Resisting the Alpha Triplets by Cara Anderson

Ch. 37 Unfaithful

Colton’ POV

The second my brothers entered my office, my wolf was on high alert. They reeked of our mate and it ruffled his fur that they’d been with her and he’d been left out. Even more so when he detected the distinct smell of sex. That had my hackles up too.

“Go take a shower. You stink!” I snarled at them.

“Jealous, Colton?” Cary jabbed at me, the little shit.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“We don’t stink! We smell like our mate. It’s every wolf’s desire to carry their mate’s scent.” Clay countered offensively.

“At least every sane wolf.” Cary muttered under his breath, though I had no doubt he meant for me to hear it.

“Is that why you’re here? To torment me and my wolf for ignoring our mate? Because if it is, you shouldn’t have bothered. My wolf is doing enough of that for both of you.” I admitted.

“Of course Kai wants his mate, Colton. A mate is a gift from the Moon Goddess herself. Your soul-mate, you perfect match. How could you turn your back on that?” Clay challenged.

“We saw you last night in the forest and then in dad’s office. You wanted to go to her. It took everything in you to fight it. It was obvious in the way you balled your fists and clenched your jaw, in the way you kept drifting toward her before you caught yourself and forced yourself back. Why the fuck are you fighting that?” Cary piled on some more.

“Because I don’t fucking deserve her! That’s why!” I blurted out, caving in to the pressure.

“Of course you don’t. None of us do.” Clay stated matter-of-factly, like it was old news. “After the way we treated her growing up, we’re lucky she didn’t reject us on the spot. But she didn’t, and that means there’s a chance to earn her forgiveness and convince her to accept the bond.”

“From the smell of you, it seems like there’s more than a chance.” I bit out, my tone thick with envy.

“She was hurting and we were there when she needed us.” Cary shrugged like it was no big deal, a reaction that had me eyeing him curiously.

“She left this morning to go see Nathan. “Clay filled in the blanks.

Ah! So Cary had slipped into defense mode, shielding his heart from impending wreckage. That was his usual MO, pretend not to care, shut himself off before anyone had the chance to hurt him.

“So she’ll still have him to fall back on when the rejection takes place.” I taunted, my turn to provoke a reaction.

Cary lunged across my desk and wrapped his hands around my throat at lightning speed. Even my wolf wasn’t fast enough to avoid him.

“Don’t you ever fucking say that again! No one is rejecting our mate! No one!” He roared in my face.

His claws were out, piercing my skin, and I could feel the blood trickling down my neck. I looked over his shoulder at Clay for help, as he was usually the voice of reason when Cary’s temper jumped the tracks, But this time, all I could see was the black of his wolf in his eyes and the same claw- tipped hands as our brother.

I prised Cary’s hand from my throat and coughed, sucking in huge lungfuls of air. Unfortunately, that only served to imbed Mallory’s scent even deeper into me. My wolf paced, desperate to shift and go to her.

Clayton and Cary retracted their claws but their wolves still pushed forward, ready to defend their mate bond at the slightest provocation. At this point, I felt like my own wolf would shred me from the inside out if that’s what it took to keep me from rejecting our mate. Not that I’d blame him. The whole situation was a fucking cluster and it was my fault.

I slumped back into my chair, scrubbing my hands over my face in exhaustion. Between the lack of sleep, the emotional turmoil of yearning for a mate I couldn’t have, and a mutinous wolf, I was spent. And that was before my brothers showed up to torture me with her scent.

“How is she?” I broke down and asked the question that had been haunting me.

“Confused, scared, feeling betrayed and questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. And if that weren’t enough, she’s mated to three assholes who treated her like shit her entire life. Oh, and one of them is acting like she doesn’t exist.” Clay laid it out for me.

“Wait, did you mean emotionally, or were you asking about the sex?” Cary smirked, his usual smart-ass demeanor making a reappearance. ” Because let me tell you brother, I’ve seen a lot of women naked but I’ve never seen a more perfect set of tits in my life. A perfect handful with rosy nipples topped with tight pink little buds.”

“Mmm, and her pussy,” Clay chimed in, licking his lips, “such a pretty pink and so fucking tight, I could barely fit two fingers inside. But so wet with smooth, velvety walls and the sweetest slick I’ve ever tasted.”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” I gritted out, my hands gripping the desk so hard my knuckles were turning white.

