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3RD POV.
Kade turns his back to his uncle when he reaches the arc, where he has rested his left arm, his eyes fixated on the ground. “You didn’t have to interrupt like that, Uncle. By the way, the reason you’re here is invalid.”
“What have you all become?” Jared’s eyes shift from Kieran to Kyle, then lastly to Kade’s back. His mind is spiraling out of control, unable to comprehend the thoughts going through the triplets’ minds. “Have you really thought I’d allow things to go as easily this time around?”
“What do you want?” Kyle chimes into the conversation, altering the motive for Kade to speak back.
“I have said it many times. The girl must be killed. It seems she has had her presence rooted in your minds. The three of you have lost your minds.”
Kade flips to face his uncle, his face lowered so he’s gazing through his lashes, and his voice is a low rumble, cold and toneless, “that is no way to speak to your Alpha, uncle.”
“Only if it was the alpha I raised.”
“And what are you trying to say?”
“I do not know. What do you think you have become?” Jared begins. Kade is about to speak back, but he raises his finger as a chuckle is released from Jared’s throat. “Oh, let me guess it. A mindless chicken. A puddle-head. You don’t see the consequences of your actions, do you? Do any of you know?”
“Uncle!” Kade shouts and rushes forward, only to come to a stop in front of Jared.
“You would hurt me because, according to you, I am talking about my turn. She really has twisted your mind.”
“Enough!” Another presence walks into the tight aura of the room. It is their mother, Emilie, stepping in with audacity to accompany her gait.
Her concentration is on Kade and Jared. She stops before the both of them, allowing them to bow first before she turns to Kade. In a matter of a split second, a slap lands on Kade’s face.
“Apologize to your uncle now, Kade.”
His lips turn to one side, tugging outwards and slightly upwards in a pleasing smirk. “Why should I? He’s the one insulting my authority.”Emilie is about to speak but shuts as Kade hasn’t finished. His voice fills the whole space. “My uncle is the one who doesn’t think I know what I’m doing. He thinks I’m wrong.”
“And what if you were?”
“Mother…” Kade takes a few steps backwards, surprised that his mother is against him as well.Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
In the background are Kyle and Kieran, watching the scene with different facial expressions. Kyle, on the other hand, has an amused grin spreading right from his cheeks sideline to his ears with a glint in his eyes.
While Kieran, oppositely, has his brows enraged in a tight frown, his eyes squinting with a wrinkle at the edges, and his teeth grinding together in annoyance.
“Do not speak.” Cautions Emilie.
She takes a deep breath before she turns to the triplets. “The kingdom will fall if you don’t stop thinking with your penises. I have watched you all claim that this girl means nothing to you, yet when our neighboring pack decided to get her out of the way like anyone in their right minds should have, you had their she-wolves, pups, and Alpha killed. The pack, Crestwood, is one of the strongest ever, and while you could have formed an alliance with them to keep us at the top of the food chain, you acted foolishly.”
Emilie tsks and covers her face in disappointment for a moment before she continues. “What happens when another person threatens to take her away? What is to befall them? Should we believe that our leaders have been brainwashed by a witch? You claim to punish her and even allow her life to be miserable, yet you can’t control your emotions without including her. She’s a witch, for heaven’s sake. Get rid of her.”
Emilie’s voice echoes throughout the spaces of the room. For the next few minutes, no one talked. Kade sniffles, his thumb and index finger rubbing past his eyelids.
When he opens his eyes, his mind opens up to his brothers. “Where is this coming from, brothers?”
Kyle is the one to first talk, “of course, brother, what had you expected? You’ve grown too attached to the girl, apparently. There’s no way anyone with eyes won’t see she is more than a sex slave to us.”
“Could they have known she was our mate?”
“Or observed.”
Kade’s mind goes towards Kieran, but he has his mind blocked, which has got Kade raising his brows in suspicion.
“Kieran has blocked me…” His voice trails off.
“As he’s done me.”
Outwardly, Emilie and Jared are anticipating what is to come out of Kade’s mouth. “I am the Alpha, and whatever my brothers and I decide shall be final. I will not have anyone question me. That will be understood. Now, leave.”
Kade’s order is impenetrable and imperative.
“Let us leave, Jared. We would execute the rest in our hands.”
Emilie and Jared are walking away when Kade clears his throat, which stops them in their tracks. “I meant what I said, mother. Just focus on your duties to the pack. Uncle, you as well. Please.”
“Only if that was possible. Because of your foolish act, our five neighboring packs have gone against us. The death of Alaric in your hands is the reason for their thirst, and when they attack, they won’t care if the people they’re attacking are the three of you or anyone else. This is to make you understand that whatever decision you make will affect us, your subjects. Know that.” Jared finishes, leaving the brothers on a hook.
Emilie’s eyes narrow at the brothers before she and Jared finally leave them alone in the dining hall.
If the neighboring packs are going against them, it means for sure that yet another war is about to outburst, and it will be nasty.
As soon as they are alone, Kyle hurries to speak. “I suddenly feel like this is all my fault. I caused the presence of Kaya in the palace in the first place.”
“That’s a matter of the past. What we must focus on now is something else.”
“Which is?” Asks Kyle. The fact that Kieran hasn’t spoken a word leaves both of them on the edge.
Kieran is a fire, always in vengeance to burn and cause chaos wherever he is placed. He has no remorse, nor does he calm. He’s always the one to jump into ruining everything before he learns whether he was meant to destroy it or not, so acting differently now is an unsettling act from him.
“We must distance ourselves from the girl.” When Kyle raises his brows, Kade adds in, “we must not get close to her any longer. She would be seen as nothing. We shouldn’t care whatever happens to her.”
The short silence is suddenly burst with Kieran’s laughter. His hysterical crackle puts Kade on the brink. “What great advice from the Alpha! Oh, what next are we to do? Make the girl’s life a living hell?”
“What would you have me suggest then, idiot?!” Kade’s voice is enraged, and it is evident. Kieran shakes his head, looking away from the window at the center of the room, where the valleys in the distance come into his view, except they are blurry due to the fog from the clouds.
Kieran’s tone has gone back to normal as he whispers, “I hate going against mother’s wants. She has gone through a lot already. It’d only be hard on her when we stress her more.”
“For someone who loves chaos, you do have a loving heart.” Kyle jumps into the conversation, which makes him receive awful glances from both Kieran and Kade, and he raises his hands into the air. “What?”
Kieran, shaking his head, turns back to his brothers. “It’s crazy how no matter how much I hate to admit that the girl has ingrained her existence into us, it is still the truth. Plus, we still haven’t understood how she’s able to affect our curses. Perhaps it’s because she’s our mate or something else; we don’t know for sure, and on any occasion, I’ve always chosen my brothers before anyone else. Whatever the next motive is, I’m in.” Kieran finishes, to which Kade smiles brightly, and they both nod their heads in affirmation for each other.