The Triplet Alphas' Regret

"Sick?" Samuel echoed, frowning. He looked mildly irritated.

With all the casualness in the world, he began to slowly pack up his things, leisurely stuffing his notepad and pen into his small bag as though he was picking apples from the morning market.

"A mild headache doesn’t constitute sickness," Samuel said, not bothering to look up. "I’ve already warned her before that sleeping at such ungodly hours may occasionally result in a headache."

"It’s not a mere headache, Healer Samuel," the maid said with a slight frown. There was a flash of annoyance that darted through her eyes, but it didn’t stay for long. Almost as quickly as it came, it disappeared.

She turned her attention back to Cassian, her expression pleading.

"Please, Alpha," she said. "She needs to see you."

"I find that hard to believe," Samuel interrupted with a light snort. "If her condition is indeed so serious, she should be looking for me, or another healer. What would Alpha Cassian be able to do for her?"

True enough, Samuel’s words had hit the nail on its head.

I rolled my eyes. The timing could not be worse.

I doubted that Violet was actually seriously ill. This was clearly her attempt to garner attention for herself, most likely due to the change in my living conditions― it was simply too big a shock for her to digest.

Not only was Willow back, but I was also living in a proper room in the same wing as the Alphas’ family. Violet’s position in the pack had never been more threatened than right now, especially since Rowan and Soren didn’t seem to be giving her their time ever since we returned from the safehouse.

From her point of view, I had finally left the pack. I, the thorn in her side, was removed at long last. However, it didn’t even last a week before I was brought back. In that short span of time, two out of three Alphas had completely changed their attitudes towards her.

Not to mention, her greatest competitor, the original love of the Alphas, was back alive.

If I were Violet, I would’ve been jumping around like I was standing on hot coals too.

My guess was almost immediately confirmed right after.

"Go get Alpha Rowan or Soren instead," Samuel said. "Alpha Cassian is currently busy. Can’t you see that he’s currently unwell himself?"

The maid looked at Cassian, her lips parting and closing like a fish out of water. Cassian’s poisoning wasn’t common knowledge, and as such, his healing session wasn’t made known as well. To top it all off, the kiss worked so well that other than the small pool of blood that Cassian had spat out earlier, there was almost nothing else in the room that would’ve hinted that he was unwell.

I couldn’t even fault the poor girl for truly not knowing that Cassian was actually sick. It seemed like the rumors were true. Samuel truly didn’t like Violet at all, enough for him to make things difficult for the maids who directly served her.

" I... I’ve already gone to their offices," the maid said, her voice trembling a little. She sounded like she was about to cry. "They’re unavailable."

Then, before anyone could say anything, the maid began to cry.

"My poor Luna..." she sobbed. "None of the other healers know what’s wrong with her. Her wolf isn’t healing her as it should be, and she’s only getting weaker and weaker."

"Then you should be looking for Healer Samuel instead, not me," Cassian said, raising an eyebrow.

He whirled around and finally looked at her, but the expression in his eyes was so cold that even I couldn’t help but shiver when I met his gaze for a brief second.

The maid moved back slightly, stunned by Cassian’s put-offish behavior as well, but eventually found her voice. Her eyes lit up after a second, once she realized that Cassian was finally entertaining her.

"One of the healers mentioned that bonded mates can help each other heal and strengthen their wolves," the maid said eagerly.

This made me raise an eyebrow. I couldn’t tell if this was something that the healers actually mentioned to them, or if it was something that Violet came up with randomly and had somehow managed to hit the bullseye even though she had been blindfolded.

After all, this was the exact same theory that Samuel had just brought up the night before to treat Cassian’s poisoning. Sure, it was somewhat known, but it was odd to hear it being brought up again in such a short span of time.

"Oh?" Samuel said.

He turned over and looked at me, and I met his gaze. I could almost see the words ’can you believe this’ flashing across his eyes. If I had access to the pack’s mindlink, I had no doubt that it would be filled with all sorts of vulgarities and rants right now.

"Stop making eyes at each other," Cassian hissed at me, adjusting himself so that he was now wedged between Samuel and me. He grabbed my hand so as to grab my attention, his face coming abnormally close to mine.

"We’re not making eyes at each other!" I muttered angrily back.

From the other end of the room, someone cleared their throat.

Cassian and I turned together in sync, just in time to see the maid’s eyes glued onto Cassian’s figure.

"Alpha?" she asked. Her gaze briefly darted down to Cassian and my joined hands.

That subtle movement reminded Cassian of where his hand was. He immediately pulled away, his tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip as he turned to look anywhere but me. I could see that the tips of his ears had faintly turned red.

To my surprise, he said, "Take me to her."

My eyes widened into the size of saucers.

Cassian had been all sorts of unwilling just mere seconds ago. All of a sudden, he had changed his mind just like that.

From my peripheral vision, I could see Samuel whipping his head around at breakneck speed to glare at Cassian. However, Cassian did not turn his head to meet his gaze.

On the other hand, the maid looked so emotional that she was about to cry.

"Yes, of course!" she exclaimed. She was now all smiles, nodding her head so violently that it looked like it was about to pop off. "Right this way."

She scuttered out of the room without another word.

"Are you seriously going?" I couldn’t help but ask. The words splurted out of my mouth before I could even stop myself.

However, the moment they left my lips, I regretted it.

Cassian slowly turned to look at me, his gaze cold and unforgiving.

Even though he had never looked at me with love or even nonchalance before, it had been a while since I last recalled such a frigid expression on Cassian’s face when he glanced my way. More often than not, we had spent the last few days bickering that I had almost forgotten that this was how Cassian used to look at me.

A shiver ran down my spine, and my mouth suddenly went as dry as the desert.

"I am going to see my Luna," he said, his voice venomous. "Who are you to stop me?"

With that said, Cassian turned and left, following the maid’s footsteps.

Once he was out of the room, Samuel walked over and clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

"You look like you have something to say," I muttered under my breath, my eyes still glued to the door that Cassian had disappeared past.

I hated him. Cassian had always been the target of my ire. He had never shown me a proper smile, and he had never treated me with respect, despite offering all of those things to nearly everyone else. Most people in the pack knew him as the carefree, energetically warm, and extroverted Alpha. However, I was not one of those people who saw that side of him.

Yet, for some reason, the chilliness of his tone sent a tremor of pain bolting through my chest. I placed my hand over my heart, pressing gently against the tissue. There seemed to be a pulsing, sharp pain that wouldn’t go away, and I couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden, Cassian’s words meant so much to me when they never did.

I clenched my jaw, irritation and confusion slowly filling my veins. There was only one thing I could blame― the fated bond. Somehow, it probably got agitated even further because of the kiss we shared.

"No," Samuel said, shrugging. He shoved one of his hands into his pocket, while the other carried his bag over his shoulder. "I was just going to ask if you’re planning on seeing what our dearest Luna has up her sleeves."

"I’m not a masochist," I flatly said.

Samuel clicked his tongue. "Hard to believe."

I rolled my eyes, not planning on continuing this conversation any longer.

"Since Cassian is now otherwise occupied, I’m going to take my leave," I said, marching straight for the door.

"And where will you be going?" Samuel asked. I could hear him following me, his long strides easily allowing him to catch up.

"Willow’s room," I said without turning back. "Didn’t you say that you needed more samples? You’d better keep up with your end of the bargain!"