Resisting the Alpha Triplets by Cara Anderson

Ch. 54 Art Of Love

Clay’s POV

I sat in a chair at the end of Mallory’s bed, watching her sleep in my brother’s arms. She was supposed to meet me at the packhouse this morning. So when she didn’t show up I got worried and rushed over to check on her.

I assumed maybe she was still too exhausted from her ordeal to keep our appointment. The last thing I expected was to find Colton in her bed with the smell of sex still lingering in the air.

Seeing the absolute contentment on my mate’s face had me fighting a war in my head. Cary and I had hoped for so long that Colton would come around, accept our mate and eliminate the only roadblock to our happiness aside from Mal’s own reluctance. And by all appearances, he had come around.

At the same time, I couldn’t deny the jealousy and anger I felt at the thought of him fucking her. Since the mate bond snapped in, he’d done nothing but cause her pain, from outright ignoring her to making her promises he didn’t keep. If he ran back to Darcy after this, it would break her.

Meanwhile, Cary and I had fought for her. We’d apologized countless times and made sure she knew how much we wanted her. We’d been there for her when she’d gone through a brutal shift, when she’d learned her true identity, and when she’d laid half-dead in a hospital bed. But still, she’d held herself back from us.

The thought that she’d forgiven him so easily, granted him a privilege he didn’t deserve, it made me fucking furious. He’d done nothing to earn her forgiveness and he sure as hell didn’t deserve her virginity.

Besides, we’d always promised each other that when we found our Luna, we’d all be there for our first time. No one would be left out. At the very least, he should have honored that commitment.

“Colton?” Mallory sat up in bed, bleary -eyed but still panicked that he’d left her again.

The uncertainty on her face broke my heart. She should never have to second guess our commitment to her, fear our absence. She should never have to wonder if she was enough to make us stay. I hated that she felt that way, even for a minute.

“Don’t worry, he’s still here.” I confirmed for her, the sound of my voice startling her.

“Fuck! Clay, you scared the shit out of me!” She hissed. “What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t show up for our meeting and I was worried. The better question is, what is he doing here?” I nodded at Colton, still passed out in the bed.

As if he knew he had an audience, he rolled over and snuggled into Mallory’s side. Another flare of envy reared up inside me at the sight. I wanted her to want me that way, to find comfort in my embrace like she obviously did in his. Still, I worked hard to tamp it down, telling myself her happiness was all that mattered.

“Are you angry with me?” She asked, noticing the biting edge to my tone.

I scrubbed my hands over my face, blowing out a heavy sigh. I knew I shouldn’t unload my feelings on her but they were like an oncoming train bearing down on me and I was powerless to stop them.

“Why would I be angry?” I snapped. ” Because you slept with Colton after he denied your bond, used you, then went back to Darcy? Because Cary and I have been all in from day one, body and soul, yet you keep us at arm’s length? Or maybe because though you’re mated to all of us, you gave your first time to Colton, and didn’t even allow us to be there.”

“Clay I didn’t-, it wasn’t-,” She struggled to explain herself and it may have been petty not to give her more of a chance, but I was too irritated at the moment.

“You know what? Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” I bit out, cutting her off. “You’re obviously fine so I’ll head out. Tell my brother I’d like to see him when he wakes up.”

I got up and walked out the door. Even when I heard her whimper my name I kept going, though it nearly killed me to do so. But staying would have been a mistake given my mood. I would only say something I would regret and I’d done enough of that already.

“Fuck!” I cursed under my breath as soon as I was out the front door.

I’d barely made it to my car when Cary’s voice entered my head, no doubt feeling the anger and resentment I carried.

“Clay? Where are you? What’s going on?” He pushed.

“He slept with her!” I snarled. “He fucking slept with her without us and she let him.”

“What? Who?” He asked in confusion.

“Colton! He fucked Mallory last night!” I roared in a rage.

“Oh.” Cary paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. “I felt his happiness through our triplet bond but I just assumed he was with Darcy.”

“That’s all you have to say? Where’s the outrage? The famous Cary Collins temper?” I pressed, outraged enough for both of us.

“I mean, isn’t that the outcome we were hoping for? That he would finally acknowledge his feelings for her?” Cary questioned.

“Right!” I snorted. “If he doesn’t go running back to Darcy again. And what about our promise to each other that no one would be left out when we mated our Luna?”

