VIVIENNE's POV
''Nooo!''
I woke up with a start, my lungs burning, vision tunneling as cold sweat dripped down the side of my head.
My body trembled, my chest heaving heavily as I sucked in a sharp, ragged breath, trying to stay afloat.
The remnant of the nightmare, of Roman's cold, bloodied body laying limp on the cold floor made me shiver.
I didn't think, I couldn't.
My heart hammered against my chest as I reached for my phone on the bedside table and dialed Roman's line, heaving a shaky breath.
The call went through to voice mail multiple times before I slammed my phone back on the nightstand with an annoyed sigh.
'It's just a nightmare, Vivi. He obviously lost signals because he already crossed over to Silver fang.' I reassured myself.
But the ache in my chest intensified rather than do the opposite.
I took in a sharp, shaky inhale and made to slide off the covers.
Before my legs could even graze the cold marble floor, my phone suddenly started to vibrate in the nightstand.
My heart leaped.
Roman!
I didn't even bother to look at the caller ID.
I quickly snatched the phone, pressing the cold metal to my ear while my chest still heaved in uneven gasps.
"Vivienne..." The voice slithered through the speaker, turning my blood to ice.
I froze, my heart rate spiking.
I slowly pulled the phone away from my ear, my hand trembling as I stared at the screen.
Fiona.
Her voice cracked from the other side, desperate and hurried like she could tell my next move. ''Don't hang up, Please.''
I bit into the inside of my cheeks, drawing blood.
''I know you're still mad at me, Vivienne. I understand. But please... we need the pack's border patrol logs. The rogue attacks have intensified out here, and we are losing more soldiers by the hour. We need the data from the main house to coordinate the defense."
My breath caught, my impending words hanging in my throat.
The betrayal… the way her voice echoed with seduction and longing as she moaned Roman's name crashed into me like a freight train.
My hand tightened around my phone, almost turning it to dust.
''Okay.'' My voice was barely above a whisper as I slipped the phone off my ear and hung up.
I forced myself out of bed, numbly washing the sweat from my face before descending the grand staircase.
Halfway down, the smell hit me.
Honey bee perfume.
It had been a few days since Sasha officially moved into the main quarters of the packhouse, and the scent alone was enough to trigger a wave of intense nausea.
But as I reached the ground floor, the nausea quickly morphed into a hot, blinding rage.
The door to the tactical briefing room was slightly opened and it was not just the triplets. Sasha was there too!
I couldn't help the anger that consumed me.
No one, absolutely no one except the Alpha and his direct bloodline was allowed access to that room.
It was a sacred, high-security space and only people who could be trusted were allowed in.
So what the hell was Sasha doing inside?
I threw open the rest of the mahagony door and barged into the room.
The triplets were crowded around the large digital map table, their massive, broad frames tense as they spoke in hushed, urgent tones.
And Sasha..
She was woven right between them, leaning over Rhys and Cassian, her chin sitting on her palm.
"...it's just a bit difficult to sync the supply lines when the internal administration is practically stagnant.'' She was saying, her voice dripping with an innocent, helpful sweetness that made my stomach turn.
"But I suppose it's totally fine. A Luna is mostly just an accessory to keep up morale anyway, right? It's completely natural that she wouldn't know how to handle high-stakes military logistics during a raid."
The pure, calculated malice behind her "innocent" comment struck a nerve.
She was subtly stripping me of my authority right in front of the triplets, painting me as an incompetent, useless decoration while our people bled out at the borders.
I shouldn't have expected anything.
But my heart suddenly hammered in expectation as I waited for the triplets to cut in and reprimand her.
Seconds passed… then minutes..
The hope slowly started to dwayne and a piercing ache swirled around my chest.
The triplets didn't say anything.
They barely made a hum sound and got on with what they were doing.
''I mean… I understand that she might not care about the—''
"Watch your mouth, Sasha!" I snapped, cutting her off.
My hands curled into tight fists by my sides, my nails biting into my palms.
At the sound of my voice, all four of them snapped their heads up.
Cassian was the first to speak.
His blue eyes hardened, a wall of cold indifference slamming into me. "What are you doing here?"
I let out a scoff. ''Why? An outsider gets to be here and I don't?'' I shot Sasha a cold glare.
Her jaw ticked, her eyes flashing with a brief, vicious gleam before she quickly masked it, looking down like a scolded child.
''Vivi!'' Maddox's angry, warning voice suddenly boomed through the space, the sheer volume making the room vibrate.