I actually groaned out loud when I rubbed my rock-hard cock through my jeans to relieve the pressure.

“Our mate is a fucking Goddess.” Cary went on, neglecting my warning. “Last night was the single best night of my life and my cock wasn’t even involved. She is fucking perfect and you won’t ruin it for us. Or yourself. We won’t let you.”

And if I thought it couldn’t get any worse than listening to my brothers describe, in painstaking detail, what a siren our mate was while sporting a painful erection I had no chance of tending to, I was fucking wong!

“Is it true? Is Mallory your mate?” Darcy demanded, bursting through my office door without knocking.

“Darcy? What are you doing here?” I strategically changed the subject, my hand jolting away from my cock.

“I needed to see you, Colton. Last night you sent me away with a promise to tell me what was going on, but I never heard from you. Now I understand why.” She said, sounding broken.

“Could you give us the room? We’ll continue this conversation later.” I said, spearing my brothers with a pointed look, a clear warning not to argue.

Clay nodded and turned for the door but Cary just couldn’t hold his peace.

“Fine! We’ll go. But this isn’t over. And don’t you fucking dare do anything to betray our mate!” He blustered.

Darcy flinched when Cary slammed the door behind him and I felt a prick of guilt at seeing her so devastated. I pushed away from my desk and made my way over to the sofa, patting the spot beside me.

“Please come sit down, Darc. I’ll tell you everything and we’ll talk this out.

“Okay.” She said in a meek tone, taking slow, tentative steps to join me.

I held her trembling hand in mine as I poured out the entire story. I told her all about what happened when I arrived in the woods to find Mallory struggling to shift, the truth about her identity and the reason our parents kept the secret all these years. I hated the way her lip quivered and her eyes turned glassy with unshed tears when I confirmed that Mallory was my mate.

Our mate. But I promised to hold nothing back from her so I didn’t.

“So what does this mean for us?” She asked shakily once I’d finished my account,

“Darcy, I haven’t acknowledged the bond. My wolf did of course. There was no stopping him from recognizing his mate. But I swear I haven’t touched her, haven’t interacted with her at all and I won’t unless absolutely necessary. I chose you, Darcy. I made a promise to you and I intend to keep it.”

That seemed to put her mind at ease for the moment. Her shoulders relaxed and she offered me a smile. But with her next breath, she asked the question that erased any progress we had made.

“So, when will you reject her?” She pressed.

“Darcy, it’s just not that simple. Clay and Cary want this bond and we have no idea what will happen if only one of us rejects her. I can’t do anything until we know more. It wouldn’t be fair to them.” I stared at her with imploring eyes, willing her to understand..

“So what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Just sit back and watch the bond pull you to her and away from me more and more every day? You won’t be able to fight the bond for long and I’ll end up losing you anyway.” She choked out, wiping frantically at the tears that had finally started to fall.

“Darcy. Please try to be patient. We’ll figure this out.” I vowed, pulling her into my arms and stroking her hair comfortingly while she sniffled into my shirt.

I may have realized I wasn’t in love with her but I wasn’t a total asshole. It felt disloyal to my mate, holding Darcy in my arms, but if I was going to commit to her, I would have to get over that feeling. So I let her cling to me until her tears ran dry. Once she’d managed to calm down, she pushed away from my chest and gifted me a watery smile.

“Thank you for telling me everything, for being honest with me.” She said,

“Of course, sweetheart. I’ll always be honest with you.” She nodded.

“I have to go to work. Can I see you later?” She asked timidly.

“Sure. Call me and we’ll make some plans.” I stood, taking her hand and pulling her up with me.

“Okay.” She agreed. Then leaned in for a kiss goodbye.

“Darcy, we can’t.” I told her, grasping her shoulders to hold her away from me. “It would be a betrayal of the mate bond and would cause Mallory pain.”

“I see. You don’t want her as your mate but I still can’t have you.” She spat, then turned and stormed out the door.

I should have felt bad that she was hurting. I should have hated the pain this was causing her. But instead, I was wracked with guilt for being unfaithful to my Goddess-given mate. And if I was honest, unfaithful to myself.