Chapter : Claiming

The triplets didn't let Roo out of their sight.

Not even for a second.

Back at the estate, they had locked the doors, drawn the curtains, and turned their sprawling mansion into a fortress. Every pack member was on high alert, and Alexander had doubled security at the borders.

But Roo felt it.

The way they watched him.

The unspoken tension crackling between them.

Something had shifted.

Alexander sat at the head of the long dining table, his golden eyes sharp as he swirled the glass of dark red wine in his hand. Ace leaned against the window, arms crossed, his wolf just beneath the surface. Alec sat beside Roo, his fingers lazily tracing patterns on the Omega's wrist—but it wasn't a casual touch. It was a warning.

A reminder that he was caged.

"Now," Alexander said, his voice slow and even, "do you want to tell us why someone is after you?"

Roo tensed. "I don't know."

"Wrong answer," Ace muttered.

"Try again, piccolo," Alec whispered into his ear, his breath warm against Roo's skin. "Because we don't like secrets."

Roo swallowed hard. "I—" He hesitated.

He had secrets.

Too many.

But telling them meant giving them even more power over him.

And the way they had already claimed him, the way their possessiveness suffocated him—

Would they ever let him go?

"Roo."

Alexander's voice sent a shiver down his spine.

"Talk."

Roo closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to breathe. "I… don't remember much before the rogues caught me."

"Liar," Ace said coldly.

"I'm not lying!" Roo snapped, glaring at him. "I really don't! My memories are hazy—I just remember running, being hunted like an animal, hiding in places I shouldn't have been…"

Alexander set his wine down. "And?"

Roo hesitated. "And—I think they were after me long before you found me."

Silence.

Then—

Alec's grip tightened on Roo's wrist, his claws pressing into his skin. "Who are you really, piccolo?"

Roo's heartbeat stopped.

"Roo," Alexander said, dangerously quiet. "If you're lying to us—"

"I'm not lying!" Roo snapped. "I don't know! I don't remember anything about my family, my past, nothing! I just—"

"Enough," Ace growled.

His voice sent a shiver through Roo.

Dangerous.

Lethal.

The room's temperature seemed to drop, the weight of their fury pressing down on him.

"You're ours," Alec murmured, his grip unrelenting. "You can't keep secrets from us, piccolo."

"I'm not—"

"Then why does it feel like you're slipping through our fingers?" Alexander's voice was deceptively calm, but his eyes burned with something raw. "Like something is pulling you away from us?"

Roo's throat tightened. "I—"

"We won't let it happen," Ace said. "Do you understand?"

The words were a promise.

A warning.

Roo knew what they meant.

The triplets had found him once.

They would never let him go.

The silence in the dining hall was suffocating.

Roo could feel it pressing down on him—the weight of their gazes, the heat of their fury barely held back by the thin thread of restraint.

Alexander leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, fingers steepled together. His golden eyes burned like twin suns, intense, calculating. "So… someone has been hunting you for a long time."

"Yes," Roo whispered, his throat dry.

"And yet," Alec murmured, tilting his head, "you conveniently 'forgot' until now?"

Roo swallowed hard. "It's not like that—"

"Then what is it like?" Ace cut in, voice sharp, dangerous. He hadn't moved from his place by the window, but the tension in his body was undeniable. His wolf was on edge, just barely restrained beneath his skin. "Because to us, it looks like you're keeping something from us, piccolo."

"I told you everything I know!" Roo insisted.

"Everything?" Alec's voice was soft, teasing, but his grip on Roo's wrist tightened painfully. "Then tell us why you smell… different."

Roo froze.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears. "What?"

Alexander exhaled slowly, running a hand through his dark hair. "Your scent." His voice was quiet, but there was an underlying edge of something lethal. "It's changing."

Roo's breath hitched. "That's—"

"Not normal," Ace finished for him, his golden eyes gleaming. "So explain."

Roo bit his lip. "I don't know."

It wasn't a lie.

Not completely.

But it was a secret.

A dangerous one.

