TWO YEARS LATER
The sharp ringing of the servant's bell jolted me awake, snapping me back to reality.
5:00 a.m.
"Shit!" I cursed, leaping out of bed. "Not again!"
I darted into the bathroom, taking the quickest shower I could manage. The cold water did little to calm my frazzled nerves. I pulled on my gray servant's uniform, ignoring the mirror entirely. There was no need to check my reflection; the girl who used to smile back at me died two years ago.
Today wasn't just any day. Today, the pack house was vibrating with a nervous, electric energy. The triplets—Liam, Leon, and Leo—were returning from the Alpha Academy. They had been gone for a full year, sent away shortly after the death of our Luna. I hadn't seen them in a year, and I wondered if they still hated me as much as they had before leaving.
A loud voice echoed down the servants' hallway. "Everyone outside! Line up!"
I quickly stepped out of my room and followed the other servants. The entire staff gathered in front of the grand mansion entrance. Maids stood in neat rows, guards lined the driveway, and even the cooks had come out from the kitchen. The air buzzed with excitement and tension.
"They've changed a lot after the Academy," one maid whispered.
"I heard they're stronger than most Alphas already," another replied.
I stayed silent. My heart was beating too fast. Soon, the distant sound of engines filled the air. Everyone straightened immediately. A long black car rolled through the massive iron gates and slowly drove up the stone driveway toward the mansion. The vehicle came to a smooth stop in front of the grand stairs.
For a moment, everything went silent. Then the car doors opened. Three tall figures stepped out.
The triplets.
They looked identical at first glance—same tall height, same broad shoulders, and the same dark black hair that brushed their foreheads. But if you looked closely, there were differences. Liam's eyes were a sharp emerald green. Leo's were a deep sea blue. And Leon's were warm brown, darker than the others. Those eyes were the only way to tell them apart.
They had grown taller, stronger, and more intimidating than the boys I remembered. The Alpha Academy had turned them into powerful warriors. Footsteps approached from the mansion doors: Alpha Lennox, Alpha Levi, and Alpha Louis. Their fathers.
The three Alphas walked down the steps, pride clear on their faces. For a brief moment, the cold expressions on the triplets' faces softened. They walked forward and embraced their fathers in strong hugs.
"Welcome home," Alpha Lennox said with a proud smile.
The rest of us bowed our heads respectfully. "Welcome home, young Alphas," Nero, the head of the guards, announced loudly.
I lowered my head like everyone else. But I felt it. Three pairs of eyes. Slowly, I lifted my gaze. The triplets were staring directly at me. The warmth that used to be in their eyes when we were children was gone. What replaced it was something colder. Something sharper.
Hatred.
That same hatred they had looked at me with two years ago. Time hadn't changed it—not even a little. My chest tightened, but I forced myself to stay still. They didn't say a word. They simply looked away and walked past us, entering the mansion like I didn't exist. Like I was nothing. Like I was just another servant.
A sharp voice broke the silence. "Scarlett!" I turned quickly. "Why are you standing there like a statue?" she snapped. "Go prepare fruit platters for the young Alphas. Each of them wants their tray in their room."
"Yes, ma'am," I said quietly.
I hurried toward the kitchen, my heart still beating unevenly in my chest. Preparing the fruit platters was the task I dreaded most. The triplets—Liam, Leon, and Leo—were notoriously picky. Everything had to be hand-peeled, sliced perfectly, and served chilled. No mistakes were forgiven.
My hands trembled slightly as I balanced the silver tray. The hallway leading to their wing felt suffocatingly quiet. Two years have passed since that day. Two years since the triplets became my masters instead of my friends.
At first, I cried every night. Now, I don't cry at all. Pain loses its sharpness when it becomes routine. I stopped in front of the massive double doors leading to Liam's room and knocked.
"Stop knocking and get the hell in!" his irritated voice growled from inside.
I pushed the door open, the tray trembling slightly in my hands. The sight inside turned my stomach. Liam was sprawled across the bed with a blonde girl tangled in his arms, kissing her so deeply it was as if I wasn't even there. I quickly looked away, my chest tightening.
Moving silently, I placed the plate of sliced blood oranges on his desk. But as I turned to leave, his sharp voice stopped me. "Wait."
I froze. The girl groaned as Liam shoved her away. He walked toward me wearing nothing but silk trousers, his broad chest on full display. My eyes betrayed me, flickering downward for a brief moment before I forced them back to the floor. Liam grabbed a slice of fruit and took a bite. Immediately, he scowled.
"This is sour," he snapped. "You didn't check the ripeness, did you?"
