Rejected And Claimed By Her Trio Alpha Mates

chapter 28

I have every intention of changing that though.

Malix turns away from me to address Frost in a low voice. “She was poisoned too?”

Frost nods. His pale hair shifts with the movement, and I can’t help but imagine that hair like spiderwebs over my stomach. My thighs.

Fuck, I hate this.

Malix lets out a long breath and rubs his hand over his cropped hair. “s**t. She’s never been able to use shadows like that before.”

“No.”

“That’s something else, man. And her timing was impeccable.”

“A little too impeccable,” Frost agrees. His black tattoos do that odd shimmering, wavy thing I saw last night, as if reacting to his inner emotions. Then they settle again on his golden skin.

They’ve both apparently forgotten I’m even still in the room. And I don’t think I’m the person they’re talking about, except for Malix’s reference to me being poisoned. I lean against my restraints, cringing at the raw pain in my burned wrist. “Hello? Who’s she?”

Neither one of them acknowledges me.

Malix sighs and claps a hand to Frost’s shoulder. “We told you not to go.”

“You did.”

“You didn’t listen.”

Exasperated, I snap, “Will someone please fill me in on what’s going on? All this cryptic talk isn’t telling me why I’m here or why I’m poisoned or what the f**k I’m supposed to do about it. Unless you intend for me to just die.”

Malix and Frost turn to look at me at that, their faces expressionless, but it’s neither of them who speaks next.

“Nobody’s dying.”

Heat flashes over me at the familiar voice. Malix and Frost are new to me—my mates, all the same, but not quite on the same level as Kian. I know him intimately. My fingertips know the satin of his skin and my mouth remembers the hard planes of his body. His smooth voice like hot caramel, his whispers in my ear, his body inside mine…

And here they are. All three of them. Just like Gwen said.

Kian stops between the other two, and I’m reminded just how big he is. He’s taller than the others, his muscles brawny. Even his presence is intimidating. Frost is an inch or two shorter and more wiry in his strength, while Malix is a couple inches shorter than that but built like a Greek god.

They’re all insanely beautiful. My heart races at having all three of them here, but I firmly tamp down on my desire. I know they can hear my heartbeat. Sense my emotions. I’ll pretend like hell that I’m angry and afraid and only those things.

Anything else is unacceptable.

Kian levels his gold-ringed brown gaze on me. “You should have stayed away. I warned you to stop following me.”

I jab a finger at Frost. “Your boy here showed up in my motel room last night. That wasn’t on me.”

Kian shoots a pointed glance at Frost, but then looks back at me. “I knew when I met you last night that you’d be trouble. I just didn’t know how much.”

I blink at him. Met me… last night?

He hasn’t told them about Montana.

A sudden certainty rushes through me. The way he phrased his statement is subtle but clear, obviously meant to make it sound like we met for the first time last night. I know that’s not true, and so does Kian, which means his phrasing can only be for Frost and Malix’s benefit.

The two of them have no idea that Kian and I met before. That we f****d. That we forged a bond connection.

Interesting. I’m too intrigued by why he would keep such a thing secret to call him out on it. Instead, I fall back on my usual tactic for dealing with stressful situations—s**t talk.

“You don’t know trouble yet, you son of a b***h,” I say, letting a vicious smile curve my lips. “But untie me, and I promise I’ll show you.”

Malix chuckles but covers his mouth with a hand and pretends to cough as Kian glares at him. Frost ducks his head, his face hiding behind his hair. No smile, though. I’m starting to think he doesn’t know how.

Kian takes a single step closer to the bed, eyes narrowing. “You ruined my bike.”

“Oh, so you know about that, huh?” I lean back against the headboard, trying to channel my best don’t-give-a-damn expression. “I was worried you wouldn’t see my handiwork.”

“I watched you do it,” Kian says, his voice more like a growl.

“With your magical vanishing scent skills?” I rotate my bare feet in front of me with a shrug. “You took my shoes and tied me to a bed. Forgive me if I’m not sorry.”

“Your shoes are on the floor next to the bed,” Kian snaps, clearly irritated by my snark. “You can have them when we’ve concluded our business.”

My interest piques. “Business?”

Frost cuts in before Kian can speak again, his voice low. “The poison. The shadow was after me, but it attacked you too. We’ve been poisoned.”

“As you’ve already told me,” I say impatiently. “But I feel fine.”

“That’s how it works,” Frost tells me. “You’ll feel fine until you don’t. The pain will come and go as the poison destroys you from the inside. Eventually, we will both die without the antidote.”

I draw in a deep breath and study their serious faces for several long moments. Death isn’t all that frightening to me. Clearly, I don’t want to die—no healthy person does. But when the time comes, I’ll be content with shifting, going into the wilderness, and giving myself back to the earth as she gave to me. It’s the ultimate gift, a return to the wild that can never be taken away. When the time comes.

Unfortunately, that time cannot be now. I have a duty still to fulfill. If both Kian and Malix were poisoned as well, I’d be happy to stand back and let the poison do its work. All of us die, the world is saved, huzzah. As it stands, however, if Frost and I die, my other two mates will be free to do whatever they please.

My being alive is the only thing that stands between them and total destruction.

I nod. “Okay . Do you have the antidote?”

Kian shakes his head. “We can obtain it, but it won’t be easy.”

Malix grins. “That’s why we brought you here, kitty. We can work together to get the antidote.”

I ignore his irritating use of that nickname and roll my eyes. “You have got to be kidding me. You want me to work with you? You know why I’ve been following you, right?”

Frost steps in front of Malix, shooting him a warning glance before he can taunt me further. “It’s the only way we will both survive.”

Kian speaks up again. “A temporary truce. Long enough for us to find the antidote and save Frost.”

“And me,” I point out, an edge to my voice.

Kian’s lips quirk, and the little half-smile on his face does dangerous things to the area between my legs. “And you. As long as you’re on your best behavior.”

I study them, weighing my options. Try to kill them before the poison kills me? Too much room for failure. I have no way of knowing how long the poison will work. Hell, I could die tomorrow, still tied to this f*****g bed. I can’t die while they still live.

If I join forces with them, I could theoretically learn more about them. Figure out their weaknesses and strengths, formulate a fool-proof plan to get rid of them once and for all. And if we get the antidote in the process… win/win. I’d love to go back home. Be with Ridge and Sable and the kids. Be settled. Have peace.

I’ll never have any of it as long as these assholes are still alive.

This could be the answer.

“Fine,” I say.

Kian nods, his golden brown eyes unreadable. “So it’s decided then. A truce.”