Waking Up New Moon

The plan

Triplets’ POV

Back at the Palace. Day One Without Her

The silence was brutal.

Not the kind that came from an empty room but the kind that settled in your chest when the one person your wolf always sought… wasn’t there to find.

Rowen paced the training yard barefoot, fists clenched, ignoring the warriors watching from the sidelines. He was snapping at them more than he should. He knew it. Didn’t care. Not really.

Luca sat against the palace wall, chewing on the inside of his cheek, watching the clouds like they held the answers.

Jace stood stillest of all. Inside the war room, unmoving, where unfinished reports piled like dust. The responsibilities of three alphas were left untouched.

For days.

Because Savannah had needed them more.

And if she needed them again… they'd still drop it all.

But now she was gone.

Not because she didn’t love them but because she did. And that made it worse.

“She left in the middle of the night,” Rowen muttered, throwing a punch at the air. “Didn’t even wake us.”

“She knew we wouldn’t let her go,” Luca replied quietly.

“Damn right, we wouldn’t have,” Rowen snapped.

Jace finally moved. “We were holding her together by sheer force of will. That’s not healing. That’s containment.”

The words echoed.

And for the first time, it settled over all three of them:

They hadn’t been living they’d been guarding.

Every hour, every breath, had revolved around her pain. Around the silent countdown to the next trigger. They hadn’t gone to training. Hadn’t sat in council. Hadn’t touched the lands they were supposed to lead.

They’d been holding the broken pieces of their mate together with bloody hands, too afraid to loosen their grip in case she shattered again.

“I didn’t realize how much of myself I’d put into protecting her,” Kade whispered, voice hoarse. “How… heavy it was. Until it wasn’t there.”

“Does that make us selfish?” Rowen asked. “Even thinking that?”

“No,” Jace said, sharper than expected. “It makes us human. And wolves. We can’t lead like this. She wouldn’t want us to.”

They were silent again.

Then Jace spoke the thought they’d all been avoiding.

“She’s out there healing. We need to do the same. We need to figure out how to be us again… so when she comes back, she has a home worth coming back to.”

Rowen looked up. “You think she’ll come back?”

Kade pulled something from his pocket the note Savannah had left him, worn already from being opened too many times.

“I know she will,” he said quietly. “She just needs to remember who she is.”

“And we need to remember who we are,” Jace added. “Not just mates. Not just shadows watching her bleed.”

Alphas. Brothers. Leaders.

They owed it to Savannah to give her the space to heal.

But they owed it to themselves, too.

Triplets’ POV

The Palace dining hall, late evening

Rowen dropped into the nearest chair like he’d been thrown. His shirt stuck to his back with sweat, hair plastered to his forehead. “I forgot what it feels like to be this damn hungry,” he muttered, grabbing a bread roll from the table and tearing into it like it owed him something.

Luca slumped down beside him, one arm slung over the chair. “We skipped breakfast. And lunch. Again. Training was a bitch.”

Jace sat last, more slowly. He looked tired in a way the others didn’t. Not physically. Bone-deep emotional tired. “We’re out of rhythm,” he said. “Everything feels off.”

Rowen reached for a pitcher of water and poured, though his eyes flicked toward the wine cabinet across the hall. “You think if we were older, they’d give us the good stuff?”

“Age or not, I think we’ve earned it,” Luca said dryly, rubbing at the ache in his shoulder. “But that’s not what’s going to numb this.”

They fell into a quiet lull. Just the scrape of silverware. The crackle of a fire in the corner hearth. The ache of distance settling into their bones.

“She was here just days ago,” Rowen said suddenly, eyes locked on the empty fourth chair. “Right there. Laughing at us for fighting over mashed potatoes.”

Kade’s face darkened. “Now she’s alone. In some retreat. Because some bastard broke her.”

The word broke hung in the air.

Luca’s fork stopped midair.

“Don’t say it like that,” he said, voice dangerously low. “She’s not broken. She’s hurting. There’s a difference.”

“I know,” Luca said, quieter. “But that doesn’t change what he did.”

Rowen growled under his breath, pushing his plate away. “We still don’t even know his name. His face. His rank. Nothing.”

“We’ll find him,” Jace said coldly. “And when we do…”

He didn’t finish.

He didn’t have to.

Their wolves stirred beneath the surface. Restless. Bloodthirsty. Territorial.

Protective.

“I want to tear the memory of him out of her head,” Luca whispered, eyes flashing amber. “I want him to know what it feels like to be powerless. To scream and not be heard.”

Rowen clenched his fists on the table. “Savannah didn’t scream. She shut down. That’s worse. That silence? That cold? That’s what we lived with.”

Jace stood slowly, pacing the length of the hall.

“She’s surviving,” he said. “And that’s what we do now, too. But when she’s ready… we hunt him. We end him.”

Luca nodded. “No trial. No mercy.”

Rowen’s voice was quieter this time, but no less lethal. “He stole from her. Her voice. Her fire. And that’s unforgivable.”

Jace paused by the window, moonlight catching the edge of his jaw.

“She gave us her truth,” he said. “The least we can do… is make sure he never hurts anyone else again.”

The brothers sat in silence after that.

The food went cold.

Their hunger forgotten.

What they felt wasn’t rage alone.

It was love, sharpened into vengeance.

And for Savannah, they would wield it without hesitation.

The triplets stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the Alpha’s office, nerves buzzing just beneath the surface. They had faced down rogue wolves, brutal training sessions, and even each other, but this? This was different. This was Savannah’s father.

His presence was a storm wrapped in silence. He didn’t need to raise his voice to command a room. One look could stop a wolf mid-shift.

Rowen stepped forward first, clearing his throat. “Sir, we came to talk about Savannah.”

Agaric leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “I figured you would.”

Luca continued, “We want to be honest with you. Our intentions with her, they’re serious. We’re not just”

“another fling,” Jace cut in. “We’re mates. All three of us. And we’re willing to do whatever it takes to protect her. To be worthy of her.”

The room was quiet for a long moment. Then Alaric stood slowly, his gaze sharp. “Good.”

The triplets blinked, unsure if they’d heard right.

“Because if you weren’t serious, I’d tear you apart before you even left this room.” His voice dropped, full of warning, but then something unexpected flashed in his eyes.

“But since you are…” He stepped around his desk, arms crossed. “Then you’ll need help. Savannah’s not just any she-wolf. She’s mine. Which means she comes with enemies, pressure, and legacy. You three think you can handle it on your own?”

Rowen frowned. “We thought”

Alaric smirked. “You thought wrong.”

Then he reached for a pair of old leather gloves and slipped them on like he was preparing for battle.

“If you’re in this with her, then I’m in it with you. Let’s train. Let’s plan. And when the time comes, I’ll be right there because no one touches my daughter unless they go through me. And now, through us.”