I almost flinched, my legs trembling. But I forced them to stay glued to the floor, not wanting to give Sasha or the triplets the satisfaction.
"Sasha is no outsider.'' Maddox growled, his gaze dark, voice cold. "Leave, Vivi. Roman wouldn't want you in here right now."
It was just words.
Words that weren't supposed to hurt especially coming from someone I cared little to nothing about.
But somehow, those words cut deeper than I expected.
My chest ached and my eyes burned with barely restrained tears.
Maddox turned his back on me, returning to the map, and the other brothers followed suit, dismissively shutting me out like I was never there.
My eyes flew to Sasha.
A smug, triumphant smirk has spread across her plump lips and she leaned her shoulders lightly against Maddox's arm in a possessive, taunting display.
I bit back the bitter laughter that threatened to pour out of my lips and turned away from her, my eyes landing back on the triplets.
"Roman wouldn't—"
"Enough, Viv!" Rhys snapped, his tone riddled with irritation as he threw his hands up. "You've been acting off since the moment Sasha stepped into this place. If it wasn't for her and the intel she brought from her old territory, we wouldn't even be standing here right now discussing strategies to bring these rogue attackers to their knees."
My breath caught in my throat.
I stared at them, a bitter laugh bubbling up in my chest. "Sasha isn't capable of doing anything to help this pack, and you know it!"
They were completely delusional, thinking with their dicks rather than their brains.
As if proving my point, Rhys stepped away from the table, his steps hurried as he walked over to me.
I swallowed, my heart hammering against my chest, I was afraid it would explode.
He stopped just right in front of me, his towering build casting a long shadow over me as he closed the distance between us.
Then a cruel smirk cut across his face as he leaned in, his eyes hollow as his breath fanned my cheek.
''At least Sasha knows how to keep her mouth shut and keep us satisfied. What exactly can you do?" His voice was barely above a whisper, I didn't think the others heard it.
My heart started to hammer frantically against my chest.
But the worst part?
The part that made me want to scream with self loathing?
A disgusting, traitorous heat pooled heavily between my thighs.
I squeezed my thighs and gritted my teeth so hard, my skull ached.
"I came for the casualty registry.'' I whispered, my voice breathless and shaky. ''F-Fiona called. The front lines are being pushed back and—'' My words hung in my throat when he stepped even closer, his smirk widening.
I stepped back slowly, my legs trembling as my eyes darted everywhere but his face.
''W-Where is it?'' I stuttered, gritting my teeth.
Rhys chuckled, the sound a low rubble in his throat that had my legs trembling.
He took a slow, deep breath like he could smell the exact moment my arousal hit. Then he leaned in a fraction closer, his voice dipping into a seductively inviting murmur.
"The registry? Hmm. I don't know where it is, Viv. Maybe... it's up in my bedroom. Why don't you go look?"
Any normal person would have known he was mocking me, playing a twisted joke just to get me out of his sight.
But I was too angry, too desperate to prove something, anything!
"Fine!'' I spat.
I turned on my heel and bolted from the room, my chest heaving as I marched straight up the grand staircase.
If I had to tear his room apart to get those files and prove my worth, I would.
I pushed open the door to Rhys private quarters, the heavy scent of his cedar wood and musk instantly wrapping around my senses.
I ignored the massive bed and went straight for his desk, pulling open drawers and tossing aside training schedules and border maps.
Where is it?!
When I couldn't find anything on his desk, I marched over to his dresser, aggressively pulling open the bottom drawer to check beneath his clothes.
As I did, my hand froze mid-air, my vision tunneling.
Tucked neatly into the corner of the drawer, entirely out of place among his heavy winter flannels, was…lace.
A black lace panty.
With trembling fingers, I reached down and pulled it into the light.
My heart stopped beating.
It wasn't rare to find a woman's underwear tucked in the triplets clothing considering how loose they were. But…I couldn't be mistaken.
My insides froze.
It was a pair of MY black lace panty.
The exact one I had stripped off and thrown into the hamper days ago. The one that got ruined by Maddox's sinful games.
My hand gripped the lace tightly.
It was no longer soaked. But a faint, unmistakable smudge of my own dried pussy juice was still stained into the silk.
What the fuck was this doing here?
Did I…
My thoughts began to spiral and I couldn't help but shake my head repeatedly in denial.
Rhys wouldn't—
Suddenly, the door swung open.
I flinched violently, my heart leaping into my throat as the black lace slipped from my paralyzed fingers and dropped to the floor.