The Triplet Alphas' Regret

The word tore through his throat in the form of a low growl.

My eyes immediately snapped towards him in surprise. Just from that one word alone, I could feel the hairs on my back standing to attention. He was using his alpha command.

Samuel, on the other hand, leisurely turned to look at his Alpha. He looked as though it was nothing more than the mere spring breeze that had swept past his face.

"I need a moment with Miss Briar," he calmly said. "You have my word as a healer that no harm will come to her."

I looked at Samuel, then back at Rowan. It was more likely for harm to come to me with just Rowan in the room than when I was alone with Samuel.

Nevertheless, I smartly kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to agitate Rowan any further, in case that made him want to stay in the room with us even more.

"There’s no need for you two to be alone in the room," Rowan said. "Whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of me."

"Yes," Samuel said with a nod. "But on the other hand, can you say the same for Briar?"

Rowan’s eyes darted towards me. I saw him swallowing thickly as he met my eyes. Before he could say anything ridiculous like how I wouldn’t mind his presence, I raised an eyebrow and asked Samuel, "What do you wish to speak to me about?"

It could have been about my health, but I doubted that Samuel would need to speak with me privately if that were the case. It was more likely about Cassian’s poisoning incident. I bit the inside of my mouth, hoping that Samuel wasn’t intending on interrogating me, especially with Rowan as an audience.

"It is about Alpha Cassian’s health," Samuel said, tidying his papers. "As I had told the other Alphas earlier, your presence has had an incredible effect of speeding up Alpha Cassian’s recovery. While Alpha Soren is reluctant to let both of you spend time together, fearing that it might cause more fights, as a healer, it would be remiss of me if I did not volunteer such information."

He then looked up to meet my eyes.

"There’s also something else I would like to ask Miss Briar," Samuel added. He maintained eye contact with me despite his words being intended for Rowan. "Highly confidential."

Rowan’s eyes twitched. "Whatever it is, she won’t agree," Rowan growled out, his displeasure clear in his voice. "She’s also not helping Cassian heal either. Whatever trouble he got into, that’s his own problem to solve."

I snuck a look at Rowan. That was awfully coldhearted for him to say, considering they had grown up pretty tightly knitted. I couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. Truly, a werewolf’s possessive streak knew no bounds.

"Perhaps, but I wish to hear it from Miss Briar herself," Samuel retorted evenly, before turning back to face me. "Would you like to spend time with Alpha Cassian? It would be completely supervised. You will not be left alone with him at any given moment."

"I’ll need some time to consider," I said.

Rowan almost immediately let out a dissatisfied grunt at the sound of that. Clearly, he was disappointed that I had not shot down the idea without mercy.

I cleared my throat, adding, "Could you give us a moment?"

Rowan’s head darted over so quickly that I was worried his neck would snap due to the speed.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," I said plainly. "Who else? I actually want to continue speaking to Samuel."

Rowan turned and glared at Samuel. "I told you to come over to look at Briar’s health, not have secret conversations. Whatever you have to say, you say it here with me in the room."

"No," both Samuel and I said in unison, which seemed to tick Rowan off even further. Samuel tutted under his breath. "Alpha Rowan, even if you are the pack’s alpha, you still have to respect healer-patient confidentiality.

"I’m not just the Alpha, I’m also her mate!" Rowan hissed. "There are no secrets between us!"

An ugly snort escaped my lips. Rowan must have been living in dreamland. I pursed my lips. "There’s no need for you to listen in on anything. I have not accepted you as my mate."

"You have my mark. That makes you mine." Rowan growled, and my mark seemed to pulse at his words.

I sneered and crossed my arms.

"Only because I have not found a way to rip it out of my body without killing us both. If you have discovered the technology to remove it, by all means, do so," I hissed back. "Now leave before I sneak out again to speak elsewhere with Samuel somewhere unsupervised."

Rowan’s face seemed to twist with increasing displeasure, and a muscle twitched heavily in his jaw. He took a step forward, as though he wanted to grab me to make me see sense. I stood up to my full height, pointing a finger at the door.

"Out," I said firmly. "Before I ask Samuel if there’s any way for me to remove a mark."

Whatever he heard in my voice must have been a sufficient threat, for Rowan swallowed and finally took a step back.

"Fine. I’ll leave both of you alone... for now," he said, casting a warning glance towards Samuel. "Do not stress her out or pressure her into making a decision."

I could sense that Samuel desperately wanted to roll his eyes at Rowan’s words. I certainly did, and didn’t mince my reply.

"Of course Samuel won’t do such a thing. He’s not you," I said. "So, are you leaving now, or do I need to roll out a red carpet for you?"

Rowan gave me one last long look before he whirled away and stormed out of my room, banging my door shut, clearly upset that he was dismissed in such a fashion.

But I didn’t care. I went to the door and locked it from the inside. Once I was sure that Rowan was truly gone and not planning to make a sudden return, I sat down and turned back to Healer Samuel.

"What did you want to speak to me about?" I asked. "It can’t be about my health, can it?"

I highly doubted that that would be the reason why Samuel needed Rowan gone. After all, even though he spoke of healer-patient confidentiality, there was never an issue with him examining my health in front of Rowan previously.

That could only mean that there was a different reason why Rowan couldn’t be around.

"Yes," Samuel said, clearing his throat. "It’s regarding Alpha Cassian’s condition."

I sighed. "If you’re going to ask if I’m willing to spend time with him to heal him, I’m sorry to disappoint, but I really don’t want to―"

"That’s actually not really what I wanted to discuss," Samuel curtly said. "I had a feeling you wouldn’t be too willing to help cure Alpha Cassian, especially considering your..." he hesitated, wincing, "differences."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Then what is it?"

"Considering you successfully managed to heal him, I assume you have a guess what he might’ve been poisoned with to cause such a reaction?" Samuel asked.

I pursed my lips. If Samuel was asking about this, then it probably meant that he already knew and was just testing me.

Truthfully, I didn’t want to tell anyone about this. There was no one in Moonveil I could properly trust. Jessie had been my closest confidant, and once, I thought that I could trust her with my secrets.

However, thinking back now, she was probably also the one who informed Violet of whatever I told her. All throughout, I falsely thought my secrets were in safe hands. The memory of it still made me sick in the stomach.

On the other hand, Samuel also hated everyone and everything. He was a genius, but that brilliance also made him a recluse. Other than work, the healer didn’t seem to have any other interests.

In fact, he didn’t even seem to have any friends. Most of his colleagues didn’t like him, from what I observed last time. They hated how he was more skilled than they were, and as such, banded together to exclude him from social gatherings. Albeit, he didn’t seem to mind it too much.

As the cherry on top, Samuel despised Violet. He didn’t talk about her behind her back like Jessie would, but I could see it in the microexpressions he gave whenever he was forced to treat her― which was something he had to do a lot of, considering he was the best healer available in Moonveil.

And I doubted Violet actually required treatment for all those incidents.

"Yes," I slowly said. "Wolfsbane."

I decided to take this risk. If Samuel were on my side, I would also gain better access to the materials required to figure out my next step. If this worked in my favor, it would be an incredible resource.

Samuel nodded. He looked a little surprised that I was so candid up front.

"May I ask where you got the wolfsbane sample from?" he asked. "You should know that it is banned in all werewolf packs. If you’re found with it, it can be a capital offense that may result in your execution."