School was awkward. They had all but one class together, and Thea did her best to avoid or ignore the triplets all day. Everyone could tell something was wrong. Typically, they were inseparable. Kai usually had his arm draped over her shoulders. Alaric always offered her his arm when they walked because she often didn’t pay attention to where she was going. Conri held onto the hem of her shirt to keep her close. Today, she ignored them, left each class as the bell rang, didn’t walk with them anywhere, and made sure there was plenty of space between them.

Thea was usually good-natured and happy, but she spent the day subdued. Instead of eating lunch at their usual table, she went to the library to be alone and think.

Could she be blamed for being attracted to the triplets? Everyone wanted them. They were Alphas. They exuded power and sexiness: tall, dark hair, crystal blue eyes, beautiful chiseled faces, strong jaws, defined cheekbones, broad shoulders, muscles for days. They were gorgeous among werewolves, who were already preternaturally attractive beings.

Maybe she could recover from this. If she could figure out a way to tame her libido, things could go back to normal.

Maybe she was just full of hormones because her first shift was close. What if her wolf turned out to be a horny beast, and she had to satisfy her urges constantly?

Maybe there were herbs she could take that would suppress any hormones or horniness. She could at least look into masking her scent. There had to be herbs for that.

She started looking up books that could give her insight into how to fix this. Witches could do all sorts of things, but she didn’t want to mess with them. They were enemies of werewolves. Dangerous. She’d leave the pack before she used witches.

She loved this pack, though. The people. Her family. The triplets. All she ever wanted was to be Beta and help this pack stay the most powerful, most coveted on the west coast. She didn’t want to leave. She checked out several books and put them in her backpack to take home.

After school, she dutifully went to the training field to lead training alongside the triplets. She didn’t look them in the eye, which irritated Kai and Conri. She tried to look professional, only speaking to them when necessary. She brought up other wolves to demonstrate things where they usually used each other.

After training, Thea usually stuck around and talked with the pack members. This time, she left immediately. She went to the pack house, got some food, then went to her room to read the books she checked out. She didn’t go to pack dinner.

A while later, she’d written down a list of all the herbs she wanted. She went down to the pack apothecary store in the village area of the pack lands and handed the list to the apothecary. The older gentleman gathered the items, labeled them, bundled them up, separated them into groups.

“These are most effective in tea form. You can mix them with your favorite tea or brave the bitter taste alone. These are most effective when smoked. Do you have something to smoke with?”

“No,” Thea said.

The apothecary walked away and came back with a pipe and lighter. He demonstrated how to use it, how to clean it.

“I also devised a concoction that may interest you. It’s a spray. Our warriors and trackers use it regularly to mask their scents. Would you like to try it?”

“Yes, please.”

He added it to the bundle, handed it to her. “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.”

“Thank you.” She paid for them. “Can you make sure you have these in stock? I’ll probably be buying them regularly.”

“Of course, Miss Lyall.”

“Thea. Please call me Thea, Mr. Garrity.”

“Of course, Thea.” He smiled at her.

She went back to her room and read up on how to prepare the herbs. How much to use, how long to steep the tea, how long the effects would last. She fell asleep with her head in a book, the rest of them strewn around her on her bed.

She woke up when the bed dipped. Two strong hands pulled her against a warm body. She instantly knew it was Alaric. She always knew which triplet was which, ever since they were kids. Everyone else had trouble telling them apart since they were identical. He had cleared the books off her bed, stacked them on her desk, and put a blanket over her.

“Hey,” Alaric said softly. “I missed you at dinner. I missed you all day. How are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” Thea said.

“You’re researching something.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. You don’t have to. Can I stay with you like old times?”

The triplets used to sneak into her room every night and sleep with her. They always slept better in her bed. They stopped a few years ago. Thea missed sleeping with them, but she would never sneak into any of their rooms. She had to accept it.

Thea nodded. Even with the lights off, they could see each other in the dark. She didn’t know if she’d ever get to sleep with him again. She didn’t expect this tonight, but being in his arms was comforting. She wrapped her arms around his waist. He adjusted, and they pulled in tight. He hooked her head under his chin. Her face against his chest, she breathed in his scent. It calmed her and made her sad at the same time. She knew he wasn’t hers. None of them were. Tears spilled over.

“Hey,” Alaric said. He rubbed her back up and down. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid of losing you guys.” She sniffled.

“Never going to happen. You’re stuck with us forever.”

She wished that were true. She settled for being in Alaric’s arms tonight.

He held her, trailing his fingers over her until she fell asleep.

Alaric was still holding Thea when she woke up.

"You ready for early morning training?" Alaric's voice, rough with sleep, rumbled through her body, waking her up in the sweetest way. She wished she could wake up like this every morning. Then his words registered.

