Resisting the Alpha Triplets by Cara Anderson

Ch. 56 Hungry Wolves

Mallory’s POV

“You go nowhere without one of us with you! Do you understand?” Cary barked at me before the rogue’s body ever hit the ground.

“Y-, yeah, o-, okay.” I stammered, my teeth chattering away under the influence of the adrenaline unleashed on my system.

Ice cold terror sent a rush of fight or flight hormones coursing through me as the rogue’s words replayed on a loop through my mind. Marry him or die. Marry him or die. I couldn’t stop hearing it in that gruff, hateful voice knowing that was the fate awaiting me if he’d managed to abduct me.

None of my training prepared me for a depraved Alpha whose sole purpose now centered on destroying me. He’d already come close to succeeding once.

How could anyone protect me from an evil we couldn’t see but who could obviously see me?

I hated showing any kind of weakness in front of these men, aware they viewed any kind of frailty as a fatal flaw. I tried drawing strength from my wolf, but she was content to play the damsel in distress. In her mind, allowing our mates to care for us was nothing more than their due.

“Shit! She’s in shock! We need to get her out of here!” Clay’s voice sounded distant as I felt the walls closing in around me, the air too thick to breathe.

“I’ve got you, darling.” Cary cooed, lifting me in his arms and carrying me upstairs.

His arms tightened around me as the shaking intensified but I doubted even his strength would be enough to hold me together. My muscles ached as the lactic acid seeped into my tissues, brought on by the violent tremors. I needed to pull my shit together but my body seemed trapped in a vicious cycle of fear.

“Deep breaths, little wolf.” Clay encouraged and I did my best to obey. ” There you go. We’re right here and we won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“You can’t promise me that.” I muttered. “You heard the rogue. Somehow he’s watching me.”

A renewed dread spiked again and I twisted in Cary’s arms, looking around wildly, expecting to see malicious eyes everywhere. But the only eyes I saw were those of my mates, brimming with concern.

“We can promise you that, love. We were naive in sending you to that meeting but that won’t happen again.” Clay assured me again then nudged his brother. “Cary, call Maeve and have her pack some things for her and Mallory.

We’ll send a couple warriors to pick her up. She and Mallory will both be staying here where we can keep them both safe.”

Cary’s fingers dug into my flesh to the point of pain. He glared at Clay like he’d just asked him to give up a precious jewel he had no intention of relinquishing. I wasn’t sure what passed between them as they stared at each other, but eventually Cary nodded and his grip on me eased. 2

“Thank you.” I whispered as Cary placed me in Colton’s arms with a kiss on the head and a vow to return shortly.

It was all I had a chance to say before he left to contact my mother but I hoped he understood everything those words encompassed. I had yet to accept our bond and mate or not, they owed me nothing. They’d been nothing but supportive and caring, even when I’d been less than gracious about it, and now they were inviting us into their home.

“Come on, little Omega. You need to rest.” Colton purred, carrying me to a room that reeked of furniture polish and other household chemicals, but not him.

“I thought I was sleeping in your bed tonight?” I said, smiling wanly, a poor attempt to lighten the mood.

“I just assumed, since you’ll be staying here a while, you’d want your own space.” He replied, laying me on the bed and looking at me with worry and something like regret in his cobalt blue eyes.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Will you stay with me?” I did my best not to whine when he went to stand, an unease growing in my gut as he moved away from me.

“Of course, baby.” He grinned, appearing pleased I’d asked for him. Then his eyes hardened. “But just until you fall asleep. My brothers and I need to talk, work out a plan to make sure no one touches you again.”

Colton forced the words through gritted teeth, his fists clenched at his sides. I reached for him, pulling him into me and wrapping my body around his, as if I could trap him there, keep him with me forever. His muscles relaxed and his breathing slowed as he melted into me. Inside, I laughed to myself at how quickly the tables had turned and I had become the comforter.

My body and mind were exhausted after the day’s events and it didn’t take long for me to sink into blessed oblivion. I had no concept of time when consciousness slowly crept back in. All I could sense were the heated voices were coming from somewhere across the hall.

“Maybe she should come stay with me at Winter Woods.” A familiar voice suggested.

Nathan? When had Nathan gotten here?

“Not just no. Fuck no!” Cary bellowed. ” Not only am I not stupid enough to send my mate to stay with her ex- boyfriend. You don’t have the resources to protect her that we have here.”

