The Triplet Alphas's Christmas Gift

Chapter 24 - Final exams and surprises

Teira's POV

A shrill sound broke me out of my slumber, I tried to move, to throw my blanket over my head to shut out the noise, but something heavy on either side of me prevented that.

I opened my eyes blearily, sleep still fogging my brain, why couldn't I move my arms or legs?

I tried to move again, but my right arm wouldn't budge, I looked over and noticed the large body holding it captive.

A large body without a shirt on...

My brain woke up just then, and I tried to sit up with no luck due to the three boys bodily restraining me in their sleep. Tyler was on my right, Matt on my left, and Ryan curled up at the foot of the bed. I smiled at them. They looked so cute when sleeping.

My alarm continued to go off, and I wondered why I had set it. Then I remembered, it was Monday! Finals week started!

"Tyler. I need to move so I can shut my alarm off." I said gently. He snorted a bit and cuddled closer to me, letting go of the arm he was cuddling with but nearly burying himself into my side. I giggled, Tyler was obviously a cuddler. "Tyler." I said a bit louder, and he groaned, "Five more minutes, please, I don't want to get up." he grumbled.

"Well, I would, but I don't want to wake the hospital up with my alarm," I said, and he growled. "Ryan, turn that blasted thing off or hit snooze or something," he said sleepily. Ryan muttered but sat up and grabbed my phone that was on the charger on my tray. He shut it off but handed it to me before rolling back over and cuddling with my foot again.

"What time is it?" Matt asked quietly. He was just as awake as the other two, but he seemed to be less grumpy at this time of day. I gave him an apologetic smile, "6:00 am. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I whispered. He looked at me with wide eyes, "School doesn't start until 8. What are you doing getting up at 6? That worried about finals?" he asked a mix of shock and curiosity in his voice.

I looked at him sheepishly, "You know I was basically a maid at home, right?" I asked. He scowled at the mention of my previous home life but nodded, "Well, duties included cooking all the meals in the house for the family. So I'd get up at 6 to get ready for school and then start breakfast." I murmured. Matt's look turned darker, obviously remembering what I said at lunch a few days ago about how I normally didn't eat breakfast.

He said nothing just turned back towards me and snuggled up to my left side, "You won't have to do that ever again, treasure. Unless you want to, that is. Now, set your alarm for another hour, and then we'll do a quick review before my brothers and I have to head to school." he said quietly. I looked at him, c*****g an eyebrow then nodded at his suggestion. I reset my alarm and quickly dozed back off, feeling safe and warm surrounded by the triplets.

~*~*~*~

"Go!" I said firmly an hour and a half later as two boys stared at me longingly and one snuggled into my right side more firmly pouting.

Tyler was dressed for school like his brothers but was refusing to leave me by myself in the hospital. That had been the plan from the start, of course, but I don't think he'd heard the part about me taking the test alone in my room.

"I refuse to leave my princess alone. Someone could come after you while we're away," he stated stubbornly. I sighed, I wasn't going to be able to access my laptop with him practically in my lap, and if the administrator of the test saw him on my camera, I'd be disqualified for cheating on the final. "Tyler, you aren't going to be gone long. Seniors can leave school as soon as finals are over, and you only have three classes to take the finals in! You'll be back in an hour, two at the latest." I said gently, trying to pry him off me.

He shook his head in my neck, "I don't want anything to happen to you." he whispered. I scoffed but saw the concerned looks on Ryan and Matt's faces. "Going up against my Dad and going up against a stranger are two different situations. I couldn't fight back against my Dad because I had nowhere to go. Now, I have a place to live instead of my house, I'm not going to let some stranger come after me while I'm trying to finish my final exams for the semester." I murmured gently.

Matt looked at Ryan and nodded, "Plus, Kyle's got some of the warriors guarding the hall and her door. And she's already promised to link us if something happens. She'll be fine." he said, and Tyler sighed reluctantly as he let me go.

"You promise you'll link if you need something? Anything at all?" he asked, and I c****d an eyebrow at him, "Do I need to wrestle you out the door for you to believe me? The doctor only wants to keep me here because I'm still a bit weak from the silver. Once it's all gone, I'm out of here." I said confidently, and he laughed. "Alright, warrior princess, I'll go. But we will be back by lunchtime," he said seriously. I nodded, then looked at the clock, "You'd better get going, or you'll be late. I'll see you later." I said firmly, pushing him off the bed.