"I'm sorry, Liam," I said quickly. "I'll bring a different batch—"
"It's Alpha Liam to you," he growled.
Suddenly, he tipped the plate, letting the sticky red juice drip down onto my clean uniform. The cold liquid soaked into the fabric, staining it a dark red that looked disturbingly like blood. "What the hell is wrong with you, Scarlett?" he continued harshly. "You've lived here for years and still can't do a simple task."
"I—"
"Get out!" he barked.
I bolted from the room. Leo's room was next. Unlike his brother, Leo was calmer, but his coldness was a different kind of danger. I knocked and stepped inside. Leo was sitting at his desk, shirtless, his dark hair slightly disheveled.
"You're late," he said, his sea-blue eyes piercing through me.
"I apologize, Leo," I murmured, placing the tray down carefully.
Before I could step back, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. His grip wasn't painful, but it was firm enough to stop me. "Look at me, Scarlett."
Reluctantly, I lifted my head and met his gaze. His eyes dropped to the red stain across my chest. He knew exactly what Liam had done. "You're shaking," he observed, his tone softening slightly in a way that felt more like a trap than kindness. "Are you scared of me?"
I swallowed hard. I wasn't just scared. I hated him. I hated him for what he had ordered that morning two years ago.
He held my gaze for a moment longer before releasing my wrist, his expression twisting into pure disgust. "Leave."
I stepped out quickly. The last stop was Leon. He was the quietest of the three, but his silence often spoke louder than words. When I entered, he was standing by the window with a book in his hand. As I set the fruit tray down, Leon's smooth voice broke the silence.
"'In the end, we are all just stories, waiting to be told.'"
I froze. The silver tray slipped slightly in my grip. I knew that line. My heart began to hammer wildly in my chest as I looked at the worn leather cover of the book in his hands. It was a rare first edition of The Shadow's Echo. I had saved every dollar I earned for a year just to buy it for him. I gave it to him on his nineteenth birthday three years ago… back when we were best friends. Back when I believed they loved me.
He was still reading it? After everything?
Suddenly, Leon snapped the book shut with a loud thud that made me flinch. Before I could process the look in his eyes, he threw the book straight at me. It hit my chest—right over the damp red stain of the orange juice—before falling to the floor.
"Pick it up," he commanded coldly.
I knelt down slowly, my fingers trembling as I brushed against the worn leather. I wanted to cry, but I forced the tears back. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Leon pointed toward a heavy wooden box sitting near the hearth. "I want you to burn everything in that box," he said calmly. "Now."
I nodded, my throat tight. "Yes, Alpha. I'll take it to the kitchens—"
"No," he interrupted. His dark eyes followed my every movement. "Burn it here. In the fireplace. I want to watch the smoke clear the room of your stench."
I walked over to the box and lifted the lid. My breath caught in my throat. It wasn't trash. It was us. Inside were memories of a lifetime they had decided to erase: pictures of the four of us laughing by the lake; handmade charms I had woven for them; even the dried remains of the flower Liam once tucked behind my ear. Every gift I had ever given them was inside that box.
I picked up one of the photographs. The edges were already curling with age. We looked so happy. So innocent.
"Start with the pictures, Scarlett," Leon whispered from behind me, leaning against the mantle while the fire crackled.
I looked at him, tears burning in my eyes. I understood his pain. I understood all of their pain. They had lost their mother—the woman they loved more than life itself. But what about me? I had lost my only family too. My parents were innocent, yet these three had ordered their deaths.
Despite the agony clawing at my chest, a small, pathetic part of me still wished things could go back to the way they were. I wished that one day they would look at me and say they were sorry. I was so desperate for the boys I once knew that I knew I would forgive them in a heartbeat. But looking at Leon's cold, stony expression… I knew that day would never come.
I swallowed my pain and reached into the box. One by one, I fed our memories into the flames. The glossy photos curled and blackened, the faces of our younger selves slowly disappearing into ash. As the pile grew, the smoke thickened around me, swirling through the room until it began to choke me. I coughed, my eyes burning from both the smoke and the tears I refused to shed.
Leon didn't move. He didn't stop me. He simply watched the fire until the last memory was gone. Then he turned his back to me. "Get out," he said flatly.
I stumbled out of the room, my lungs burning and my uniform smelling of smoke and bitter oranges. All I wanted was to crawl into a hole and disappear. But I didn't even make it halfway down the hallway.
"There you are!"
I looked up to see Nero, the head of the mansion guards, staring at me with a cruel sneer. Before I could even ask what was wrong, the two guards beside him grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back.
"Wait!" I gasped, panic flooding my chest. "What are you doing?"