#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Harlow

Admittedly, I had forgiven the brothers at some point in the middle of the night. Staying mad at them was a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would be. I think that was probably proof of this stupid matebond and whatever it was doing to me.

Normally I wasn’t the jealous type and I hated men who were jealous, but the more I thought about what happened last night, the more I actually thought their possessiveness was a bit of a turn on. Who am I kidding? It was hot as hell.

But, I had to let them sweat it out enough to know that I was serious when it came to listening to my opinions on things. What I really didn’t like was how quickly Gabriel and Godric shot me and my emotions down. That was not okay. So, when I refused to open the door for Griffin that morning, it was more on principle than anger. And, if I wasn’t already over it, their apologies would have definitely done the trick.

After breakfast, the brothers took me on a walk through the packgrounds. They said they had to deal with some stuff on the training fields but they didn’t want to be away from me right now so I agreed to go along.

The training fields looked like several huge sports fields with lines all over the nicely mowed grass. There was a huge, raised circular stage in the center with an observation deck above the stage. An outdoor gym, track, and what appeared to be an obstacle course was also present beside a large building that, I assumed, was an indoor gym. The fields were already busy with warrior training.

“You can wait up here, angel.” Griffin said, leading up to the observation deck.

“Make sure you stay up here. The warriors can get dangerous when in training mode.” Godric said, giving me a stern look.

I rolled my eyes at him but nodded in response. Those wolves down there looked serious enough for me not to want to mess with them, anyway. The Alphas ran back down the steps and joined whatever kind of fighting was happening on the circle stage. From my defense classes, I assumed this is what you would call sparring.

At first, they were offering the warriors advice until Godric stripped out of his shirt and stepped into the center of the stage. I tried not to drool over his naked chest and rock hard abs. I nearly died when Gabriel and Griffin also removed their shirts and joined in. All three triplets had well toned six packs, hard chests covered in a sexy amoung of chest hair, and a deep V that disappeared into their dangerously low hanging pants.

Did it just get hotter out here? I think I might be having a heat stroke.

They joined in on the matches, taking down the warrior wolves with ease. I gasped when one of the warriors landed a blow to Gabriel’s jaw. He shook it off and didn’t even seem phased as he mounted a counter attack, taking down the warrior with a few more moves. He looked up at me and shot me a cheeky grin, letting me know that he heard me and that he was okay.

“Ew, isn’t training so gross?” Nova said as she joined me on the deck.

I jumped at the sound of her voice since I hadn’t heard her approach in the first place, I was too engrossed in the scene before me.

“Oh, I don’t know.” I shrugged with a dreamy expression. Nova gagged,

“Those are my brothers.” She reminded me.

“They aren’t mine.” I pointed out and she snorted with laughter.

“Have you seen enough? Come on.” Nova looped her arm with mine and we walked down the steps from the observation deck. She went to the side of the stage and waved Godric over.

“I’m taking Harlie back to the packhouse for some girl time.” She informed him.

“You’ve had enough girl time.” Godric argued. I laughed at his puppy dog expression.

“You guys have a bunch of work to do, it’s fine.” I assured him, leaning forward to give him a quick kiss on his cheek. He really was sweaty.

“Alright, fine. Straight to the packhouse and nowhere else. Waylon will be waiting.” He grumbled and I knew then that I had him wrapped around my little finger.

“Hey, Waylon.” I laughed, waving at the Gamma as Nova pulled me through the living room.

“The Alphas warned me that you all were coming.” He smirked and pointed towards my room. I could hear that all the girls were already there, “I didn’t know guarding the Luna would include so much squealing and girl talk.” He said, plopping down on the sofa with an unamused expression.

“Oh but you were all about what an honor your job was when we first met.” I pointed out in a mocking tone. He just waved his hand at me dismissively.

We piled on to my bed and the girls demanded to get all the juicy details of the brothers’ apologies. I think they enjoyed hearing stories about their mushy Alphas. After a while, the girls all ended up in my closet and were mocking my lack of clothing. They were knee deep in complaining about how badly I needed a shopping trip when Waylon came bursting into the room.

“What now?” Kori started to complain but clamped her mouth shut after seeing the look on Waylon’s face.

“You all need to stay in here.” He said, shoving us back into the closet.

“What’s going on?” Nova demanded.

“There are more rogues breaching the borders. I’m locking you in here and the Alphas are sending up more guards.” Waylon explained quickly.

“Waylon….” I stumbled forward but Waylon grabbed me by the arms and pushed me backwards, and he wasn’t gentle about it either.

“Luna, with all do respect, shut up and stay put.” He growled, his eyes black as night. He slammed the closet door shut and I heard it lock.

“Well that was rude.” I muttered.

“He’s on high alert right now and all of his instincts are screaming, protect the Luna.” Kori explained, wrapping her arms around me.

“Is that hard for you? Having your mate be so devoted to me?” I wondered.

“No, my duty is to you, Luna. All of us put you and the Alpha above everything else.” Kori smiled comfortingly at me.

A howl rattled the packhouse and something inside me snapped. I threw myself at the door and started screaming for Waylon to open it.

“What’s wrong, Harlie?” Annie looked worried as she tried to pull me back from the door.

“That was Griffin.” I said and everyone’s face paled.

Don’t ask me how I knew it, but that particular howl belonged to Griffin and it wasn’t a happy sound. I gasped as pain shot through my stomach. I wrapped my arm around my abdomen and dropped to the ground.

“Something’s…..wrong.” I gasped, struggling to suck in air.

Nova was crying as she dropped down in front of me.

“Is it Griff?” She asked and I nodded. She threw her arms around me and held me, both of us shaking violently.

“I need to get out of here!” I shrieked.

“Waylon’s not going to let you out until it’s safe.” Kori shook her head sadly.

“I don’t need him to let me out.” I shoved Nova off of me and stood up.

“What….” Annie’s voice trailed off as I started digging through the closet.

I found a bobby pin stuffed in the pocket of one of my jackets and got to work on the door. Luckily, it was just one of those privacy locks and it clicked open easily.

“How did you know how to do that?” Annie looked at me in shock.

“I was a foster kid.” I shrugged and they all exchanged glances. I’m sure I would answer some questions about that later, but, for now, all I could think about was getting to Griffin.

“Luna?” Waylon gasped when he saw us bursting from the bedroom door.

“What’s wrong with Griffin?” I demanded, stomping up to him and grabbing the collar of his shirt in my hand.

Something bubbled up inside my chest and came pouring out of me, making me feel powerful and commanding. Whatever it was, it seemed to have an affect on all the wolves in the room because they stiffened up and Waylon responded promptly,

“He was attacked and is being taken to the infirmary. The rogues are still attacking.”

“I need to get to him. Now.” I left no room for argument as I shoved Waylon away and walked out of the room.

“You can’t….” Waylon ran after me, starting to argue.

“Come with me, then. Girls, stay here with the guards.” I told the others.

“My brother…..” Nova begged and I motioned for her to come on.

“The rest of you, get back into the closet where it’s safe.” I demanded and they all nodded,

“Yes, Luna.” They replied stiffly and scurried back into the room.

Well, that was weird.

“Show me the way.” I ordered Waylon. He sighed loudly and motioned for Nova and I to follow him.

“The Alphas are going to kill me for this.” He mumbled to himself.

“I’ll handle them.” I said and Nova smirked at me,

“Go Luna.” She whispered under her breath and I couldn’t help but return her smile.