The Triplet Alphas' Regret

Samuel kept quiet for a moment. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, though I did feel his cold hands working on dressing my wound. He applied a cream, which caused me to jerk away in response. It was a sharp pain, but as quickly as it came, the pain disappeared.

The splitting agony of the wound was also slowly but surely going away. Samuel was a miracle worker. If I had enough money, I would build a statue to worship him. My body slowly began to relax against the mattress, and I slowly exhaled, releasing the breath I wasn’t aware I held.

"It wouldn’t be an issue if it had been just a wound." To say Samuel was angry would be a massive understatement. I peered at him from the corner of my eye, and I could see him snarl at Soren. "She would’ve been able to heal from it if that were the case."

Cassian walked in just then, and Samuel, as though he sensed that Cassian had finally arrived, turned and glared at him with the intensity of a burning sun.

He scolded Cassian directly, "But you imbeciles nearly killed her!"

"What?" Soren and Cassian both exclaimed at once, but while Soren’s voice was baked in horror, Cassian sounded more indignant at the insinuation. I guessed Cassian must have been upset that he didn’t finish the job and rid himself of the thorn in his side.

Meanwhile, said thorn, namely me, could only blink blearily as I tried to turn my head to look at Samuel, also wanting an explanation. Now that the pain had faded, my mind could focus on other matters. I certainly didn’t hear about such a possible side effect from any books I’ve read― or maybe because it was so rare for a mating mark to be interrupted that no one knew it could even happen.

"Why? How could this even happen?" I croaked out weakly as I tried to sit up, only for Soren to hurriedly come over and gently push my shoulders back onto the bed.

I slumped against the soft cotton, feeling strangely helpless. Somehow, I couldn’t feel anything from his touch. Not pleasure, nor disgust. It was as though my body had grown numb to him.

Samuel’s gaze turned back towards me, and a faint note of apology and pity entered his eyes. I was suddenly terrified, because I had never seen Samuel look at me like that. Whatever happened to me must be worse than all that I had endured.

"Am I going to die from this?" The question slipped out of my mouth in a terrified whisper. I didn’t want to die, not before I reunited with Lucien for good!

Meanwhile, Soren was almost trembling with worry. He reached out and clasped my clammy, sweaty hand in his own.

"No, you came to look for me just in time," Samuel said with a shake of his head. "I managed to stem the bleeding with topical hemostatics and administered a strong painkiller. However, I shouldn’t need to tell you that this measure is only temporary. Usually, a failed marking results in blood loss and death. Plenty of our ancestors died like that, when their markings were interrupted by their enemies. It was also considered a particularly brutal form of assassination."

I felt a cold chill run down my spine. Samuel then shot Soren a flinty look from the corner of his eyes.

"There’s a reason why werewolf packs have evolved to have markings done in privacy and security." He put particular emphasis on his last few words. "In the past, that would be a boulder in front of a cave. Now, we have locks."

"Then... Do I continue to mark her?" Soren asked hesitantly, even as he hung his head with a shamefaced expression. "Would completing the process that was once interrupted improve matters?"

Samuel shook his head. "No, Alpha Soren, it would not help. What her body needs is time to recover. Her body is treating your mating mark like an infection it has to purge. If you attempt to mark her again, she will feel worse pain than before, trying to fight it off."

I shuddered at the thought of even going through that much pain again. My hand slipped out of Soren’s grip. That didn’t go unnoticed by Soren, who stared at me with such anguish I almost felt bad.

Samuel then turned to me and said seriously. "Briar, I will not mince words. It’s a good thing that your body is strong enough to survive, but the failed marking will result in a variety of highly unpleasant experiences for you in the future."

"Such as?" I asked, morbidly curious about what new torture I would have to endure.

"Such as random high fevers that will lead to chills and shivering, along with a plethora of terrible aches and pains that will only go away with the medication. Or, in your case, the companionship of a fated mate. This is not up for debate," Samuel said, meeting my eyes instead of Soren’s. "You will have to spend time with a fated mate that has successfully marked you. Since you have one at your beck and call, unlike the majority of our unfortunate ancestors."

Well, since he put it that way, I only had one option here.

Now I understood why Samuel was looking at me with such a pitying expression on his face. My options were to basically either be boiled alive in my own skin and suffer unimaginable pain, or spend time in close contact with Rowan.

"I see," I said, closing my eyes and letting out a long sigh. Why couldn’t I get a break? I thought bitterly to myself. Part of me was even upset that I saved Cassian from his own poisoning, only for him to repay me in such a manner.

"This is all your fault," Soren’s voice rang from beside my ear. I opened my eyes, wondering why he was blaming me for it― only to realize he was addressing Cassian, an expression of righteous fury on every line of his face. "Why did you pull me away? If you hadn’t―"

"If I hadn’t, the two of you would be canoodling on the floor, and she would hate you more afterwards! Stop kidding yourself, Soren!" Cassian interrupted hotly. "It’s not as though I knew this would happen, and neither did you, so don’t go blaming me!"

"If you want to fight, kindly leave the room," Samuel said primly. "Miss Briar needs to rest."

Cassian tilted his head, a wordless taunt to his brother. Soren growled, but he forced himself to remain still, choosing to stay next to me. His hand hovered above mine, and he couldn’t meet my eyes. I guessed he felt too guilty about the part he played in my condition to touch me.

Just as I thought the four of us would just remain in this uncomfortable stalemate until I fell asleep, I sensed a new presence at the door.

"What is it?" Rowan stonily asked. He looked directly at Samuel, and it took me a moment to realize that Samuel must’ve been the one to call him.

Then, Rowan’s eyes scanned the room. I could see a mild twitch of his eyebrows to signify his surprise as he realized that both of his brothers were here in the room, while I was in bed, probably looking as sickly as ever.

His eyebrows furrowed even more, and he marched across the room to my bedside, carefully sitting down at the edge while holding my hand in his. My lips parted with a soft gasp.

Almost instantly, I felt a rush flow through my body from where his hand touched mine. It was a gentle trickling warmth that ran up my fingers to my elbows, then my shoulders, and eventually, the rest of my body. It almost felt as though there was some weight lifted off my chest.

Rowan, however, didn’t seem to have noticed it. He held my hand in his while he glared at the other three men in the room. I could feel his anger and bloodlust radiating off of him in waves.

"What happened here?" he asked.

Samuel eyed our connected hands, his eyes flickering over to my face for a split second. From the look in his eyes, I could already tell that he knew what I was thinking about.

Nevertheless, he didn’t make a comment. He turned to look at Rowan and explained everything from top to bottom once more. Even from where I was, I could see Rowan’s expression turning darker and darker the more Samuel spoke.

"Thus, if possible, you might wish to consider moving into Miss Briar’s room temporarily, or she could move to yours," Samuel finished. "After all, it could help accelerate her healing process."

Rowan turned to look at me. Even though his expression didn’t change much, for some reason, I could feel that he was trying to assure me with just his gaze alone. He gently let go of my hand, and the moment he did, I could feel that weight pressing down on my chest once more.

Yet, Rowan didn’t seem to notice. He stood up and walked towards Soren and Cassian.

Without a warning, he reeled his arm back and punched Cassian straight across the jaw.

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