The Triplet Alphas' Regret

"And I nearly died from excruciating pain, so I think he got the better end of the deal," I chimed in sarcastically.

Cassian’s face purpled at my retort. He didn’t expect me to argue with him, and he stormed towards me. Just as I thought I would have to fight him, Rowan cleared his throat warningly and stepped forward, forming a human barrier between us.

"You still owe her an apology," Rowan said, glaring daggers at Cassian.

"An apology?! Whatever for?" Cassian squawked.

"For causing her this much pain to begin with," Rowan glowered. "After she bothered to save you by spending time in physical contact with you, an apology for your actions is the least that she deserves."

Part of me felt my cheeks warming at Rowan’s blatant support, and at the way he spoke up for me. But another part of me began to worry― Rowan hadn’t known why Cassian needed my presence to heal him to begin with. If Cassian opened his big mouth to blab about how he had been poisoned with wolfsbane that I had, I could be looking at a nice stay in the dungeons even with an iron-tight alibi.

After all, I had the wolfsbane, yet I didn’t turn it in for the Alphas to keep safe. And now the wolfsbane was missing. Even if the current bout of poisoning wasn’t caused by the wolfsbane I had in possession, there was still a chance that the culprit had taken it and was just waiting for the right time to unleash hell on the pack.

"It’s fine," I cut in, grabbing the back of Rowan’s shirt to hold him back. "As long as I don’t have to do it again, I’m good."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Cassian demanded.

"It means that you should probably think twice about eating food you haven’t made yourself," Soren joined the conversation with a snort. "And if I do look like shit, it’s no thanks to you to begin with."

He stepped in and closed the door behind him, leaning against the wooden door with his arms folded across his chest.

With Soren’s timely interjection, Cassian forgot that he was arguing with me and changed his target to Soren.

"Don’t put the blame on me! I wasn’t the one who gave you this nasty slap on your cheek," Cassian said with a frown, leaning in to take a closer look at Soren’s face. He turned to me and narrowed his eyes. "Did you do this to him?"

"Nope, this was all Violet," I said with a shrug.

"I don’t believe you." Cassian shook his head furiously. "She would never dare to lay a hand on an Alpha! That’s not her personality!"

"Violet did do it," Rowan said. "I was there when it happened."

Cassian’s mouth fell open as he realized I was telling the truth. He took a second look at the red imprint on Soren’s cheek and tutted. "What did you do to piss her off so badly?"

I perked my ears. I wanted to know as well― I had heard snatches of their argument, but it wasn’t enough for me to form a full picture.

"Did you sleep with Violet?" Rowan asked, without preamble.

"What?! No! Of course not!" Soren immediately refuted the accusation, sounding aghast. His face was oscillating between red and white, and he quickly peered over Rowan’s body to look me in the eye. "Briar, you have to believe me. Nothing happened between us."

"Sure, whatever you say," I replied.

The insistent vehemence in his voice stunned me, along with Soren’s desperate, pleading eyes. But then I reminded myself that I shouldn’t read too much into it. Soren had said many things, and backtracked on them just as quickly.

If Soren had slept with Violet, that would explain her sudden dramatic behavior when he didn’t stand up for her. After all, when she slept with the triplets in the past, they would be at her beck and call at all times. Soren siding with me over her would cause her to crash out enough to resort to physical violence.

"Why do you need to explain yourself to Briar?" Cassian interrupted, his tone withering as he sneered at Soren. "It’s fine if you do sleep with Violet. She’s our chosen mate!"

Rowan growled so menacingly I almost thought he would strike Cassian where he stood.

"If you guys want to start a fight, take it outside," I said firmly, making my way to Willow’s bedside to hold her hand. "Don’t disturb Willow with your nonsense."

At my words, the three of them reluctantly calmed down. Rowan came to sit beside me, while Soren hovered a little further back. Cassian moved to the other side of Willow’s bed, putting as much distance between the two of us as possible, which was just how I preferred it. I looked over my sister carefully, heartened at the improvement in her complexion.

"Where’s Samuel? He said he would drop by to check on Willow once he was done with his tasks. Why’s he not here yet?" Rowan asked with a frown.

Cassian shrugged. "Beats me. Why don’t you ask him yourself?"

Rowan scowled. He still hadn’t forgiven Cassian for causing me so much distress with the failed marking, and his flippant behavior toward my condition wasn’t winning him any favors. I shot him a warning look, reminding him to remain civil.

Rowan let out a sigh. There was a pause before he spoke up again. "I just asked Samuel; he’s still checking on the other poisoned omegas. He said he would be arriving soon."

"By the time he gets here, Willow would already be awake. There are so many cases that need his attention," Cassian said with a scoff. "It’s almost like someone is purposely drugging our pack members."

His voice seemed to carry a lot more hostility than needed, and there was no mistaking the emphasis of his words as he glared at me with extreme displeasure. Well, there were no prizes for guessing who he blamed for the poisoning cases. If Cassian was there when we stumbled upon Violet and Soren, the entire confrontation might have gone quite differently.

I merely raised an eyebrow, too used to his behavior to care. But Rowan caught it and shifted closer to me as an expression of protectiveness, until our arms were side by side. I could feel the warmth from his arm, radiating against my own.

That only made Cassian bare his teeth at me more aggressively.

If I stayed here any longer, a fight would break out. I stood up and dusted away imaginary dirt from my pants.

"I’ll go check on Samuel and see what’s the matter," I suggested. "You three can wait here and look after Willow for me."

After all, this would be a good opportunity for me to speak with Samuel in private. In his office, he might be able to share a bit more information on the poison that he was helping me check on. Our last conversation had been rudely disrupted, and this would keep the triplets off my back for just enough time for me to figure out what I needed.

However, almost as soon as I said it, all three men jumped up and objected almost immediately.

"Absolutely not!"

"No."

"There’s no need to."

I raised an eyebrow, staring pointedly at Cassian, who yelled the loudest.

"And why not?" I asked him. "You’re all rather impatient, aren’t you? Besides, I know you can’t wait to be rid of me, so I’ll gladly get out of your hair before you lose control and hit me over my sister’s unconscious body."

"Like hell you’re going to find him alone!" Cassian snarled. "Who knows what you would be doing with that guy behind closed doors? We want to reduce the number of poisoning cases, not increase them!"

"You think too highly of me. The only thing I would be doing would be getting him here sooner," I calmly said, folding my arms across my chest. "Since none of you seem to be able to get a simple healer here, I don’t mind going to fetch him myself."

"Cassian is right," Rowan said, stepping forward.

I frowned at his words. On the other hand, Cassian seemed surprised. He pointed at himself and said, "I am? I mean, of course I am!" He gathered himself and nodded furiously. "See! Rowan is finally seeing sense!"

"You shouldn’t be going alone," Rowan said. Cassian proudly puffed his chest out, as if Rowan’s words had offered him some form of confidence boost. However, as soon as it happened, he deflated like a popped balloon when Rowan continued. "It’s currently too dangerous. We don’t know who’s out there causing those poisonings. If they choose to use other methods of poisoning besides food, you can easily become their next victim."

I glanced at Cassian from the corner of my eye, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him. However, it seemed like I didn’t need to. Cassian caught my gaze, and he scowled, as though already knowing I wanted to make fun of him.

"Well, someone needs to remain here to watch over Willow," I said. "We can’t all go."

"That’s right," Rowan continued. "So―"

"I’ll go with her," Soren suddenly volunteered.

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