“Sure, I wish it would have gone down differently. I wish I could have been there. Hell, I wish it could have been me her first time. But Clay, I love her. However she needs this to happen, as long as she chooses all of us in the end, I’ll deal with it.”

Well fuck! Schooled in the art of love by my little brother. If any of us were usually the selfish prick, it was him. But here he was putting his own wants and needs aside for our mate. I wasn’t too proud to admit I was a little ashamed of myself.

“You’re right. I’ll fucking deny it to my dying breath, but you’re right.” I admitted. “Fuck! I need to apologize to Mal. But Colton’s still on my shit list.”

“Damn right he is. He fucked up big time!” Cary agreed.

An hour later, Colton finally came strolling into my office. The fucker was actually whistling as he approached. Whistling! Colton never whistled. It only made me want to strangle him more.

He was wearing a huge grin when he rounded the corner but it fell from his face the second he saw the murderous looks Cary and I wore. We both glared at him, arms crossed over our chests and our wolves in our eyes. I could tell it unnerved him though he would never admit it.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” He barked, putting on the tough Alpha act.

“Are you sure you don’t know the answer to that question? Because if you don’t, you’re not the brother I thought you were.” I retorted.

“I smelled you in Mal’s room this morning. You were there. Why didn’t you talk to me then?” He questioned, his eyes searching my face for answers to my mood.

“I wouldn’t dream of waking you up. You looked quite cozy in OUR mate’s bed after spending the night with OUR Luna!” I replied, heavy on the sarcasm.

“I thought this was what you wanted! I thought you’d be happy I was finally pulling my head out of my ass! And it’s not like the two of you haven’t spent the night with her without me!” He returned the accusation.

“That’s not fair, Colt!” Cary jumped in. “You didn’t want her. We would have loved for you to be there. It was your choice not to be.

“But that’s beside the point. We never fucked her. And we never would have without you there to share in her first time with us. We made a promise, remember?”

For the briefest moment guilt seemed to plague him. But an indignant stoicism replaced it just as quickly.

“Is that so? Are you sure about that, brother?” Colton countered.

“Of course! We made a triplet vow. We’ve never broken one. Not ever!” Cary reminded him.

“What’s a vow between brothers in the face of your mate looking at you with those gorgeous hazel doe-eyes, telling you she needs you in that soft, silky voice of hers?” He taunted. “Lie to me all you want but you can’t lie to yourself. No way you’d say no to that and there was no way I was going to. I’ve already held too much of myself back from her. I couldn’t stand the look of rejection in her eyes if I’d said no. I never want to see that look from her again!”

Part of me could understand his argument, could put myself in his shoes and consider what it would feel like to disappoint our mate. I wouldn’t be able to take seeing her hurt or dejected if I had the power to change it, to take her pain away. And I could totally relate to that all-consuming ability she had to make me forget everything and everyone else when I was with her.

But I was way too stubborn to admit that to him so the best I could do was to let it go. Not before issuing a threat, though.

“I hope you meant it when you said you won’t hold back from her anymore. Because you can’t hurt her again, not after this. If you do, the fact that we share the same DNA won’t be enough to protect you from me!”

“Whew!” Cary blew out animatedly. ” Now that we’ve all aired our grievances and outlined grounds for retribution, can we get to the more interesting details?”

Colton and I both turned to him with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to elaborate.

“Come on, bro! You took our mate’s virginity. The least you can do is tell us every salacious, sensual detail so we can live vicariously.” Cary prompted, clearly not holding a grudge as long as Colton agreed to kiss and tell.

Colton’s lips curled up in a satisfied smile and his eyes took on a far away look like he was reliving every moment with our mate. Just imagining what he was seeing in his mind’s eye had my cock trying to escape through my zipper. I found I was as anxious to hear it as Cary was.

“She was .. fucking perfect. It’s the only word that even comes close. Fuck! Just thinking about how wet she was for me, how responsive she was to my touch, how her perfect pussy was so tight it nearly strangled my cock, I could come in my pants right now!”

“Glad you’re seeing things the way we do. Our mate is a fucking Goddess!” I shared my unbiased opinion. “And we get to spend the rest of our lives kissing those plush lips, feeling all her soft skin, holding her luscious curves against all our rough edges.”

“And tasting her delicious pussy, hearing her scream our names when she comes. Fuck, we’re lucky bastards!” Cary added.

We were all hard and aching for our mate. Until Colton said the one thing that had us all, literally and metaphorically, deflating.

“If she chooses us.”