Chapter 38

Beryl:

In the early hours of the morning, I finally drifted into a pleasurably exhausted sleep. I dreamed of our wolves, mine, Nicholas’, Brian’s, and Cheney’s, all running through the woods. We howled, played, tumbled, and ran wildly through the dark trees.

Within the dream we were so mentally connected that we didn’t have to talk, we communicated with looks and touch. As wolves, our fur mingled until we looked like one beast running and howling.

I awoke slowly, feeling their limbs tangled with mine beneath the sheets. Their hot breath was soft on my skin. At first, I soaked in the feeling, and then a sense of clarity washed over me, and I was confused about how we had gotten here.

Flashes of the night before began to piece themselves together in my mind, and my heart raced from stress instead of desire. As my pulse quickened, I felt the triplets stir around me.

A low groan rumbled next to me, and I turned my head to watch Brian come fully awake and look at me. “Mm...” A look of confused concern crossed his face.

“Shit... what the hell?” I turned and watched Cheney take in the scene of us tangled together. “What happened last night?” Looking towards Nicholas, I saw him also surveying the mess that was us.

We looked back and forth between each other, confusion about the night before showing on all our faces. Nicholas leaned up, shifting me to the side. I winced in pain as my legs came together. Despite the uncertainty, one thing was clear: I was no longer a virgin.

“Are you alright?” Nicholas was holding me gently now, a worried look taking over his features. Cheney and Brian leaned up as well, waiting for my answer. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m ok, really. Just a bite sore.”

I could feel the blush creeping across my skin and felt silly for being embarrassed. Obviously, we’d shared an intimate night, so why was I so shy right now?

They were all still watching me, trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. Sensing the truth in my words, they each relaxed a bit. “We need to get up. Figure out what happened last night.”

I nodded, but stayed where I was. I watched each of them get up and search for their clothes. I took in each movement, their muscles gliding beneath their skin. As sore as I was, I began to warm and tingle at my core just by watching them.

Cheney chuckled, looking over his shoulder at me. He waggled his eyebrows at me, winking. He must have sensed my feelings. I flushed again but continued to watch the three of them get dressed. I leaned back on my elbows and enjoyed the show.

Cheney:

I could feel her watching us, me. I loved the feeling. It made me hot and ready again, but I knew we needed to take some time to find out exactly what had happened last night.

I could smell the blood on her, knew that her virginity was lost. I could also smell her all over my own skin, and it almost overwhelmed me. It took all the focus I had to not jump back into bed with her.

The fact that the colors all around me were brighter and more vibrant than I’d ever seen was helping me distract myself from the urge to jump back to her side.

The mating bond was set, I knew that much. As much as I had fought it before, there was no denying it now. Beryl was my one true mate, and I was positive that we’d had sex last night. I’d taken her virginity... I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but the need to have her again was strong.

I needed to put a little distance between us so that I could think for a minute, so I threw my clothes on, shot a grin at her over my shoulder, and headed for the door.

On my way out, I caught Nicholas’ eyes on Beryl, and jealousy ran through me. I definitely needed to get away for a minute.

“See you downstairs for breakfast?” I asked Beryl, hoping for her to say yes, more than I expected. She flushed, grinned, and nodded, and it was crazy how happy it made me.

Brian:

A million thoughts were running through my head. Beryl was definitely my mate, we’d made love last night, and my ears were ringing with sound. These were the most pressing thoughts in my mind. The sounds were unusual and distracting, but musical.

I could feel Beryl’s eyes on my body as I gathered my things and got dressed. Everywhere her eyes landed, my skin tingled. The bond between us was singing in my ears like the most beautiful melody I’d ever heard.

The desire to be near her was nearly impossible to ignore, but I knew things needed to be clearer before we were able to do that. It took all my willpower to move away from her, laying so beautifully in the bed.

I wasn’t sure what had happened between us last night, but I knew that her scent was strong on my skin, and I could tell I had been with her, intimately, recently. Her obvious soreness proved that.

“See you downstairs for breakfast?” Cheney spoke to her in a voice I’d never heard him use before. I looked at Beryl to see her nod, and a spark of anger ran through me. She was mine, growled through my mind. My reaction was proof that I, and my brothers, needed to take a step away and figure out what had happened.

Nicholas:

Beautiful, was all I could think as I looked at Beryl. The mating bond was tight, and I could feel it running through me. I could feel whispers of her hands on my skin, like memories that I hoped had been real.

I didn’t have a clue what had all gone on with us the night before and was desperate to find out for sure. I needed to take a step away from to do that though because being near her was making me a bit crazy.

All my senses were on fire, and my muscles were tense with the need to get closer to her. Even my facial muscles were jumping, no longer numb and paralyzed.

As I got up and dressed myself, I kept glancing over at Beryl, who was watching us like a hungry cat; feral and elegant. Every line of her was incredible to me, feelings that had grown stronger over the last weeks.

I felt guilty as the scent of her blood entered my nostrils, knowing that I had caused her pain, even if it was temporary. The thought of taking her virginity, however, gave me an intensely satisfied feeling.

When the pain had crossed her face earlier, the overwhelming urge to kill whatever had hurt her had been instinctual. It was then that I knew that I would do anything and everything to keep her safe.

That was why I needed to leave this room. Now. I needed to find out for sure what had happened between us last night, but first, I needed a bit of space to get my head back on straight because everything was overwhelming right now, including the desire to rip my brothers apart for even looking in her direction.