Fated to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 29: That’s Not Me

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Chapter 29

~Jade’s POV~

I couldn’t answer him, and Xade’s gaze darkened. "Tell me who hurt you."

His voice was calm, but it carried weight, the kind that made it clear he wasn’t going anywhere until I spoke. The garden felt too quiet all of a sudden, like the world had leaned in to listen.

"Tales of Spice." I swallowed. "The school’s gossip centre. Someone..." My throat tightened, and the rest refused to come out.

Xade stiffened. It was subtle, but I felt it in the way his arm tensed around me. His eyes turned darker. Then after about a thirty seconds, he looked down at me.

"You... someone posted your nudes," he finished for me, carefully, like he was trying not to make the words hurt more than they already did.

I flinched anyway.

There was a sharp, distant look in his eyes, the kind he got when he was thinking too fast and too far ahead. I knew that look now. He was mind-linking his brothers. One of them. Maybe all of them.

Panic rose in my chest at the thought of them all finding out my predicament. I tried to step back, to put space between us before I could see disappointment or disgust cross his face.

Xade’s arms came around my waist and pulled me back, firm but not rough. His eyes sharpened. "Where do you think you’re going?"

"I—" My voice broke.

"Don’t think of running," he said quietly. "We three will protect you. Now tell me, do you have any idea who did this?"

I just stared at him.

I had braced myself for jokes, for cold words or something that would make me feel smaller than I already did. Instead, I got this. Concern and certainty. He was on my side.

Another tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it.

Xade lifted a hand and wiped it away with his thumb, then kept his hand there, like he was anchoring me in place. "Hey," he murmured. "Look at me." I sniffed and did. "You’re not alone in this."

Something in my chest twisted painfully. "You’re not... angry?"

"Angry?" A faint, dangerous smile touched his lips. "Yes. At the person who did this, not at you."

I let out a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

He studied my face for a moment, then his tone shifted, softer, almost teasing, like he was trying to pull me back from the edge. "You know, for someone who pretends to be made of ice, you cry like you’re made of glass."

"That’s not comforting," I muttered.

"It’s honest," Xade stated. "And you don’t need pretty words right now. You need the truth. The truth is, someone crossed a line, and we’re going to deal with it."

"We?" I echoed.

"Yes, we," he replied, without hesitation. "You don’t get to carry this by yourself."

For the first time since everything started, I actually looked at him, focused, instead of the ground.

His expression wasn’t playful or distant. It was focused, protective, and somehow gentle all at once. The mix of it made my chest ache.

"I’m so tired," I admitted quietly. "I’m so tired of fighting alone."

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he drew me closer, then stopped, like he was giving me time to pull away if I wanted to. When I didn’t, he lifted his hand and touched my face, as if I might shatter under his fingers.

Our foreheads almost touched, our breaths mingling. His scent calmed my nerves when I inhaled.

"Jade," Xade said softly, breaking me from the haze I was, "if this is too much, tell me. I won’t push you."

I should have said something, anything. I didn’t. That was enough for Xade.

He leaned in slowly, his jade-green eyes heavy with a dark, protective heat before they drifted shut. His warm breath fanned across my lips, a soft invitation that made my pulse erratic. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

I didn’t pull away; I couldn’t. Time suspended as he tilted his head, his nose grazing mine, before he finally closed the gap and claimed my lips.

Javelin heaved a sigh in my mind, and that was all I could remember aside from Xade’s lips pressed on mine.

The kiss wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t hungry. It felt like relief, warmth after standing in the cold too long. Like someone finally saying ’you don’t have to be strong right now’.

Safety meeting fire.

For a second I forgot to breathe, memorizing his soft lips on mine.

As though my action wasn’t enough for Xade, his other hand slid up my cheek, caressing it softly.

My lips parted, and he dove in. When Xade’s tongue swept against mine, a soft moan escaped me, lost in the heat of his mouth.

My breath came out in a shaky sigh without even thinking about it. It was every bit different from Troy’s.

His lips moved against mine again, unhurried, as if he was giving me time to breathe him in, to feel the moment instead of losing myself to it. Our breaths mingled, and I felt the soft brush of his mouth adjusting to mine, like he was learning me.

My chest rose and fell against his, and I realized I was holding onto his shirt just to stay upright. When he finally eased back a fraction, our foreheads still touching, my legs felt unsteady.

I hadn’t even noticed I was trembling until his hands slid to my arms, steadying me without a word.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

I nodded, even though my heart was still racing.

Suddenly his phone’s notification sound rang out. He hesitated, then his eyes narrowed.

I knew what he was thinking, and I hoped he wouldn’t.

Howbeit, Xade took out his phone with one hand. I wanted to stop him from checking it, but the look he gave me was reassuring, like he already knew what I was afraid of and wasn’t going to let it hurt me.

He opened it.

I saw the moment he froze. His breathing changed, and his hold on my waist tightened just a little.

Then he turned the screen toward me. "Did you take this? Or did someone hack your phone?"

I shook my head immediately. "No."

He didn’t question me. He just nodded once, like my word was enough.

His eyes narrowed, that sharp brightness flickering in them. His jade-green gaze looked even more intense like this, framed by his dark hair and that dangerous calm.

He was about to pull the phone away when something hit me.

Until now, I hadn’t really looked at the picture properly. I’d been too scared and felt betrayed that my mind blurred out the truth, my body.

As if on cue, Javelin stirred in my mind. "Wait," she said suddenly. "Stop him."

"Wait," I blurted, reaching out for his phone. Xade paused. "That’s not me." The words tumbled out before I could second-guess myself.

He searched my face. "You’re sure?"

"Yes." I nodded. "It’s not me. The only person I ever sent anything like that to was..." I stopped, and the silence said the rest.

"Xander," Xade finished quietly.

"Which was by mistake," I added.

"And thankfully so," Xade said dryly. "Otherwise your backstabbing ex would have made a public show of it. He might have done this too."

I swallowed. "I know it’s fake because... my birthmark isn’t there. Not even angles can hide that."

His gaze flicked up to me with interest. "Where?"

I hesitated, then sighed. "On my chest," his gaze darted to my chest, "atop my cleavage." I shut my eyes when I saw the questioning look on his face. "Between my boobs," I added quietly.

For a second there was only silence. Then I opened my eyes a little. A small, almost proud smile curved his lips. "That’s my girl."

I huffed out a weak laugh before I could stop myself.

Xade sobered quickly. "This means it’s edited. Which means whoever did this planned it. And planning leaves trails. No matter how skillful the perpetrators are, we would find him or her," he assured me.

"You’re already thinking like a hunter," I muttered.

"That’s because someone decided to make you prey," he replied. "And I don’t like that."

We stood there for a moment, the garden quiet around us, and my heartbeat finally starting to slow.

"I don’t know how to do this," I admitted, breaking the awkward tension like I hadn’t just let my Lecturer and mate kiss me inside my chaos. "Go back there and face them."

"You don’t have to do it alone," Xade said again, like he wanted the words to sink in. "Lean on me. Just this once, if nothing else."

I looked at him, really looked at him, and for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was about to fall apart.

"Okay," I whispered. Just as his hand squeezed mine, another thought crossed my mind. "But you’re a lecturer. My presence around you leaves a bad image on you." I released Xade’s hand, then gave hima small smile.

"I’ll go back alone and..."

Xade grabbed my hand and pulled my body against his, my palms plastered on his chest. Everything had happened so fast that I lost track of things, until his lips crashed on mine once more.