Fated to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 46: Out of Fear

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Chapter 46

~Xander’s POV~

Xade and Xavier exchanged a glance. "She confronted me about Jade and me kissing on the field."

"Ooohh, looks like someone finally did something about being the only triplet not to kiss his mate," Xade teased. Even in this situation, he still had time for jokes.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Couldn’t let you two have all the fun." My smile faded when I recalled the moment. "But I understand what Xavier faced yesterday. I almost couldn’t control myself. And when Principal Vale caught me, I got defensive and raised my voice."

Xavier stopped pacing. "And."

"And she reminded me this was still a school," I answered. Our bodies were running at a constant elevated temperature, as though we were perpetually on the edge of transformation.

"It is getting worse," Xavier said quietly.

He was right. The heat was no longer episodic. It was constant, like a warning we could not silence.

"I know. I am sorry I lost control, but that kiss further made me realize just how much we need our mate. How much suffering our wolves may be going through," I admitted.

"We cannot force her, you know. Not only is she the princess, but one wrong move could hurt her. We do not know how powerful the curse is," Xade explained.

"But I haven’t heard of anyone dying while trying to break the curse," Xavier refuted.

While we spoke, footsteps approached from outside. We all turned at the same time to see Jade standing at the entrance of the living room when the door opened, her gaze moving between the three of us as if she could see the strain written across our faces.

She took in the tension, the restless energy, and the way none of us were fully at ease in our own skin.

For a moment, she said nothing. Then she stepped further into the room, locked the door behind her, and looked directly at me before her eyes shifted to my brothers.

"Can you really wait this out," she asked quietly, "or is this the time to break the curse before it kills you?"

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~Jade’s POV~

After everything I was told the previous day, I’d be damned if I said it did not scare me. The curse was one thing, but the thought of being together with all of them...

It was both hot and scary. I had not slept with any guy before, but now I have to be with three. I swallowed as soon as I suggested it.

Still, the dread of having them go feral and rogue or worse, die made her heart clench.

"Jade?"

I smiled softly at Xavier. "I... It’s okay."

"Is it? You do not know what you are risking," Xade protested. I fumbled with my fingers, unsure of what to reply to that.

"In heat, lovemaking wouldn’t be as you think. It would be more..."

"I know," I cut in before Xade’s words could deter me further.

I stood there with my heart pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it.

The heat in the room was suffocating. Not just the temperature, but the tension between us. It pressed against my skin, crawled under it, wrapped around my lungs until breathing felt like work.

All three of them were watching me like I was the answer to a question none of them wanted to ask out loud.

"I know what I am risking," I said again, forcing my voice to stay steady. "And I know what happens if we keep pretending this is manageable."

Xavier stepped toward me first. His eyes were softer than the others, but today they were burning at the edges. "You do not understand how close we are to losing control," he said carefully. "If we cross that line while the curse is this unstable, we might not be able to stop and end up hurting you."

"I am not asking you to lose control," I replied. "I am asking you to trust me."

Xade ran a frustrated hand through his hair and started pacing again. The air around him shimmered faintly, the sign that his wolf was too close to the surface. "Trust you?" he snapped. "Jade, this is not about trust. This is about instinct. About heat and about hurting you."

I swallowed, but I did not step back. "And if you keep fighting it, what happens? You said it yourselves. It is getting worse. You cannot sleep. You cannot focus. Your temperature keeps rising. How long before one of you shifts in the middle of class? Or attack someone because you cannot think straight?"

Silence filled the room.

Xander’s jaw tightened. He hadn’t refuted me as Xavier and Xade did, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he joined.

"If we touch you right now," he said slowly, "we will not want to stop," he emphasized, and something in his voice, or maybe it was the fact that I saw him barely holding on to restraint in school, that made me really realize how insanely hot and dangerous what he said was.

My heart fluttered. "Then do not touch me because of the heat," I answered. "Touch me because you choose to. Because we choose to break this curse before it destroys you. I trust that you will have control."

They exchanged another look, the silent conversation only they could have.

Xavier exhaled sharply. "No," he said at last.

The word "hit" struck harder than I expected, like a blow. And suddenly I felt too stupid for offering myself on a silver platter for what?

"We are not doing this while you are scared and exhausted," he continued. "You have not slept on it properly. You are overwhelmed and not thinking rightly. We are not claiming you because we are desperate."

Xade nodded reluctantly. "We wait until it is your decision without fear of pushing it."

Xander stepped closer, but he kept space between us. "Go home today," he said gently. "Rest. Think. When you come back to us, it will be because you want us. Not because you are afraid of losing us."

"Yeah. I know you worry, but we are stronger than we look. It would take more than a few heat episodes to break us."

My chest ached, but beneath the ache was relief. They looked like hell, but still they thought about what I wanted. That and the shame of getting rejected made me turn around and left without uttering a single word.

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~Xavier’s POV~

The moment the door closed behind Jade, something inside me snapped.

I gripped the wall beside the entrance before I even realised I had moved. The plaster cracked faintly beneath my palm as I fought to steady my breathing.

Her scent still filled the air, wrapping around my senses like a temptation I could not escape.

Leaving had not helped us either and my brothers and I knew this. If anything, it made it worse.

Ace surged forward restlessly and furiously inside me. "She offered herself." His voice scraped through my mind. "And you sent her away. Classic."

My jaw clenched. I knew why I had done it. I refused to let fear decide something that would bind us forever. But logic meant nothing to a wolf drowning in instinct.

Behind me, Xander inhaled sharply.

I turned just in time to see his eyes flash red. The change lasted only a second, but it was enough. Heat rolled through the house immediately.

On the other hand, Xade cursed under his breath. "You two feel that?"

Of course we did.

Our body temperature climbed together, synchronised in a way that only we could understand.

We looked at each other and through the mind link, Xander’s voice cut through clearly.

"Waiting may no longer be possible."

I pushed myself off the wall, forcing control back into my limbs just as my phone chimed in my pocket. The sharp sound broke the tension long enough for me to focus.

I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. My expression hardened instantly.

"They found out," I said, voice turning cold. "It was Troy who leaked the photoshopped nude."

The air shifted. Xander blinked as if dragged back into reality.

"He... that scumbag. I knew it wasn’t Adrian, they covered their tracks cleanly." He immediately pulled out his own phone. "The heat had me so distracted I forgot to check the email from my inside man."

His thumb moved quickly across the screen while Xade stepped closer, tension rolling off him like a storm ready to break.

A few seconds passed. Then Xander nodded slowly. "You’re right," he confirmed. "Troy did it."

Dangerous silence followed that confirmation. I knew my brothers were thinking the same thing.

Just then, my mind flashed back to that day in the disciplinary room and his arrogant words. As if on cue, Ace growled, ready to tear somebody apart.

Xade’s mouth curved into something sharp and humourless as he walked toward us, cracking his knuckles. "Then what exactly are we waiting for?" His eyes gleamed, wolf close to the surface. "I guess," he added calmly, "it’s time we unleashed some of our rage."

Ace stirred approvingly inside me, and I could not deny the fact that for the first time since Jade walked out, the heat found direction. And Troy had just become its target.

"Sure, let’s go."

I reached for my shirt on the couch, which I had tossed about thirty minutes ago before Xander came in and put it on.

As soon as we stepped into my car, a sharp, piercing pain passed through our mental blockages, accessing the mindlink.

"Hello, sons? The king knows about Jade being your mate."