Mated to alpha triplets at all-boys school Chapter 118

Ashley pov

“What if I don’t feel safe anywhere? What if all this time I’ve been hiding because I have nowhere else to go?” I toss the questions in the air, sure I could come up with an excuse if Constantine decides to question me instead of offering answers.

The truth is that technically, I really have no place to go. I could return to the Academy, I have someone on my side there, but what good a return could bring if that is the first place Kaiden could look for me.

He banished me after rejecting me, that day, as scary and painful as it was, that was the first day of my freedom and I never want to give up on that again. Life with Kaiden promises nothing but misery and pain. I want to have more than that. I know I deserve more.

And yes, I had an idea where I could go when I first joined the Academy, but now that I have that asshole following on my heels, I don’t waste the last security net my parents created for me by running away. They always said that the easiest way to deal with a problem is to face it.

I suppose soon, I’ll have to follow my parents advice and actually face the goddamn problem.

“Well, you can always stay here with us,” Constantine mumbles.

If I have to judge his suggestion by the tone of his voice, I can clearly tell he’s not sure in his own words at all. He’s offering because of the sense of responsibility, not because he believes that would be a good idea.

Instead of pointing out the obvious, I decide to beat around the bush to stay in his good graces. “But how? Bears aren’t known for living in groups, you guys are loners by nature and while you can spend small amounts of time surrounded by your own species, mixing in a wolf isn’t easy. I get that you were close to my father, all of you, but you were friends, not roommates or flatmates. That wouldn’t work.”

Constantine blows out a heavy breath, his shoulders falling and hands trembling just a little as he pulls them into tight fists. I don’t think I said anything wrong, but from the looks of it, he’s really struggling. The veins on his hands are bulging out so bad, I fear they might pop any second.

“I don’t mean any disrespect,” I quickly blurt out as I scoot away a little, just to create a bit more distance between us and just in case, remain out of his reach if the bear decides to go crazy on me.

“Voicing your opinion, especially about obvious things, isn’t disrespectful,” he finally announces, blows out a heavy breath and his body relaxes as he runs one of his hands through his hair. “I didn’t mean to scare you, if that’s what I did. I didn’t mean to make you question anyone, or yourself at that. I’m frustrated at myself because you’re the victim of this situation, yet you act like the one person with the most stable mindset. I’m a prisoner of my emotions and I can’t seem to think straight no matter how hard I try.”

My hand trembles as I reach out to place it on his shoulder and squeeze it for some reassurance. “It’s fine, you’re not responsible for my future. Trust me, I’m grateful you got me out of there before it’s too late and reminded me that I have to keep on fighting. You already did more than enough to help.”

“No!” Constantine shouts and jumps to his feet, starting to pace the room like he has rabies. “That’s not enough! For years, I ignored every single thing that I heard and avoided responsibility. Now that I finally have the balls to help, I must do that even if you don’t want me to!”

From where I’m sitting, the bear looks terrifying. His hair is a mess, eyes wide and crazed, his jaw flexing while he clenches and unclenches his fists. It’s almost like he’s fighting against himself, not me.

“Okay, I can stay here,” I give in, hoping that could calm him down a little.

All this time, I thought Ethan was a little erratic while his brothers were the bipolar, hot and cold types, but all the triplets together have nothing on how Constantine is acting. A little crazy, if you ask me.

No, the whole situation isn’t just a little crazy, it’s bloody batshit. I have no idea if I can really trust the bears, for all I know the story he told me might be a coverup they’re using to keep me here until they get money or something, and I’m just chilling with them, enjoying my time like I’m on vacation or something.

“No!” Constantine screams again, this time so loud, his anger silences the murmur of voices I heard behind the door earlier. “I don’t want you to stay just because you feel obligated to do so. I want you to stay around because you feel safe around us, because you know we have your best interest at heart.”

Yeah, believing those things is a little difficult when the person making those claims actually makes demands instead of asking like a human being should.

But alas, the way I always do, I take two mental steps back and pretend the person in question has an upper hand in the discussion, so I nod and lie through my teeth. “Of course, I trust you. I trust your friends too. After all, you came all that way, put yourselves in insane danger, and all that just to get me out.”

Constantine stops pacing and slowly turns around to look at me. Tension seems to have left him while there’s still a tick to his yaw, but that’s the least of my worries.

Slowly, he approaches me until he stops right in front of me and drops to his knees. His hands shake more than mine as he ever so carefully, takes them in his and looks up at me to whisper, “please, do whatever you wish to do, but never lie to me. Ever. If I’m out of line, slap the back of my neck, but never stoop as low as lie to my face because you’re scared. Believe it or not, I would never hurt you. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. There are plenty of things you still don’t know about me, about my brothers and about yourself, so again, please don’t ever lie to me again. Can you promise me that?”