Leilani.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed that Gavin had returned, and now, he was staring at me like I had just sprouted a second head. Chalice, on the other hand, had a smug smile plastered across her face— one that slowly faded with each second that the triplets hesitated to reject me.
"Kael..?" Now her voice was soft, deceptively so, as she stared up at them through puppy dog eyes. "Zevran, Caelum… she's asking you to reject her. Will you do it? Won't it hurt her?"
I knew what she was doing.
Stoking the fire.
It was the same thing she always does in situations like this. The same way she always feigned concern for me. And her usual sweet way in which she managed to make everyone believe her… to pity her.
To make them believe that she was the better twin.
A sudden wave of nausea crept up my stomach when Caelum turned to her quickly, his face twisted into something that tethered between guilt and compassion. "If she wants it, we cannot stop her." He said, but even after saying this, he made no attempt to start with the rejection process.
Neither did his brothers.
Nor did I.
I simply stood there, my heart racing, my breath coming in short heavy pants as I glared at them.
Time was ticking. I was growing impatient.
Chalice grabbed Caelum's hands. No one else could see the desperation in her blue eyes, but I did. She muttered; "But she's weak. She's wolfless. She hasn't even healed from all her injuries yet… this would shatter her. Please don't."
Her charade irked me. It scratched at an uncomfortable itch under my skin. Unable to stand it anymore, I turned to her, my gaze cold.
"Do you realize that they'll never be fully yours if they do not reject me?" I asked her coldly and I watched with irritation as tears flowed down her face uncontrollably.
Gosh, it's like there's a dam waiting somewhere in her tear duct.
"…so let them do this… for you. For me. So that we can all finally have some semblance of peace. Okay?" I continued, ignoring the statues that were now my mates, and ignoring the harsh glint in Chalice's eyes despite her tears.
"Leilani, you don't have a wolf!" She shrieked in feigned concern. "It could kill you!"
"Then let it kill me."
"Now, you're just being bitter!" Gavin cut in from behind Zevran. "You're so despicable you'd rather put yourself in danger just to prove some stupid point. Or is this your way of deviating everyone from the fact that you'd tried to kill your sister only some minutes ago?!" He yelled, and at this, some of the ice in the room thawed.
The servants could not voice out their opinions but while some of them nodded in acceptance, a few others looked grim. Sullen. Those were the ones that really knew me.
I shrugged. "I know I would be punished for hurting Chalice," I said slowly, my voice breaking at the absurdity of it all. "…but I want to be rejected by the Alphas first. I want to end this charade once and for all."
"LEILANI!" Now, it was Zevran who growled at me, and maybe due to the fact that he's never done this before, I flinched in surprise, my eyes widening as I turned to regard him.
Amongst the triplets, while Kael and Caelum were hot tempered, Zevran was the complete opposite. There were even some times I argued that he had more brain cells than his brothers, but now… with the way he was glaring at me with so much rage, it was quite obvious that I had finally successfully managed to get under his skin.
—not like I cared.
"You agreed with me before coming back!" He seethed and I could only shrug, refusing to look into his stormy dark eyes. "We said we will… in a month's time."
"There's no difference between now and next month." I offered calmly, "Moreover we need to make sure that sweet Chalice here has no worries. This is my way of apologizing for all the times I've hurt her in the past."
The sarcasm was not lost on Chalice because then she turned to glare at me. It wasn't until she noticed the stares from a few servants around that she managed to school her features into one of innocence.
She cried; "I don't want you to go through with this."
"And she wouldn't." A voice suddenly said from outside, causing everyone to turn to the source. My eyes widened when I noticed Luna Elena, the triplets' mother, standing by the door, clad in a rich purple regalia and spotting her glowy tiara sitting pretty on her head.
She didn't try to come in. She didn't even spare me a glance as she drawled at her sons; "Especially not like this."
Chalice's mask slipped. She frowned.
Now, Caelum stepped toward her, his frown evident. "Mom, what do you mean?"
She rolled her eyes. "You and your brothers are Alphas! With Alpha blood and wolves! You don't go rejecting your mate like other rankless wolves do. There are rituals you must perform first!"
At that, I gulped. A sheen of sweat formed on my forehead as I stepped closer to her until I was forcefully shoved back by Gavin who snarled in my face. "Don't get too close to her. You're filth, remember?"
But I ignored him. Instead, I fastened my gaze on Luna Elena who watched the exchange between my brother and I in confusion.
She muttered; "You'll need to sever ties with her first… then with her wolf."
"But I don't have a wolf." I spat, frowning.
"Yes, I know." She snapped, still not sparing me a glance. "And that's where the ritual comes in. So until then, you all will have to stay put and keep your grudges locked up in your pants!" She scoffed, and with that stormed off, leaving us all in shock.
A few minutes later, the crowd fizzled out. Everyone began to disperse when there was nothing juicy left to watch.
The triplets left too with Chalice hanging onto them like an accessory.
But Gavin never did.
He smirked, turning to me. "You didn't think I'd let you off the hook so easily after that uncharacteristic performance earlier, did you?"
I sighed. "No."
"Also, why did you steal Chalice's research work? Are you trying to pitch yourself to Frostclaw. Inc? Do you think you have the brains for that?!" He spat, but I couldn't bring myself to respond.
I was so tired. So weak. So fed up.
I shook my head.
"Speak!" Gavin growled, coming to grab my jaw with so much force, I feared he would break it. He seethed; "Speak for yourself, you slut!"
Then he chuckled. "It's funny how you go from a murderer to a traitor then a slut in a few days. But don't worry, I'm here to right your filthy wrongs!"
And with that, he backhanded me so hard that my knees gave way and I fell to the floor. But Gavin didn't stop. He was only getting started.