"I don't want to go today. I can't." She needed a day off. Maybe a week. A year. However long it took to figure out what was going on with her.

"Thea, you can, and there's no reason not to."

"Please don't make me—"

"Thea, you're coming. I'll see you outside in fifteen, okay?"

She knew she had to obey him.

"Yes, Alpha."

"Hey, that's not—I don't mean it like that," Alaric said. "You know you can say no to us, right? Thea, please. I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything you don't want to."

"Then why are you making me go train?"

"Because you love training. I'm not going to let you throw it away over a misunderstanding. Come on. This isn't like you. Where's my fearless Thea?"

"Back on the training field where she died of mortification?"

Alaric squeezed her into his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Let's go find her corpse and revive her then."

"Fine," she grumbled.

He got out of bed and left her room. She got ready and went to the training grounds where the triplets waited for her. She hoped her body behaved today. She didn't have time to make the tea to mask her scent.

They ran a lap around the field, and before they finished, Kai grabbed Thea from behind. Instincts kicked in. Thea sidestepped and threw him over her hip. Kai landed on the grass with a thud, rolled out of it to his feet, and faced her. Conri and Alaric caught up to them, and each grabbed one of Thea’s arms.

“Again?” she said. “Because this went so well yesterday.”

Kai walked toward her.

“Today is different,” Kai said. He put his hands on her waist. “Today, we’re not sparring.”

“What?”

Conri’s and Alaric’s grips shifted, and the three of them surrounded her, caging her in.

“Today, we’re seeing if we can turn you on,” Kai said.

He leaned in and ran his nose up and down her neck. His hands roamed over her body. She tried to ignore the sensual feelings he invoked. The more she tried to think of other things, the harder it was.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Thea said. “You already know you can. Please, don’t. Please. Please stop.”

“Why would we stop?” Kai said.

“You already proved your point. I get turned on by you guys. I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”

“Nothing is wrong with you. You should get turned on by us,” Conri said.

She groaned. “I’ve never been so humiliated in my life,” she said, eyes closed and head down.

“Why are you embarrassed?” Alaric said.

“You guys have always been like my brothers. Sisters aren’t supposed to moan uncontrollably when their brothers tickle them.”

“We haven’t thought of you as a sister for a long time. Not since you grew those boobs you say are useless,” Kai said. “Should we see how useless they are?”

He watched her face as his hands traveled under her shirt and cupped her breasts. She gasped. He squeezed, and her mouth dropped open. He pulled her bra down, releasing her breasts, then found the peaks and rolled them between his fingers. She moaned and arched her back, leaning into his touch.

“Please,” she begged, not sure if she was begging him to stop or keep going. She wanted this so badly. “This isn’t fair.”

“But you like it?” Alaric said. She didn’t answer. Her breathing was getting shallow and fast. “What about this?”

Alaric pulled her chestnut hair out of the way and kissed her neck from behind. Her eyes closed, she whimpered, her head fell back against his shoulder.

“I think she likes it,” Conri said. He pressed his face into the other side of her neck and breathed in deeply. His lips trailed down, kissing her, paying extra attention to her sensitive marking spot where she couldn’t hold in her moans. Alaric found the same spot on her other side, and she moaned louder.

“No. No. Stop. Please. I’ll figure out a way to stop.”

“You’ll figure out a way to stop what?” Kai said, confused. Thea always fought until she won. Why was she giving up so easily? Begging. It wasn’t like her.

“Being turned on,” Thea said.

“Why would we want that?” Kai said.

“For so long, we thought you didn’t like us that way,” Conri said. He started sucking on that spot on her neck.

“Or maybe you weren’t ready,” Alaric said. He nibbled the spot on his side.

“I can’t tell you how happy we were to smell your arousal yesterday. Hoping we were the cause of that sweet, delicious scent,” Kai said.

They all looked at her, hopeful. She lifted her turquoise eyes and met theirs.

“You want me to be turned on by you?” she said.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Kai said.

“I don’t understand.”

“We realize it’s not fair that we can smell your arousal, and you can’t smell ours,” Alaric said.

“But you can feel it,” Kai said. He started moving his hands down, pulling on the peaks until they popped from his fingers and back in place. “So let us make it clear how much you turn us on.”

He slid his hands around and down to her backside, squeezed, and pulled her against his front. She very clearly felt his bulge against her stomach.

“You have no idea how difficult it’s been to keep ourselves in check while training with you. How much we’ve wanted to do this.”

He leaned in, eyes daring her to stop him, and pressed his lips against hers. Her body lit on fire. Kai’s hands kneaded her cheeks. One of Alaric’s hands slid up to her breast. One of Conri’s found her other breast. She whimpered in pleasure.

