The Triplet Alphas' Regret

My head was reeling. No wonder my entire body felt as though my joints had been glued together. Every movement felt as though my limbs were weighed down. I hadn’t moved in three whole days!

"H-How did I..." I stammered, unsure how to phrase my sentence. There was a sinking feeling in my chest. "Why didn’t you wake me?" I asked instead.

I had been out for three whole days. That was so much time wasted. In three days, so much could’ve happened. I still had not figured out who exactly took the tea mixture in Willow’s bedroom yet, even though I had an idea.

But without concrete evidence, everything was merely speculation. My current position in the pack would not allow me to make claims against another person like that without it backfiring on me.

However, with three days passing, it could mean that any evidence that could’ve aided me would’ve been thoroughly cleaned up or destroyed by now. Since they had already removed the bag of tea leaves, it meant that they probably already knew we were onto them.

Just the thought of that caused my entire body to deflate. I buried my face into my hands, feeling my chest tighten as breathing got slightly more difficult. Just then, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, and a bit of warmth surged into my body.

I looked up to see Rowan had returned to the bedside, his face dangerously close.

"You needed rest," he said. "Your body was recovering. I could not have woken you up even if I tried."

"I don’t have time to rest!" I said, exasperated. "You should have thrown a bucket of cold water over me or something!"

Rowan recoiled a little, confused by my outburst. However, he didn’t seem angry, merely curious. His eyebrows furrowed. "I wouldn’t do such a thing to you. That would have caused you to catch a cold."

I shook my head. There was no point in beating a dead horse now. I had to find out what happened in these three days, and Samuel was my best bet.

"Where is Samuel? Is he in his office?" I asked, throwing the blanket off me. "I need to see him."

I scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up, only for my knees to fail me at the last second. If it weren’t for the fact that Rowan had caught me in time, my knees would’ve slammed into the floor. Carpeted or not, it would’ve no doubt left another nasty bruise that would last for days.

Rowan’s fingers tightened their grip around my upper arm as he helped me back onto the bed.

"You just woke up, and the first thing you’re looking for is a man who isn’t your mate?" he asked, frowning. His face looked absolutely thunderous.

Even though I understood why, his displeasure only caused me to scowl.

"Not everything is romantic or sexual," I said through gritted teeth, trying my best not to snap at him directly.

No matter what, Rowan did help me through the pain of the incomplete mark. I had to at least give him the smallest bit of credit there. He didn’t need to tend to me for three days straight. If this had happened just months ago, I would’ve never dreamed of him doing so.

Yet, it was also the undeniable truth that Rowan was the first thing I woke up to.

"I had him search something for me, and I need to know whether he has gotten any results yet," I said.

This was the best explanation I could give Rowan without revealing too much. Put it plainly, I still didn’t trust him enough.

Sure, he could be on my side now on the surface, but if anything happened, I couldn’t guarantee that he would still stick by me no matter rain or shine. In the chance that Willow vouched for Violet instead — which was a possibility, considering they were best friends — Rowan might side with Willow, which in turn would mean siding with Violet.

Where would that leave me, other than under the executioner’s blade for falsely accusing the current Luna of murdering the future possible Luna?

Until I had all the cards, I wouldn’t be showing my hand.

"Healer Samuel is currently busy," Rowan curtly said. He still didn’t seem too pleased that I asked for Samuel the first thing after waking up, but at least his expression wasn’t as murderous as it had been seconds ago. "He isn’t in his office. There have been a lot of cases of poisoning around the pack lately, and he is currently investigating the source, along with the warriors."

My face paled at this new information.

"Poisoning?" I echoed. "As in, wolfsbane?"

"Possibly," he said, purposely keeping things vague. "But that is none of your concern. Right now, what you need is rest. You’re not fully recovered yet."

"I feel perfectly fine," I insisted. "Are you going to check on the poisoning cases right now?"

"Why?" Rowan asked.

"I want to come with you."

"No." He shot me down immediately. "And no, I am heading to the kitchen to get you some food. Until I return, you’re to stay here. Do you understand?"

"But―"

"Stay," he said, his eyes glowing subtly, "put."

Even though I had already defected from the pack, for some reason, Rowan’s Alpha command still worked on me. Maybe it was because he had marked me successfully, and on top of that, yet another Alpha from the same pack had left an incomplete mark on me.

Whether I liked it or not, I was now tied with the Shadowclaw Pack through Rowan and Soren.

I could feel my body tensing, and it was extremely difficult to move an inch from the spot I sat in. It was as though my body had grown roots to hold me down in place. No matter how much I strained, I couldn’t get up.

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t as though I had room for argument anyway.

Seeing that I was finally compliant, Rowan straightened up and left without another word. I couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t locked the door behind him, possibly because he knew for a fact that I couldn’t move from the bed anyway, and no one would dare enter his room without his explicit permission.

I exhaled loudly with a groan, falling back onto the mattress. Now that he was gone, my body did feel a little lighter.

It took several minutes of experimentation, but I discovered that I could finally move from the bed― I simply couldn’t exit the room. Whenever I tried, my muscles would fail to listen, and it felt impossible to lift my foot to get out of the door.

Left with no other option, I opened the door and peered out, my feet still safely positioned behind the boundary.

It was strange. There didn’t seem to be anybody around. Even though this section of the pack house was usually restricted, there would still be a couple of servants darting around, especially near Violet’s bedroom. She usually had an endless list of requests, even while she wasn’t actually physically in her bedroom.

Yet, the corridor was completely deserted.

I frowned. I did wonder why Rowan had to go get the food himself when he could’ve easily ordered someone else to do so via the mindlink, but I didn’t question it at first because I wanted him gone. But now that I thought about it, it was eerily quiet.

What had really happened in those three days?

"Shouldn’t you be in bed?" a voice said, causing me to jump a little in surprise.

I took a step back into the room, looking in the direction of the sudden voice. Samuel stood a short distance away, his arms folded across his chest as he examined me. I hadn’t noticed him standing there, since I was a little too engrossed with staring down Violet’s door.

"Samuel!" I said. Then, my eyes widened with alarm. "I thought you were busy."

"I am always busy," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I was just stopping by to pass Alpha Rowan some documents. But I see that he isn’t here in the room with you."

"He left to get some food," I said.

I pinched my lips together.

Since Samuel was here, I might as well ask him. There was a nagging feeling in my chest that told me the wolfsbane incident we were investigating might be tied to the recent poisoning that was spreading across Shadowclaw.

"Speaking of which, do you know where the omegas have gone? I don’t remember it usually being this quiet."

"Ah, right," Samuel said. "Several omega servants have been arrested for suspicious activity, and manpower is currently pretty tight."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If you’re wondering why Alpha Rowan had to go fetch the food himself, it’s because he’s probably worried that someone will try poisoning your food next. After all, he did nurse you back to life. It would be a waste if you died from poisoning."

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