“For years I have tried to tell you I was innocent, and what did you do?”

“Briar, please,” Cassian tried to say. “It’s not like that―”

“Like what?” I spat. “Not like you’ve tormented me my whole life? Not like you’ve used me and tried to have me killed?”

“There was a reason for it,” Rowan tried to say. His eyebrows were furrowed together tightly as he took a step forward. He reached for my hand, and I quickly stepped back. Hurt flashed across his eyes. “We didn’t know―”

“Of course you didn’t,” I said with a humorless laugh. “All you did was listen to the lies Violet told you. Even though I am your fated mate, you’ve ignored all my pleas to just listen to what I had to say.”

“Briar, please listen to us,” Soren said. His eyes were red with desperation. “Please give us another chance.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m done waiting. I’m done hurting.”

I met their gaze, mustering all the strength I had. I ignored the way their mark on my neck burned in protest.

“You’ve made your bed,” I said. “Now it’s time to lie in it.”

***

Briar Argyris was born into power, the youngest daughter of the revered Beta family of the Shadowclaw Pack―until the day she vanished.

Kidnapped as a child and presumed dead, Briar returned years later, broken and bloodied at the border of her homeland. But her family had already moved on. Her sister, Willow, had grown into a prodigal daughter. 

As such, there was no room for the forgotten daughter.

From the moment she came home, Briar was treated like a curse. Her presence seemed to poison Willow, and as such, Briar was forced to stay far away from her―in the omegas’ quarters. 

When Willow supposedly died, Briar's fate was sealed. The pack believed she was the murderer, and no one was willing to listen to her pleas.

Until the Moon Goddess intervened.

Right before her execution―her 18th birthday―Briar's destiny was revealed. She was the fated mate of not one, but three Alphas. Rowan. Soren. Cassian Hadeon.

Childhood friends of Willow. Heirs of the Shadowclaw Pack. And her greatest tormentors.

They wanted nothing to do with her―convinced she had destroyed the girl they loved, and fueled by the lies of Violet, Willow’s best friend. To them, Briar was nothing but a cruel joke of fate.

Trapped in a bond she didn’t choose, hated by the men fate bound her to, Briar is determined to survive―even if her heart shatters in the process.

Because the truth is still buried.

And when it finally surfaces, the Alphas will learn that the girl they rejected is not only their true mate―she’s the key to everything they thought they lost.

But will Briar still want them back after everything they've done? 

After all, the moon shines brighter outside the Shadowclaw Pack. Just because the triplets are dumb enough to let their fated mate go, doesn't mean that others will do the same...

***

Updates 2-4 times a week for the month of April.
Daily updates starting in May.

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"She's wolfless!" I reminded them. "Did you really think she could survive drinking this much of our liquor? Why do you think she had to add tap water to it?"


It was as though the great lightning bolt of realization struck Soren and Rowan. They looked at each other, varying levels of alarm written across their faces.


"If she didn't add water to it, she would die drinking that much alcohol," I said, scoffing. "It wouldn't just be that little bastard in her womb right now―"


"What did you just say?" Rowan said, abruptly cutting me off. "What little bastard?"


My words were immediately stopped right in my throat before I had the chance to speak them. For some reason, the aura that Rowan exuded right at this moment was so oppressive that I had to move back a little. 


I felt sweat bead across my forehead, and I resisted the urge to raise my hand and wipe it off.


"I…" I stuttered, "I thought you knew…"


Chapter 62 - Unconscious