#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Gabriel

I was riddled with a surprising amount of guilt after hearing that our mate tried to run away. I wanted her to feel safe and comfortable here, but I also couldn’t stand the idea of her leaving. The urge to keep her in our home overwhelmed everything else which is what had me on the phone with the elevator manufacturer to have a security system added in. Sure, the idea of keeping our mate prisoner wasn’t exactly settling, but I felt that we had no other options.

Griffin was pissed at Ric and I, but that wasn’t anything new. When it came to drawing sides, it was almost always Griff on one side and Ric and I on the other. Except this time I was pretty sure that the entire female population of the pack was also against me, as well.

“That’s settled then. The elevator company said they can come and put in an access panel with a key code in a few days.” I announced to Ric who nodded from where he sat on the small sofa catty-cornered from my desk.

“I need to go for a run before I storm her room.” Ric growled, carelessly dropping his computer to the ground as he stood.

“I’ll join you.” I felt my wolf, Lewy, clawing at my head as he tried to break free.

Ric and I left the packhouse, giving Griff and our Betas a heads up as to where we were going, and shifted into our wolves. We took off towards the tree line behind the house and let our wolves take control.

Lewy threw his head back and howled towards the sky, letting out all of the anger and frustration that he was holding on to about our situation. He pounded the ground with his heavy paws, hot on Quill’s heels. Ric’s wolf, Quill, was the biggest and strongest out of the three of us just like how Ric was the best warrior among us.

Lewy had his nose to the ground, tracking down the scent of some animal he felt like hunting. Lewy was the best at tracking. He followed the trail towards a creek that weaved through our pack territory and we crept up silently on a deer that was lapping at the water. With one look towards Quill, we both sprang into action. Quill took down the buck while Lewy came up behind for the kill; in one smooth motion he tore the buck’s jugular from his throat.

Lewy and Quill ripped apart the deer slowly, making sure to enjoy their catch and not waste any of the meat. Once they were finished, Quill and Lewy cleaned themselves off in the cool water. Quill tilted his head back and howled as the crescent moon rose overhead, peeking out from behind the clouds. I sank to the back of Lewy’s mind, nearly becoming unconscious as he ran through the woods.

There was something freeing and rejuvenating about taking a back seat and allowing someone else to control your consciousness. It made me a bit jealous of Lewy who got to do this all of the time. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten until I received a frantic mindlink from Waylon,

“She’s gone out the window.”

“Who’s done what now?” I was confused as I came back into focus.

“The Luna has gone out of the window!” Waylon shouted back at me.

“The window?” Ric growled.

“She made some sort of rope out of blankets, I don’t know. She’s gone. I’m tracking her through the woods now.” Waylon was panicking.

“We’re in the east woods.” I replied.

“That’s where she went, but I don’t think she could’ve gotten far.” Waylon said,

“I’m on my way.” Griffin jumped into the mindlink and I could tell that he was breathless from running.

Quill and Lewy jumped into action, racing back towards the packhouse. With Waylon’s wolf, Mario, coming from the opposite direction, we were sure to catch Harlow in between us somewhere. I was worried because I hadn’t caught onto her scent and Lewy was pissed that he wasn’t able to sense his mate planning an escape in the first place.

“We haven’t bonded yet.” I tried to reason with him.

“She’s ours!” Lewy snarled.

“There! That’s her scent.” I almost cheered as her warm chocolate scent lightly grazed my nose.

“Mine!” Lewy and Quill’s voices echoed in my head.

We made a wide arch, circling around where we smelt our mate’s scent so we could come up behind her. Frost had made good time and caught up with us just as we closed in on Harlow. Side by side, we stalked out of the woods and caught Harlow’s attention. She jumped and spun around, gasping as she saw us. Her eyes widened and I instantly felt a little bad about scaring her. But, it was a fleeting emotion that was covered up by seething rage.

Waylon shifted and must’ve found some of the clothes that we had hidden in trees all around the territory, which I was grateful for as he approached my mate. He called out to her and started trying to convince her to come back. She was having absolutely none of it and just started screaming.

“Sedate her, Waylon.” I ordered, knowing that he had brought a sedative with him.

He nodded once and, in one swift motion, stuck the needle into Harlow’s neck. He caught her before she could fall and scooped her into his arms bridal style. Quill and Frost growled at Waylon from either side of me. Lewy nudged them both with his snout.

“Come on, let’s go back to the packhouse and change.” I told them, shoving them away from Waylon.

We ran back to the house, shifted, and changed using the stock pile of clothes we kept in a large closet by the front door. None of us were patient enough to use the elevator, so we bounded up the steps and went straight for Harlow’s room.

