Mated to the Alaric Triplets

Chapter 6

I woke up to the warmth of a body beside me, a strong arm rested lazily over my waist. I thought I was dreaming, but I could feel the steady rhythm of breathing, and the slow rise and fall of a broad chest.

Then the scent hit me, chocolate candy and coconut chip, wrapped around me like a second blanket, making my stomach flutter in ways I wasn’t ready to admit.

Memories flashing in jagged fragments, the party… the room… the way his eyes had burned into mine as if they could strip me bare.

Zayn

I turned slowly, and there he was. I couldn't let him wake up and see me, it’ll be awkward.

I slid out from under his arm, it was harder than it should’ve been, not because he held me tightly but because part of me didn't want to leave.

My feet touched the cold floor, and every step back to my tiny room felt heavier, like I was sneaking away from something I wasn’t supposed to want.

By the time I closed my door, my heart was still pounding. I sat on my bed for a moment, trying to calm my breathing, but all I could think about was the heat of his body against mine, the way my head had rested perfectly on his chest.

I heard a knock that pulled me out of my thoughts,

I hesitated for a moment before I opened the door.

Zayn stood there, broad shoulders filling the frame, his eyes scanning me from head to toe and it made my skin prickle.

“Hey,” he said quietly, voice low and rough from sleep. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

I blinked at him. “I’m… fine.”

He studied me for a moment, as if searching for a lie. “You weren’t fine last night,” he said finally. “You were burning up.”

I frowned. “And that’s why you…?”

“That’s why I stayed,” he finished for me.

“You were shivering so hard, I thought you’d shake yourself apart. I just” He stopped, jaw tightening, then looked away briefly.

“It was the fastest way to warm you up, Alphas run hotter than omegas, you needed the heat.”

I didn’t know what to say. My cheeks felt warm again, and this time it wasn’t from any fever.

“You could have just… called someone,” I murmured.

His gaze returned to mine, steady and unflinching. “I didn’t want someone else touching you.”

The words lodged in my throat, heavy and charged, There was something in his eyes, possessive, protective, maybe even a little dangerous.

“You’re not a maid anymore, Elara,” he said softly, stepping past me into my room without waiting for permission.

His scent followed.

“You’re… mine. Ours. And whether you choose or not, you’re not living in this closet any longer.” he said.

I swallowed, my heartbeat loud in my ears. “Well… I should get ready for school.”

“I’ll have the maids prepare a proper room for you before you get back,” he said, his voice gentler now.

“And Elara…” that was the first time he said my real name.

I froze with my hand on the apron I’d been about to tie.

“Don’t run from me again,” he murmured. Then, almost as an afterthought, he smiled, a slow, rare, beautiful curve of his lips that made it very, very hard to breathe.

When he left, the room still felt full of him, his scent, his warmth, his presence.

And I realized, with a sinking feeling, I wasn’t sure I wanted any of it to fade.

I didn’t take the bus or a cab, I walked through the woods to clear my head, I watched how the birds were flying freely and I wished it was me.

I’ve never crossed the borders of Roxanne, but I knew a maid at the pack house that wasn’t from this part of the four lands.

I wondered what it was to be born somewhere else.

I finally got to school after my long walk from the pack house, and everywhere I turned, eyes followed me.

I wasn’t used to it but I couldn’t care less, I had too much on my mind to listen the whispers and stares that filled the hallways.

“That’s her.”

“The maid girl.”

“She’s their mate?”

“No way, she probably spelled them!”

Then came Sheila, and her sidekick Clara, both dressed like they belonged on a runway instead of a school hallway.

“Well, if it isn’t Cinderella,” Sheila smirked, referring to me but I kept walking.

“I mean, you clean floors like a pro, might as well clean up Zayn’s life too, right? The whole of Moonridge High wouldn’t mind that” she said laughing half- heartedly.

I turned sharply and looked her straight in the eye.

“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Sheila.”

“Oh honey,” she purred, taking a step further and being in my face.

“Don’t get too comfortable, you’re a temporary amusement, a glitch in reality, they will come to their senses, they always do.” She said confidently.

“Mind your tongue, Sheila” I said with a stern look on my face, ready for whatever bullying she had to dish out to me.

My confidence, is the fact that I have the triplets on my side and I will no longer let her trample on me.

“You’re growing wings now, huh?” She said with a sly smile on her face and before I could act, she gave me a slap across my cheek that echoed across the hall.

She just crossed the line, and I’ll make sure she pays for it.