Ryan and Matt helped pull Tyler away from the bed as I grabbed my tray and began to access the school website. Tyler acted dramatically by reaching for me as they pretended to drag him out my door. I giggled and rolled my eyes, bringing up the first final and my teacher on the Webcam.

A few hours later, I was nearly finished with my last final, I was trying to remember who wrote what literary work and why, when there was a disturbance in the hall. I ignored it but muted the microphone on my computer in case I was about to be bothered. By the noise the people out there were making, someone was doing their best to get past the guards.

I finished the final with success, proud that I had remembered what I needed to and hit submit. The screen showed it saved and had been sent to the teacher as the door to my room opened, and several girls walked in carrying armloads of flowers, cards, and other gifts.

I shut my laptop and looked at them confused, "What's all this?" I asked curiously. One of the girls, who looked like one of Whitley's crows, but I hadn't interacted with her much, stepped forward, and placed the flowers down on the floor. "Delivery for Tera Harris. Hope you feel better soon and that these gifts cheer you up. Whitley." she said, reading the note.

I rolled my eyes, "Tell Whitley I appreciate the thought, but I don't need all these flowers; please take them to the nurse's station and have them deliver them to the more needy patients to cheer them up." I said firmly. The girl looked at me in shock, and then disgust filled her brown eyes as she grabbed the flowers she set down and left, taking the other girls with her.

I shook my head. What had Whitley been thinking? Was she trying to impress me? The triplets? Her stupidity knew no bounds.

Not two minutes later, the boys walked in. They stopped and sniffed the room, a look of disgust came over their features, "Did a forest of flowers die in here?" Matt asked, looking around. I c****d my head and sniffed. It smelled floral from the flowers, but there was an undercurrent of a sickly sweet smell as well. I rolled my eyes as Ryan turned on the fan in the bathroom and propped the door open.

I explained what happened right before the boys walked in, and they froze, "That's why it smells familiar." Ryan said as Tyler walked out to talk to the guards. "What do you mean?" I asked curiously as Matt climbed into his spot on the bed. Ryan sighed, "The smell on the flowers was Whitley's perfume. The one that made me vomit on her a couple of days ago."

I froze, "What? Why would she do that?" I asked, confused. Ryan climbed into bed on my right as Matt sighed, "The date was a disaster as you know, my guess is she was hoping either the scent would make us throw up whenever we came into the room, or that we'd associate that scent with you and make it difficult for us to be around you. I'm guessing the former as she's not smart enough to think of the second possibility." I shook my head again, "But why send the flowers literally five minutes before you guys walked in? She should know that they'd have to be in the room awhile for the scent to settle." I asked.

"She forgot to account for final exams, princess. Plus, the guards said they stopped a bunch of girls from just barging into your room a little bit before. I think she was hoping to have her friends disrupt your exam but forgot about how long her own would take before sending the girls. The nurses said the girls got lost a few times looking for your room as well. Ryan, you're in my spot." Tyler said, walking back into the room.

Ryan yawned and snuggled closer, "Too bad, bro, you snooze, you lose. Plus, you've had this spot since Tei's been here. You can give it up for a bit." he said dismissively. Tyler pouted, looking at me with puppy dog eyes, "Princess, I've missed you all day. Tell Ryan to move." he whined. I giggled then looked at him firmly, "Tyler, he's right. You can't just hog me all to yourself. Ryan needs snuggle time, too." I said, trying not to laugh at their antics.

Tyler huffed, then curled up at the foot of my bed, "Just wait, Ryan, I'll take my spot back." he mock growled. Ryan stuck his tongue out, and I burst out laughing.

The door opened again, revealing Kyle walking in, a gentle smile on his face, "Well, glad to see you guys are having a good day." he said tiredly as he settled down on the extra bed he had been sleeping on. I smiled brightly at him, "Somewhat. How was your day?" I asked.

He looked at me and sighed, "It was good until I got the news on my way over here. The date for Mom and Dad's trial has been set to three weeks from now, and they've hired a lawyer to defend them." I sat back and nodded, "Well, the Alpha did say that he'd set the trial date when I had recovered, so this isn't anything new. But how can they afford a lawyer? Their assets were frozen when they were arrested." I asked curiously.

Kyle sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck, "Apparently, someone else hired it for them. He's the pack lawyer for Moon Valley."