The Alpha Triplets Appear

I dragged my feet through the unforgiving storm. The freezing rain soaked through my thin clothes in seconds. The chill seeped straight into my bones, but a heavy, agonizing emptiness swallowed any physical discomfort. No pain. No hurt. Just a hollow void where my heart used to beat. I wandered without direction down the slick pavement. I had no destination in mind. Where was I supposed to go now?

I worked as a waitress at a run-down diner, surviving off a pity hire. No one else wanted me. After my family's ruin, the rest of the pack treated me like a walking curse. It did not help that I was a wolfless pariah. I was a broken thing living among powerful beasts.

Worse still, my mother had committed the ultimate sin. She poisoned herself with wolfsbane. Every werewolf despised that toxic plant, viewing her desperate act as an unforgivable shame. Because she drank it, she shattered our family’s reputation into irredeemable pieces. Now she lay in a hospital bed, and I needed an impossible amount of money to save her. I had already exhausted every advance my boss could offer. Even if I begged again, it would never be enough to cover the mounting medical bills.

"What should I do? I am tired. I am so sick of everything. I just want to die." My voice broke as hot tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with the freezing rain.

I had been abandoned by everyone. My father died and left me unprotected in a cruel world. My mother chose poison over staying by my side. The one man I trusted threw me away for his fated mate. The world spat on me, and the Moon Goddess watched it all happen without a shred of mercy.

I stopped in the middle of the empty road and stared up at the swirling black sky. I tapped my chest with a trembling hand. "Goddess! Why am I alive? If this is the life you assigned to me, why bring me into this world at all? Why am I forced to breathe if I cannot even be happy? What did I do wrong?"

My voice cracked into a hoarse shriek. "Why are you letting me live like this? Why did you let him die? You could not even protect my father! You took the one person my mother loved most. Now, even though I know she wants to be with him on the other side, I cannot let her go. I know I am selfish. I know I could not fulfill her dying wish."

I remembered the fading words my mother murmured right before she lost consciousness. "I am sorry, my child. I know this is wrong, but I cannot live without your father. Please do not make me live without him. I want to see him again. Please forgive me, my daughter. Do not cry for me."

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my wet palms. "But why are you just sitting up there doing nothing? You sit on your throne and watch us bleed! No matter how much I cry out to you, you offer nothing but silence! Why are you so cruel?"

Thunder rumbled a deep warning in the clouds above. I did not care if I committed sacrilege against the mother of all werewolves. I needed a target to blame for everything I had lost.

I dropped my chin, my gaze fixing on the water-logged asphalt. "If this is the life you want me to live... then I would rather die."

A deafening clap of thunder tore the sky in half, rattling the earth beneath my feet. Before I could draw breath, a blinding flash of light erupted in my peripheral vision.

I blinked against the harsh glare. Twin headlights rushed straight toward me, cutting a deadly path through the downpour. A blaring horn pierced the roar of the storm. The heavy machine sped forward on a fatal collision course.

My breath hitched. The instinct to run flared, but my wet boots stayed rooted to the pavement. I watched the metal beast close in, ready to shatter my bones. I knew I needed to move, but I remained frozen in the blinding light.

I squeezed my eyes shut. A solitary tear slid down my icy cheek. This was the exact moment I would meet my end. I felt no fear. I felt no sadness. The only heavy weight left in my chest was the guilt of leaving my mother behind.

As I accepted my grim fate, I sent a fleeting, foolish prayer into the dark. I hoped that if I died, Zane would keep his word and look after her. I knew I should not rely on him after his brutal betrayal. But still, I hoped.

"I am sorry, Mother." I braced my stiff body for the crushing impact.

Except, the pain never came.

I counted the slow seconds in my head. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. The screeching of heavy tires echoed over the rain.

My eyes snapped open.

The massive grille of the vehicle dominated my vision. The sleek black hood of the car hovered a mere inch from my kneecaps. The engine purred like a low mechanical growl, radiating heat against my skin. The distinct smell of burning rubber invaded my nose.

A shaky breath tore from my lungs. My adrenaline spiked, and my knees buckled under the realization that I was still breathing. I collapsed onto the wet road, jarring my bones. I propped myself up on my scraped hands, gasping for air as my heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

The heavy splashing of rain was the only sound I processed as I struggled to catch my breath. Then, the rhythmic thud of a heavy car door opening and shutting cut through the storm. Firm footsteps approached on the pavement. I felt a large hand touch my trembling shoulder.

"Are you okay, miss?"

The voice was smooth, washing over me in a soothing timber. I dragged my gaze up and saw a towering figure. All the air vanished from my lungs. I stared into a pair of pure white eyes. No pupils. No irises. Just an endless, mesmerizing white that pinned me in place. The storm around us seemed to fade into absolute silence.

"If you want to kill yourself, I suggest you do not do it in the middle of the road and inconvenience other people."

The sharp, annoyed reprimand snapped me out of my daze. I looked past the imposing man in front of me. Another figure stood just a few steps behind him. His expression was carved from solid ice, his lips pulled into a hard frown. He glared down at me with the exact same haunting, white eyes.

"Aw, brother. Do you not think that is a bit harsh for a woman?"

I tore my panicked gaze away and turned toward the third speaker. He leaned near the side of the idling car. His eyes locked onto my face. A lazy, amused smirk played on his lips as the rain washed over him.

"And she is pretty, too. Drenched, but still pretty." He flashed a wicked, slow grin.

I swallowed a thick lump of dread as my body shook without stopping. The intense trembling had nothing to do with the freezing rain or the near-death experience. The heavy scent of rain mixed with an undeniable, suffocating aura of dominance. It rolled off them in waves, pressing down on my chest and making it impossible to draw a full breath. This dread stemmed from a suffocating, paralyzing terror. I recognized those faces. I knew the identity of the dangerous men standing before me on this abandoned road.

The Alpha triplets.

Soren, Zander, and Kellan.