Five

  The triplets stood bickering in the said Alpha’s office, contemplating their plan of action for the so called mate nearby.

  River groaned as he threw his head back in frustration, he felt like he was fighting a losing battle. “Ryker, for fuck sake. We’re here for one reason and one reason only, to take control over this pack.” He argued, before issuing Ryker a warning look.

  Ryker rolled his eyes before dismissively flicking his hand in front of River. “Well our mate is in the pack, whether you like it or not. When we take over, she’ll still be here.” He objected.

  River sighed as he began to massage his temples. “We’ll deal with that later.” River couldn’t understand his brothers infatuation with meeting their mate, he’d been clear for as long as he could remember that he wouldn’t accept whoever it was. 

  “Aren’t you even a little curious to see who it is?” Reid shrugged, as his hands fiddled in the glass jar of mints on the Alpha’s desk. 

  “Why?” River asked flatly. “It doesn’t change anything.” And in his mind, it didn’t. 

  Ryker opened his mouth to protest once again, whilst Reid shoved a handful of mints in his, when suddenly the door swung open and startled the trio.

  Before them, stood in the now open doorway, the most beautiful woman any of them had ever seen. Her bright green eyes shimmered like emeralds, whilst her long brunette hair fell into waves down her waist. Her rose, full lips were complimented perfectly with her olive skin tone, whilst her cute button nose wore a few faint freckles.

  She sported a blue gym set, which hugged her curves perfectly. The girl wasn’t stick thin, but she didn’t carry any additional weight either. She had a true woman’s body, with curves in all the right places. Each of the triplets could have sworn the girl before them was handcrafted by the moon goddess herself, even River.

  “Shit.” River and Brielle muttered in unison.

  Brielle cautiously eyed the identical men before her, as she accepted the conclusion that each one of them was her mate.

  Well this was just brilliant, she thought. She didn’t even want one mate, let alone frigging three of them. Her father was gonna go off the rails when he found out, especially when he found out who they were.

  Brielle could feel Ocean urging her to go forth, to accept each of the triplets as her destined mate, but she couldn’t. It simply wasn’t part of the plan.

  Deciding enough awkward moments of silence had passed, Brielle headed to her desk and folded her arms across her chest, as she lent against the wooden furniture. “You requested a meeting?” She questioned, as she raised her brows and cast her eyes upon each of them once more.

  Harlie and Scarlett quietly made their way through the room, before taking their place behind Brielle. Neither of them knew exactly what to say in this situation, as they shared wary glances with one another, so instead they silently awaited some form of direction from their Alpha.

  River frowned as he watched his supposed mate lean against the desk, this plan had taken way too many complicated turns already, and now he was supposed to believe the mate he was trying to avoid was the Alpha he had came to see?

  “With the Alpha, yes. And you are?” He enquired, earning him an eye roll from the woman before him.

  “The Alpha.” She responded coldly.

  River sighed as he bit down on his lower lip, he couldn’t believe the unfortunate luck he was having right now. 

  “Our mate is an Alpha?” Reid quirked up as he took his eyes off the girl for the first time since she had entered the room. He shot River a bewildered glance as he tried to understand the match.

  River’s frown didn’t falter as he turned to face Reid. “How’s that supposed to work?” He questioned, before suddenly realising he wasn’t supposed to care. And he didn’t, at least that’s what he told himself.

  “Who cares?” Ryker suddenly found his voice. “We’ll figure it out.” He shrugged, not taking his eyes off Brielle. He was completely mesmerised.

  Brielle snorted as the triplets spoke about her as if she wasn’t there. “I care.” She sarcastically smiled at each other them as their eyes landed on her. “I’ve got no interest in being your mate, so if you’ll quickly hurry up and tell me what exactly you needed to travel all the way down here for, that would be great.”

  Ryker gasped as Brielle’s words tugged on his heart. Whilst he had spent all this time hoping to find her, it never occurred to him that there was a possibility she wouldn’t want them. “You… you don’t want us?” The hurt was an evident in his voice as much as it was written all over his face.

  Ocean winced as she felt the pain in Ryker’s voice, just as she felt the whimpers of his wolf, Mace. She wanted her mate, she wanted all three of them.

  “No.” Brielle stated matter-of-factly. “Now, for the second time, what do you want?”

