Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Chalice.

"How did you get into an accident in front of Leilani’s house?" My mother asked me for the nth time today and I could only bite my tongue as what else is there to do?

I couldn’t tell her that I’d thrown myself in front of an incoming car to earn sympathy from them. And I certainly could not let them know that the hit and run driver had been Abby, my friend, the one who I’d made hit me.

Now, come to think of Abby, my blood boiled when pain lanced through my backside. My instructions to her had been clear and concise. I’d said; "Hit me, but don’t hit me too hard."

So why the fuck did she send me flying over the pavement?

I scrunched up my nose when mother waved in my face, her worried blue eyes gazing at me affectionately as she asked; "Did Leilani do this to you?"

And goddess, I really wanted to say yes, but knowing that I couldn’t, as soon as I heard that question, angry tears welled up in my eyes and my body shook with so much rage, I could literally tear down the entire planet right now.

To worsen matters, none of the triplets were here yet. Even Gavin was nowhere to be found.

I frowned. "No, she didn’t. It’s all me. I wanted to pay a visit to Leilani and to beg her about letting me work at Frostclaw, but I didn’t check well before crossing the road."

The worry on Mother’s face morphed into annoyance. She snapped; "And your so-called sister isn’t even here after you’d gotten hurt trying to see her."

"Oh, no no!" I rushed out quickly, fearing for what would happen when Leilani was called into this. A small smile graced my face as I held on to mom’s hands and muttered; "...she wasn’t at home when I arrived." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Now, that made mom cock her eyebrows at me. "I thought you meant to say you were crossing over to her house?"

Shit. Shit!

"No. I was crossing away from it." I said quickly. "I checked and saw that she wasn’t at home so I tried to leave."

Mom looked like she didn’t fully buy my story and I hated that it was already beginning to have some loopholes. So to make her totally forget about it, I groaned and clutched my head. "It hurts."

And that wasn’t totally a lie.

My head hurts. My body hurts. In fact, name wherever you can think of on the human body— it hurts. And so you know what was most bizarre about this whole thing?

The fact that I did it all for nothing. The fact that despite throwing myself into harm’s way and breaking a few bones, Leilani still wouldn’t get into trouble. Even the triplets didn’t seem to care at this point. I was all alone.

Tears streamed down my face and my mom, thinking that it was due to my injuries and the pain they must cause, gently stroked my hair, her voice soft as she whispered; "I’m so sorry honey."

"Where’s Gavin?" I asked.

Mom seemed to pause for a moment when I asked that, and then she sighed. "He went for a business meeting earlier today with your father, but I’ve not heard back from them." Then with a softer tone, she added; "...you need him here, don’t you?"

I didn’t. I didn’t want to see his smug face. I didn’t want to look into his eyes and wonder why he’s suddenly becoming so indifferent to me.

I didn’t know if his new attitude had something to do with Leilani or if there’s a problem between him and his new found mate.

My breath hitched in my chest at the thought; But then managing a smile, I nodded.

"Yes, I do."

"Then I’ll call him." She replied softly before I could argue, "...and I’ll call our Alphas too."

And as I watched her leave, my chest felt tight. My heart was in turmoil and my emotions were conflicted. I wondered why everything seemed to be going wrong all at once. I wondered why it felt like everyone’s love for me was slipping away from my hands.

I closed my eyes to sleep but they shot open when my phone buzzed. I sat up quickly, picked it up and froze when I saw a message on my screen.

It was from a contact I hoped never to meet or hear from ever again.

Louis.

Louis fucking Vale.

Jennifer’s real murderer.

It read:

I came into town recently and heard from an acquaintance that you’re now engaged to the Alpha triplets. That’s a lot. Anyways congratulations, and I’d like to meet... as usual. I have so many things to show you.

And you must come; Else, you risk sending me off to seek out the triplets myself.

The message sent a chill running down my spine. My blood ran cold, and for a very long minute, all I could hear was the sound of my heart beating very fast against my ear.

I wanted to scream. Wanted to pull my hair as my body shook violently. But I couldn’t. My entire body already hurt so much... and Louis, I didn’t need to see him first to know that the only reason he was here is to create chaos.

But why?

Why did he decide to return now of all times?

What the heck is he here for?

My body shook with both terror and angst, and with a loud cry, I flung my phone against the wall, panting when it hit the surface with a loud smack sound and shattered into several pieces.

But I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to break something else. I wanted to destroy something else.

Tears streamed down my face as I looked toward the ornament on my bedside table, but before I could make a grab for it, my eyes darted to the door, and I found not just my mother but the triplets staring at me in shock.

I froze.

My hands dropped slowly and my heart raced even more as I tried to force a smile on my face. "For how long have you been standing there?" I whispered in panic.

"Long enough to see you freak out over something on your phone." Kael answered softly—very softly.

Obviously he didn’t suspect a thing. He didn’t even seem bothered that I’d been acting mad only seconds ago, he brought out a bouquet of pink carnations from behind his back and smiled at me. "Sorry I’m late. Something came up at work," He muttered, "...but I brought you this."

"I brought you some fruits and pastries!" Caelum chimed in with a dazzling smile and I smiled back when I saw the hamper in his hands.

Hesitantly, I turned to Zevran to find him watching me quietly, his gaze distant and cold. He didn’t bring anything, and I couldn’t help but think back to the large bouquet of flowers I’d found in front of Leilani’s house.

The one she said he may have brought.

The one I suspected he did bring.

And my mood instantly soured.

God, this was all her fault!