Bound by Fate: The Triplets' Eternal Mate

The taste of copper and mud filled my mouth, a bitter reminder of my reality. ​Thud. ​Another kick landed against my ribs, knocking the air from my lungs with a sickening crunch. I didn't scream. I couldn't. My voice had been stolen hours ago, lost somewhere between the first insult and the third blow to my face. The pain was blinding, a white-hot fire that consumed my entire side, but I forced myself to stay curled in a ball, protecting my head. ​"Look at her," a voice sneered from above. It was Selina, the self-proclaimed queen of the pack’s youth and the daughter of the Gamma. "She doesn't even whimper anymore. It’s like kicking a corpse." ​ Laughter rippled through the small clearing in the woods, cruel and sharp like broken glass. I pressed my face deeper into the damp earth, smelling the decay of pine needles and the metallic tang of my own blood. My snow-white hair—the trait that had cursed me since birth—was now matted with dirt and gore. My mother used to say my hair was a blessing from the Moon Goddess, a crown of starlight. ​But here, in the Silver Moon Pack, it was a target. ​"Get up, Ghost," Selina barked, grabbing a handful of my hair and yanking my head back with vicious force. ​ A sharp, strangled cry escaped my lips as my neck strained. I was forced to look at her—at her mocking yellow wolf eyes and the sneer that twisted her beautiful face. Behind her, three other girls from the academy stood watching, their arms crossed, smirking as if this were nothing more than an afternoon game. ​"Please..." I rasped, my throat raw and dry. "Just... let me go home." ​"Home?" Selina laughed, a harsh sound that scared the birds from the trees. She shoved my face back into the dirt. "You don't have a home here, Aria. You’re a stain on this pack. Look at you! You turned eighteen today, didn't you? And look—no shift. No wolf. No mate. Just a weak, pale human masquerading as Beta's daughter." ​ She leaned down, her lips brushing my ear, her voice dripping with venom. "Do you know who returned today? The Triplets. Caspian, Killian, and Lucian. They’re back from the Alpha Academy." ​My heart stuttered, not with hope, but with a fresh, paralyzing wave of terror. ​The Triplets. ​The names alone were enough to make my bile rise. Before they left for their elite training two years ago, they were the ones who made my life a quiet hell. They hadn't beaten me physically like Selina; Alphas were too proud for that. No, they were worse. They used their presence, their silence, and their cold stares to make me feel small. To make me feel like a mistake of nature. ​“White Witch,” Killian used to call me, pulling on a lock of my hair with a mock-gentle touch that promised violence. “You look like you’re already dead. Do us all a favor and act like it.” ​"If they see you like this," Selina continued, standing up and wiping her hands on her designer jeans, "they’ll probably finish the job I started. They despise weakness, Aria. And you? You are the definition of weak." ​She delivered one final, brutal kick to my stomach. ​ I gasped, my body convulsing as pain exploded through my abdomen. Tears finally spilled over, hot and stinging against my frozen cheeks. ​"Let’s go, girls," Selina announced, bored now that I was broken. "The Welcome Ceremony is starting. The Alphas will be looking for warm bodies to warm their beds tonight, and I intend to be one of them." ​I listened to their footsteps fading into the distance, the crunch of dry leaves growing softer until the forest returned to its ominous, heavy silence. ​For a long time, I just lay there. The cold from the damp ground seeped into my bones, numbing the fire of my injuries. I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to let the darkness take me. It would be so easy to just stop breathing, to stop fighting. ​No. ​The image of my father, Beta Marcus, flashed in my mind. He would be waiting for me. He would be pacing by the door, checking his watch, his kind face lined with worry. If I didn't come home, he would come looking. And if he saw what Selina did... he would challenge pack. He would start a war he couldn't win against the higher-ranking wolves. I couldn't let him get hurt because of me. ​I had to get up. ​With a groan that sounded more animal than human, I pushed myself up. My arms trembled violently, threatening to give out, but I forced my legs to move. Every step was agony. My vision swam, the trees blurring into gray smudges against the night sky. ​ I dragged myself toward the main road that led to the pack house. The sun had set hours ago, leaving the woods bathed in a heavy, suffocating twilight. The moon hung high in the sky—the same moon I used to pray to. Tonight, it felt like it was mocking me, its pale light illuminating my shame. ​I stumbled out of the tree line and onto the gravel road near the Frost Lake. The water shimmered to my left, a dark, bottomless mirror that radiated an unnatural chill. ​Just a little further, I told myself, clutching my broken ribs. Just reach the gates. ​Suddenly, the ground beneath me vibrated. ​A low, guttural roar cut through the silence—the sound of high-performance engines. Lights blinded me, cutting through the darkness like knives. I froze, throwing my hands up to shield my eyes, stumbling back toward the edge of the steep embankment that led down to the lake. ​Three massive black SUVs tore around the curve, tires screeching as they slammed to a halt mere feet from where I stood. Dust billowed into the air, choking me. ​My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. Who is this? Are they with Selina? Did she send someone back to finish me? ​​I froze, throwing my hands up to shield my eyes as three massive black vehicles tore around the corner, heading straight for me. ​I could only pray that whoever was inside had a scrap of mercy left in their soul. ​