Resisting the Alpha Triplets by Cara Anderson

Ch. 15 Tricks And Falsehoods

Cary’s POV

“Where the fuck was she?” I asked as my brothers and I grabbed our gear and headed off the training field. It was a rhetorical question. I knew they didn’t have an answer or they would have told me the first twenty times I’d asked that morning.

Mallory hadn’t shown up to help lead the workout and no one seemed to know where she was. I’d tried calling her phone several times but it just went straight to voicemail. I even asked a few of the warriors I’d seen her hang out with before but they didn’t know either.

I knew she wasn’t thrilled that Colt had denied her request to work elsewhere but she’d been pissed before and still showed up to training. Besides, it was a direct command from her future Alpha. That wasn’t something easily ignored.

I was speed walking my way back to the packhouse with Clay right on my heels. All I wanted was to shower and go find the little wolf who’d been consuming my thoughts and haunting my dreams all day and night. Colton was following behind but seemed much less concerned than we were. Not that I was surprised.

As the house came into sight, I noticed Mal’s car parked right in front. It wasn’t in a parking spot but right by the stair, like it was poised for a quick getaway. I took the front steps two at a time, anxious to get inside and see what she had to say for herself.

“Mallory!” I called, walking around the ground floor, looking for her.

When I didn’t find her, I made my way up to the next level, thinking maybe she had gone to the office looking for US.

“She’s up here somewhere.” Clay said from beside me. “Her scent is stronger up here.”

We both shoved through the office door but she wasn’t there either. Just as we walked back out, Mallory came out from the room next door, our father’s office.

“Hey little wolf!” Clay cooed to her, always the softy. I was more likely to demand an explanation for her MIA act this morning so it was probably better he got to her first.

“Clay, Cary.” She acknowledged with a nod in our direction but she didn’t slow down.

She headed straight for the stairs but just as she was about to step down, she nearly ran into Colt on his way up. Her head snapped up and their eyes met but the look she gave him could make a grown man cower. The starburst in her hazel eyes turned to molten fire, and I had no doubt she would have burned him to ash if she could. In that moment I knew he was the reason for her absence.

She stepped around him without a word. I didn’t even wait for him to take the next step before I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

“What the fuck did you do?” I exploded in anger.

“Get the fuck off me!” Colton growled, shoving me in the chest while trying to pry my hands off his shirt.

“Boys! My office, now!” Dad bellowed.

We all filed in and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see mom there too, leaning against the desk beside dad. Her eyes narrowed at Colton when she caught sight of him but she didn’t look particularly happy with any of us.

“Sit!” she ordered, and as scary as dad could be, mom was worse so we immediately obeyed.

“Which one of you wants to explain why Mallory is under the impression she needs to pay back the cost of her academy tuition?” Dad barked sternly.

The three of us looked around sheepishly, waiting to see who was brave enough to incur his wrath. Turns out it was Clayton.

“We didn’t really mean for her to pay it back. It was just an excuse to get her to spend time with us so we could try to win her over.” He admitted.

Dad sucked in a deep breath, trying to stay calm while mom just shook her head.

“When the three of you were born and not one of you was a girl, I knew I had a challenge on my hands. And I did my best not to raise three idiots. I really did. But apparently I failed.” Mom lamented to herself.

We may have been idiots but none of us were dumb enough to challenge her opinion.

“Let’s be clear. From this moment forward, Mallory will not be involved in training in any way that is not of her own choosing. And if she wants to attend, she will choose her own partners. Also, you will not interfere with her role in this pack in any way unless she specifically asks you to.”

Dad laid out his new rules and we all nodded in agreement.

“Now, Colton, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to look me in the eye when you answer it.” Mom stated and he nodded his agreement. ” Has Mallory said or done anything to interfere with your relationship with Darcy in any way?”

“What? Why would you ask that?” I butted in, unable to hold my tongue. But she just gave me her best ‘mom’ look, shutting me up without a word.

“No ma’am.” Colton answered respectfully.

“Then why did she feel the need to come here today, apologizing for causing a problem for you and asking to be transferred to the infirmary so she won’t make Darcy uncomfortable in the future. She seemed to think you would be too nice to ask her to yourself.” Mom elaborated.

“I will ask you again. What the fuck did you do?” I ground out, barely holding back from punching him with my clenched fists.

Colton sighed in defeat and sunk deeper into his chair.

“I went to her house last night and… and I kissed her.” He confessed. “I went there to tell her we needed to stay away from each other because I can’t stop thinking about her and it is affecting my relationship with Darcy. But when I got there, I didn’t even get through the door when I had this overwhelming urge to kiss her. It was like I couldn’t help myself. But then I was angry at myself for betraying Darcy like that and I took it out on her.”

He spilled the whole tale with shame written all over him. I was torn between seething over him hurting Mallory and being elated that he finally kissed her. Clay was smirking at him and our parents just looked dumbfounded.

“The three of you need to get your shit together!” Dad growled at us. “Your mother and I wanted you to consider making Mallory your Luna. But we did not want you to resort to tricks and falsehoods to do it. And you certainly shouldn’t be treating her disrespectfully just to soothe your own conscience.”

“You all owe her an apology!” Mom scolded. “And if I were you, I would do it sooner than later. Her birthday is right around the corner and based on the way the three of you are acting, that girl just might turn out to be your mate. And if she is, so far I can’t think of a single reason for her not to reject you!”

And with that, they both stomped out of the room, leaving us to contemplate our mistakes and weather their disappointment.

“You are a fucking asshole!” I spit at Colton.

“I know.” He replied quietly. “I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“It’s really not that complicated.” Clay told him. “You break up with Darcy and go for the girl you can’t let go of no matter how much you think you should.”

“It’s not that simple! I love Darcy and I made promises to her. What kind of man would I be if I turned my back on that?” He tugged at his hair in frustration.

“The kind whose wolf and human sides have no control over who they fall for. Darcy will understand that eventually. And loving someone is not the same as being in love with them. If you truly care about her, you would give her the chance to find someone to love her the way you can’t.” I said, hoping he would take my advice to heart.

“How did you feel when you were kissing her?” Clay pressed.

“Like I could drown in her and die happy.” He answered truthfully.

“Have you ever felt like that kissing Darcy?” I asked. He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to, His face said it all. ” Seems pretty simple to me then.”

“I’ll think about it.” He promised, and I knew not to push him further.

“Now, we have to figure out how to apologize to Mallory and get her to actually listen to us when we do.” Clay reminded us.

All I could do was groan. That girl was stubborn as fuck! And Colt had only made it worse with what he’d done to her. I was not looking forward to that endeavor.