Fated to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 81: Mated To Someone Else

**************

Chapter 81

~Jade’s POV~

For a moment, neither of us moved.

My hand was still braced against his chest where I had collided with him, and his warmth of his seeped straight through my palm as if the contact alone had ignited something electric between us.

My breath caught halfway in my lungs while the mate bond pulsed violently, far stronger than anything I had felt with the others during our first encounters.

Javelin paced wildly inside my head, her excitement vibrating through my veins.

"Mate," she repeated with strong satisfaction as though she had found her missing rib.

The guy in front of me looked just as stunned. His hand had instinctively wrapped around my arm to steady me when I stumbled, and now his grip tightened slightly as though he were afraid I might disappear if he let go.

He wasn’t wrong. I was tempted to shove him of fand runaway before my brain made sense of whatever twisted game the Moon Goddess was playing at—a fourth mate.

He was tall, easily a head above me, with black-platinum hair that fell messily across his forehead and sharp blue eyes that locked onto mine like he had just discovered something he had been searching for all his life.

For several seconds, he simply stared at me.

Then he exhaled slowly, the shock in his expression shifting into something darker and far more focused.

"Mate," he said again, this time quieter, almost as if he was confirming the word to himself.

Heat rushed up my neck instantly. Behind me, I heard Isadora’s chair scrape loudly against the floor as she stood up in disbelief.

"No fucking way," she repeated under her breath.

The guy’s gaze flickered briefly toward her before returning to me as if the rest of the room had ceased to exist entirely. A faint, crooked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, though his eyes remained sharp with curiosity.

"Well," he said after a moment, his voice deep and calm despite the situation, "that explains why the entire room suddenly smells like the Moon Goddess decided to play matchmaker."

My face burned even hotter.

"I—I didn’t mean to crash into you," I managed to say, my voice sounding embarrassingly breathless.

His hand finally loosened around my arm, though he did not step away. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, studying my face with open interest.

"Trust me," he replied, amusement flickering in his gaze, "I’m not complaining."

Javelin purred loudly in my mind. Isadora, on the other hand, suddenly appeared beside us, staring at the two of us as if she had just witnessed the most unbelievable plot twist in existence.

"Jade," she whispered slowly, "please tell me this is not another..." I signalled her with my eyes to shut up, and she did.

Quickly, I stepped back from him, creating reasonable space, even though every instinct in my body was screaming at me to run into his arms and have him...

"Behave!" I schooled my thoughts and cleared my throat.

The guy’s brows lifted slightly as he glanced at her before returning his attention to me again. Then he extended his hand casually toward me.

"Drake Vale," he introduced in a rather deep voice that sent shivers of excitement down my spine. "And judging by the way my wolf is losing his mind right now, I’m guessing you’re the reason, mate."

But no sooner had he said that than I felt the aura in the shop drop drastically. Drake sniffed, and all the hairs on my skin stood on end. The next second, his cold eyes locked on me, and I felt Isadora stiffen beside me.

"I see it’s not just you, but the reason is behind why my mate smells so strongly like another male."

A tight knot formed in my stomach as his grip around my wrist tightened almost unconsciously, the sudden shift in his aura sending a ripple of unease crawling beneath my skin.

The warm curiosity that had filled his gaze moments ago faded into something far colder and far more possessive, and the wolf beneath his calm exterior was no longer hiding.

I swallowed slowly, trying to keep my voice steady even though Javelin had gone completely still inside my mind, as though she were watching the situation unfold with tense interest.

"It’s... complicated," I began quietly, hoping reason might reach him before instinct took over.

Unfortunately, instinct seemed to arrive first.

Drake moved before I could react, closing the small space between us in a single stride as he grabbed my right hand and yanked my body closer to his. His free hand slid upward toward the collar of my shirt.

The sudden motion caught me completely off guard, and by the time realisation struck, his fingers had already hooked the fabric and pulled, more like yanked it aside.

My second button flew away, landing on the ground somewhere and leaving me more exposed to his eyes.

Cold air brushed the sensitive skin of my neck.

Drake’s eyes locked onto the mark, and for a moment, the entire restaurant seemed to fall silent around us.

"Y-you’re already..." His voice faltered, the disbelief in his expression twisting into something far darker as the truth settled in. "Mated to someone else."

The possessive fury that flashed through his eyes sent a spark of anger rushing through my chest just as quickly.

Before my brain even finished processing what he had done, my hand moved on pure instinct. The sharp crack of the slap echoed louder than it should have in the quiet restaurant.

Shock flickered across Drake’s face as his head turned slightly with the impact, and that single second of stunned silence was all the opportunity I needed.

My heart pounded wildly in my chest as I shoved his arm away from me and stepped back.

"I didn’t give you permission to touch me," I snapped, my voice shaking more from adrenaline than fear.

Then I turned and hurried toward the exit before my legs could betray me, the way the mate bond was still burning beneath my skin.