The Triplet Alphas' Regret

[SOREN POV]

"Like a dumbass?" Samuel asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed, looking at him pointedly. He had hit the nail on the head, but that was one blunt way to put it.

"Yes," Samuel said. "But also, no." He gestured to the puddle on the floor that contained Cassian’s dinner. "He most likely already threw up whatever wolfsbane he ingested. Otherwise, Alpha Cassian would be a cold body right now, and not just acting like one."

"Then what’s wrong with him?" I asked. "He was fine when Briar was around―"

"I think that’s probably why," Samuel said, cutting me off. "This sounds a little ridiculous, but Briar’s presence might’ve been helping Alpha Cassian in his recovery."

"I don’t understand," I said, frowning. "Explain."

"Then I am just going to be blunt here," Samuel said. "Everyone knows that you three are fated mates with Miss Briar." His tone was a flat statement, not a question.

I shrugged. It wasn’t that much of a secret anymore anyway. In the beginning, Cassian was adamant that no one learn of this, but rumors eventually spread. Now, we had never officially confirmed it in a public announcement, but basically everyone who could speak knew.

"Even though they are not mated, it’s likely that Briar’s presence still calmed his wolf enough to encourage healing," Samuel said. "Put bluntly, his wolf is resonating with Briar’s wolf at a frequency that makes his wolf stronger, thereby boosting him."

I frowned. If one could find their fated mate, they were highly encouraged to mate with them as opposed to a chosen mate. That was why most werewolves chose to wait for their fated mates. Only a few rare people would choose a chosen mate instead― more often than not, it was because their fated mate had already passed on.

Not everyone was lucky enough to have a second chance mate, after all.

And choosing a fated mate came with a lot of benefits. The bond was believed to be created by the Moon Goddess herself. As such, the two wolves were highly in tune with each other. Most werewolves became stronger after mating with their fated mates, and their children would also be born stronger and more powerful than that of chosen mates.

However, there was just one problem.

"Briar has no wolf," I said. "Not anymore."

Samuel shrugged. "That could be highly outdated knowledge. Are you sure she has not shown signs of a wolf in recent days?"

I pursed my lips. The memory of Briar pushing us off her and running off to look for Willow flashed through my mind. That was not something a typical wolfless omega could do.

"Case in point," Samuel said, pointing his pen at me when he noticed I had gone quiet.

"Anyway, like I was saying," he continued, "she could’ve been subconsciously helping Alpha Cassian heal. His body is probably shocked by the sudden wolfsbane ingestion. It typically acts pretty quickly in werewolves. If he had consumed more, he would’ve died on the spot."

"How much did he eat?" I frowned. "It couldn’t have been the food from the kitchens. We all had the same meal."

Samuel shook his head.

"My guess is that the amount that he did eat wasn’t a lot, so it simply stunted him a little. So you’re right. It probably isn’t mixed into the food. He also physically purged it from his body in time before it could create lasting consequences. However..."

Samuel’s lips curled into a wicked smirk. His eyes twinkled with amusement. "You could probably hasten his recovery by encouraging him to spend more time with Briar. Her presence would work wonders for his health."

My body nearly sagged with relief at the pronouncement that Cassian would eventually recover. Then, the rest of his words registered in my head, and my instinctive reaction was to balk at his suggestion.

Allow Cassian to spend time with Briar? I might as well pour gasoline on top of a burning flame and pray they didn’t burn down the entire packhouse.

Out of all three of us, Cassian had been the most antagonistic, incendiary, and violent towards her. He spared no expense in regaling Rowan and I how much he hated Briar and how he wished for her painful death.

Even if he was now... slow, I highly doubted his hatred of her could be dulled for long. What if he hurt her, the moment he regained enough strength to do so?

I knew Briar harbored similar feelings of hatred for him. Even in the short moments they spent together with Rowan and me, they could still argue and come to blows. I didn’t want to force her to spend time with Cassian, when all it would do is make her uncomfortable.

After all that we did to Briar, we had no right to ask her to spend time with Cassian to help him heal. She, out of everyone else, had the most right to want him dead.

Then, I recalled how docile he seemed when he was resting on her lap. I bit the inside of my cheek. Briar seemed like she was running her fingers through his hair while he stared up at her like an innocent child―

No. That was only because of the wolfsbane. The wolfsbane poisoning incident had given Briar a huge shock. It had to be. There was no way Briar would show softness and kindness to Cassian willingly when she had only responded coldly to Rowan and my own attempts at making amends.

Perhaps I could also poison myself―

"As for where the wolfsbane came from," Samuel said, interrupting my train of thought just before it could go down the path of no return, "I might have an idea."

He walked over to the spot where Cassian puked. A book was clearly left splayed out a short distance away. It was messily flipped open, and the page it was left on happened to be an entry on the wolfsbane plant.

"This might be a clue," he simply said. Samuel looked up with a frown. It looked like he was at odds with himself, debating whether or not to voice his thoughts.

"What is it?" I asked. "You seem like you have something to say."

Samuel pursed his lips. Then, he shook his head. "It’s nothing―"

Just then, Cassian gave a slight cough. Both Samuel’s and my attention instantly returned to the idiot on the bed, staring at him as he groaned and moaned.

"Fuck," Cassian said. I rolled my eyes. Of course the first word past his lips would be an expletive. "My head feels like it’s about to burst."

"It’s a miracle it didn’t," I flatly said. "How are you feeling? Dying yet?"

"I just said my head feels like bursting," Cassian said, shooting me a glare. "What do you think?"

Samuel came forward, his trusty torch back in his hand and out of his pockets. He pried Cassian’s eyes open, checking the pupils one by one, then shone the light into his open mouth.

"He looks better than before," I commented, snorting. "In fact, he is positively brimming with life and vitality, even."

"Seems like Miss Briar contributed more than I initially thought," Samuel said, scribbling once more.

"Briar?" Cassian said, scoffing. He pinched his lips for a moment before he frowned. "I wouldn’t even be in this mess in the first place if it weren’t for her."

"What do you mean?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. "Actually, what were you two doing here in the infirmary anyway?"

"I was returning from an armory check when I heard some noise," Cassian said. "Then I saw Briar sneaking around. She disappeared into the infirmary, and I caught her with some herb in her hand and a book open."

"She was stealing herbs?" I said. Then, I quickly dismissed the thought. The infirmary didn’t have wolfsbane stocked since it did more damage than good. Even if she stole something, it wouldn’t have been wolfsbane.

"I don’t know what she stole," Cassian said. "But either way, turns out what she had in her hand was a motherfucking dried piece of wolfsbane."

"And she forced you to eat it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Even I didn’t believe it was possible. This was Briar. While she had every reason to want Cassian dead, she wasn’t dumb enough to poison him so openly, and especially not an Alpha who could easily overpower her. And Cassian wasn’t going to eat something she wanted him to eat just like that.

Unless...

"Well..." Cassian trailed off.

He suddenly refused to meet my gaze and started to look everywhere but at Samuel or at me. The back of his ears turned red under our combined scrutiny, and he seemed to hunch his shoulders, as though curling into himself out of embarrassment.

"Not quite... Things happened, you know? The thing she was holding looked mightily suspicious! She was holding it on for dear life! I snatched it..." His voice trailed off, and he bit his lip.

Samuel scoffed. "And so you decided to eat the unknown herb, thinking it would help you identify it," he flatly said.

My eye twitched. Judging by how red Cassian suddenly turned, I could tell that Samuel had somehow hit the nail right on its head.