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.

It had been drilled into me since the day I could walk. I was the eldest. The heir. The one who must not falter or bend. I was not permitted to break. 


And yet every time I looked at her, I could feel the crack in my resolve.


The girl who should have been invisible, who should never have crossed into my world. The girl who haunted me even when I closed my eyes.


I told myself I could resist her. That my discipline was stronger than my desire. That I was Alpha before I was anything else.


But tonight, watching her spar in the courtyard, laughter spilling from her lips as Caelan teased her, I knew I was lying to myself.


I stayed in the shadows until the session ended. The others left her behind while she caught her breath. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair clung to her neck with sweat. She bent to scoop up her cloak and when she straightened, she saw me.


Chapter 28 - The Weight of Duty