Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Chapter 139: Why Are We Suffering Like This, Nicholas?

The tension in Nicholas’s private room was suffocating.

All three brothers were present, and the air between them crackled with a desperation that had been building for five days. Five days of watching her. Five days of seducing her. Five days of holding back when every instinct screamed at them to claim her completely.

And now time was running out.

Nicholas sat in the leather chair near the window, his posture rigid despite the composed expression on his face. But his silver eyes betrayed him. Gold flickered at the edges...Kael pacing restlessly, desperate for action, desperate for their mate.

Sebastian stood near the door, his body coiled with tension. His dark eyes were sharp, assessing, already thinking three moves ahead like he always did. Rhen was close to the surface, visible in the way his jaw clenched and unclenched rhythmically.

Lucian paced back and forth across the room like a caged animal. His movements were jerky, aggressive, barely controlled. His gold eyes were visible most of the time now...only flickering back to human brown when he forced concentration. Zev was clawing at him constantly, desperate, feral, completely overwhelmed by the proximity to their mate and the inability to claim her.

"We need to tell her," Sebastian said, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over them.

His voice was calm, but there was an urgency beneath it that made both brothers turn to look at him.

"We call her to this room. We tell her what she is to us. We tell her she belongs to us. That she’s coming with us when the Summit ends," Sebastian continued, laying out the simple solution that felt impossibly complex.

Nicholas’s expression didn’t change, but his voice was measured when he responded.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea, brother."

There was something in his tone, something beneath the control....that made both Sebastian and Lucian pause. It wasn’t rejection exactly. It was hesitation. And hesitation from Nicholas was rare.

Lucian stopped his pacing abruptly, his entire body going rigid.

"Why is it not a good idea?" he demanded, his voice raw with frustration and need. "We could just call her to the room and tell her. Tell her she’s our mate. She belongs to us. She belongs wherever we are. She should come with us."

He was breathing hard, his entire body vibrating with the effort of control. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"We’ve waited long enough, Nicholas. We’ve played this seduction game. We’ve given her time to understand on her own. But she’s not understanding. She’s just existing in a state of confusion while we suffer."

Nicholas turned his head slightly to look at his youngest brother, understanding exactly what was happening inside Lucian’s chest, inside Zev’s desperate mind.

"Remember," Nicholas said quietly, his voice carrying weight, "we cannot force her."

The words landed like a reminder, but there was something else underneath them. Something that suggested Nicholas knew forcing her would create a different kind of problem. A problem they might not be able to fix.

Lucian’s frustration exploded outward like a physical force.

"Why are we the only ones feeling miserable like this while she feels nothing, brother?" His voice was sharp, desperate, raw with a desperation that came from Zev screaming inside his chest with primal need. "All I can see is that she’s feeling a slight pull to us and constant arousal. While we’re absolutely miserable all day. Why?"

He threw his hands up, his entire body expressing the frustration he couldn’t contain. His gold eyes burned with intensity.

"Why are we suffering like this, Nicholas? Why is the bond pulling at us with such intensity when she can barely feel it? It’s torture. It’s absolute torture. I can barely sleep. I can barely think about anything except her. And she...she just feels slightly attracted and confused."

His voice dropped lower, more vulnerable.

"It’s not fair, brother. The imbalance is killing me."

Nicholas looked at him for a long moment, understanding exactly what Lucian was experiencing because he was experiencing the same thing. Because Kael was inside him, clawing and desperate and completely consumed with the need to claim their mate.

"Have you forgotten that she’s wolfless?" Nicholas asked quietly, the question gentle despite its impact.

The words landed like a physical blow.

Lucian’s entire body went still. His pacing stopped. His hands fell to his sides. He covered his face with his hands, and a muffled curse escaped him that was part realization, part agony.

"Fuck!" he muttered through his fingers.

When he dropped his hands, understanding was written across his features, understanding mixed with resignation and a kind of desperate clarity.

"That explains it then," Lucian said, his voice hollow and hollow with comprehension. "Because we wouldn’t have this issue at all if she could feel what we’re feeling. If she could experience the bond the way we do. If her wolf could recognize us and pull her toward acceptance with the same intensity we feel pulling toward her."

He sank onto the edge of the sofa, the fight temporarily draining out of him as the reality of her wolflessness settled fully into his understanding.

"Without a wolf, she’s experiencing this completely differently," Lucian continued, his voice thoughtful now despite the exhaustion. "She’s feeling attraction without understanding why. She’s feeling arousal without the biological imperative driving her forward. She’s just... feeling fragments and pieces while we’re drowning in the complete symphony of the bond."

Sebastian moved from his position near the door, his expression softening with understanding.

"Oh, she can feel it, brother," he said, his voice carrying absolute certainty. "Maybe not the way we’re experiencing it. But she’s definitely attracted to us. Her body responds to us. Her arousal doesn’t lie."

He settled into a chair, his dark eyes intense as he continued.

"I’ve watched her carefully," Sebastian said. "When she’s near us, her breathing changes...becomes shallow, rapid. Her skin flushes. Her pupils dilate. Her hands tremble slightly. Her body knows what we are to her even if her mind doesn’t understand it fully. The arousal is real. The attraction is unmistakable. What’s missing is the understanding of what that attraction means. The context. The recognition."

He leaned forward, his voice taking on more intensity.

"So we give her that context," Sebastian said firmly. "We invite her to our room. We tell her what she is to us. We make it clear that she’s coming with us when we leave. We spell it out in words she can’t misunderstand."

He paused, his dark eyes moving to Nicholas, gauging his eldest brother’s reaction.

"We give her the choice to come willingly or..." he didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication hung heavily in the air between them, dense and undeniable.