Chapter 59
1208 Words
Third Person POV
The suite was unusually quiet.
Gwen stood near the fireplace, arms crossed over her chest, a half-drunk cup of tea cooling beside her. The triplets were scattered throughout the room—Cain on the couch, staring into the flames with a clenched jaw, Cash pacing in front of the windows, and Cole leaning against the wall with his arms folded tight across his chest.
The sealed envelope sat on the coffee table. Its deep red wax bore the unmistakable crest of the High Council.
None of them had wanted to be the one to open it. But Cain finally had, and now its contents sat on the table like a live wire.
Cain’s voice was low but sharp. “We have less than two weeks.”
Gwen blinked. “Until what?”
Cole answered, his voice flat. “Until the Council rules the bond invalid.”
She blinked at him, trying to make sense of the words. “What does that mean? They can’t... do that. We’re fated.”
Cash ran a hand through his hair. “Apparently, the Council believes that the delay in mating and marking casts ‘doubt’ on the legitimacy of the bond. The fact that you’re not marked yet is raising eyebrows.”
“They think we faked it,” Cain said bitterly.
Gwen’s stomach twisted. “But that’s insane. We’ve been through—”
“They don’t care,” Cole interrupted. “The law says fated mates have one mood cycle to mark and mate. After that, the bond can be challenged. Declared null. Especially if there are... competing claims.”
Cash’s jaw flexed. “Like the bastard you were seen sneaking off to the woods with.”
Gwen flinched at the heat in his tone. Cain shot his brother a warning look.
“I didn’t know,” Gwen whispered, voice tight. “I thought—” Her breath hitched. “I wasn't in my right mind.”
Cain stood and came to her immediately, cupping her shoulders. “We know. We’re not angry. We just... this is what we’re up against now.”
“They gave us two weeks,” Cole said. “Two weeks to prove the bond is legitimate. To complete the mating. Or they’ll open the bond for contest.”
Gwen’s breath went shallow. “You mean someone else could... try to claim me?”
“They could force you to mate with someone else,” Cash muttered, fists clenching at his sides. “With the Council’s blessing.”
Gwen’s knees buckled slightly, and Cain caught her, holding her tight against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, clutching his shirt. “This is all my fault.”
“No,” Cain said fiercely. “This is his fault. Karl’s. The witch’s. Justin’s. Not yours.”
Cole stepped closer, voice calm but serious. “We still have time. But we need to act soon, Gwen. We can’t wait much longer.”
She looked between them—three men who loved her, three men she’d almost lost. Her heart twisted.
“I’m not ready,” she said softly. “But I don’t want to lose you.”
Cash stepped forward, gently touching her hand. “Then let us help you. We’ll go at your pace. But we’re in this together. Always.”
Cash
I slammed the door harder than I meant to, the echo cracking through the hallway like a whip. Cain and Cole were waiting, their jaws tight, eyes full of something I didn’t have the energy for.
“Cash,” Cole said carefully, “you’ve got to stop snapping at her.”
“She snuck off, Cole.” My voice came out low and guttural. “She snuck off with him. After everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been through, she chose him.”
Cain crossed his arms, the calm one, always trying to defuse. “She didn’t choose him. She was manipulated. The talisman—”
“I know what the damn talisman did,” I growled. “But that doesn’t erase what I saw.”
The image was burned behind my eyelids. Gwen—our Gwen—on her back, wrapped around Justin like he was her whole world. The way she’d looked at him. Touched him. Welcomed him.
Willing.
Eager.
“I felt it,” I said, my voice breaking more than I meant it to. “Through the bond. I felt her give herself to him. And it wasn’t disgust or resistance I felt. It was love. That... wrecked something in me.”
Cole’s jaw flexed. “That wasn’t real. None of it was real.”
“It felt real to me,” I muttered. “And I don’t know how to come back from that.”
Cain looked at me, something quietly sad in his eyes. “You’re punishing her, and she doesn’t deserve it. Not for something she couldn’t control.”
“I’m not trying to punish her,” I said, quieter now. “I just... I’m scared. I don’t trust her like I did before. I don’t know if I can trust her again.”
The room went silent.
Then, a sharp inhale behind us.
We turned just in time to see Gwen standing frozen in the hall, her face pale, her eyes full of something I didn’t dare name. Hurt. Shame. Maybe even resignation.
She turned and walked away without a word.
Gwen
The cold bit through my coat like it wasn’t even there. Snow crunched beneath my boots as I wandered the dead garden, dried stems reaching toward the gray sky like brittle fingers. Everything was lifeless. Hollow.
Like me.
He doesn’t trust you.
Cash’s voice rang in my ears. I hadn’t meant to overhear it, but maybe part of me had known—had needed—to hear the truth.
I curled my arms around myself tighter.
“He should hate me,” I whispered.
He doesn’t, Akira replied softly in my mind. He’s just hurt. You’re all hurt.
“I don’t know if I can fix this,” I said aloud. “I don’t even know if I should.”
Akira was quiet, but present. Warm. Listening.
“I think about running,” I admitted. “Every day. Just rejecting them and disappearing somewhere. Giving them a clean break. Letting them find someone whole. Someone easy. Someone who hasn’t been broken in every possible way.”
You are not broken, Akira said fiercely. You are just tired. But you are not unworthy of love.
Tears stung my eyes.
“I’m not strong enough for this kind of love,” I whispered. “They deserve someone who didn’t fall for the first lie whispered with a sweet touch.”
You are the Moon Goddess’s chosen. You are strong enough for anything. But you are allowed to rest. To hurt. To be unsure. That doesn’t make you less worthy of them—or them of you.
I sank to my knees in the snow, the cold finally numbing something other than my heart.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.
Then let them find you, Akira said. Let them fight for you the way you’ve fought for everyone else.
- Writer
