Mated to alpha triplets at all-boys school Chapter 58

Ashley pov

My moment of joy is short lived because soon after I manage to fall asleep, I wake up because of the cold.

It’s insane how cold the cave rocks are, especially when you sleep right on top of them.

The cave is silent and so is the jungle outside, which makes me uneasy. My heart starts beating a little faster as I recall warnings my dad gave me when I was just a kid - if the forest gets quiet, it means a predator is around and you should run.

In this case, I’m not sure if Elias and I are the predators, but if there’s any danger out there, staying awake probably is our best bet if we want to get out of this without any serious injuries.

The last thing we need is a surprise attack. Common enemy we’re going against and all that, right?

“Seems you can’t sleep either?” Elias mutters, catching me off guard.

I move around the sleeping bag, doing my best to avoid any chance of our bodies touching and look up at him. “No, I fell asleep and woke up again as you already noticed. It’s too quiet outside.” I whisper.

Elias hums in agreement. “Same thing I was thinking about. I’ve been laying awake, listening if I could hear anyone approach until you started snoring like an animal.”

I can’t stop the gasp that leaves me. “Excuse me? I don’t snort.”

“You’re excused,” he chuckles. “And yes you do snort. Like an old man or a train, whichever you prefer. It’s loud, very loud. Perhaps that’s why all the animals around the cave went silent. Your snoring made them feel like they’re in danger.”

While Elias isn’t exactly being nice, at least the conversation is light and easy, more like he’s teasing me, not trying to get another dig at me.

So, instead of blowing an elephant out of a fly, I join in and laugh at his words.

“You’re not half as bad when you don’t try your damndest to be an asshole,” I announce, a little wary about the reaction he might have.

To my suprise, Elias laughs a little louder. “Yeah and you’re not half as annoying when you’re asleep.”

A backhanded compliment is still a compliment so I take it as one.

Elias doesn’t offer a word to keep the conversation going, but I find myself desperate for more of this easy mood. I don’t want to remain at war with this man, whatever his reasons for that are, so I decide to joke around with him.

“If my snoring is bothering you so much, which for the record I still think is something you’re imagining, you can sleep outside,” I laugh and nudge his side.

Elias joins in laughing and shakes his head. “Why don’t you go out and sleep there yourself, sissy?” And again, while he’s kind of taking a dig at me, he’s doing it in such a light manner, I can’t help but laugh a little louder.

“So you think I’m a sissy, huh? After watching me train all this time, witnessing every sparring session I’ve had with others and all that? I might be small, but I’m mighty as heck. So, sir, if you really believe I’m a sissy, you can sleep outside and show how big of a man you are yourself.”

Elias smiles at my words, but doesn’t say anything. As he turns his head to look at me and our gazes meet, I have to silence the gasp that threatens to escape me.

Eyes are like a mirror to one’s soul and there is so much I can see in his, while clearly, Elias refuses to put his emotions in words. It’s a little scary even. There’s a hidden mix of complex emotions, as if he’s having an inner battle with himself while his mind is elsewhere, stuck deep in thoughts.

After our laughter quiets down for good, no longer echoing against the cave walls, we listen to the silence and soon, hear the birds chirping again. The little life outside reassures me that we aren’t in danger, so I decide to try and sleep again.

Slowly, I turn my back to Elias, mutter a weak ‘goodnight’ and close my eyes.

The rest of the night goes by in a blur. In fact, when I wake up, I feel like I haven’t closed an eye, yet that isn’t the most surprising part of my morning. What comes as a true shock is that I wake up because I’m too warm. Hot even.

After the initial confusion I realize it’s because Elias is holding me. His embrace is so tight, I can’t free myself even as I try. I still attempt to get out of his hold, which makes him tighten his arms around me.

The reality comes crashing down on me like a massive brick wall. Panic instantly surges through me, overshadowing the initial confusion. Of all the things that might have happened, waking up being cuddled up to Elias like this has to be worse than any injury.

“Shoot,” I mutter and try to come up with a decent explanation how I’ve gotten this close to Elias while sleeping. I know for a fact that I tried to keep my distance.

Was it him who pulled me close? If so, why didn’t it wake me up?

Seriously, I’m getting worried about his reaction. Once Elias wakes up, he will probably turn back into the douche he has been for the past couple of days and curse at me for being so close while it’s not even my fault.

As if on cue, Elias stirs in his sleep and I instantly freeze, holding my breath. Slowly, very lazily, he opens his eyes and flashes me a gentle smile. Maybe a second later, once he realizes that he’s holding onto me for dear life, Elias releases me and jolts away as if I hit him with electricity.

“The fuck,” he snarls and gets out of the sleeping bag like he got close to whatever misterious disease he thinks I have.

“The fuck, indeed,” I reply with as much anger as I can muster, mainly to hide the hurt that’s making my chest so heavy. There it is, the rejection I expected, but it still hurts even though I’ve been ready. “Don’t try to blame me, I woke up caged in by you and tried to get away, but every time I moved, you only squeezed me tighter. This one is on you, dude.”

Elias looks around, scratches the back of his neck and clears his throat. “Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to. Must be a force of habit or something.”

I don’t say anything and focus on getting up, and gathering our stuff. The atmosphere around us turns tense and stupidly awkward, which truthfully feels worse than moments when we fight.

Geez, I’m so excited to see what the future holds for us here