“I can’t believe she did this.” Griff said as he pulled up the remains of the blanket rope.

“Honestly, it was pretty creative.” I said, earning a glare from both of my brothers, “Well, it was.” I huffed.

“It looks like the rope snapped. She could be hurt.” Ric growled.

“She looked fine to me when she was running away.” I observed.

Griff untied the rope from the balcony railing and pulled everything inside. He took it into the living room area and tossed it in the dirty clothes bin for the cleaning staff to take care of later. He disappeared for a second and then came back carrying a single comforter, a fitted sheet for the bed, and one bath towel. We helped him cover the mattress with the sheet.

“Does that door lock?” He asked, gesturing towards the balcony doors.

“Now who wants to lock her in?” I said with a smug expression. If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under.

“I don’t want her to kill herself trying to break free.” He snarled.

Ric was already on it. He managed to break the door handles off while leaving the door still securely closed.

“We can fix that later.” He grumbled, tossing the handles into the trash can.

Waylon arrived with Harlow in his arms then and gently laid her down on the bed. Griffin carefully covered her in the comforter.

“Okay, so, new plan.” I sighed, “Guards on the perimeter and below her window.” I looked towards Ambrose and Cam who were standing behind Waylon.

“We’ll get some guards on it.” Ambrose nodded and vanished.

“Cam, get the pack doctor up here to make sure that she isn’t injured from the fall.” I said,

“A female doctor!” Ric added and we all nodded in agreement.

“Sure thing.” Cambridge nodded and ran off.

“What in the hell did you three do?” Nova, who was dressed in her pajamas and a silk robe, appeared in the doorway with one pissed off expression.

“We didn’t do anything!” I snapped at her.

“You’re the one who said we shouldn’t come up here until she’s ready to see us.” Ric added, looking as irritated with Nova as I felt.

“You’re making her feel so imprisoned that she risked jumping from a four story balcony!” Nova shouted harshly at us.

“None of this is helping.” Griffin grumbled, walking in between us, “Let’s get out of here. We all need some sleep and then we can address this in the morning.”

He looked defeated but he was also right. We were all too tired and stressed to think rationally right now. By then, Dr. Mollie had arrived to look over our mate. She kicked us out of the room while she did an examination.

“The Luna looks fine, besides some bruising.” Dr. Mollie said when she returned to the living room a few minutes later.

“Thanks, doc.” I said,

“No problem, Alphas.” Dr. Mollie smiled before excusing herself.

“Waylon, stay guard outside her room and make sure no one leaves or enters, including any of us.” I instructed, looking around at my brothers to see if they would argue.

“Yes, Alpha.” Waylon nodded, looking a bit concerned about his task. Nevertheless, he posted himself in front of Harlow’s door with a serious expression.

“Showers. We all need showers and sleep.” I said, clapping Ric and Griffin on their backs and pushing them across the living room.

“This is nonsense.” Griff mumbled under his breath.

“We’ll figure out something tomorrow.” I assured him, trying to convince myself as much as him.

We all entered our own bedrooms to settle in for the night. I took my own advice and jumped into the shower, letting the warm water run over my exhausted muscles. I leaned my head against the tiled shower wall and closed my eyes, trying to relax. All I could see were the eyes of my mate. They were a complex and mysterious hazel color, warm caramel brown swirling against a dark forest green that wasn’t unlike my own eye color.

There was no denying the beauty of our mate. Everything about her was exquisite and perfect. Her lips were plump and a soft looking pink, her flawless skin that seemed to glow a warm, golden color that complimented her thick honey blonde hair.

She was the picture of everything a Luna should look like, exuding grace and power. But, something about her seemed broken in an almost unfixable way. I wasn’t sure if I had what it took to heal her, molding her into the Luna our pack deserved.

It was no doubt that Griffin would make the perfect mate. He was ready to accept anyone the Moon Goddess provided for him with no questions asked. He was in touch with his emotions and eager to please. Ric, however bold, harsh, and overbearing, was also a giant teddy bear who was ready to hold, console, and protect our mate to the death.

I wasn’t sure I had anything nice to say about myself, really. I wanted a partner, someone who could take away the heavy burdens that an Alpha had to carry and a Luna who could take on any task given to her. Maybe I wasn’t the most emotional, the most romantic, or the most protective but no one could ever say that I didn’t believe in equality.

I groaned and smacked my hand against the shower wall in frustration. I had no idea how I was going to win over my mate and get her to accept all three of us. Ric and Griff would surely woo her, no problem, but me? I would probably be the first multiple in history to be rejected by his brothers’ mate.

“If you fuck this up for us, I swear, I’ll leave your ass.” Lewy threatened me.

“Thanks for the support, man.” I grumbled.