A Mate To Three Alpha Heirs-Chapter 34: Only For Elira

{Zenon}

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I watched her flee.

Tears had already gathered in her eyes before she rose from her chair, but it wasn’t until she turned that I saw the first one fall—and something sharp twisted inside my chest.

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to remain seated. Across the table, Father’s gaze was still on the doorway where she had disappeared.

Lennon and Rennon were already half-risen, pushing back their chairs with scraped wood against marble.

They went after her.

But I stayed.

My spoon hovered over my plate, but my appetite was gone. The food tasted bland, foreign, despite being the same breakfast I’ve had for years.

It wasn’t guilt. Or so I told myself.

I didn’t hate Elira. I never did.

At least, that was the truth, even though she might think otherwise.

I just didn’t accept what she meant.

The Moon Goddess’s pairing had never felt like a blessing—it felt like a trap. One designed to shatter everything I had built, to chain me to someone who, by my logic, could never stand in the role of Luna.

But no matter how much I tried to deny it, my actions kept betraying me.

I remembered two weeks ago, after the incident with the scalding water from her cousin.

I had felt it—the constant searing pain, hot as flame, crawling under my own skin though I lived far away from her bedroom.

And later, the quiet sobs in her room.

More than once, when the house slept, I had found myself standing in the darkness by her door.

I told myself it was curiosity. Or duty, since she was tied to us.

Yet, each time, my wolf stayed painfully silent, as if watching me, amused at my hypocrisy.

Then, the day I trimmed her hair.

It wasn’t kindness. Or so I told myself.

It was a necessity, partly because Lennon forced my hand, but mainly because I couldn’t stand seeing her like that, hacked and humiliated.

A Luna, even an unwanted one, shouldn’t look that way.

And then the letter...

A few days ago, I checked the list in the admissions office. I had seen her name among the successful candidates. And the idea had come to me—to craft and send the admission letters by courier, a personal touch that might mean more to the students.

A new tradition, I had called it to the Dean of Admissions.

But it was for her. Only for Elira.

I wanted the letter to be special, memorable for her. It was also a reminder of how far she had come and how well she should make the most of her three years in ESA.

Because the journey would be tedious, she would come to understand that all her cousin’s cruelty she had endured was meant to prepare her for it.

---

This morning at breakfast, when Father asked about the results, I had spoken carefully, deliberately vague.

I had expected mild disappointment, maybe a simple sad face.

I hadn’t expected her to break.

When she left, I felt the sting in my chest again, as if her pain was my own.

I hated that.

Hated that no matter what I said, the mate bond refused to loosen its hold.

---

After finishing the meal, every bite turning to ash in my mouth, I rose, ignoring Mother’s whispers, Father’s sigh, and Lennon’s heated glare that still lingered in the room.

I walked down the corridor toward the butler’s wing, intending to ask Daris if a letter from ESA had arrived.

Part of me already knew it had to come soon.

She had earned it.

But halfway down the hall, I heard laughter. Light, breathless, tinged with disbelief. Hers.

I turned the corner and saw them.

Elira stood between my brothers, shoulders trembling, her face flushed with emotion. Rennon had one hand gently on her head, smiling in that quiet way of his. Lennon, always bolder, had just leaned forward, brushing a quick kiss against her lips as he grinned.

In her hands was the envelope, deep navy with the silver crest of ESA.

Relief hit me first, so sharp it almost staggered me.

She had her letter. Finally.

And then, before I could stop it, another feeling twisted through me. Seeing them close, seeing Lennon’s casual boldness and the way Elira’s face lit up—something in me bristled, coiled tight in my chest.

But I said nothing.

I only stood there, hands tucked into my trouser pockets, hiding the clench of my fists.

She looked better when she was happy.

That was the only thought I allowed.

Then, they turned.

Elira’s eyes, red from crying moments before, now shone wet with joy, fixed on me as if unsure of what I would say.

Lennon, damn him, couldn’t resist.

He half-turned, a teasing grin as sharp as ever.

"You are the only one left, brother. Come on, congratulate her."

For half a heartbeat, I froze.

I could see what he meant—the playful nudge, the unspoken dare to step closer. And I could also see what he didn’t mean to show: that even Lennon wondered if I was capable of warmth.

I held Elira’s gaze for a breath longer. Then I blinked, my expression cooling.

"I’m going to inform Father," I said, voice low, clipped.

Before they could answer, I turned on my heel, coat sweeping lightly behind me.

As I walked away, the mate bond snarled in quiet protest.

Part of me wanted to go back, to join them, to let the faint curl of pride and relief show. To tell her she had earned this, truly. That the girl who once cried silently in hallways now had a place in the most prestigious school in our world.

But I couldn’t.

Because if I started, I didn’t know where it would end.

And because the Luna the pack deserved shouldn’t see the Alpha’s eldest son waver.

Yet even as I stepped away, I knew I’d remember the sound of her laugh—fragile, breathless, alive—far longer than I cared to admit. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

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