The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate

Chapter 113: More lies

The Seer’s words hung in the air like a thick fog. "No!" Liam roared, the sound echoing off the high ceilings of the Great Hall. "You’re lying! You’re old, and your visions are failing!"

​The Seer didn’t flinch. She simply looked at him with eyes that seemed to see right through his soul. "The signs are there, Alpha. You feel the cold in your chest. You feel the silence. You are just in denial. Accept my sympathy... that was her destiny."

​She turned and walked away, her staff clicking softly on the stone floor, leaving them in a world that had suddenly stopped turning.

​One by one, the powerful young Alphas of the Full Moon Pack collapsed. Liam hit the floor first, his knees giving out as a sob tore through his throat. Leon followed, his hands clawing at the rug as he screamed her name into the empty air. Leo simply slid down the wall, his head in his hands, trembling violently.

​They thought of her smile... the way she smelled. They thought of the future they had secretly planned—how they were going to make it up to her... make her happy.

​"Scarlett!" Liam yelled, his voice breaking. "Come back! Please!"

​But there was only silence. Even their wolves were in agony, curling up into balls of misery deep inside them. It was becoming difficult to even draw breath, as if their ability to breathe had left with her.

​Each brother looked at the others through blurred, teary eyes. Liam saw Leon’s face twisted in pure torture and thought, He loved her too. He’s feeling my pain because we are triplets. Leon looked at Leo’s broken form and thought, He must be sharing my grief. We’ve always been connected. They still had no idea that each brother was their drowning in the pain of his own individual mate bond. They were three men mourning the same woman, each trapped in his own private hell.

​The heavy oak doors of the Great Hall swung open. A group of warriors walked in, their faces grim and covered in dirt. In the hands of the lead warrior was a thick, heavy bag made of dark cloth.

​It was dripping. A ​slow, steady drip... drip... drip of dark red blood hit the floor.

​The triplets stood up instantly, their grief turning into a sharp, terrifying focus. "What is that...?" Leon asked, his voice a ghost of a whisper.

​The head warrior didn’t speak at first. He walked to the center of the room and dropped the bag on the floor with a wet, heavy thud. He looked up, his eyes filled with horror.

​"We followed the trail into the deep ravine," the warrior said, his voice shaking. "We didn’t find the rogues... but we found these. These are... these are pieces of Scarlett’s body. The rogues... they didn’t just kill her. They tore her apart."

​"No..." Leo whispered, his voice failing him. He crawled forward on his hands and knees, his eyes locked on the bag. "No, that’s not her. It can’t be her."

​Liam was the first to reach it. His hands, usually so strong and steady, were shaking so violently he could barely grip the ties. He didn’t want to open it. Every instinct in his body told him to run, to turn back time, to wake up from this nightmare. But the Alpha in him—the part that needed to know the truth—forced his fingers to move.

​He pulled the bag open just an inch, and the smell hit them all at once. It was the smell of the woods, of blood, and beneath it all, the unmistakable, faint scent of Scarlett.

​Liam let out a sound that wasn’t human. It was a high, broken keen of a wolf who had lost everything. He fell back, his face going pale. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even breathe.

​Leon pushed past him, his eyes wild. He looked into the bag for only a second before he turned away and retched. "I’ll kill them," he gasped, his voice thick with a sudden, terrifying madness. "I’ll hunt every rogue in this territory. I’ll burn the forests. I’ll tear the world apart until there’s nothing left!"

​The warriors stood back, terrified. They had never seen the triplets like this. The room was vibrating with their combined power—an Alpha energy so dark and heavy that it felt like the walls were closing in.

​Leo didn’t scream. He didn’t threaten. He just reached out and touched the blood-stained bag, his fingers tracing the shape of what was inside. "We failed her," he whispered, his tears falling fast and hot onto the floor. "We treated her like an enemy for two years... and the moment we decided to love her, the world took her away."

​Liam looked at his brothers. He saw Leon’s violent shaking and Leo’s desolate state. In his mind, he thought, They are dying because I am dying. My pain is so great it is breaking my brothers. He reached out, grabbing Leon’s hand and Leo’s shoulder, pulling them into a tight, desperate circle.

​"She’s gone," Liam choked out, the words finally becoming real. "Our Scarlett... is gone."

​Outside, the sky began to turn grey and heavy, as if the world itself was mourning the girl who had been erased. None of them knew that miles away, Scarlett was being hurried toward a private jet.

​Meanwhile, Ethan was seated in a coffee shop, his fingers tapping restlessly on the table. He was waiting for Elara, ready to tell her face-to-face that their bond was over, when a sharp, urgent mind-link from his uncle Lennox cut through his thoughts.

​"Ethan, I need to see you. Where are you?"

​"I’m at the cafe waiting for Elara. What’s going on?" Ethan replied, sensing the tension in his uncle’s mental voice.

​"It’s about Scarlett. Come to the town square. Now."

​Lennox cut the link before Ethan could ask anything else. Panic flared in Ethan’s chest. He didn’t care that Elara was likely pulling into the parking lot at that very moment. He rushed out of the shop, jumped into his car, and drove like a madman. In less than ten minutes, he reached the town square and spotted Sir Lennox standing by a blacked-out SUV.

​Ethan scrambled out of his car, his chest heaving. "What happened? Is she okay? Did the triplets—"

​"Scarlett has left for Switzerland," Lennox interrupted, his voice heavy. "From there, she will leave for France."

​Ethan froze, his eyes widening in fury. "What? France? We were supposed to go together! I told her I’d take her! Why would she just leave without me?" He stepped closer to his uncle, his Alpha scent turning sharp and aggressive. "What did you do, Uncle Lennox?"

​"Calm down and listen, Ethan," Lennox said, looking older than he ever had before. He sighed and leaned against the car, finally spilling the truth. He explained everything—how they had kidnapped Scarlett from the bathroom, how they had revealed that her parents and Luna Olivia were alive, and the impossible choice they had forced upon her.

​"We told her the prophecy," Lennox whispered, his eyes filled with a sudden, deep guilt. "The triplets will kill each other if she stays. We told her the only way to save them was to stage her death. She had to agree to mute the bond and disappear so they could marry and bond with other women. Only then can the truth come out."

​Ethan’s jaw dropped. He felt sick. "You kidnapped her? You drugged her and told her she had to ’die’ so your sons could move on? You monsters. She’s a human being, not a pawn for your games!"

​"Calm down, Ethan! This is to your advantage, too," Lennox snapped back, though his voice lacked conviction. "If the triplets are married and marked by other women, they can never claim her again. You’ll finally have your chance with her without a war breaking out."

​"I don’t give a damn about my chance!" Ethan roared, slamming his fist against the side of the SUV. "I wanted her happy! I wanted her to choose me because she wanted me, not because you forced her into exile!"

​Lennox looked away, his expression crumbling. "Do you think I like this? I just put my sons in unimaginable pain. I feel... I feel sick, Ethan. Truly." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with an address written on it. "She’s going to Paris. She’s going to be at a private art academy. You can go see her there, if you want. We won’t stop you."

​Ethan snatched the paper, his heart thudding painfully.

​Lennox checked his watch, his face turning pale. "I have to return to the mansion. Even from here, I can feel it... the pain of my sons. The bond has snapped, Ethan. They think she’s dead, and their agony is so strong I can feel it in my blood. I have to be there before they burn the world down."

​Lennox got into his car and sped off, leaving Ethan standing alone in the square, the truth heavy in his hands.