Mate To The Triplet Alphas Who Hate Me

CHAPTER 3 - THE RULES

CHAPTER 3 - THE RULES

I didn't sleep.

How could I? The wall was so thin I could hear everything.

Kael pacing. Jax punching a wall. Cole saying, "Calm down, both of you, you will wake her."

Her. Not Elara. Her.

At midnight, there was a knock on my tiny door. Not a soft knock. A command.

Kael stood there with a piece of paper.

"Rules," he said, and threw it on my cot.

I picked it up. His handwriting, sharp and angry.

RULE 1: Do not look at us. Eyes down when we are in the same room.

RULE 2: Do not let anyone smell you. You will wear this. He tossed a big, oversized black hoodie at me. It smelled like all three of them. To cover your scent.

RULE 3: You will never, ever tell anyone you are our mate. If anyone asks, you are still the servant. Nothing more.

My hands shook.

"Do you understand?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Say it," he demanded.

"I understand."

"Good."

He turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. He didn't look back.

"And Elara."

"Yes?"

"Don't think this means we accept you. We don't."

The door closed.

I stared at the hoodie. It was warm. Too warm. I shouldn't have put it on, but the storage room was freezing, and his blanket wasn't enough.

I put it on.

It smelled like them and for a second, my cursed mate bond felt calm. Safe.

That was when my door opened again without knocking.

Jax.

He came in to grab a box from the storage shelf. He wasn't expecting me to be awake. He was wearing sweatpants and had just come from the shower, a towel over his shoulder.

He froze when he saw me.

I froze when I saw him. I broke Rule 1 instantly — I looked up.

Worse, I was wearing their hoodie. Cole's hoodie.

His eyes dropped to it, then to my face. His expression changed from surprise to anger.

"Who told you to wear that?" he snapped.

"Kael said to— to cover my scent—"

"Take it off."

"What?"

"You heard me. That's not yours."

I clutched it. "It's cold—"

He walked closer, two big steps, and suddenly my tiny room felt even tinier. The mate bond sparked, stupid and traitorous, making my cheeks heat up.

"I said take it off, Elara. Now."

His voice was low, not shouting, but it made me shake.

I pulled the hoodie over my head. Underneath I only had my old thin servant shirt.

The room was silent. He stared at the hoodie in my hands, then at me, his jaw tight. His wolf was fighting him — I could see his eyes flash gold and black.

He grabbed the hoodie from me, but his fingers brushed mine.

A shock. A real, electric shock shot up both our arms.

He jerked back like he was burned.

"Stay away from us," he hissed, but his voice was not steady anymore. It was ragged.

He walked out and slammed the door.

I sat on my cot in the cold, holding my hand where he touched me.

Three rules.

I had already broken two of them on my first night.

And I had a feeling tomorrow, I would break the third one too.