Resisting the Alpha Triplets by Cara Anderson

Ch. 49 Without Her

Colton’s POV

Could my life be more of a shit show right now? I hadn’t showered, I hadn’t eaten and I hadn’t slept. How could I do any of those things, go on about my business as usual when the woman who held my heart wouldn’t so much as look at me?

Now that I knew what it was like to touch Mallory, taste her, hold her in my arms while we slept, I doubted I could do any of those normal things ever again. Not without her.

I’d been able to fool myself into believing I didn’t need her, that I could let her go and live, if not a fulfilling life then at least a peaceful one, with Darcy. But that was before. No one who had ever had the privilege of loving Mallory would ever willingly give her up.

So here I was wearing a hole in my office carpet as I pace back and forth, unable to calm my racing heart. A flight of ideas rolled through my head as I frantically searched for the one that would bring her back to me. But so far none seemed good enough.

My wolf hadn’t spoken to me since the morning Mallory had seen me on the training field with Darcy. Our mate may have unleashed hell on me for what I’d done, but deep down she was hurting and Kai could feel her pain. He hated me for it and I couldn’t blame him.

My brothers weren’t speaking to me either. Unless it was related to official pack business, they were both freezing me out. In their minds, I’d just made it even less likely that Mallory would accept the bond, a bond they’ve made no secret of wanting from the beginning. If I couldn’t find a way to fix this, they might never forgive me.

And then there was Mallory herself. It wasn’t enough that she refused to accept my explanation and basically cut off all contact with me. She had to outright shame me in front of everyone, including Alpha Richardson, when all I’d done was express my legitimate concern for her safety.

Although, if I was being honest with myself, what hurt me more than her obvious disdain for me was the fact that she trusted Nathan to keep her safe when she trusted me for nothing. She could be running headlong into a trap with this damn meet-n-greet mission she was on and Goddess forbid I care enough to try to stop her. Nathan’s word apparently carries more weight than mine. Than any of ours.

We’re her Goddess-given mates! How could she think we would ever willingly let anything happen to her? I would literally lay down my life before I would let a single hair on her head be harmed and I know my brothers would do the same.

Nathan may care about her, may love her even, but he could never feel the depth of emotion we do with the mate bond between us. And without that kind of soul-deep connection, I can’t trust that he’ll make the right decision if her life was on the line.

I staggered to my desk when the sound of my phone ringing startled me out of my thoughts. But the name flashing on the screen was just one more person who’d been avoiding me since I’d practically pushed her out of my arms to go running after Mallory. I had to wonder why she was calling me now.

“Darcy?” My tone was questioning, surprised to hear from her.

“Colton? Could we meet somewhere to talk?” She queried, her voice raspy like she’d cried recently.

“Darcy, I-” I sighed in exasperation. having had my fill of drama for the day.

“Please, Colton. I’m sorry I shut you out. I was hurt and needed some time to think. But we’ve been together for two years! We can’t just walk away from that without talking things through.” She pleaded.

“Fine.” I huffed. “I have a few things I need to wrap up here but I’ll meet you at our restaurant in an hour. Does that work?”

“That’s perfect! Thanks Colt.” She answered softly.

I hung up the phone and immediately began to pace again. Even if I had something that needed my attention I wouldn’t be able to focus on it. I was just stalling for time.

Honestly, it had been easier when Darcy wasn’t speaking to me. At least then, I didn’t have to think about what I was going to say to her. Once upon a time, not too long ago, I’d been convinced I knew exactly what the right thing to do was. I wasn’t so sure anymore.

I knew with a bone-deep certainty that what I felt for Darcy wasn’t love, but could I tell her that? And even if I could, should I?

It was my responsibility as the eldest to ensure our pack had a Luna. What if Mallory never forgave me? What if she didn’t accept our bond? Darcy would never take me back if she knew how I really wanted Mallory. If she knew she was a stand-in, a substitute for the woman I really wanted.

My phone rang again and I stabbed the green “answer” button without looking at the caller ID. I assumed it was Darcy calling back to make sure I hadn’t changed my mind and I did not have the patience for her nagging right now.

“Darcy, I told you-”

“Colton? Colton, it’s Nathan. Something went wrong! I need you to meet me at the hospital!” His frenzied words sent a chill down my spine and it felt as if all the blood left my body.

“Nathan, what happened? Where’s Mallory? Is she-” I started to reel off questions, desperate to hear him say she was okay but he didn’t.

“No time! Just get there as fast as you can!” He screamed through the phone then disconnected the call.

“Cary! Clay!” I pushed against their minds but they were both still blocking me.

I grabbed my keys from my desk and banged on Cary’s door on my way out. His scent was strong and I could smell Clay was with him.

“Open the fucking door! It’s Mallory! Nathan called. I think she’s hurt!” I roared.