And if they found out—

Alec suddenly moved, yanking Roo onto his lap with an ease that made his head spin. "Lies, lies, lies," he murmured against Roo's ear, his warm breath sending shivers down his spine. "I can always tell when you're lying, piccolo."

"I—"

"You belong to us now," Alexander said, his voice final. "There's nothing you can hide from us."

"And if you try…" Ace trailed off, his sharp canines flashing in the dim light. "We'll remind you exactly what it means to be ours."

Roo shivered.

Trapped.

Caged.

And the worst part?

His body—his wolf—Ragnar was already surrendering.

Roo's pulse pounded like a war drum.

He wasn't just trapped by their words—he was physically caged, Alec's arm curled around his waist, Ace's piercing golden eyes locking him in place, and Alexander's quiet, lethal authority pressing down on him like an unmovable force.

"Your scent," Alexander repeated, golden gaze unwavering. "It's changing."

Roo knew that.

He had felt it—the subtle shift beneath his skin, the way his body responded differently, more intensely, to the triplets. His suppressants should have masked everything, but lately, their potency had begun to wane. And now…

Now, the Alphas were noticing.

"There's only one explanation," Ace murmured, pushing away from the window. He took slow, deliberate steps toward them, his presence overwhelming. "You're in pre-heat."

Roo's breath hitched.

"That's impossible," he whispered. "I take suppressants—"

"Not anymore," Alec purred against his ear, his fingers lazily trailing down Roo's spine, making him shudder. "We haven't given you any for days."

Roo's stomach dropped.

"What—"

"They were too strong," Alexander said smoothly, picking up his wine glass but never breaking eye contact. "And we don't like anything that suppresses what's ours."

A surge of panic shot through Roo. "You—" His voice cracked. "You did this on purpose?"

Ace smirked, his sharp canines glinting. "You belong to us, piccolo."

"We need to know everything about you," Alec added, his grip tightening. "Including how your body responds to us."

Roo trembled.

This wasn't just possessiveness anymore.

It was control.

A slow, creeping, inescapable claiming.

"You—" Roo swallowed hard, his voice barely a whisper. "You can't do this to me."

"We already have," Alexander said, taking a slow sip of wine.

"And now," Alec murmured, lips brushing against Roo's neck, "we just have to finish what we started."

Roo's breath came in shallow gasps.

The heat of their bodies pressed against him, overwhelming, suffocating. His wolf—small, fragile, weak—should have been snarling, fighting back. But instead, it… whimpered.

It craved.

The triplets' scents curled around him like chains, laced with dominance, thick with unspoken possession.

"Relax, piccolo," Alec purred, dragging his fingers along the nape of Roo's neck, making him shudder. "We won't hurt you. Unless…" He leaned in, his lips ghosting over Roo's ear. "You want us to."

Roo clenched his fists. "I—I don't—"

"Don't what?" Ace tilted his head, golden eyes narrowing. "Want this? Want us?"

Roo's stomach churned.

He couldn't lie. Not to them. They could see through him, peel back his words like layers until all that was left was the trembling, vulnerable truth.

"I don't have a choice," he whispered.

Alexander's fingers caught his chin, forcing him to look up. "No, you don't." His voice was smooth, deceptively soft, but his eyes burned with an intensity that sent shivers down Roo's spine. "And you never will."

Alec's fingers slipped beneath Roo's collar, tugging it down slightly, baring more of his skin. "You already smell like us," he murmured. "But that's not enough, is it?"

Ace's smirk was sharp. "Not even close."

Roo's entire body tensed as he realized what they meant.

They wanted to mark him.

Permanently.

"You—" His voice shook. "You can't—"

"We can," Alexander corrected. "And we will."

Roo's heart slammed against his ribs.

A mark.

An Alpha's mark was irreversible. It couldn't be hidden, couldn't be undone. If they sank their teeth into him now—

He would be theirs.

Forever.

"Breathe, piccolo," Alec hummed, pressing a slow kiss against Roo's pulse, right where his mark would be. "It'll only hurt for a moment."

"And after that," Ace murmured, golden eyes dark with intent, "you'll never be able to leave us again."