"

I sighed, my fingers twisting together. "You don’t understand, Lira. Too much has happened. Too much has changed."

"Changed?" she asked, turning her gaze to me. "Or have you simply convinced yourself that you no longer deserve him?"

Her words hit me like a spark. I blinked, feeling the sudden sting in my chest. "That’s not it," I murmured.

"Then what is it?" she pressed gently. "You have the power to move mountains now, Lisa. You can command the wind, the water, the fire, but you cannot take a single step toward your own heart?"

I felt my throat tighten. I wanted to answer, but nothing came out.

She sighed and knelt beside the stream, touching the surface lightly with her fingertips. "I’ve seen the way you look when his name is mentioned. You can hide it from everyone else, but not from me. You ache for him."

I looked down, biting my lip. The moon’s reflection rippled between us. "He’s safer without me," I whispered.

Lira turned her head, studying me. "Is he? Or are you the one trying to feel safe without him?"

That question silenced me completely. The sound of running water filled the space between us again, soft but endless.

"I can’t go back," I said finally, shaking my head. "Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t know what he’ll see when he looks at me now," I said quietly. "Not the girl he loved. Not the one who laughed beside him. He’ll see something else... something too powerful, too strange. Maybe even dangerous."

Lira’s expression softened. "Lisa... power doesn’t erase love. It only tests it."

I met her eyes for a moment, then looked away again, blinking hard. "Maybe. But what if I fail that test?"

She stood up, brushing her hands. "Then you’ll learn. But hiding from him won’t heal you. It will only keep you aching."

I let out a shaky breath, watching the moonlight glowed on the water.

Lira’s voice grew softer. "The prophecy says you will rule all, wolves, humans, witches alike. But even rulers need hearts that can feel, not just hands that command."

I closed my eyes. "You think I should see him again?"

She smiled gently. "I think you already decided that when you whispered his name to the river."

I was still staring at the water when I heard a deep, steady voice behind me, one that could silence a storm.

"Lira, that’s enough."

I turned around slowly. Thorne was standing a few steps away, his expression hard and protective. The moonlight gleamed off his dark hair, and his arms were folded tightly across his chest.

"Thorne..." I whispered, surprised.

He walked closer, his boots crunching softly against the grass. His eyes shifted from me to Lira. "Stop telling her to go back to Damon or any of his brothers," he said, his tone sharp but calm. "You have no idea what she’s been through with them."

Lira straightened, her face composed. "I only said what her heart already knows," she replied.

"Well, her heart was broken by them," Thorne snapped. "I won’t let her walk into that again."

Lira looked at him steadily. "You can protect her body, Alpha, but not her soul. It’s not your place to decide what she feels."

He took a step forward, his jaw tightening. "It is my place to keep her safe. She’s my sister. And I know the pain she hides better than anyone."

The air grew heavy between them, their words clashing like thunder. I stood silently, torn between them, my heart pounding in my chest.

Lira sighed softly and turned to me. "Lisa... tell him. Tell him that you still care."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The memory flashed before me, the night I lost my baby. The screams. The cold. The emptiness. My body trembled, and I clenched my fists.

Thorne noticed. His voice softened instantly. "Lisa," he said gently, stepping closer, "you don’t have to say anything. I know what they did to you."

I looked at him, tears burning my eyes. "You’re right," I said, my voice cracking. "You’re both right... but I can’t go back."

"Lisa..." Lira started, but I shook my head.

"No," I said firmly, tears slipping down my cheeks. "I can’t. Not after what happened. Not after losing my child. I thought I’d die that night, Lira. I thought my heart would never beat again. I can’t walk back into the arms of the men who let me shatter."

The words came out shaky, but they were real. Painful. Honest.

Thorne reached out, resting a hand on my shoulder. "You don’t have to explain, Lisa. You just have to heal. And that’s what you’ll do, here, where no one can hurt you again."

I nodded weakly, my throat too tight to speak.

Lira looked between us, her expression heavy with sorrow. "I understand," she said quietly. "But remember, Lisa...running from love won’t erase the ache. It will only bury it."

I couldn’t answer. My tears fell freely now.

Turning away, I whispered, "I just need to be alone for a while."

Neither of them stopped me as I walked past them, the cool night air brushing against my wet cheeks.

I went straight to my room, shutting the door softly behind me. The silence was deep, the kind that pressed against your chest. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the wall.

"I won’t go back," I whispered to myself, even though my heart still ached at the thought of his name.

I sat there for a long time, staring at the wall. The moonlight slipped through the curtains, every breath hurt. Every thought led back to him.

I pulled my knees close to my chest and tried to stop thinking, but it was useless. I wanted to hate him for it. I wanted to erase him from my thoughts. But I couldn’t.

I wiped my tears and lay back on the bed. I turned to one side, clutching the blanket close. My chest rose and fell slowly, my breathing shallow and shaky.