Chapter 11
984 Words
~Jasmine~
"I... I don't understand."
My voice came out as a whisper, barely audible over the thrumming of my own heart.
I sat there, my fork still hovering halfway to my mouth, paralyzed by the weight of three pairs of eyes, honey, blue, and bottomless dark all pinned on me with the same terrifying, soul-piercing intensity.
I looked from Caspian to Lucien, and then to the massive, tattooed frame of Kalean. My brain was short-circuiting. One mate was supposed to be a miracle. One mate was supposed to be the person who completed your soul.
But three? At the exact same time?
"You three... all of you…? But that's not... it's not possible."
I felt my eyes darting frantically around the room, looking for some kind of exit, some kind of explanation.
They landed on Sofia. But she too appeared shocked, Her jaw was practically touching the marble floor: pun intended, her spatula forgotten on the counter. She looked just as shocked as I felt.
Behind her, Rhett was frozen, his tablet gripped so hard I thought the screen might crack.
This was unreal, It had to be. These three men were breathtaking, true in fact they were the kind of deliciousness that you only read about in stories, strong, powerful, and looking at me like I was the only thing left in the world.
Any other girl would be fainting with joy. But all I felt was a cold, sharp feeling of terror twisting in my gut.
Nala? I called out into the darkness of my mind.
Nala, please. Say something.
Nothing.
My wolf was a silent shadow, tucked away in the corner of my soul. Ever since Malakai had discarded me like trash back at the Crested Mountains, she hadn't spoken.
I felt a pull toward these three guys quite alright, it was like a magnetic, dizzying heat that made my skin tingle but without my sense of smell, I couldn't confirm anything. I couldn't hear the click of the bond in my head.
What if they’re wrong? The thought hit me like a physical blow. What if they realize I’m a defect and reject me, too?
One rejection had stolen my sense of smell.
What would three do?
Would I go blind?
Would my heart just stop beating altogether?
I couldn't do this. I couldn't face three more heartbreaks. I couldn't stay here and wait for the moment their faces shifted from Mate to Disgust!
Before anyone could move, I left, snatching my phone off the dining table, and I didn't look back. I just needed to run.
"Jasmine! Wait!"
Caspian’s voice boomed through the penthouse, full of authority and a desperate kind of hurt, but I was already at the door. I pulled it open, my feet flying over the hallway to the elevator.
"Let her go, Caspian! Just let her breathe!"
That was Sofia’s voice. I didn't wait to see if he listened. I hit the elevator button, praying to the moon goddess that it would open fast. When the doors slid shut, I leaned against the cold metal wall and finally let out a sob.
I burst out of the glass tower as soon it stopped and ran into the morning air, the city noise hitting me like a wave. I didn't know where I was going, I just knew I had to be away from those three handsome identical faces.
"Jas! Jasmine, stop!"
I spun around, my breath came out in gasps.
Freya was sprinting toward me, her face was flushed and her eyes wide with panic. She didn't say a word when she reached me. She just grabbed me and pulled me into a hug so tight I could feel her own heart racing against mine.
"Shhh, it's okay. I've got you. I'm here."
I broke down completely then, burying my face in her shoulder. "I can't do it, Freya. I can't. Three of them? It’s a trick. It’s some kind of sick joke."
"It's not a joke, Jas. You saw their faces. They looked like they’d seen a goddess."
"They looked at a girl who can't even smell them!
What happens when they find out? What happens when they realize I'm broken?"
Freya didn't answer. She just held me until my sobbing turned into quiet hiccups. She pulled back, wiping a tear from my cheek with her thumb.
"We're going back to the dorms. Right now. We’ll figure this out in our own space, okay?"
She whistled for a taxi, and within minutes, we were into the back of a yellow cab, the city blurring past the window as we drove by.
Freya sat close to me,
"I have to admit, Jas... this is unbelievable. Like, literally unheard of. Triplets being mated to the same girl? That’s some ancient-prophecy-level stuff. You must have been a seriously strange or powerful person in your past life to pull this kind of destiny."
I stared out the window at the passing skyscrapers.
"I don't feel powerful, Freya. I feel like a target. I feel a pull toward them, sure, but they’re gorgeous so of course I feel a pull. The thing is my wolf hasn't said a single word. Nala is completely silent. How am I supposed to believe they're my mates when I can't even scent them to confirm it? To me, they’re just three very hot, very intense strangers."
The tears started again, hot and stinging.
"It’s too much. I came here to be normal. I came here to be invisible. And now I’m tied to the most handsome looking rich guys on campus? Fate is a cruel, twisted thing."
Freya didn't try to sugarcoat it. She just leaned her head on mine. "Maybe. Or maybe fate realized the first guy was a total i***t and decided to give you three times the protection to make up for it."
"Or three times the pain," I whispered.
- Writer
