Chapter 4 Triplet Mates

[`~♠CORAL~♠] It seemed as though the mechanism of my world, once hovering euphorically about me, spotted a cog and came to a crushing stop. Three familiar gazes watched me as everyone turned their attention to the one place I couldn’t take my eyes off. My heartbeat was an ever palpitating organ in my chest, threatening to implode and crush my bones. My mates… were the very people that held a very special place in my life. My triplet brothers; Raegan, Damian and Rune. It couldn’t be possible. The moon goddess was surely playing some sort of cruel, sick game on me. Surely, this was just all a dream… No. This was no dream, because dreams don’t give you the worst event of your life. This was dark and twisted. A nightmare. Raegan was the first to start an approach, his gait exuberant and domineering and for some strange reason, it felt so very… arousing? I felt the blazing heat of his icy-blue gaze pinned at me—like he didn’t care at all about the world around him, all the gazes watching in astonishment, confusion, disbelief, and some others even jealousy. The hues of his ice-blue eyes were now a smocking silver colour, I wasn’t sure if they glowed from the candled chandeliers reflecting into his orbs or the moonlight itself. He seemed bigger than life at this very moment and I felt like the smallest cub ever born. I couldn’t move. My mind screamed to reject this moment. I wanted to be anywhere but in this horrid dream. Anywhere but where my fate had been thrust to. I didn’t want to believe that I’d just been mated to my brother and not one but three of them. Whatever had I done to deserve such punishment? But still, I couldn’t look away from his imposing figure. Raegan looked absolutely regal in his dark attire. His short silver hair, combed back, gleamed under the light as well and a dark, incomprehensible look filled his stoic features but the look on his face wasn’t incomprehensible because I couldn’t decipher it. I could. I’ve seen this look on his face before. I know it because it was a look I’ve seen sharpen the rough edges of his face so often, it was stuck like a captivating picture. It was the look he gave the younger boys whenever they seemed to even breathe the same air as me—the undeniable gleaming darkness of his possessiveness boldly molded his face. And it was no different from my other two brothers as they tagged behind him. And they were all looking at me like I was the only thing they ever wanted. As though this incident was not ridiculously alarming. How could they look so calm and collected? Like they were absolutely fine being mated with me. I was their freaking sister for goddess sake! There was nothing more insanely wrong than this. Then I heard them; the whispers. The once deafening silence had shape-shifted into a maddening connotation of muffled words—the words regardless of how quiet they were, I could still hear them. “Three mates?” The surprise was mutual but what was even more surprising and cruel— “Goddess… her brothers?” “Is that even possible?” “It’s Alpha Raegan…” “This has never been heard of...” “What’s going to happen now?” Their words sprang from weariness and unease as my brothers closed the space between us with each step they took. And their scent, blending together to give off the most mouth-watering, heavenly potent and exquisite aroma I could ever fathom. And stuck still to the floor, my wolf running wild inside me, I could only stare with a conflicting desire to be or not to be near them, at their powerfully enchanting figures, wide eyes and gaping lips. Breathless. My breath clung to my throat, stuck, pulling, as though we were two different beings seeking the last oxygen in the air before it faded away. Pain. My chest tightened as though my windpipe was slowly being crushed and I was helpless to the ever crushing fact of the fate that was now my reality. It felt as though I was drowning while breathing in the most soothing air. The scent of my brothers and they stood before me now, eyes filled with molting glazed look and they were looking at me like a lost rare gem they’d finally found adrift pebbles. The whispering didn’t deter their attention either My gaze held my eldest brother’s swirling pool of smoking silver orbs and for a moment I thought I saw his taunt lips curl into a faint smile before his arm stretched forth to catch my face in his palm. My body moved on its own accord as my body sizzled and I shuddered from the overwhelming sensation that woke every sense as a frisson shook my entire body backwards, away from his touch. “No…” The very first words I’d spoken since this revelation. Raegan’s thick brows furrowed as I stepped away from his touch. “This… this can’t be… it’s not real.” I muttered and his mouth seemed to twist in a distasteful way. “Corrie…” My name spilled over the quiet that’s spun between the four of us. Damian’s voice called to me beside Raegan. “No!” My voice picks up with a sudden force that puts him to an automatic halt as I take another step backward, then another to steady myself. It felt as though my body was starting to melt from the heat wafting off them to wrap around me like shackles. It frightened me but the most frightening thing was that it excited me. Their scent. Their close proximity. Their domineering presence. Everything about them in this moment made me feel lightheaded. “You’re not real.” “We are real.” I hear my youngest brother’s voice speak up. He stood beside Damian but a little further away from him. “This has to be a nightmare.” I intoned quietly, staring up at him, at them, helplessly hoping that their faces would somehow contort into someone else’s—to reveal to me that this was truly a dream. A really bad dream. That I was probably seeing things—that my dread was taking the thrill of this moment to torture me even more with twisted games—because there was no way my brothers would have such sour expressions painted across their faces. That they weren’t looking at me like I'd plunged a blunt knife through their chest, into their hearts—like my words had cut through the essence of their very soul. I couldn’t understand why and my the more I stood in their presence, the more I wanted to be closer to them, to have their body engulf me and to get lost in the heat of their scent but the rational part of my brain kept screaming at me and then my feet made its final decision when Raegan started towards me again. My hands clutched onto my chest as I felt the painful thumps of my heart and I turned away from them as my emotions overwhelmed me. This couldn’t be real. I just needed a clear space to breathe properly and maybe… maybe all of this mirage would just disappear. So I ran… away from them and from everyone else in this room. Ignoring all the stares and whispers; their words cutting through my heart as I passed through the multitude. “Coral, wait!” It was Raegan’s voice calling out to me, urging me to stop and turn back to him… to them. But I knew not to turn around. I couldn’t… wouldn’t. Because I was afraid. Afraid that once I do, I’d get lost in those smoking eyes, I’d get drunk off their scent and I'd lose all rational thought of the facts that the three individuals I’d just been mated to were none other than my handsomely, possessive and overprotective brothers. Taking the stairs seems like a journey into the Netherlands. My feet felt like they were taking a walk through iced stepping and the higher I climbed the more unsteady I felt. And then I felt their powerful scent again. On edge, I glanced behind me, three hulking forms stalking towards me, their breaths raged as they stopped midway across the hall, their gazes caused me to stop on my tracks and I stared back at them, caught in the wanton heat of the glowing orbs. And again, I ran, faster now, dashing across the hallway to my bedroom and slamming it shut. Their voices came and with it several panicked banging that had me clutching my chest that held my heavy heart. “Corrie!” “Moonbeam!” “Cora!” Their deep sultry voices rang out simultaneously against constant heavy tapping against my bedroom door. And then it stops abruptly. My heart lodged into my throat and my feet carried me a little closer to the door, the sudden silence was questioning. I hadn’t made three steps when a deeper voice broke through the silence, it was my father's voice and his gruff tone had caused them to stop banging against my bedroom door. “You three, come with me.” His voice was slightly muffled but I heard the hint of something uneasy when he spoke to my brothers. They sort to protest against his calling, “Now.” But his voice held a cold command and left no space for argument. Heavy booted footfalls turned into a distant echo as they padded away down the hall but the potent scent they carried still lingered. My knees buckled and I came crashing onto the wooden flooring cushioned by the large soft fur of the rug that occupied the center of my room. My heavy heart felt a little lighter as though it waited for them to leave and I didn’t realize just how long I had been holding my breath. And then my tears came flooding, streaming no softer than the turbulent flow of a river in stormy weather, down my face as I wailed into the floor rug.