#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Harlow

“I hope we didn’t scare you, precious.” Godric said as he settled beside us on the couch. He took my hand and squeezed it between his.

I was surprised when Griffin sat on the floor, leaning his head back so it rested against my legs which were curled up on Gabriel’s lap.

“Why would I be scared?” I asked.

“Because we made the cars stop and shelter in place until the threat was over.” Godric replied.

“I wasn’t afraid.” I said but something about it seemed like a lie.

I wasn’t afraid for myself would have been a more accurate response. Griffin looked up at me like he was reading my mind.

“Did anyone tell you what was going on?” Godric asked as he fiddled with my fingers.

“They said it was rogues and they told me what that was.” I recalled what I remembered.

“Harlow,” Gabriel pulled his face from my hair and tilted my chin up so he was looking into my eyes, “As our Luna, you are entitled to know everything that goes on in the pack. As your Alphas, we don’t want to hide anything from you. But, you have to be ready for it. If you’re not ready to know everything yet, you have to tell us and we’ll stop.” His eyes were burning with sincerity.

I didn’t really know what to say to that. Was I ready to accept that I was this Luna person they kept talking about? Hell no. Was I ready to accept my fate as their destined mate? No. Did I think this matebond thing was real? Yes, yes I did.

“I want to know.” I finally said, deciding on the least decisive answer I could come up with.

“Then, you’ll know everything.” Gabriel nodded, glancing at his brothers before his face went into my hair again.

“We captured a few of the rogues and interrogated one of them. They indicated that there’s someone out there plotting some sort of revenge scheme against our pack. This person is bribing rogues with money to join his cause and is bringing them into a camp not far from here. This attack, which was 36 wolves strong, was a test to gauge our reaction time.” Godric explained, speaking simply for my benefit.

“Why would someone do that?” I wondered.

“We don’t know. Emerald Forest doesn’t have any enemies that we know of.” Griffin said, his cheek resting against my knees so he could look up at me.

“What now?”

“Now we continue to question the prisoners and find out where their camp is. Once we know the location, we’ll take a team there and investigate. They’ve probably moved on, knowing that we would have taken prisoners, but it’s still a place to start.” Godric replied.

“But, this doesn’t change anything, angel. Our priority is still getting you to trust us and building our relationship.” Griffin said, brushing his lips sweetly across my bare knees. I shuddered at the feeling of his mouth against my skin.

“We’ll just have to reschedule your shopping trip to a later date when the three of us can accompany you. We won’t feel okay sending you out with this threat still pending.” Godric said with an apologetic smile.

“Which means I want to reschedule my time to now.” Gabriel grumbled into my neck and I jumped at the feeling of his warm breath on my skin.

“Mine!” Godric growled and I swear I was about to be caught in a tug of war between two brothers.

“Gabe, be fair. We’ve all been through a lot.” Griffin frowned.

“Fine. But, I get you first thing tomorrow morning.” He muttered.

“I am not a toy for you three to fight over.” I snapped.

I removed my hand from Godric’s, moved off of Gabriel’s lap, and stepped over Griffin. Standing in front of them, I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest and glared at the brothers. They all started pouting and it was so adorable I nearly lost all of my resolve. I bit down on my bottom lip to try and control my emotions.

“We didn’t mean that, precious.” Godric whined.

“Please, come back.” Gabriel’s voice broke me.

“Wait, we need to determine some ground rules here.” I said, clinging to what was left of my control.

“We can, I promise, if you sit back down with us.” Griffin begged me.

I sighed loudly and sat between Godric and Gabriel on the couch. They both wrapped their arms around me and Griffin’s head returned to my lap. This was ridiculous and yet, somehow, I’ve never felt more content.

“What did you want to talk about, little mate?” Gabriel asked.

“I don’t like being fought over.” I said and the brothers chuckled.

“We’re so sorry, love, we don’t want to fight over you. We just have to learn to share you and all take our turns. We’ve been working on having some alone time with you instead of always being together.” Godric explained.

“And I do appreciate the one on one time, it makes it a little bit easier for me to not get overwhelmed.” I said,

“We promise, we’ll get better.” Gabriel said, kissing my temple.

“How about we watch a movie and just relax?” Griffin suggested, reaching across the coffee table to pick up the TV remote.

