Mated to alpha triplets at all-boys school Chapter 95

Elias pov

When Ethan first stormed into the apartment, at first, I thought he was having another of his weird manic episodes. Then, when he stormed past me and spat out a jumble of words I couldn’t understand, I was almost sure he was stuck in his own head.

But then.. I realized he came alone, no Ash in sight, and that worried me.

Ever since he managed to calm down a little and speak full sentences, the dread washed over me and even now, I can’t get rid of the chilling sensation in my bones.

Up to this day, I never thought addictions were real. If having a person around can be called addiction of course. But, being confronted with the idea that Ash is gone makes me feel like I’m a drug addict, going through the worst withdrawal of my lifetime - my body is covered in sweat and I’m shaking.

Eventually, the fear turns into something more powerful - all consuming rage. As soon as Kaiden’s name is brought up, I instantly imagine at least five hundred ninety-two ways of how I’m going to snap the asshole’s neck in the most painful, torturous ways possible.

Stepping out of the hug I share with my brother, I even my breathing, reminding myself it’s enough that Ethan is a ticking time bomb and Everett and I must remain as calm as we possibly can before this little search turns into a shitshow of a lifetime.

I clear my throat and look around for any obvious signs of struggle, but there are none, so sadly, I have to conclude that Ash left willingly. Or.. Or she was tricked into leaving.. Which honestly makes more sense.

She’s a smart cookie, and a strong one at that, she wouldn’t just follow Kaiden, especially with how careful she was lately to avoid him.

“She’s not in the school,” I start and let my eyes roam over all of the windows of the building. “She’s nowhere in the near territory either, so that leaves only the woods. Think we could look for her there?”

Ethan and Everett look at me like I’m growing another, way stupider, head.

“Why would Ash go into the woods without one of us?” Ethan instantly asks.

“Yeah, Ethan has a point. Why?” Everett agrees.

I look at them both and huff out a breath. “Because I believe she might have been tricked into going there by someone she trusts, or someone who pretends to be the person she trusts,” I emphasize the word pretends and arch an eyebrow. “She knows better than that, but you know how Ash is too, always eager to help everyone she cares about. What if Kaiden used that against her?”

I can still see some reluctance in their gazes but after a few seconds, both of them agree I might be right and we head for the forest together, keeping our eyes on everything that might give us a clue about her whereabouts.

“I’m still not sure,” Ethan grumbles but doesn’t stop walking.

“Yeah, I know, it’s a long shot, but there’s nowhere else for her to hide, right?” I add another good point to convince them.

Best case scenario - she’s not there and the next place we check is her friends’ Anno’s apartment. That’s an idea I will bring up a little later, after we’re done checking out the woods area. I need to rid myself of the fear about the worst case situations first to be able to breathe again.

Once we approach the forest line, I stop them both for a moment. “Wait.”

Ethan and Everett know I’m pretty good at tracking, so recalling everything our father taught me and some tricks I learned at school, the first thing I do is run the tips of my fingers over the little trail. “Someone, or I’d rather say, a few people, recently used this trail. I think we’re heading in the right direction. Follow me.”

I walk into the forest first with my brothers right on my heels while I look around for any clues that might tell me where she is. There are a couple of broken branches on some bushes, but other than that, the forest looks as calm as never.

When we reach the clearing, I notice my first big clue. A patch of stomped grass which looks like a struggle has happened on it. I look over my shoulder and purse my lips, silently letting them both know I don’t like what I’m seeing.

Then, I look around until I notice what looks like a freshly walked trail and nod my head in the direction. It’s better to remain silent when following someone since the people could still be relatively near and by being quiet, we avoid getting noticed before we’re ready to strike.

We walk for about five minutes until I freeze in my step and bend down to pick up an object that catches my attention. Everett and Ethan are both at my side instantly, trying to catch a glimpse of what I have found.

“What is it?” Everett asks first.

“Yeah, what did you get there? What is it?” Ethan adds.

I force down the lump that grows in my throat and let out a heavy breath. “Her phone,” I whisper as I carefully unlock the thing and check what’s on the screen.

It instantly opens the messages. My eyes skim over the words and I’m not sure if I should be happy or fucking furious about being right. “That asshole,” I hiss and squeeze the phone in my hand.

“What? Who?” Both my brothers ask in unison.

“Anno, he lured her into the forest. I fucking told you she wouldn’t come here without a reason. He asked her to come here. I can smell her around here, can smell him and that fuckface Kaden too.”

“Where do you think they’re taking her?” Ethan asks, looking around. I’ve never seen my brother look this unsure of himself and scared, which is yet another reason why I’m going to hurt Kaiden. Bad.

“The same place we’re heading to right now, baby brother. The fuckface’s territory.”