Mated to alpha triplets at all-boys school Chapter 164

Everett pov

Mom is not happy. Nowhere near even remotely happy. In fact, she doesn't look like herself anymore as we leave the council Elders behind with my brothers and dad.

As we step out of the house, I can see it in her eyes how much she wants to be present during that meeting, but the old fools have their heads so far up their asses, they're literally oblivious to the fact that they're pushing mom's limits.

We both remain silent as we walk around the building and into mom's garden area, the one thing she loves nearly as much as she loves the three of us.

As soon as we stand at the small gate she put there, I freeze on the spot and wait.

Mom looks over her shoulder and frowns at me. “Are you coming or do I need to carry you around like a baby? News flash, darling, you're kind of too big and heavy for me to cradle you in my arms, but I'll be damned if I don't at least attempt to lift you off the ground.”

She gives me that mean-nice look and giggles, which instantly makes me grin. This is the mom I know, the funny and sarcastic woman who loves playing around with her family.

Focusing my gaze on the white gate type of thing, I arch an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten rule thirteen?” I ask and lift my gaze off the gate to look into mom's eyes.

She mimics my frown and remains silent, probably mentally going over the list of rules she gave us back when we were about six years old.

Mom thinks for another few minutes, but eventually, she shakes her head and admits that she isn't perfect after all. Well, I'll be damned, I thought she never forgets anything. “No, honestly, I don't remember that rule.” She whispers so quietly, I think she doesn't want to hear the words herself more than she doesn't want me to hear them.

I remain rooted on the spot as I cross my arms in front of my chest and flash her a grin. “Rule thirteen - the crazy triplets are not allowed to cross the garden's border. Garden is mom's safe place, her sanctuary, her prized possession that will never, under any circumstances, be stormed through by three destructive boys.”

She looks genuinely surprised that I not only remember the rule, but also still live by it.

As a response, she just rolls her eyes and waves me off. “You're not a baby anymore, Everett. You're a grown man, I'm sure your eyesight is good enough to pay attention to where your feet land. Back when I came up with those rules, I addressed three little devil's, not grown men.”

I can't fight off the grin that spreads across my lips and keeps growing wider until eventually, grinning like this starts hurting.

Mom is finally allowing me to enter her garden, the only place in this territory that has ever been off-limits. Also, the fact that I'm the first one of us three who actually does this is making everything even better.

Mom leads me into the garden until we approach what looks like a massive, unkempt bush from afar. However, as we get closer to the construction, I realize it's only a plant growing around what seems like a round gazebo.

She encourages me to step in and takes a seat at a small table, so I follow along and take one right across from her.

Then, just to surprise me even more and prove that I don't know my mother at all, she pulls a mini fridge out from under her chair and reaches into it to grab a bottle of drink.

First, she slides a bottle of soda towards me and then, she pulls out a bottle of tequila for herself. “Don't tell your father about my secret stash or we might have a problem.”

I can't help but comment on her demand, feeling a bit more playful than I should be. “Looks like you already have a problem, mom. It's called tequila. Hiding your drinking from dad only makes it worse. I fear you might be an alcoholic, mom. Sorry.”

She flinches at my words and I immediately regret saying them. It's all fun and games until I spit out something completely stupid and hurt my loved ones.

I instantly raise my hands and backtrack, emphasizing that she doesn't have any substance problems and I'm just messing with her.

She pins me down with one of her glares, so I shut up. Even as she pulls a glass out of the mini fridge and fills it with the golden liquid just to down that in one go, I don't offer any comment about it.

Without blinking, mom refills the glass and downs another shot, quickly hiding the proof back inside the fridge and pushing it back in place.

I hate being excluded from big meetings like that. Your dad is more than capable of dealing with those assholes, but it doesn't make me feel any better about them being here in the first place.

“I get that. I'm not too happy with their presence either. We should be out there, looking for Ash and ensuring the hunters don't get to her, but instead we're stuck here, dealing with a bunch of delusional men.” I add my opinion just to voice my frustration and show mom that we're on the same page with this one.

After I've spoken my mind, she doesn't offer anything to add. Instead, she looks at me. And I don't mean the regular sense of looking when a person does it while they're holding a conversation.

No, this is something different. Mom isn't just looking at me, she's looking straight through me, digging up my deepest fears and biggest insecurities without me noticing it.

I don't know why, I hold my breath, both excited and terrified about the things mom could say next. But no matter what, the words she says are something I couldn't have expected her to say in a million years.

“If I didn't know better, the way your brothers and you are acting, and talking about that girl, I'd assume that she's your mate. Not that the Goddess would ever assign one mate to triplet boys, we all know one for two is insane, so three would be unimaginable, but still… You three are acting like she's fated to be more than just a friend.”