After a moment, Alaric’s hands went around her waist, gripped hard, and turned her to face him. He pulled her into his front so she could feel his erection. Then he moved his hands up and gently held her face. He looked deeply into her eyes.

“We want you,” Alaric said.

He brought her into a kiss. His hands slid into her hair, and he tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Four other hands roamed her body.

“My turn,” Conri growled.

He turned her to him, one hand at the small of her back. He pressed her into his hard length. His other hand kneaded her breast. She whimpered again, her mouth fell open, and he kissed her, exploring her mouth with his tongue. Alaric and Kai pressed against her side and back, kissing and nipping her neck and shoulders. After a moment, Conri pulled back.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed, baby,” Conri said. He nuzzled her nose with his, then leaned his forehead against hers. “We want to smell you. We want to turn you on. We want you to want us. We’ve been waiting forever for this. I can’t wait to taste your arousal.”

Kai and Alaric growled. “WE can’t wait to taste your arousal,” they said together.

Breathing hard, she started to gain confidence. “You want me?”

“Yes. Do you want us?”

Thea nodded. She had been clenching her legs together to hide her smell. She relaxed and spread her legs to let the breeze bring her scent to their noses. She was soaked. The triplets groaned.

“Goddess, you smell so good,” Kai said. His hand slid under her shirt, his fingers brushing under the waistband of her pants. He paused, his mouth against her neck, under her ear. "Have you touched yourself thinking about us?"

"Yes." She had never heard her voice sound like this before—breathy, weak, practically a whimper—all because of how turned on she was. It made all three future Alphas growl. "Have you touched yourselves thinking about me?"

"Always you, only you," they said in unison.

"Oh, goddess. That's hot." Thea leaned forward and kissed Conri. She grabbed the back of Alaric's neck and guided his lips to her neck. Then she reached behind her, threaded her fingers through Kai's hair, and pulled him to the other side of her neck.

"I can't believe you were punching us in the crotch just yesterday. This is better," Alaric said. He nibbled her shoulder, breathing deeply.

"Much better," Conri said.

Thea laughed. "This is nice."

"It's very nice, darling," Kai said.

They continued, trading places, pressing against her, hands and lips roaming, until it was time to get ready for school.

"I don't want to stop," Thea said against Conri's lips. "But we should go clean up."

"We could shower together?" Conri said.

Thea looked like a deer in the highlights.

"We have to move slow, Con," Alaric said. "Don't rush her. We only just got her. Don't scare her away."

Thea leaned into Alaric and gave him a quick kiss, then pulled away, blushing. He lifted her chin to look at him.

"I like that look on you," Alaric said.

The triplets and Thea went to their rooms to shower and change.

As soon as she was alone, Thea freaked out. She wasn’t sure what had just happened. Maybe she dreamed it. It wouldn’t be the first time.

The triplets were waiting for her when she left her room. They were all showered and in fresh clothes. Thea admired the view for a moment. The way their jeans hung from their hips. The way their T-shirts stretched across their broad, muscular chests. The way their identical faces lit up when they saw her. She could always tell who was who, but their hair was the only thing most people could use to tell them apart.

With his long crew cut freshly styled, Alaric leaned in for a quick kiss. She blushed, and he took her hand. It wasn’t a dream.

Conri ran his hand through his long, bro flow hair and kissed her too. “You’re never getting rid of us now,” he said. He splayed his hand around her hip, hooking a finger into one of the belt loops on her jeans.

Kai, with his messy pompadour, leaned in for his kiss. He took her hand and brought it up to his chest, holding it against his heart. They walked down the hallway—Alaric a little ahead, Conri a little behind, and Kai right at her other side.

They passed by the Alpha’s office on the fifth floor, and Thea stopped when she heard her mother’s voice full of shock and fear.

“What could have done this?” Thea’s mother, Naomi, said behind the closed door.

“Vampires? Witches? Rogues?” Luna Ada said. Her voice also held concern.

Thea motioned for the triplets to be silent and listen with her by the door.

“Rogues couldn’t do that,” Alpha Ulric said. “I’ve never heard of witches or vampires organizing a force powerful enough to massacre an entire werewolf pack overnight.”

“Then there’s the question of why,” Naomi said. “What could that pack have done to warrant such an extreme reaction?”

“They may not have done anything,” Thea’s father, Beta Walter, said. “It’s not the first pack they’ve found desolated back east. There have been several others. They find out the pack is gone when someone goes to visit a ghost town.”

“Something is taking out werewolf packs?” Luna Ada said.

