Chapter 96: The Only Way Is Through The Door
My initial assumption was correct― Rowan’s bed was infinitely more comfortable than the single bed that was in the room they had built for me.
It was a king-sized bed, accompanied by plush pillows and a silky soft duvet. If this were any other time, and if it were any other person’s bed, I might’ve slept like a baby until dawn.
Unfortunately, this bed belonged to none other than Rowan Hadeon, the man whose mark was now on my neck. Perhaps it was due to the mark, but his scent was everywhere in the room. Without a window to air it out, I was cooped in this chamber, forced to breathe it in lest I choke to death.
If we were normal fated mates, this wouldn’t have been a problem. After all, as rumors go, the scent between fated mates can be soothing or even therapeutic. However, for me, it was nothing short of torture.
The entire night, I was tossing and turning. Every shift in the sheets caused a new wave of his scent to perfume the air. Soon enough, it clung teasingly onto my skin, causing heat to rise through my body.
I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to sleep, but sleep evaded me and refused to come to my aid. In the end, after what felt like hours of flipping around, I lay flat on my back, staring at the ceiling of the dark room.
This was impossible.
It was still dark outside. Or at least, I assumed it was. No light came from the crack beneath the door. I watched as the light was switched off when Rowan and Soren retired to Soren’s bedroom for the night.
By now, at least an hour or two would’ve passed. I tossed the covers off my body and snuck out of bed, keeping my footsteps as light as possible. Once I reached the door, I pressed my ears against the wood. There was no sound I could catch coming from the outside.
Slowly, I turned the doorknob and peered out. Thankfully, it turned without a problem. It seemed like the Alphas had designed the door to lock from the inside, but not from the outside, like the door to my room was. After all, they probably had not thought that I would ever be residing here.
It was as I guessed. It was dark, and I wasn’t able to see everything properly. But the shared lounge space outside seemed empty enough. The faint silver moonlight that streamed in illuminated enough for me to see that there didn’t seem to be anyone outside.
Violet, thankfully, also hadn’t snuck in.
As silently as I could, I snuck outside and shut the door behind me. Now, I just had to make my way to the main doors of the triplets’ private wing, and I would be halfway to freedom.
Scuttering across the room, I reached for the doorknobs of the heavy double doors. Then, I pressed down and pulled. However, other than a faint rattle that had me stiffening, it didn’t budge one bit. I tried again, this time, pushing it. Likewise, it didn’t give way one bit.
Drat. They locked it.
I glanced around, hoping to find the key, but I found something better. I could barely contain the smile on my face. It had completely slipped my mind that I could escape through the window.
Unlike the one in my room, this one wasn’t barred down with silver. I could see the scenery outside perfectly. What’s more, there was a tree right outside the window I could climb down from. As long as it wasn’t bolted down as well, I would be able to crawl out from here. There wouldn’t even be a need to find my way through the maze of corridors.
With this new game plan in mind, I hurried over to the window. However, right as I reached my hand out for the window frame and pushed it up by a couple of inches, a hand shot out and grabbed my hand, causing me to jerk in surprise. My lips parted, an instinctive scream about to tear through my throat when another hand slapped itself over my mouth.
Gently, the hand guided me back and away from the window until my back collided with the nearby bookshelf.
My eyes went wide with horror once I realized that my escape attempt had been killed in the cradle. It only widened even further when my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness to see a familiar face hovering right in front of me. In the dark, it took me a second longer to realize which of the three triplets this was, but it didn’t take long for me to reach my conclusion.
"And Rowan really thought that having you sleep in his room would be able to stop you from escaping," Soren said, shaking his head with a resigned laugh. He made sure to keep his voice low, but it only made things worse for me. As a result, his voice was much breathier and airier than usual, the deep tone tickling my ears as he spoke.
I felt a chill run through my body, causing the fine strands of hair to stand all across my skin. Even though his touch didn’t burn me the way Rowan’s did, it still sent tiny jolts of electricity trickling underneath my skin.
He smiled, and if I wasn’t mistaken, the look of affection showed even through the soft gaze in his eyes.
"What will we ever do with you?" he mused more to himself than to me.
I sharply jerked my head to the side so that his hand would move from my mouth. He got the message, pulling his hand away from my lips as well, allowing me to speak. His other hand, however, remained tightly glued to my hand. It didn’t seem like he was planning to let go anytime soon, either.
"If I am being accused of the crime, I might as well do it," I said with a shrug. "Now if you’ll let me go, I’ll be on my merry way."
"No can do," Soren said.
He was standing with his back against the light. From this angle, a dark shadow was cast on his face. His eyes, however, seemed to glow like the sun.
Slowly, he raised his hand and reached towards me.
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