Mated to alpha triplets at all-boys school Chapter 79

Ashley pov

I give them half of the truth and a little background regarding the prince. If I ever come clean with these three, I know it will end badly for me. I just feel it.

For now, I’m just the shiny little toy all of them are happy to see and enjoy, but that’s only for now. Once they get their hands on something new, more shinier, they won’t care about me anymore.

But that’s how life works and I have learned to accept it as a fact. No matter how much one tries to fit in and become a part of something, sooner or later, the fantasy fades and reality slaps you across the face.

Such a thing already happened to me once, I don’t want a repeat of the situation.

Funny, how I wholeheartedly believe that I’m over what Kaiden did, but I can admit that I’m still hung up on the look on his face the moment he rejected me. I can still remember it as if it happened yesterday. The hatred that blazed in his eyes, the scowl and look of pure disgust on his face. I remember it all.

Thankfully, I don’t have to dwell on those memories for longer as Elias wraps both arms around me and pulls me into a bone crushing hug. Somehow, I manage to listen in on what the triplets are talking about - all of them are angry and immediately swear to protect me.

“It’s fine, it happens,” I try to brush off their concerns, but to no avail.

“No,” Elias growls.

“Listen to him, Ash,” Everett adds.

“Yes, listen to all of us. No way are we going to let that ass wipe to hurt you ever again. Not happening. You’re part of our family basically, so we won’t let anything happen to you,” Ethan announces and his brothers agree with his words.

Something inside me breaks, yet I can’t figure out why. Maybe it’s the part where Ethan brought up family. I haven’t had one for a very long time, many years.

I’m not sure how he means it, but I can understand the words like neither of them can. One - an actual family, like sisters and brothers. The second - like mates. I can’t bring up the second option, though.

It’s almost sad that I fear talking about it. Not because I still don’t trust the triplets, but because fear is what holds me back. Sure, they might never turn out to be the same as Kaiden is, but at the end of the day, I know they’re my mates and I’m not letting them all know that fact. It’s a secret that’s unfair to be kept in the dark.

“Seriously, I’m so glad to know you’re actually a girl, Ash. I started doubting myself and I don’t like doubting at all. Imagine the look on my old man’s face if I told him I caught feelings for a dude,” Ethan completely flips the scenario and Elias suddenly freezes next to me.

I try to brush that off. There’s no way Elias can resonate with his brother’s words. Sure, Ethan is a little weird and eccentric, but his brothers are like polar opposites to him, so I don’t think that could ever happen.

Elias pov

I freeze as Ethan’s words echo in my mind. Truth be told, my brother isn’t the only one of us three that has caught some sort of feeling about Ash and started doubting himself.

Funny enough, I’m not the only one too. Even Everett has been weird around her, especially after she got hurt, long before he found out about her secret.

“I think that’s not important now, Ethan,” I start and clear my throat. “We should focus on keeping Ash and her secret safe, not distract ourselves with your crush.”

Ethan frowns but keeps his answer from me, which is good because there’s no way I’m nowhere ready to admit to him that we’re floating in the same boat when it comes to Ash.

There’s something special about her, but I still can’t figure out what it is. In fact, there always has been something special. The same as Ethan, I noticed it on the first day, but unlike him, I know how to remain more low key regarding mess like this.

Even when I thought she was a guy, I thought she was cute. Shit. Call me ‘another one’ because I’m really stuck in the same hole as Ethan is. And honestly, but the looks of it, it seems that Everett isn’t far behind. Especially judging by the way he’s glaring daggers at me since I’m holding Ash.

Eventually, I release her from my hold and we head to separate bedrooms. Ethan and Everett don’t bother sticking around to talk, it looks like we all need some time to process everything that’s happening.

“What are you hiding from me, Ash? What are you hiding from all of us?” I mutter under my breath as I lean against my bedroom door and close my eyes.

I glance around my bedroom to find anything that could distract me, but every time I look at something, my thoughts return back to Ash.

“We still need to pretend she’s a dude, okay? The rest of the school can’t find out about this,” Ethan’s voice echoes in my mind.

“Yep. I think it’s best we give her space until she admits why she needs to disguise as a guy,” Everett quickly speaks up through the mind-link.

Since both of them start discussing everything, I let myself zone out until I’m supposed to head to bed. My brothers are still talking when I get under the covers and finally fall asleep.

§§§

The next day, thankfully goes by in a blink of an eye. Just like agreed, we act the same and address Ash as the guy she’s supposed to be around here. However, once we all return to the apartment, the whole script changes.

It’s like we’re all scrambling to get closer to her. Every time Ash enters the kitchen, one of us is there. When she sits on the sofa, she has one of us on each of her sides until she gets overwhelmed and hides away in her room.

Standing in the living room with my brothers at my side, I curse under my breath and run a hand through my hair before I admit the hard truth. “We’re screwed, boys, we’re all screwed. Eventually, she’ll have to choose and clearly, we all want her. This will end in a fucking disaster.”