Three Times Rejected: The Omega The Triplet Alphas Crave

Ragnar

Candace’s seat sat empty at the breakfast table and I found myself staring at it more often than my food.

The untouched plate that should have been hers seemed strangely out of place and every time my gaze drifted toward it the knot in my stomach tightened.

It’s because of what you did last night, Terror growled and it wasn’t for the first time that morning. She would have felt every second of it through the bond.

I shoved a piece of egg around my plate and it tasted like nothing and my appetite had abandoned me hours ago.

With an irritated exhale I dropped my fork onto the table and the silverware rattled loudly and Reign glanced up from his phone. Our eyes met briefly and then his gaze flicked toward the staircase before returning to me.

Across the table Ryker was focused on Deidre, who was leaning close and whispering something into his ear that made him laugh.

"Oh my goddess, Ry. You’re terrible."

I dragged my attention away from them. I hadn’t slept properly, not after last night and the failed marking attempt and the argument and the constant pacing of my wolf.

Every time I’d started drifting off I’d woken again with the same strange feeling settling heavy beneath my ribs like a warning I couldn’t quite understand.

I looked toward one of the maids waiting nearby. "Go check on Luna Candace and then report back to me."

She straightened immediately and curtsied and turned.

"No, darling." Deidre’s hand settled lightly over mine and she smiled at the maid and shook her head. "That won’t be necessary."

The maid froze. Deidre sighed softly. "She’s probably upset about last night." Her lashes lowered. "You know, when you marked me."

The maid’s face turned bright red. I clenched my jaw. We hadn’t marked her but I understood what Deidre was doing and no one outside this room could know that.

Besides, she wasn’t entirely wrong and Candace was probably angry or hurt or avoiding us altogether.

A memory surfaced without permission, a younger Candace sitting on a garden wall and refusing to speak to me after an argument and all it had taken back then was a kiss on her forehead to make her smile again.

I missed her stubborn pout. I crushed the memory instantly and my grip tightened around the fork until the metal bent slightly.

"My loves, I have an idea." Deidre’s voice pulled me back and she smiled brightly at all three of us.

"Why don’t we spend the day outside the packhouse? It’ll give us a good public image especially since we were just coronated." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I thought we could visit the cinema this morning and show ourselves around the pack and let everyone see their Alphas." She placed a hand over her chest dramatically.

"And their Luna."

Reign lowered his phone. "I could use a break from paperwork." Then he shrugged. "But I’ve got errands to run."

"I’m in." Ryker grinned. "Didi’s right." He kissed her cheek. "It won’t hurt to take a day off."

Deidre beamed and I nodded absently because my attention was elsewhere.

"Wonderful." She pushed her chair back. "I’ll grab my shawl and meet you outside." Then she disappeared from the dining hall.

"Didi’s amazing." Ryker leaned back in his chair. "She’s not even upset about last night."

Reign responded with a vague grunt and his attention had already returned to his phone.

The pressure in my chest intensified and I hated it because the feeling was becoming impossible to ignore.

"I’m heading to my study." I stood up from the table and strode straight to my study, a hearty weight settling on me.

Victor was already waiting outside when I arrived and the moment I stepped in I rubbed the back of my neck again, for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. Victor noticed immediately.

"Alpha."

I shot him a look. Victor was my bestfriend and he would have been our Beta if Dylan didn’t get the position. He was that good. "We’ve known each other too long for that." His mouth twitched and then he crossed to the bar in the corner and a moment later placed two glasses on my desk and poured whiskey into both. "What’s wrong?"

I sat heavily in my chair. "Nothing."

Victor slid one glass toward me. "That’s a lie." I frowned and he pointed toward me. "You’ve touched your neck four times since you walked in."

I paused. "Have I?"

"Whenever you’re anxious you do that." He sat down opposite me and I stared into the amber liquid. The feeling hadn’t gone away and if anything it was worse.

"Something feels off."

Victor leaned back. "How so?"

"I don’t know." That was the frustrating part. "I can’t explain it." I ran a hand down my face.

"I’ve been uneasy since last night."

Victor studied me for a long moment and then sighed. "Is this about the Luna?"

Yes, Terror answered immediately. But you’re too stubborn to admit it.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Victor laughed, actually laughed, and then shook his head. "If that’s what you need to tell yourself."

I glared at him and he didn’t look remotely intimidated.

The silence stretched and then the knot in my chest twisted sharply and hard enough to make me sit upright. Something was wrong and I knew it with a certainty that had nothing to do with logic.

"Damn it." I stood so abruptly my chair scraped backward and Victor didn’t look surprised in the slightest. "I need to check on her."

He tossed back the rest of his whiskey. "Finally."

The walk to Candace’s quarters felt longer than it should have and when I reached her door I knocked and got no answer and knocked again and still got nothing.

The pressure in my chest grew. "Candace?"

I was met with silence so I pulled out the master key and the lock clicked. The door swung open immediately but it was empty.

The room was completely empty and the bed was neatly made and untouched as though no one had slept there. A few tea packets lay scattered near the doorway and something about that bothered me in a way I couldn’t name.

A bark interrupted my thoughts and I looked down as her dog emerged from the little house in the corner. Cookie stopped several feet away and looked from me to the tea packets and back again.

Where is she? Terror’s voice had gone deadly quiet.

Footsteps approached and I turned and Bree froze in the hallway before immediately curtsying. "Good morning, Alpha."

"Where is she?"

The maid blinked. "I’ve been looking for her too." My stomach dropped.

"Luna sometimes goes for walks when she can’t sleep." Bree twisted her hands together nervously. "I assumed she’d gone out early this morning."

Guilt settled heavily in my chest. She couldn’t sleep because of us and because of last night. I nodded once and turned toward the door when a scream shattered my entire morning.

"Holy Goddess!"

Every muscle in my body went rigid as a terrifying scream tore pierced through my mind followed by a much louder shriek.

"Luna Candace is dead!"