In two seconds flat they both came flying through the door. They were both barefoot and wearing basketball shorts. Cary was wearing an old t-shirt and a thunderous expression. Clay was still pulling a shirt over his head but his pupils were blown wide and he looked terrified.

“What the fuck happened? He promised to keep her safe!” Cary snarled, and I almost felt sorry for Nathan if the murderous look in his eyes was any indication of what was coming for him.

“I don’t know. He just said to meet him at the hospital then he hung up!” I answered, flinching when his arm swung at me.

“I’m driving!” He growled, ripping the keys from my hand.

“She’s not dead. We would feel it.” I muttered, mostly to comfort myself.

“I’ve been feeling tired for about the last hour, my limbs felt like lead and I couldn’t think clearly, like I was in a fog. But I’ve been so worried and miserable not knowing where she was and what was happening, I just thought that’s all it was.” Clay confessed, and I was sure my eyes held the same guilt that his carried.

“I felt the same way and didn’t recognize it either.” Cary admitted, squeezing his shoulder in brotherly support.

I couldn’t tell them I’d noticed it too and wrote it off as self-pity. We were all guilty of ignoring the bond trying to tell us our mate was in trouble. But I’d spent less time with Mallory than they had and was less in tune with our bond. For that, I was more to blame than either of them.

We made it to the hospital in record time with Cary driving even faster than his usual record-breaking speed. I was almost surprised the “oh shit” handle didn’t break with me gripping it so hard but I didn’t dare suggest he slow down. As far as I was concerned, he wasn’t driving fast enough.

“Where the fuck is my mate?” Cary bellowed as he barreled through the emergency room doors, Clay and I only half a step behind him.

“Alpha Collins,” one of the nurses braved his death glare, “We have a ward full of patients. If you tell me who you are looking for I’ll try to help you.”

“Colton! Oh fuck! Colton!” Nathan came running down the hall, probably having heard Cary’s outburst.

Cary had his hand around Nathan’s throat, blood dribbling down his neck where his claws dug into his flesh, pinning him to the wall. Nathan’s attempts to pry his hand loose were futile in the face of my brother’s rage and he was quickly turning blue.

“You said she’d be safe with you! You fucking lied! If she doesn’t make it, I’ll rip your fucking heart out with my bare hands!” Cary spit out, nose to nose with the other Alpha.

“She’s-, she’s-” Nathan wheezed but lacked the necessary oxygen to finish.

“Let him go, brother.” Clay ordered. ” He can’t tell us what happened if you kill him first.”

Cary stood nose to nose with Nathan, chest heaving with every furious breath as he considered Clay;s words. Then finally, he let go of Nathan’s neck and watched him slide to the ground.

“Talk!” He blared at the man currently sucking in huge gulps of air.

“She’s going to be okay. She was drugged but the doctor is giving her fluids to flush it out of her system and her wolf healing is doing the rest. He said she just needs to sleep it off.” He explained.

“Where is she?” I butted in before he could go on.

Now that I knew she would recover, the rest could wait. I needed to see her with my own eyes. Nathan pointed to her room and we all marched down the hall.

All the air left my lungs when I stepped into Mallory’s hospital room. Her usually tan skin was white as the sheet pulled up under her chin. She looked so small and fragile lying there with a jumbled mass of wires and tubes stretched between her body and an assortment of beeping apparatus.

“How could you let this happen?” Cary asked again, the question toned down to a mere snarl that time.

“He knew we were coming. Alpha Quade knew.” Nathan drooped into a chair by the door, hanging his head in his hands.

“How is that possible?” Clay asked, a bewildered look on his face.

“I don’t know but he did. And he must have long arms because his reach goes beyond anything I was prepared for. Even the waitress was in on it.”

He went on to explain that Mallory’s drink had been drugged, prompting her to leave the booth to use the bathroom. Someone must have followed her inside because Nathan’s men watching the restaurant saw a man carrying her unconsious body out the back door. All three of us growled at that piece of information.

“You should have gone with her!” Cary insisted.

“Cary, you know it’s doubtful any of us would have followed her into the bathroom.” Clay admonished, always the voice of reason.

“I would have.” Cary grumbled but let it go.

“How could he have set up such an elaborate plan in such a short period of time. We didn’t even know there would be a meeting until shortly beforehand.” I asked, perplexed.

But I looked up to find everyone staring at me like I was missing some very important detail.

“What?” I grunted.

“This wasn’t our meeting. He wanted us to think it was but it wasn’t. It was his. He’s had to have known for a while, at least long enough to know we were looking for information and put this plan together.” Nathan filled me in.

“But how is that possible. The only people who knew about who Mallory really is are in this room.” Clay posited.

“And our parents, but they love Mallory like their own. No way they would do this. “Cary added,

All at once it hit me. We weren’t the only ones. Because I’d told someone else. And though I couldn’t bring myself to believe she would hurt a fly, I had to find out for sure. Good thing I already had plans to meet her.

“I have to go!” I said, running from the room before any one could question me further.