Page 25 of Sold to Three Alpha Kings

“The drugs, I suppose, combined with exposure to the three of you together.” The healer explains, “Powerful Alpha pheromones, concentrated and colliding the way yours did in that hall. It’s rare but not unheard of for that kind of exposure to force a dormant wolf toward the surface.”

Silence.

“It’s not fully awake. Not yet. But enough to manifest what it always should have been, given the chance.”

“So she’s unstable?” I ask.

“Yes. Extremely,” he replies. “Her wolf is trying to wake from something close to death, and doing it under duress, with none of the gradual development a wolf normally has.”

We exchange glances amongst ourselves.

”She’ll need care. Time. The wrong kind of strain could push her wolf back into dormancy for good, possibly kill her in the process.”

Silence settles over the room.

“She’s weak,” Chris says finally, arms crossed, voice hard and flat. “Unstable, fragile, and by every account we’ve gathered, of no particular use to anyone, including herself. I see no reason to invest further resources in her recovery.”

“Have you not been paying attention?” Wayne glares at him. “She needs time to regain her strength.”

“He’s right,” I say to Chris. “She can recover, with the right help.”

“You’re wasting your time with a liability.”

“That liability is our fated mate,” I say, keeping my voice low and even. “She didn’t ask for any of this, and she reacted to our combined presence in a way none of us can currently explain.”

Wayne yawns and stretches. “I don’t care about liability or usefulness, honestly. I’m more curious about the strange connection I feel toward her. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels it.”

Chris’s jaw works, some argument building behind his eyes that he doesn’t voice.

“We’ve been at this for a while,” I add, quieter. “Trying to agree on one woman between the three of us, and failing every time because none of us wanted the same thing. This is the first time all three of us reacted to anyone the same way. I don’t think that’s something we should dismiss.”

“I’m with Sinth on this one.” Wayne crosses his legs on the table. “I say we keep her.”

Chris looks between Wayne and me, and I watch him do the math, the way he always does—weighing the cost of being outvoted against the cost of being wrong. Neither option sits well with him. It rarely does.

“Fine.” The word comes out clipped, resentful. “But if she proves as much of a liability as I suspect, I want it noted that I said so first.”

“Noted,” Wayne says, not quite hiding his grin.

I don’t smile, not yet. But something in my chest, tight since the moment I left her cell three nights ago, finally loosens, just slightly.

We’re keeping her. Whatever she turns out to be, we’ll have the chance to find out.

Chapter 8 - Charlize

I sit in the dimly lit cell, hating the stink of my skin blended with that of a dead mouse in a corner. I can give anything to have a proper bath right now. And the fact that Sinth had actually seen me in this state makes me feel a certain way.

But why?

Why do I care so much about his perception of me? Is it because he’s the only one that’s been a little less mean to me? Scratch that. He’s been kind to me; soft and gentle in how he speaks with me.

He promised to get me a better meal for dinner, and he did. The guards, an hour after he left my cell, had brought me a bowl of soup with the largest chicken wings I’ve ever seen in my life. On the same tray were some grapes and berries and a stainless cup of clear water.

I honestly didn’t hesitate to devour the food because I was so hungry. It was the best meal I’ve had in my entire life. I had the most delicious food in a prison cell—how ironic!

And it’s all thanks to King Sinth. He’s not only the reason I ate to my satisfaction for the first time in a long time; he’s also the reason I’m still breathing right now. If he hadn’t stopped the mean, always brooding King, I would’ve been dead and forgotten already.

I owe him my life.