“Okay.” I smiled in agreement but forced the boys to pick the movie.

At some point, I found myself stretched across the couch with my feet laying on Godric, my head on Gabriel’s lap, and my arm dangling over Griffin’s shoulder so he could hold my hand. I managed to drift off to sleep like this and, I swear, I had the most restful sleep of my entire life.

When I woke up, I was back in the large bed I was used to sleeping in and I was alone. Grumbling, I looked around and saw that I was tucked under the blankets but I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday; I let out a sigh of relief at that. I rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I realized I had been here for several days and still hadn’t taken a shower. I made a face at myself in the mirror and felt gross. Finally feeling comfortable enough to do so, I switched on the shower and stripped out of my clothes. I dug through the cabinets and found some different soaps to use in the shower before stepping in.

I shivered as the boiling hot water hit me from all sides. There were two shower heads, a rainfall shower head in the center, and some weird jets that shot out from the wall. I shrieked and tried to get away from the water. It was no use. I scrambled out of the shower and stood, soaking wet, in the middle of the bathroom staring at the shower like it was an atomic bomb.

“Harlie?” There was a knock on the door and Annie’s voice came from the other side, “Are you okay in there?”

I grabbed a towel and tucked it around myself before cracking the door.

“How in the hell do I use this shower? It’s attacking me.” I grumbled.

Annie snorted with laughter and pushed her way into the bathroom. She started fiddling with the screen in the shower and showed me how to adjust the settings.

“I just want a normal shower situation.” I said and Annie continued to snicker, setting the shower so just one head was streaming water.

“The boys heard you make some sort of noise and wanted to burst in. You’re lucky that I was already on my way up here otherwise they probably would have.” Annie said,

“Oh God.” I gulped at that idea.

“Yeah.” She said in an exaggerated tone.

“Well, thank you for that.” I replied sincerely.

“I’ll leave you to shower. Do you want me to kick the boys out and come back to get you for breakfast or…?” She trailed off. I took a deep breath and shook my head,

“No. If they want to wait, they can.”

Annie grinned at me, clearly excited about my decision.

“You got it.” She winked at me before dancing out of the bathroom.

I took a quick shower and hurried into the closet to pick out an outfit for the day. I never was one to worry about what I was wearing. Usually I dressed in some sweats or leggings and then I had my “uniform” for work. Now, I was acutely aware of how limited my wardrobe options were and I started to think about how much I really needed that shopping trip after all.

I pulled on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved sweater that stopped just short of the waistline of my pants, leaving a little sliver of skin showing when I moved a certain way. I went back to the bathroom to blow dry and brush out my hair, and brush my teeth. Feeling like a brand new woman, I walked out of the bedroom and saw the three brothers waiting for me in the living room.

They all jumped up when they saw me and rushed to my side. My eyes went wide at their sudden and very speedy approach.

“Good morning, precious.” Godric reached me first, kissing my forehead. Then it was Griffin,

“How did you sleep, angel?” Griffin asked after brushing his lips against my cheek.

“Great, actually, although I definitely recall falling asleep on the couch.” I said in an accusing tone. The boys chuckled.

“We carried you to bed after the movie was over.” Gabriel said, the last to greet me with a smile and a hug, “It’s my morning, remember?” He asked,

“I remember.”

“I have a special breakfast planned just for us.” He said, shooting Godric and Griffin a look.

“We’re leaving.” They raised their hands in surrender and left the room.

“Where are we going?” I asked and he just grinned at me.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Well, am I dressed okay?” I looked down at myself, blushing. Gabriel chuckled and placed his hands on my hips, pulling me towards him,

“You’re absolutely stunning, little mate.” He said in his drop dead gorgeous husky voice. His thumbs grazed across my bare skin and shivered against his touch.

“I’m starting to think that the girls were right and I need a shopping trip. I didn’t realize how little clothing items I owned until now. All I’ve got are college sweatpants and pole dancer bikinis.” I teased but Gabriel didn’t seem to find it too amusing.

“We’ll get you new clothes. You can wear sweatpants all day long if you want to. The bikinis, however, can only be worn if it’s for us.” He winked at me with his dark pupils. I felt myself blush and I regretted bringing it up at all.

“I think we should go.” I gulped and Gabriel chuckled at me. He dropped his arms and picked up my hand, escorting me towards the elevator.