“What do we know about the packs that were targeted?” Alpha Ulric said. “Any clues left behind as to who did it or why?”

“These are the questions we need to find answers to,” Beta Walter said.

“This feels like the beginning of something big. Something that’s only going to get worse,” Naomi said.

“Let’s keep this between us for now,” Alpha Ulric said. “The boys and Thea have a few months left before they shift and graduate and then take over the pack. They’re the ones who will have to deal with this. Let’s let them enjoy these last weeks of being carefree before they have to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.”

“Agreed,” the other parents said.

They heard shuffling inside the office. Thea motioned for the triplets to go, and they quietly ran down and out of the pack house.

“I’m happy to ignore what we just heard until we’re the ones in charge,” Conri said as they walked to school. He took his place next to Thea, hand on her hip.

“We will have to deal with it,” Alaric said, slipping his hand into Thea’s. “It sounds like this thing is going to affect all werewolves everywhere.”

“Our parents will get the ball rolling,” Thea said.

“And they’ll help us even after they pass the Alpha title to us,” Kai said. He took Thea’s other hand. “We don’t have to stress about this yet.”

Everyone at school stared at them as they walked down the hallways. It wasn’t unusual to see the four of them together, but they had never held hands and kissed.

No one living had seen a polyamorous relationship. It was the stuff of myth in the werewolf community. Some people slept around, but they weren’t in committed relationships with all their conquests. Wolves eventually mated with one person. They were known for it. Wolves were notoriously possessive, jealous beasts, unable to share.

The triplets didn’t break contact with Thea the whole day except for the one class they didn’t have together. Third hour, right before lunch. The triplets walked her to her room, each kissed her, then said their goodbyes.

It was a class about omegas, the lowest-ranked pack members, what their uses could be, and their role in a pack. New Dawn didn’t designate any members as omegas, but other packs did. Some had slaves. Thea wanted to change that. She wanted to learn all she could to know what needed to change.

“That’s new,” Lizzy, her blonde-haired best friend, said when Thea sat next to her. “Since when are you kissing our future Alphas?” She had one eyebrow raised.

“Since this morning?” Thea said.

“It’s about time.”

“What?”

“I guess you didn’t need the Talent Show to get their attention after all.”

“That’s why you wanted me to wear the slutty outfit for the Talent Show tomorrow?”

“Duh. Someone needed to give you all a little push. I wonder who won the betting pool.”

“That thing went dry months ago,” Tessa, another girl in their pack, said. “No one thought it’d take this long.”

“What are you talking about?” Thea said.

“The whole school has been betting on when you all would get together,” Lizzy said. “Which of you would get together, if it’d be all three sharing you, or just one or two. If there’d be fights. If you got together with one and then mated another. All the possibilities. Everything.”

“I’m so confused,” Thea said.

“About what, girl? Those boys have been in love with you forever.”

Thea stared blankly at her best friend.

“Did you seriously not know?” Lizzy said. “They’ve never shown interest in any other girl. Never asked anyone out. Never hooked up with anyone even though plenty of girls have tried.”

Jealousy surged inside Thea, but she pushed it down. The triplets turned down the advances.

“I always looked at them as brothers,” Thea said. “I thought they saw me as a sister.”

“When did it shift?”

“I don’t know. It came on gradually.”

The bell rang, signaling the start of class. “I want to hear all about this,” Lizzy said.

“We all do,” Tessa said.

“At dress rehearsal for the Talent Show?” Lizzy said.

“Maybe,” Thea said.

After class, Thea walked to the cafeteria and found the triplets at their usual table. Conri pulled her onto his lap and rested his chin on her shoulder, breathing in her scent. Alaric pulled one of her legs over his and rubbed it up and down with his hands. Kai held her hand on the other side of Conri.

People whispered around the cafeteria.

“Did you guys know there’s a betting pool about us getting together?” Thea said quietly.

“I’ve heard rumors,” Kai said.

“No,” Conri said.

“I’ll get to the bottom of it,” Alaric said. Thea turned to him and leaned in for a quick kiss. Kai tugged on her hand until she kissed him too. Conri trailed kisses up and down her neck.

“You guys have to stop, or I’m going to be wet all day,” Thea whispered. She had to prepare those herbs to mask her scent when she got home today.

“Then let us suck you dry,” Conri whispered into her ear.

She gasped.

“Move slower, Con,” Alaric said.

The triplets took turns having Thea sit on their laps in each class, the other two holding her hands on either side. Teachers gave them looks but didn’t bother to say anything since they were future Alphas. Not even when they kissed the back of her neck or caressed any part of her they could reach.

Thea kept smiling. She would enjoy these last months before shifting and becoming Beta if this was how it would go.