Resisting the Alpha Triplets by Cara Anderson

Ch. 51 Safe And Whole

Mallory’s POV

A train wreck. A head-on collision with a Mack truck. Beaten with a sack of lead bricks. Those were all on the short list of things that could have possibly happened to cause this pounding in my head and every muscle in my entire body to ache. My brain felt like it was under water and couldn’t find the surface.

I blinked my eyes open against the harsh fluorescent lighting, then quickly closed them again, wincing when the pain of a thousand knives seared through my skull.

“Dim the lights! It’s hurting her eyes.” I heard a familiar voice instructing.

“Mate,” My wolf slurred dreamily in my head, sounding like she’d had one too many.

I tried opening my eyes again, this time much more successfully without the glaring light in my eyes. Though it still took a minute for the moving dark blobs to come into focus, revealing two of my mates and my mother. My heart sank to see Colton wasn’t there but I quickly locked that pain away.

“There she is. How do you feel, darling?” Cary asked, moving to sit on the side of my bed.

“Like death warmed over.” I croaked, my throat drier than the desert sands. ” What happened? Why am I here?”

“What do you remember?” Clay asked, slipping his hand behind my back and helping me to sip from the glass of water he’d poured.

Images reeled through my mind as I fought to grasp on to any of them. Arguing with the triplets in Colton’s office. Nathan walking in with a sullen look on his face. A gas station with lots of trucks. A diner, sliding into a booth beside Nathan. Wait! If I’m here, what happened to Nathan?

“Where’s Nathan?” I choked out on a gasp.

“He’s fine.” Clay assured me, hurt flashing in his eyes before masking it quickly. “He’s dealing with the aftermath of your attack.”

“Attack?” I questioned, lifting the sheets to search my tender limbs for bruises. “Did someone really beat me to a pulp? Is that why everything hurts?”

Two menacing growls filled the room, fury radiating from both my mates. Instinctively, I reached a hand toward each of them, stroking their chest soothingly. I had no idea what the future held for us, but I had to admit the mate bond had its perks.

“You were set up. Alpha Quade knew you were coming. He sent people to drug you and kidnap you.” Cary gritted out, fists clenched at his sides.

“Hmm, no wonder I feel like mincemeat.” I chuckled, a completely inappropriate reaction to such news but I was in shock. That was my excuse anyway.

Three heads turned to me at the incongruous sound. Cary and Clay both looked livid at the insinuation I was taking the situation too lightly. My mother looked genuinely concerned I’d suffered a head injury.

“Sorry.” I muttered. “I’m just not sure how to feel at the moment.

Clay climbed into the bed next to me, lifting me up and settling me on his chest with his arms wrapped securely around me. Cary slipped in on my other side, scooting as close as possible to the two of us. I peeked over my shoulder at my mother, slightly embarrassed at their bold display, but she was grinning from ear to ear, looking as pleased as  punch with our current position.

“It’s okay, little wolf.” Clay cooed to me. “You’re safe now. That’s all that matters. We’ll sort the rest out later.”

A while later, the doctor came in to give me the all clear, as long as I promised to go straight home and rest. He spent an inordinate amount of time explaining the importance of not ingesting wolfsbane or nightshade again, as if I’d actually done it on purpose the first time.

Mom helped me into some leggings and t-shirt she’d brought for me while the boys went to pull the car around. I balked at the wheelchair when the nurse brought it in but she spouted some nonsense about hospital policy and I caved. Both my mates helped me into the car and we were on our way home.

“Let’s get you settled in bed, darling.”

Cary said, sweeping me up into his arms amidst my protests that I was perfectly capable of walking.

“We’ll stay with you until you fall asleep. Then we’re going to have to slip out for a bit.” Clay announced, toeing off his shoes and crawling into bed beside me. “Nathan hasn’t gotten much out of the two assholes his men captured but I think Cary and I can convince them to talk.”

“Two of them were caught alive?” I asked, sitting bolt upright in bed. “I’m going with you!”

I started to climb out of bed but Cary’s strong arms caught me from behind and pulled me back against his chest.

“No you’re not!” He protested. “You heard the doctor. Rest and no stress until you regain full strength. It’s this bed or we take you back to the hospital. Which do you prefer?”

“I am at full strength.” I pouted.

“Oh really?” Clay stared at me dubiously. “So Raven is awake? Gunner could talk to her right now?”

“She’s said a word or two.” I answered sulkily, trying and failing to bring her forward.

Both men just grunted in derision and settled back into bed with me. The warmth of their bodies pressed against mine and their soothing caresses on my skin stole every argument from my lips so I let them coax me into peaceful oblivion. But in that netherworld between sleep and wakefulness, I could have sworn I heard them speak.

“I love you little wolf. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“We both love you, darling. You can’t ever leave us.”

I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept or what time of the day or night it was, but I woke with the echo of those whispered words floating through my mind like a dream. The sweetness of the memory had me burrowing deeper into the chest my face was pressed against. Strong arms tightened around me and I let out a contented sigh.

A vague recollection tickled the back of my mind, and a hint of surprise rippled through me as I remembered Clay mentioning they wouldn’t be here when I woke up. Before I could process the thought further, the mouthwatering scents of fresh- squeezed lime and Bay Rum clouded my senses.

“Colton?” I squeaked out, pushing against his chest.

“Hmm?” He replied groggily, still mostly asleep.

“Colton!” I shoved more forcefully, managing to break his hold on me.

I sat up, only to realize I was straddling his hips, his very large erection pressing along my seam causing a steady stream of slick to dampen my panties. Colton’s hands rested on my hips, holding me in place while he struggled to open his droopy eyelids.

“So beautiful.” He mumbled, looking up at me under hooded lids. “So soft. So perfect. Mine!”

“What are you doing in my bed, Colton?” I demanded, belatedly noticing I hadn’t bothered to remove myself from my perch over his rock solid cock and the delicious way it fit perfectly against my heated core.

“I, uh, I just needed to hold you. Feel you safe and whole in my arms.” He said, his voice cracking as he came fully awake. “Seeing you lying in that hospital bed, knowing what you’d been through and I hadn’t been there to protect you. I was going insane, not being able to touch you, make sure for myself you were really okay.”

“Colton,” I sighed sympathetically, “I understand your wolf’s need to care for his mate, but this isn’t fair to any of us. You’ve clearly chosen Darcy and it will only make it harder on Kai when we ultimately sever our bond if you keep coming here just to appease him.”

It wasn’t Kai’s fault his human didn’t want his mate so I couldn’t be angry at Colton for trying to give him some comfort. But I stood by my statement. This would only make it harder on all of us in the long run.

“I’m not here for Kai!” Colton insisted, an angry tint to his words. “He hasn’t even spoken to me since you ran away from us. I could feel his worry for you. Of course he was worried. But he’s not why I’m here.

“I ended it with Darcy. You were right, I should have done it a long time ago. Even if things don’t work out between you and I, I could never go back to her.

“Colt, if you love her you should be with her,” I argued, but he just grinned at my use of his nickname and shook his head.

“I don’t love her, Mal. I’m ashamed it took me so long to see it but I don’t think I ever really did.” He admitted, chagrin swirling in his hauntingly blue eyes. “I know we have a lot to talk about and I have a lot of explaining to do, And I promise I will but right now, you need to sleep.”

“What if I don’t want to sleep?” I flashed him a saucy grin, enjoying the way his pupils dilated and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“What do you-” He started to ask.

But I cut him off, crashing my lips to his in a passionate kiss.