The Lustful Game with the Triplet Alphas

Chapter 9: Chapter 9 A Seductive Plan

Jade’s POV

The cold ointment slid over my skin, but Ryder’s fingers were like fire.

Every slow stroke of his hand made my breath catch in my throat.

His touch was firm, yet careful.

Controlled, yet trembling just slightly.

And every time he dragged his fingertips along a bruise, something sharp and hot pooled low in my stomach.

Goddess... why did it feel like this?

The heat of the spring still clung to my body, and his cool fingertips were a contrast that sent shivers racing down my spine. My pulse fluttered against my ribcage, betraying me completely. I hated that my body reacted to him. I hated that the same boy who tormented me could make my skin come alive like this with nothing but a touch.

When his thumb brushed the base of my spine, my knees almost buckled.

I bit down hard on my lip to keep a sound from escaping.

This meant nothing.

Nothing.

He hated me.

I reminded myself again and again, but my body refused to obey.

Ryder’s breathing was low, steady... but not steady enough. I could feel the faint tremble of it against my back as he leaned closer, concentrating on my wounds. The scent of pine and something darker, something purely him, wrapped around me, unsettling and addictive at the same time.

When his fingers finally left my skin, I almost.... missed it.

Disappointment pricked at me, hot and humiliating. I straightened slowly, still covering my chest with my arms, and turned to face him.

“Why....” I began.

“No.” He cut me off instantly.

The softness from a moment ago evaporated like it never existed. Ryder’s expression hardened back into the cold mask he always wore around me.

“I do not care about you, Jade,” he said flatly. “Do not read any deep meaning into this.”

My throat tightened.

“Those kinds of wounds get infected easily,” Ryder continued, voice colder than the ointment still clinging to my skin. “And I don’t want anything happening to you yet. Not until my brothers and I are done punishing you.”

My stomach twisted painfully.

Punishing me....

Always punishing.

“You belong to us, Jade,” Ryder said, stepping closer, his eyes flicking briefly, dangerously, over my exposed skin before snapping back to my face. “So you are not even allowed to fall sick without our permission.”

My lips parted, anger and confusion tangling inside me.

“But... why?” My voice cracked. “Why should I be punished? What have I ever done wrong?”

His jaw clenched.

It wasn’t hatred alone in his eyes.

It was something deeper.

Disappointment. Betrayal.

“It’s disgusting when you pretend you don’t know,” Ryder said, shaking his head slowly as if my words sickened him. “Thank the goddess Linda told us everything back then.... and made sure we heard it and saw it with our own eyes.”

I froze.

Linda?

“If not for her,” Ryder added, voice sharp with bitterness, “my brothers and I would’ve still been caught in your deceptive web.”

“Ryder....”

He didn’t let me finish.

He grabbed my dress from the grass and hurled it at me.

“Cover up,” he snapped. “And stop showing your slutty body around.”

His voice shook.

Just a little.

Like he was fighting something, fighting himself, as he looked anywhere but at my naked skin.

Before I could say another word, he turned sharply and walked away, disappearing between the trees.

Leaving me alone.

Shaking.

Humiliated.

Confused.

And aching in a way I didn’t want to understand.

I tried to shake the feelings off as I slipped my dress back on, my hands trembling slightly, not from the cold air brushing my damp skin, but from Ryder’s words that kept echoing in my head.

What exactly did Linda tell them?

What did they “hear and see” that made them suddenly hate me so viciously? freeweɓnovel.cѳm

What lies did she feed them?

I replayed every memory, every moment, but nothing made sense. One day, the boys I grew up with were smiling at me... and the next after my dad was killed and I finally resumed school again, they were looking at me like I was filth beneath their boots.

Whatever Linda said... whatever she showed them.... it destroyed everything.

And I didn’t even know what it was.

The confusion clawed at my chest as I began walking back home through the woods, my feet heavy, my mind heavier. Everything hurt, my back, my pride, my heart. By the time I stepped into our small house, I was exhausted.

Then I saw the note on the table.

Beside it was a small food flask, still warm.

I picked up the note and unfolded it.

Jade, my sunshine,

I came home for a moment but had to return to the mansion. There’s too much work today.

Eat the food I made. And when you lift the flask, you’ll see some cash.

Use it to take yourself out for a treat before the ceremony tonight.

I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better birthday gift, but that is everything I’ve been saving all year.

Forgive me for not being by your side when your wolf awakens tonight.

Happy 18th birthday, my Jade. I promise I’ll find a way to make things better for us one day.

Mum.

My vision blurred.

I lifted the food flask, and nearly dropped it when I saw the money hidden underneath.

“Mum....” I whispered.

It was a lot. Way more than I expected. My mum must have skipped meals, worked extra hours, sacrificed sleep, and quietly saved every coin she could... all just to give me this.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I opened the flask. Steam rose from the food she somehow found time to make despite everything.

I sat down.

I ate.

And I cried.

Cried because my mum was trying so hard.

Cried because she was drowning in exhaustion every day.

Cried because all she wanted was for me to have something nice.

Cried because I had nothing to give her in return except more worry, more pain, more humiliation.

I wiped my tears, inhaling sharply.

No.

I couldn’t afford to be weak.

I had to get stronger, for her.

But how was I supposed to save her when we were both branded as traitors’ blood? When we were at the bottom, treated like dirt, living from command to command?

There was no escape.

Unless....

My thoughts snagged on the triplets.

The boys who used to protect me.

The boys who used to love me.

The boys whose father destroyed our family.

The boys who now hated me with unexplained fury.

If they were still good friends with me...

If things were still the same, like they used to be....

Our lives would be so different.

Then, like a flash of lightning, an idea struck.

A stupid idea.

A reckless idea.

A dangerous idea.

But it was the only idea.

I stood abruptly, the chair scraping the floor.

If I wanted to save my mum from this lifetime of servitude...

If I wanted any chance of surviving in this pack...

Then I needed the triplets’ favor again, by force if not by choice.

And I knew exactly where to start.

I hurried to my closet and pulled out the dress.

The one my father bought me two years ago.

A beautiful red gown, sleek, elegant, slightly oversized back then, and kinda revealing.

He told me to keep it, to wear it for my 18th birthday.

I clutched it to my chest, breath shaking.

When they seized everything after declaring my father a traitor, this was the only item I managed to hide. The last thing he ever gave me.

Tonight.... I would wear it.

I threw it over my arm, snatched the envelope of cash, and grabbed the invitation Linda had shoved at me with that mocking smile.

Her “birthday party.”

Her “wolf awakening.”

Her attempt to flaunt her connection with the triplets.

I would steal that spotlight.

I would walk in looking gorgeous, confident, seductive.

I’d remind the triplets of what we once were.

I’d make them look at me again.

If they wouldn’t listen to my words...

Maybe they’d listen to their eyes.... and instincts.

I rushed out of the house, determination burning through my exhaustion.

I was going to the pack’s most popular beauty parlor.

I would get my hair and makeup done.

I would spend every coin my mother saved.

And tonight, I would walk into that party looking as sexy as hell.