Mated to the Alaric Triplets

Elara’s POV If I drop the tray, they’ll hear it. If they hear it, I’m dead. I tightened my grip, even though my palms were slick with sweat. Zayn looked up from the head of the table, his dark red eyes boring into me like I was prey caught in a wolf’s jaws. Calix grinned slowly and dangerously, his boots rested on the table like he owned the entire world. Kai didn’t smile, he rarely ever did. He just stared at me with that blank, unreadable expression. “Late,” Kai said. Just one word, but it was enough to send shivers down my spine. I set the tray down, praying they’d find no fault in anything I’d done today. “Where’s my name?” Zayn’s voice cut through the silence just as I turned to leave. He lifted a croissant between his fingers, holding it like evidence of a crime. “You iced theirs. Not mine.” He continued, slowly looking up at me. “I… what?” I asked, completely lost. “Don’t play dumb.” Calix stood, the lazy grin still plastered on his face as he closed the distance between us. Close enough that I could smell his cologne pine, smoke, and something darker I couldn’t place. “You don’t forget Zayn,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “You don’t get to forget any of us.” He let the strand go suddenly, the hair snapping against my cheek. I kept my stance rigid. My pulse was racing, but I refused to cry, I didn't even flinch. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction, not ever again. “I didn’t write anything. I just baked,” I said defensively. “Of course,” Kai muttered, “you’re barely capable of that.” Calix chuckled and Zayn snorted. They were enjoying themselves. I turned and walked away, ignoring their laughter. But just as I reached the kitchen door, Kai’s voice followed me. “You know, Ellie…” His tone was low, threatening. “Tomorrow, you’ll turn eighteen. You’ll shift. Maybe you’ll find your mate. Might even get a miracle.” His mocking smile made my stomach twist. “But don’t get your hopes up. The Moon Goddess doesn’t give gifts to ghosts.” I stopped. And then I did the stupidest thing I’d done in nine years of being their maid. “At least she knows I’m not an arrogant, narcissistic, self-absorbed, blockheaded Alpha, stupid enough to think my rank makes me special,” I said, looking each of them in the eye as the words rolled out of my mouth. They froze, not with fury, but with surprise. Zayn chuckled darkly, like a father hearing his child talk back for the first time. Calix’s brows rose in surprise, but he was still smiling. Kai just stared, like I’d grown a second head. I turned to leave. “Stop right there,” Zayn’s voice snapped, and my heart plummeted. My feet refused to move. “How dare you?” he growled. And in that moment, I knew, I had just made a very big mistake. *** My name is Elara, though to them, I’m only Ellie. The orphan girl whose parents vanished into rogue lands, leaving me drowning in their unpaid debts to the Alpha of Moonridge. To repay it, I was assigned to serve his three sons and cater to their every need. Zayn, Kai and Calix, the Alaric triplets who never let me forget my place. They were the golden heirs of Alpha Lennox, who were worshiped by the pack like gods carved from flesh. And me? I was the dirt beneath their designer boots.