Chapter : Don’t Lie

The estate was too quiet.

It wasn't natural.

Roo could feel it in the way the air pressed around him, thick with something unseen. A tension lurking beneath the surface, waiting to strike.

His pulse thrummed against his skin as he lay in bed, his body caged between Alec and Ace while Alexander sat in the chair nearby, watching.

Always watching.

His golden eyes gleamed in the dim light, unreadable yet piercing, as if he knew.

Knew Roo's thoughts.

Knew his hesitations.

Knew how badly he wanted to run.

Roo swallowed hard, shifting slightly. The movement was small, but Alec's arm immediately tightened around his waist, pulling him back against the warmth of his chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alec's voice was low, husky with sleep, but there was something dark curling beneath it.

Roo froze.

"I—"

Alec pressed his nose into Roo's neck, inhaling deeply.

"You smell anxious."

Ace, half-draped over Roo's legs, let out a lazy sigh, his fingers tracing absentminded patterns against Roo's hip. "What did we tell you about thinking too much, cuore mio?"

Roo gritted his teeth. "I'm not—"

"Don't lie."

Alexander's voice was soft, but it sent a shiver down Roo's spine.

Roo clenched his hands in the sheets.

He was trapped.

Surrounded.

Their warmth pressed in on him from all sides, their touch possessive, their presence absolute.

It was suffocating.

It was intoxicating.

It was—

Crack.

A sound echoed from beyond the estate walls.

Instantly, the air changed.

The triplets stiffened.

Ace's fingers stilled. Alec lifted his head. Alexander rose from his chair, his golden eyes sharpening to something lethal.

The silence stretched.

Then—

Another sound.

A footstep.

Outside.

Wrong.

Too quiet.

Too precise.

The triplets moved as one.

Ace slid from the bed, his easy demeanor vanishing into something cold and dangerous. Alec shifted, his grip on Roo tightening for a brief second before he released him.

And Alexander…

He was already at the door.

A low growl rumbled from deep in his chest.

"Stay here," he ordered, his voice dark with authority.

Roo barely had time to react before they were gone.

The door shut behind them.

And for the first time in weeks

Roo was alone.

His heart pounded.

The moment should have been a relief.

But instead, the silence wrapped around him like a noose.

Something wasn't right.

And he wasn't sure if it was the enemy lurking in the shadows…

Or the way his chest ached the moment the triplets left his side.

Elsewhere…

The wind howled through the trees.

The figure crouched low, their breath even, their blade glinting under the moonlight.

"The Alphas took the bait."

A second shadow shifted beside them. "Then it's time to strike."

They moved.

Silent as death.

And the game began.

To Be Continued...