  Reid squinted as he took a step toward Brielle, as a devilish smirk spread on his lips. “How did you just get even sexier?” He licked his lips, as his eyes trailed down her body.

  Brielle crinkled her nose as she locked eyes with Reid. “Excuse me?” Brielle instantly regretted meeting his gaze, as she felt her cold exterior threaten to melt away. She found herself momentarily lost in his eyes as the pull toward him caused her breathing to hitch.

  “I love a challenge.” He winked at her, whilst slowly edging closer and closer. He couldn’t deny the fact that she was everything he had hoped his mate would be, and as much as he told himself he wasn’t too bothered about finding her, he now felt the insatiable urge to have her.

  Brielle rolled her eyes as she fell out of the trance the bond had temporarily found her in. “I don’t want a mate, let alone three of them.” She admitted. “And even if I did, the rumours I’ve heard about the three of you is enough to scare me off for life.” She snorted, digging the knife in Ryker’s heart deeper. 

  “Good, neither do I.” River added as he shoved Reid away from the girl. “We’re only here because we wanted to discuss Shadow Pack with you.”

  Brielle threw back her head as she let out a loud laugh. “Let me guess, you’re here to bring the pack to its fullest potential?” She pressed her lips in a thin line as her forehead creased.

  River’s jaw set as he narrowed his eyes on the Alpha. “Yes, actually.” He replied, taken back by the attitude he’d received. “We both know the pack will thrive under Blood Moon leadership, don’t you want that for your pack members?” He challenged, taunting the girl as he plastered on his most sincere, innocent smile.

  Brielle scoffed, before chuckling and shaking her head in disbelief. “Is that so? And how will you do that?” She queried. “Between bedding multiple girls each night, I find it hard to believe any of you will find the time to lead an additional one thousand warriors.”

  River tilted his head as he listened to the girl insult him. “I’m sure we’ll manage perfectly fine, don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” He grinned.

  Brielle placed her palm against her heart as she issued him a sarcastic smile. “Did you just call me pretty?” She sighed contently as she looked over her shoulder to see her beta and gamma. “He just called me pretty.” She squealed sarcastically, as Harlie and Scarlett sniggered in response.

  River rolled his eyes at the Alpha’s dramatics, feeling his blood start to boil from the interaction. Reid grinned as he watched his mate taunted his older brother, silently feeling more attracted to her with each passing moment.

  “So tell me, Romeo, how exactly do you think you’ll run the pack better than me?” Brielle questioned as her eyes bored into River.

  “Well for starters, there is three of us and one of you.” River began, as Brielle pressed her lips together and squinted her eyes, as she dramatically nodded her head whilst River spoke. “Plus, male wolves are typically stronger than females. Meaning we can train them harder, push them to their fullest potential, develop them to reach the standard of combat skills the warriors at Blood Moon hold. Something that you’re unable to do here.”

  “And…” Reid added enthusiastically. “Don’t you wish you had more time to do the things you enjoy? Go shopping with your friends, get your nails done, go to spa and so on. Let’s be real, surely you’d much rather do those things instead, which you can do when you hand the pack to us.” He concluded, smiling brightly as if he had just provided the answer that fixed all the conflict in the room.

  Brielle soared with laughter, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It wasn’t the presumption that she would rather do other things that had shocked her, but instead the presumption that female wolves couldn’t be as strong as men. In this moment, she thanked the heavens that River had given her that misogynistic explanation, it had only made her decision to reject the triplets that bit easier.

  She slowly raised herself off the desk, as Harlie and Scarlett joined her side. She let out a disappointed sigh, before tutting at River. “So, you think you’re a more capable fighter than me?”

  “Of course.” River shrugged. 

  “I’d be willing to take that bet.” Brielle grinned as she stepped toward the triplet. “In fact, I’d be willing to take on all three of you. Let’s see if your theory pans out.” She challenged River, who had tensed up as her lavender scent momentarily blinded his senses.

  Ryker finally found his voice again as he frowned at the Alpha. “It doesn’t have to be like this.” He groaned, unable to believe what he was hearing. This hadn’t gone how he had expected in the slightest.

  “I don’t think fighting is how the moon goddess intended for you to take all three of us at once, princess.” Reid winked as he continued shoving handfuls of mints in his mouth.