The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate-Chapter 81: The Dream

​Scarlett’s POV

​"None of your business, Ethan," I said, my voice harsh and cold.

​Ethan didn’t back down. He lunged forward, his hands gripping my upper arms so tightly I knew they would bruise. "Fuck yes it is my business, Scarlett!" he roared, his face inches from mine. "You are my fiancée!"

​The word felt like a slap. I shoved his hands away with every bit of strength I had, a bitter laugh bubbling up in my throat. "Fake, Ethan!" I yelled, the sound echoing in the room. "It’s fake. It’s not real, and you know it."

​Ethan flinched, a deep frown settling on his face as he searched my eyes. "Is this because of this morning?" he asked, his tone shifting from anger to a disgusting kind of arrogance. "Are you angry because I didn’t want to have sex with you? Is that it? Is that why you ran to Leo the second I turned my back?"

​I felt a surge of pure, white-hot rage. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell him that I had seen him making out with Elara. I wanted to tell him I saw Elara’s hands in his hair and heard their heavy breathing through the glass. But I stopped myself. If he wanted to play a game, I would play it. I would act like the fool he thought I was just to see how far he would go with his lies.

​"Leo is my mate," I spat. "Whatever we do, whatever we are, is none of your business."

​I turned my back on him, heading toward my bed to end the conversation, but Ethan’s voice stopped me cold.

​"It is my business. It seems you are forgetting something, Scarlett." He took a slow step toward me, his shadow stretching across the floor. "I bought you. I paid for you. I own you. You are mine."

​My heart didn’t just sink; it felt like it had been dropped into a void. So that was it. After all the sweet words and the protection on the training field, I was just a piece of property he had acquired.

​I turned back to face him, my eyes burning with unshed tears and a hollow kind of defiance. "So this is it? I’m just a property to you?" I stepped closer to him, gesturing to my body. "So how do I pay you back, Ethan? With my body? Is that what you want?"

​Ethan’s eyes widened, the scary fury suddenly flickering out like a dying candle. He swallowed hard, a flash of genuine guilt crossing his features, but he didn’t reach for me. He couldn’t even look me in the eye anymore.

​Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

​Tears gathered in my eyes, hot and stinging, but I refused to let them fall for him. I wiped them away with the back of my hand, composing myself.

I stripped off my clothes, every inch of my skin still humming from Leo’s touch, and stepped into the shower. I scrubbed until my skin turned red, trying to wash away Ethan’s touch... and Leo’s scent.

​After my bath, I pulled on a loose silk nightgown and climbed into bed. It was still early in the evening, the sun barely dipped below the horizon, but I was exhausted. I closed my eyes and forced myself into a restless sleep.

​That’s when the dream started.

​I was standing in the middle of a dense, white fog. Slowly, figures began to emerge. My parents were there, looking just as they did before the day of the hanging. But they weren’t alone. Luna Olivia stood beside them, her gaze stern and mournful. Beside her were Sir Lennox, Sir Levi, and Sir Louis.

​They formed a solid wall, their faces stony and cold. Behind them, I could see the triplets. Leo, Liam, and Leon were reaching for me, their expressions full of worry, but they couldn’t break through.

​"Move!" I screamed, my voice echoing in the void. "Let me through! Let them get to me!"

​"No," Luna Olivia said, her voice sounding like the rustle of dead leaves. She stepped forward, her eyes locked on mine. "Scarlett, you have to stay away from them. Just stay away!"

​"I love them!" I cried out. But soon the dream began to disappear.

​I jerked awake, my heart racing. I was drenched in sweat, my breath coming in short gasps. I sat up, clutching the sheets to my chest, trying to shake the image of the dead from my mind.

​But the room wasn’t empty.

​A shadow moved by the wall. My breath hitched as I realized someone was leaning against the far corner, half-hidden by the darkness. The smell of alcohol and his scent hit me a second before I saw the glint of a glass bottle.

​It was Leon.

​He was leaning against the wall, one leg crossed over the other, holding a bottle of beer. His eyes weren’t brown; they were hazy as they scanned me from head to toe, lingering on the way the silk nightgown clung to my damp skin.

​"Rough dream, mate," he rasped, taking a slow, deliberate swig of his beer. He didn’t move toward me, but his presence filled the room until I felt like I was suffocating all over again. "You were calling out for someone. Care to tell me which brother you were dreaming about?"

​I ignored him, my eyes moving to the balcony. I already knew how he’d gotten in: the balcony door. From now on, I’d be locking that along with the main door.

​I stood up, my legs feeling like they belonged to someone else, and walked past him into the bathroom. I didn’t look at him as I passed, though I could feel his gaze on me. I stood in front of the mirror, splashing cold water on my face, trying to wash away the lingering shadows of the dead.

​What was that? A warning... or a memory?

​"What is going on, Scarlett?" Leon’s voice was closer now. I looked up at my reflection to see him leaning against the bathroom doorframe, the beer bottle dangling from his fingers. He looked tired, but there was a sharp, calculating edge to his eyes that made my skin prickle.

​I didn’t answer. I wiped my face with a towel, walked past him again, and went back into the bedroom. I sat on the edge of my bed, folding my arms tightly across my chest, trying to stop the trembling that was starting deep in my bones.

​Leon followed, his movements slow and sluggish. He leaned against the wall directly across from me, taking another slow swig of his beer.

​"What is wrong with you?" I finally asked, my voice filled with concern I couldn’t hide. "Why are you drinking, Leon?"

​He scoffed, a dark, bitter sound that seemed to vibrate in the small room. He took another long swig of the beer, his eyes never leaving mine.

​"Everything is wrong, Scarlett," he said, his words slightly slurred but his gaze sharp.

"Everything. I felt it, Scarlett. I felt it last night. I felt you with Ethan." He pushed himself off the wall and took a slow step toward me. The smell of alcohol intensifying. "Tell me... did he fuck you?"