Mated To The Alpha Triplets (SPICY)

Chapter 5

CASSIE’S POV

The note was still in my hand when I got home.

I ‘d read it four times on the walk back, half-expecting the words to dissolve or rearrange themselves into something that made more sense. But they didn't. The ink stayed exactly where it was.

We have a proposal for you. Come if you're interested. - The Leviathan Brothers.

An address was printed beneath it. Nothing else.

I folded it carefully and tucked it into my pocket before pushing open the front door.

-

My mother was in the kitchen when I walked in, still in her maid's uniform, warming something on the stove. She looked tired the way she always looked tired - like something heavy had been pressing on her shoulders for years and she had simply learned to stand under it. But she smiled when she saw me, and that smile still did things to my chest no matter how old I got.

“Hey mom” I said cheerfully.

"You're back early," she said with a grin.

I dropped my bag by the door and sat at the small kitchen table. "Mom, something happened today. You are not gonna believe it"

She turned to look at me properly then. Her eyes - the same shade of brown as mine - moved over my face quickly, reading it the way only mothers can. She looked concerned.

"You're not hurt." She said with a worried tone “Are you?”

"No. I'm fine." I chuckled. "The Lycan princes were at school today."

The wooden spoon in her hand stopped moving.

"They're exchange students apparently," I continued. "They showed up when Kenny was-" I stopped, not wanting to get into the details of what Kenny had been doing. She had enough to worry about. "They stepped in. And when they left, one of them put a note in my hand."

I slid the folded paper across the table.

She picked it up slowly. she read it once, then again. When she looked up at me, her expression was unreadable.

"They want to meet with you?"

"They want to make some kind of proposal. I don't know what it is." I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. "Mom, I'm not going. These are the Lycan princes. They don't just walk up to random wolfless girls and pass notes. Something is off. What if this is some kind of game?"

My mother was quiet for a moment. She set the note down on the table and looked at it thoughtfully.

"You know who their father is," she said finally.

I nodded "King Aldric."

"Yes." She nodded slowly. "I work in a palace, Cassie. I have worked there for eleven years. I have seen a lot of people come and go through those halls - alphas, nobles, elders, wolves with power and title who think the world bends for them." She paused. "King Aldric is not like them. He is a man who means what he says. He’s ruthless and powerful. He raised those boys."

Her words made my heart sink into my stomach. My heart beat a little faster.

I knew what she was implying. I instantly felt the urge to defend them which was weird because I know nothing about them and I know better than to get close to nobles. They were all the same – thinking everyone was beneath them. But for some reason, these guys felt different.

"People aren't always like their parents." I muttered.

"No," she agreed. "But intention carries through blood more often than not. If his sons sought you out specifically and left a note instead of summoning you by force-" She tapped the paper lightly with one finger. "That is already more respect than most wolves of their station would offer a girl like you."

I looked at the note again.

She wasn't wrong. Kenny wouldn't have left a note. Kenny would have had someone drag me by my collar and dropped me at his feet. The fact that these brothers = Lycan royalty, heirs to more power than anyone in this pack or in the continent could dream of - had simply written come if you're interested said something. I just wasn't sure yet what it said.

“Are you going?” she asked me.

"I'll think about it," I told her.

She went back to stirring the pot. "Think fast. Men like that don't wait long."

-

I was still thinking the next morning when the knock came at the door.

I wasn't expecting anyone. My mother had already left for the palace. I wrapped my cardigan tighter around myself and went to open the door, expecting maybe a neighbor or one of the pack errand boys.

What I was not expecting was the single largest human being I had ever seen in my life standing on my doorstep.

He had to duck slightly just to avoid hitting the top of the door frame. His shoulders were so wide they nearly filled the width of the entrance. He was built like someone had taken a mountain and decided to give it a face. He had a square jaw, broad chest, arms that looked like they could uproot trees without much effort. He was wearing a crisp black uniform a small silver crest on the breast pocket I recognized immediately as the Lycan royal seal.

And he was smiling.

Not a smirk. Not the kind of smile people here usually gave me - filled with something mean underneath it. This was a genuine, easy smile, like he was genuinely pleased to be standing at my door.

I recognized him.

Smalls.

Such an ironic name for a big guy. He had such a friendly energy that I couldn’t help but smile too.

"Good morning," he said. His voice was deep. "You must be Cassie. My name is Smalls. I work for the Leviathan brothers. They sent me."

I stared at him.

"Smalls," I repeated “Hi”

He grinned wider "Yes, ma'am."

I looked him up and down slowly - the enormous height, the tree-trunk arms, the jaw that looked like it could stop a freight train. "Your name is Smalls."

His smile widened slightly. "I've been told it's a funny name."

"It's not funny," I teased. "It's deeply ironic."

He chuckled. The sound was genuine and something about it loosened the tight knot of suspicion in my chest, just a bit.

"The Princes would like you to come today," he said, "if you're willing. There's no pressure. I was told to make that very clear." He reached into the breast pocket of his uniform and brought out a small card. "If you decide you'd rather not, just send word and we won't bother you again."

I took the card, looked at it then looked back at him.

He wasn't lying. I had spent enough years around wolves and pack members who wanted things from me to know the difference between pressure dressed as politeness and actual respect. Smalls was waiting patiently, like he genuinely had no problem leaving if I told him to go.

I took a breath.

"Give me five minutes," I said.