“So I’m the ex-boyfriend, now? Good to know.” Nathan sounded angry and hurt. “What are you so afraid of Carrington? Worried she might not be as over me as you like to think she is?”

“It’s you I don’t trust. Not her.” Cary snarled.

My old friend Guilt visited me again after hearing the pain behind Nathan’s words. Given what happened between Colton and I last night, I could understand why Cary would assume my romantic relationship with Nathan was over. But he should have given me the chance to tell him myself.

“Look, none of this is helping us figure out how Alpha Quade learned of Mallory’s existence, let alone know she would be at that diner.” Clay interjected. “We need to find out who is feeding him information.”

“I have to go.” Colton spoke that time, a resignation in his tone I didn’t like but couldn’t put my finger on why.

I heard the snick of the office door closing followed by footsteps coming in my direction. Despite having listened to their angst-ridden conversation, I was still having trouble convincing my eyelids to open. So when Colton came to sit beside me on the bed, they fluttered but refused to focus on his handsome face no matter how much I wanted them to.

“I love you, little Omega.” He whispered, stroking my arm with the back of his hand, warmth seeping into me from his touch. “Whatever happens next, I need you to know that. I have to leave for a while and you might hate me by the time I come home. But that’s okay. I can live with that as long as I know you’re safe.”

He leaned in and kissed my forehead then his weight lifted from the bed. I wanted to reach for him, to beg him to stay. I wanted to insist he explain himself. How could he leave when I needed him here with me?

But my body wouldn’t cooperate. I floated in that disorienting space between sleep and wakefulness, not sure what was real or imagined. And before I could choose, my body chose for me, sleep pulling me under again.

“Hello, beautiful!” Cary’s smiling face greeted me when I opened my eyes again, this time fully awake.

“Hi.” I greeted with a weak smile. ” How long was I out?”

“About six hours.” He informed me. ” You needed the rest,”

I nodded, struggling to clear my head. Something stirred in the back of my mind, a memory I couldn’t quite latch onto. Then all at once, it came back to me.

“Where’s Colton?” I blurted, failing to keep the panic in check.

Something flashed in Cary’s eyes, pity maybe, but he replaced it with a hard stare.

“He left a few hours ago. He didn’t say where he was going and his mind is locked down tight. We haven’t been able to reach him.” He ground out, obviously less than thrilled with the oldest triplet’s behavior.

“I see.” It was all I could say.

The vague recollection of Colton’s words simmered in my mind. I clearly recalled him saying he had to leave and wanting me to be safe but I had no idea what one had to do with the other. None of it made any sense.

“Oh, you’re up.” Clay announced, joining us in the room. “Are you hungry?”

“Is Nathan still here?” I asked, ignoring his question. “I thought I heard his voice earlier.”

Clay lifted me into his lap and nuzzled into my hair, comforting me in a way I couldn’t find the will to deny myself. I linked my arms around his neck and held him close to me. Cary scooted in behind us and slipped his arms around my waist, holding me from behind.

“He had to go, darling. He said he’ll come by tomorrow though.” Cary murmured, his lips brushing my ear in a heated whisper.

Their scents surrounding me, their bodies pressed against mine, were lighting a flame in my belly and sending pleasurable tingles straight to my pussy. Clay grunted when I squirmed in his lap, pulling back to search my face, his chest rumbling at the desire he saw there.

“Take me to your bed.” I implored in a low, sultry tone. “Both of you.”

“Are you sure, little wolf? You’ve had a rough day. Maybe we should-,”

“I’m sure.” I interrupted Clay’s unnecessary hesitation. “I want you to hold me in your arms. Make me feel safe. Make me forget what’s coming for me. Just for tonight.”

“You’re ours now, darling. This is your home too. We’ll take you to our bed, love.”

Cary wrenched me from Clay’s grasp, nearly sprinting from the room. A blissfully carefree laugh slipped out as I hooked my legs around his waist and held on for dear life. Clay kept pace with us, one hand on my back as he refused to be left behind.

Clay jumped ahead of us, pushing open a door and holding it open for us.

“Really dude?” Cary huffed at him for some unknown offense.

“What? She asked me first. It’s only fair we use my room.” He said, shrugging off his brother’s irritation.

“I can go back to my room if this is a problem.” I offered.

“No!” Clay rushed out.

“No problem at all, darling.” Cary backtracked.

The next thing I knew, I was being tossed on the bed, an unladylike yelp escaping me. My body bounced a few times before I could get my bearings. When I finally looked up, there were two very hungry wolves looking at me like I was their favorite meal.