A smell hit me like a truck going full speed. Pine trees and winter storms. Leather and something wild and scary and completely overwhelming. It made my wolf go totally crazy inside my head, scratching and clawing to get out. My knees went weak. The cleaning materials fell from my hands, clattering to the floor like my world was falling apart.

"Do you smell that?" a deep voice asked. The voice sent shivers down my spine.

"Honey and wildflowers," another voice answered, rougher than the first. "Like summer and sunshine. Where is it coming from?"

A third voice, softer but just as strong, said, "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever smelled."

But that was impossible. I was just an omega. Just unseen Aisla who cleaned floors and stayed out of sight and never caused trouble for anyone important.

The footsteps got closer. I could hear them breathe now.

My wolf was going crazy inside me. She wanted out. She wanted to run toward that smell, not away from it. She wanted something I didn't understand.

"There," the third voice said, softer than the others but somehow more dangerous. "In the kitchen. She's in there."

The footsteps stopped right outside the door. I could feel them there, waiting.

Deep down, I knew my life was about to change forever.

I could swear I heard three wolves roaring inside my head.

The kitchen door handle turned slowly.

I was about to meet my fate.

Or my doom.


~

I had spent my entire life in the shadows. As a lowly omega, I was used to being overlooked, ignored, and unseen. 

But everything changed on my 18th birthday.

That was the day the Moon Goddess gave me a cruel kind of blessing. 

I had a mate. 

Not just one. 

Not two. 

But all three of the Alpha’s sons, the legendary triplets were bound to me.

I'd always been the youngest. The one they underestimated.


Lucien's fire burned too hot, Kieran's duty weighed too heavy, and me? I was the one who smiled through the cracks, who softened their storms, who reminded them we were brothers first.


And for the first time, I was not sure smiling would be enough. Things are about to get tense between us brothers.


The training fight earlier still lingered in my mind. Lucien lunging like a rabid wolf, Kieran standing against him like stone, and Aisla … sweet, trembling Aisla, throwing herself between them.


She had been brave, but I had seen the way she looked at Lucien after. Like she did not know if she could ever trust him.


Lucien wanted her too much, too violently. And Kieran… Kieran fought himself as much as he fought her, chained by duty even when the bond begged him to surrender.


Chapter 21 - The Anchor