Mated to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 36: Winter Wonderland

The snow had fallen thicker than usual this year, blanketing the rooftops in white and wrapping the Emberfang territory in a cold hush.

It was Lunar Solstice Eve. Everything felt warm and cosy inside. It was perfect.

For the first time, I wasn’t in the kitchen peeling potatoes or scrubbing silverware till my fingers cracked. For a change, I was up here, with Liam and Levi. My mates refused to let me lift a finger.

“You’re not a maid anymore,” Liam had whispered, stealing a kiss from my lips as I tried to polish the hallway vases.

So, I stopped working. I stopped being a maid. I was now their mate and I wanted to do something special for them.

I sat cross-legged on the floor of my bedroom, a faded shoebox of savings scattered in front of me. Coins. A few crumpled bills. Tips from past part-time work. I bit my lip, counting them again. Not much, but maybe enough.

They had given me a birthday I’d never forget—my first real dress, a warm coat, and a night under the stars with all three of them wrapped around me. I wanted to give them something too. Even if it was small. Even if it wasn’t enough.

I barely noticed the knock until the door opened.

“You’re planning something,” Liam said, poking his head in. He grinned when he saw the mess of coins.

Levi strolled in behind him, holding a red wool scarf in his hands.

“Is this about gifts?” he teased. “Sweetheart, you do know you don’t have to buy us anything.”

“You’re already the perfect gift,” Liam added, settling beside me and brushing my hair from my face. “Seriously. What could top that?”

I rolled my eyes, heart stuttering a little at the way his voice softened. “Still. I want to do something. For everything you three did on my birthday.”

Levi leaned down, brushing his lips against my forehead. “Then stay exactly like this forever. That’s all we want.”

A knock on the wall outside made all three of us jump. A junior servant called out, “Dinner is ready. Luna Evelyn is waiting.”

Liam helped me up, and I quickly smoothed my skirt, pulse speeding. I’d eaten with the triplets before. But not like this. Not with her watching.

The grand dining hall was aglow with lanterns, and the long table was set with crystal and fine silver. But only Luna Evelyn was present. Alpha Henry and Lucas were nowhere to be seen.

I frowned, heart tugging a little.

“Training again,” Liam murmured beside me. “Lucas’s turn to learn how to run the pack.”

I nodded, trying to brush away the odd ache. I hadn’t seen Lucas much in the past few days. It felt strange not having his steady, brooding presence shadowing me. I smiled at the thought of him, wondering when I’d see him again.

Then the doors opened.

Alpha Henry entered first, his usual cold smile in place. He kissed Luna Evelyn on the cheek and ignored the rest of us. Lucas followed. He was bigger somehow... like the weeks of training had hardened something in him.

He didn’t hesitate. He walked straight toward me, cupped my cheek, and gave me a soft, warm kiss.

“Missed you,” he said quietly. And then he took his seat beside his father, where he belonged.

And for the first time, I realized... so did I.

The moment I sat down beside Liam, Evelyn cleared her throat. Loudly. I hoped she wouldn’t make a scene today, of all days.

“Hazel, now that everyone’s here, serve the stew,” Evelyn said, gesturing to the tray with a perfectly manicured hand, like the words left a bad taste in her mouth.

I blinked. My body almost obeyed out of habit. I could already feel myself rising, ready to take the tray just as I always had in this house.

But Liam’s hand slid under the table and gently pressed against my knee, holding me in place.

“She’s not the help anymore, Mother,” he said, flat and sharp.

Levi leaned back in his seat, swirling his drink. His voice was more casual, but there was a thread of steel beneath the humor. “That’s why we have actual staff, remember? You hired them.”

Evelyn’s lips thinned, her nostrils flaring for the briefest second. “It’s just a bowl. She knows the layout. I thought she wouldn’t mind helping.”

Helping.

The word grated.

“She’s our mate,” Lucas said suddenly, his voice a quiet blade that cut across the table. “She’s family. Not a server.”

The room went still.

For a moment, Evelyn didn’t blink. Her eyes flicked from one son to the next, reading their unwavering expressions. Her face didn’t crumble, but it cracked—just slightly. The pride she wore like perfume began to sour.

I could see it in the way she clasped her hands together to still their tremble, in the way her jaw worked to keep from snapping. Evelyn Sullivan was not used to being contradicted—especially not in her own home, at her own table, by her own sons.

And certainly not for me.

For a heartbeat, I thought she might lunge across the table. Or throw the tray herself. Or demand I leave.

Instead, she took a slow breath and tilted her chin up with the poised elegance of a queen nursing a bruise. “Of course,” she said softly, eyes flicking to the uniformed servers in the wings. “I forget how very... modern we’ve become.”

She gestured, and the staff stepped forward to begin serving.

I exhaled.

But Evelyn wasn’t done. She glanced toward her husband, her voice sweetened like overripe fruit. “Henry, wouldn’t you say it’s important for everyone in the household to contribute, especially during the holidays?”

Alpha Henry barely looked up from his soup. “I’d say it’s important not to cause a scene over a bowl of stew.”

Evelyn’s smile tightened. Again.

She said nothing else, but her silence was louder than anything she’d spoken so far.

And for the first time, I realized how much it cost her to stay silent. To play the good mother. To keep smiling while everything she’d built—the rules, the order, the roles—slipped further out of her control.

She now smiled tightly and gestured to the staff waiting in the wings.

Eventually, the staff walked in. I smiled at them as they began to serve the meal. Rich aromas filled the air—roasted lamb, spiced pumpkin soup, garlic bread, and honey-glazed root vegetables. It was extravagant.

And this time, I wasn’t watching from the sidelines. I felt honored as I was part of it.

The conversation flowed awkwardly at first. Evelyn mostly spoke to Henry, and the triplets kept sneaking me food they claimed I had to try. Levi brushed crumbs off my chin. Liam poured my drink before I could reach for it. Lucas kept his hand on my thigh beneath the table, grounding me.

It was the best first Lunar Solstice I could have hoped for. Everything was pleasant and as polite as it could be.

That was about to change quite quickly.

Halfway through dinner, Evelyn paused mid-bite. Her eyes narrowed, as if zooming in on one spot.

“Lucas,” she began.

All of us looked in her direction. What could it be now?

“What’s that on your neck, Lucas?”

A little bit of an awkward silence filled the air. Someone’s cutlery fell on their plate with a clang.

Lucas, who’d just taken a sip of wine, blinked at her. “What?”

“That,” she said, pointing with her fork. “Right there.”

Lucas reached up, and his fingers brushed the mark I’d left just a few nights ago. A mating mark. Bold and recent.

Oh dear.