The Triplet Alphas' Forbidden Temptation

"You are making a big deal out of nothing. They are just sketches," she blurted, and something cracked across his face.

"There wasn’t even one sketch of me," he said slowly. Her lips parted as Yuki stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Terry, I didn’t know you cared about that." Yuki genuinely couldn’t imagine why that bothered him.

"When was the last time you drew me?" Terence asked. She couldn’t answer. His mouth tightened when he saw her silence.

"Exactly," he scoffed. Yuki lowered her gaze. She had never thought about it. She had never considered that he might have noticed what she drew or that he might have been comparing himself to the person filling the pages of her sketchbook. Terence rubbed his palm over his jaw before looking at her again.

She stared at him, trying to make sense of the emotion in his voice. Then a thought entered her mind, so absurd that she almost laughed. "Are you jealous?"

The question escaped before she could stop it. Her eyes widened as soon as she heard herself say it because there was no way Terence could possibly be jealous of Kieran. They had grown up together. He was practically family. Terence didn’t answer immediately. Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted. Yuki’s stomach sank.

"Isn’t it obvious?" he asked. "Do I need to spell it out?" he said as a slow smile curled up his lips.

Her nervous laugh sounded weak. "Stop joking around, Terry," she chuckled because of how ridiculous it sounded.

His smile disappeared. "Why do you think I’m joking?" he asked.

Yuki stared at him. "Because you’re Terry," she said, almost helplessly. "You’re the boy who used to follow me everywhere. You can’t seriously be jealous of Kieran."

His expression tightened. "I’m not that boy anymore," he snapped at her, his frustration boiling over.

"Stop being ridiculous. You will always be Terry." She playfully punched his shoulder.

"Am I?" His voice was quieter now. "Do you have any idea how much it hurt watching you obsess over him?"

Yuki’s expression faltered. Terence looked away, his jaw working as he tried to gather himself. "Every time you talked about him, I wanted you to stop. Every time you smiled because of him, I wondered what he had that I didn’t. Every time you came back home, the only thing you spoke about at Xyrus University was him. How smart he was, how popular he was. I hated myself for hoping you’d eventually notice me."

"Terry," Yuki said softly. She hadn’t realised it. Terry always loved asking her about Xyrus University. She remembered ranting endlessly about him but never realised all she spoke about was Kieran. Was she that obsessed?

"I hated him," he admitted, his voice cracking slightly. "I hated listening to you talk about him with Bianca for hours. I hated seeing you stare at those old sketches and blush like an idiot."

Yuki felt something twist in her chest. "I never knew you felt that way," she whispered.

"Of course you didn’t." He gave a bitter laugh. "You never looked at me long enough to notice."

Yuki’s lips parted, but she had no answer.

"I was always there," he continued. "I was the person you talked to about him because you were too scared to admit how much you liked him. You trusted me with all of it because I was just Terry to you. I was sitting right beside you while you filled pages with another man, and you never once wondered how that made me feel." His voice grew strained, and he rubbed a hand over his face.

Yuki went still. Terence looked back at her. Her heart began pounding again. "Terry, I never meant to hurt you. I had no idea."

"I know." His voice softened. "That’s what makes it worse. You never meant to. You weren’t even aware of what you were doing." He took a breath, his chest rising as he fought to steady himself. "Why does it have to be him, Yuki? Why couldn’t you see me?"

She looked at him helplessly. She had nothing to say that would not sound like an excuse. His eyes had become glassy. "Sometimes I wished I could make you see me just once. I wanted you to think of me the way he was always on your mind. I wanted you to notice when I walked into a room. I wanted you to wonder where I was when I wasn’t beside you."

Yuki’s throat tightened. Terence’s voice dropped. "I was scared when you started changing." His voice cracked. "God, I was scared when I heard you moved to Ravencourt and your coming of age was close."

He explained. Terry had always imagined Yuki’s coming of age would be at their pack. He was nervous at the thought of her meeting more people in Ravencourt, which was much bigger than their small pack. "I thought you might have found your mate."

Yuki’s expression softened. "You have no idea how terrified I was that you would find your mate and it wasn’t me. Worse, if he was your mate, because your crush wasn’t a silly crush. If he was your fated mate, I would stand no chance." His fingers curled at his sides. He had no idea the man he was so scared of had already rejected her.

"I kept wondering what I would do if you were mated to another man. I didn’t know how I was supposed to watch you choose someone else after spending all these years hoping you’d eventually choose me," he admitted.

"Terry..." His name slipped from her lips.

"What do I have to do?" he asked, his voice breaking as he looked at her. "What do I have to do to make you see me, Yuki?"

She couldn’t answer. He swallowed and looked away for a moment, his shoulders rising with a shaky breath.

"I knew you first." When he looked at her again, there was no anger left in his expression. Only hurt. "And I loved you long before you ever knew him."

Yuki stood frozen against the wall, her fingers trembling around her walking stick as she tried to process what she had just heard. "Terry," she whispered again. It was the only thing she could say.

"Please don’t look at me like I’m still that little boy," he said quietly. "I’m not."

Yuki’s lips parted, but nothing came out. "For once, Yuki, see me," he pleaded, his voice barely above a whisper. "If you don’t, I don’t know how long I can hide what is in me."

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