The Triplet Alphas' Regret

I felt Rowan’s thumb gently graze the skin right under my eyes. His touch left a tingling trail after him, lasting only for a few mere seconds before it returned to feeling like pinpricks the moment his touch was gone.

Regardless, it was enough for me to pry open my eyes for a few moments. It was as though his voice had a sirenic quality to it.

My eyelashes fluttered open, small droplets of tears clinging stubbornly onto them, slightly hindering my vision. But I could see Rowan leaning in closer and closer, until all of a sudden, I felt his soft lips gently brushing against mine.

Just like that, the ringing in my ears stopped, and the world went quiet. My mouth parted in a gasp of relief and surprise when he slowly pulled away.

"Is that better?" Rowan asked. When he finally pulled all the way back, his golden eyes stared down at me, softly glowing.

My throat felt a little dry, but other than that, I felt completely fine. There was no pain, no ringing, and no burning. Other than the slight warmth in my cheeks due to a likely flush, everything finally felt just right.

This must be how Cassian felt earlier. Even though the back of my mind rejected the idea of being in such close contact with Rowan, the truth of the matter was that his touch did bring me comfort. Just being in skin contact with him instantly made me feel more alive.

With Cassian, we were simply fated, but the bond between us hadn’t been fully realized. Maybe it was because Rowan had actually marked me, but it felt much more efficient to be with him.

I nodded a little slowly, still in disbelief. Was it really that easy? It felt almost too good to be true.

"Thanks," I croaked out, suddenly feeling a little shy.

For the longest time, I had hated Rowan and his brothers. Yet, now, he helped relieve me of pain instead of bringing it to me, for a change. Even though this was a problem caused by another Hadeon triplet in the first place, Rowan didn’t do anything wrong this time. He didn’t need to help me; it didn’t look like he was affected by the pains that troubled me with Soren’s failed mark.

Now that I was indebted to him, I didn’t know where to put all that built-up anger and hatred for a moment.

I pursed my lips, looking down at the mattress.

"I’m fine now," I said. "Maybe I should return to my room."

As soon as I tried to climb off the bed, Rowan’s hands stopped me. He gently held my wrist, and I instinctively turned to face him.

"Why don’t you stay for a bit?" Rowan asked. "We don’t know if this effect is temporary, or if you need more time to heal." He gestured to the red mark on my neck, right next to the healed mark that he left on me. "The wound still looks pretty raw. If it doesn’t heal on its own, we will need to consult with Samuel on the next viable option."

I raised a hand, my fingers grazing the wound before hissing in pain. I couldn’t see the mark without a mirror, and I was curious to know just how bad it was. However, judging by the sting that darted through me when I touched it, I didn’t need to look at it to know it was still bad.

I kicked myself mentally for expecting anything else. It would be a miracle if it had healed just from a kiss. That was something that only happened in fairytales. Even then, it would require a true love’s kiss. I highly doubted a kiss from an unwanted fated mate could count as that.

"Staying here won’t help," I weakly said, even though I knew the opposite was true. I simply didn’t want to stay in Rowan’s room too long.

Now that I wasn’t rolling about in absolute agony, I couldn’t help but notice that the room smelled so much like Rowan. This was like the safehouse all over again― and from what I recalled, the longer I stayed here, the more my body would suffer in an entirely different manner.

Rowan gave me a pointed look, raising an eyebrow. I pursed my lips tightly together.

"Samuel already gave me very specific instructions," Rowan said. "Maintaining skin contact between fated mates — especially a bonded pair — can help with recovery. Unless you’re planning to suffer through the night in the event it relapses, you’re staying here tonight for observation. Or we can go back to your room if you prefer. No matter what, I am not leaving your sight until Samuel gives you a clean bill of health."

I bit the inside of my cheek, realizing there was no way I would be sleeping alone tonight. It would’ve made sense for Samuel to give Rowan an entire manual, considering his theory had indeed been proven to be quite true and useful. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Samuel had given Rowan quite the biology class on werewolf recovery via the mind link, away from my ears.

How awfully convenient. And of course Rowan showed none of the hesitation and squeamishness I had when I was forced to help Cassian. In fact, he seemed overly enthusiastic at the thought of being able to help me, to be near me.

"Fine," I said with a huff. "But I am not sleeping in the same bed as you― ah!"

A sudden, sharp jolt of pain ran through the side of my body. From head to toe, the pin-prick sensation came back, causing me to flinch and wince. Rowan came over instantly, holding me carefully. Where he touched, I felt immediate relief, but the same couldn’t be said about the rest of my body.

"You need more from me," Rowan said, his eyebrows furrowing with worry as he stared down at me. "You and I need to be more intimate with each other."

"I don’t think you want to be locking lips with me the entire night," I said in between gasps of air, trying to regulate my breathing. I had no desire to kiss Rowan when my entire body felt like it was shattering into pieces. "You have better things to do with your time."

Something I couldn’t quite understand flashed through Rowan’s eyes. He pinched his lips tightly together before swallowing. I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with the motion.

"Or, I have an alternate solution," he said.

I could barely even register his words. Other than the prickling pain that darted through me, more than that, I could feel a slow ache starting to build in my stomach. Having experienced this one too many times, I had grown all too familiar with the sensation.

I took in deep breaths of air, trying to regulate my breathing and keep thoughts of it out of my head. However, a sudden rush of heat overwhelmed me. My heart sank as I registered the sensation.

A mating heat... now? I sucked in a breath, but a helpless whine still escaped from my lips. It was uncontrollable. I felt like I had lava in my blood.

Furthermore, this time, I could feel that the source of it wasn’t even the pheromone-filled room I was in. Rather, I could physically feel the sensitivity trickling down from the unfinished mark.

As a result, I was entirely sure that the mark was the reason why I was feeling like this. Cursed Samuel, he didn’t mention that this was a plausible side effect. If I had known, I would’ve simply remained in my room and gritted my teeth through it till it went away, death or not.

Maybe Samuel knew it too. That was why he helpfully kept that much-needed tidbit of information a secret.

"And... what’s that?" I asked. "Am I going to like this idea of yours?"

Rowan’s eyes darkened. He leaned forward and captured my lips once more in a kiss. What started out slow and careful quickly became rough, desperate, and unrestrained. His hands carefully roamed down my skin, and instead of pain, what I felt was a slight tickle that gave me goosebumps, followed by a string of pleasure.

Wherever he touched, I felt instantly relieved. But the moment he was gone, my body craved more. I was desperate to feel more of him, and without knowing it, my hands were starting to disobey my every command.

I gripped the edge of Rowan’s shirt, lifting it just enough to slip in. My fingers grazed across his smooth, defined abs, and I could feel his muscles tense up beneath my touch when he realized I was touching him there.

He pulled away for just a split second, and an uncontrollable whine left my lips.

"Be good," he chided, though there wasn’t much anger behind his words. The only heat present was fueled entirely by lust. His eyes were slightly clouded over, dark with desire as he pulled my hands out from under his shirt.