Claimed By My Three Alphas
Chapter 177

AMERY'S POV

Numb.

It's not just a feeling any longer.

It's become a state of being.

I'm drugged again, so I can't use my powers. Not enough to keep me off my feet like last time, but enough that Im detached from myself once again.

Only this time, it's worse.

Numb.

I didn't get to say goodbye.

Not to my father, not to my mates.

My heart would be heavy.

My heart would have been broken.

But no.

Numb.

We're in a different place, outside now. There's an audience, a group of two dozen men at the start of the trail, where I'm currently standing. The men are facing away, their backs to the makeshift Alter in the distance. I can't see much from where I'm standing, but I can pick apart three figures.

A man dressed in heavy robes, standing next to King Casper. And then my mom, even from this distance I can see she's just a crumpled heap on the floor. Forced to attend this farce as a guest.

The scared man, the same one who murdered my father before my eyes, guides me by my elbow towards them.

Gripping my skin with the same hand he'd used to rip his throat open.

I try not to think about it.

I try not to think at all.

We walk for a long while before reaching the post. Casper's smile is wide, unrestrained as I approach. I haven't changed my clothes. I'm in nothing but the same baggy shirt and sweatpants I'd put on when I left the cabin early this morning.

He holds out a hand to me. I stare at his outstretched palm for a long moment. My eyes move to the side, taking in my mother's broken state. She doesn't even look at me.

I take his hand.

His smile grows.

The full moon hangs heavy in the night sky. I try not to think about that either. This is it

We've lost.

"You're sure there's no shorter way to get through this?"

Casper asks the man standing in our middle. A healer, I assume

"It is a binding ceremony," he says, "A marriage." He lifts two items in his hands, a red silk rope and a silver dagger," The rope is enchanted, and that will take the most time. And then you bind your blood together, wrapping your joined hands in the enchanted silk. Then and only then can you mark her as yours."

I sneer and pull down Caspers mouth, he tosses a glance to the night sky, "Get on with it then."

Time must be of the essence.

The healer spreads the rope in his open palms, his eyes sliding closed, as he murmurs incoherent words under his breath.

I want to fade away. I want to transport myself somewhere else, anywhere but here.

I wonder, what are they doing now? Do they know these are their last moments? Do they know why I left?

They don't. My mates don't know.

I didn't get to say goodbye. My eyes slide shut.

Part of me feels it before I even hear the sound. The howl.

Ripping through the quiet air.

That howl, I know that howl. It takes me back to the night in the pit. When the Princes merged their wolves into one.

My eyes shoot open, I dart my gaze left and right, frantic..

Is my brain playing tricks on me?

"What was that?" Casper hisses beside me. He'd heard it too.

Hope.

It swells once again inside me.

They re here.

They're here. How did they replace me?

"I don't know." The scarred man responds, "It's no regular wolf cry."

"I want an army here now!" Casper growls, he shoots daggers at the Healer, "Can't you go any faster?"

His head is bowed, concentrating, "I'm going as fast as I can."

The scarred man is already long gone, to gather troops at his King's request. My mind is a delicate haze, so many emotions swimming through my head. Very faintly, I feel the vibrations on the ground. Steady, evenly spaced. The thump, thump, thump.

Casper grows agitated, his hands curling into fists at his sides. The pounding grows louder. And then I see it, them.

Barreling through the Forrest in the far distance, a large ma*s of a beast. One wolf, one mind.

The massive wolf charges forward, razing through the dozen soldiers lined at the edge of the clearing. My heart leaps into my throat.

Casper's soldiers are no match for the animal.

Its raised paw cuts through the men, a couple at a time.

Ripping through their flesh and leaving severed bodies in its wake. Theres no hesitation in the assault, right now, there's murder on their minds.

Casper growls as he watches his soldiers fall. There are barely half a dozen men left standing.

The massive wolf breaks, falling apart into three smaller wolves. Asher, Quincy, and Levis. I almost cried out at the sight of them.

They don't stop there, the Princes shift into their skin.

There's no pause in the way of the things, it's completely fluid, They don't stop for a second, merging from all fours to charging forward on two feet. There's no hesitation. No comic relief in their nudity.

Only desperation.

It's written all over their faces as they sprint to the alter, as they sprint to me.

More soldiers appear, Caspers reinforcements coming to join the battle. They charge forward, one by one intercepting the Princes in their advance.

They dodge and assault, redirecting blows and tossing men aside. Not once stopping to fight, not once halting their race towards me.

They're Heirs to the throne, Princes of the werewolf realm.

They've been trained for battle, conditioned for war. These men are no match.

They're halfway across the distance, so close their scents graze my nostrils. I inhale deep breaths, my wide eyes taking in each of them. Even dirty, clotted with mud and covered in other people's blood, they still look as wonderful as ever. My Princes. My mates.

A spear shoots straight through the path like it's been launched by a cannon, lodging deep into Asher's chest.

"No!" I scream, not thinking before running forward.

Casper yanks me by my elbow, "Don't even think about it!"

Asher is practically suspended in the air, the spear tip poking out of his chest and lodged deep in the ground, only the tips of his toes grazing the sand. His hands grasp the silver and it burns his skin, he lets out a roar of pain. Levi stops in his tracks.

He turns to look at his brother. Then turns back to look at me.

If the spear is pulled out right now, he'll start to heal, he'll survive.

He turns back to Asher's body hanging loosely on the massive rod. He hesitates.

Me... or his brother.

"Go!" Quincy shouts, dodging arrows and gliding on his knees towards Asher, "Don't stop!"

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, As Quincy kicks at the back of the rod with his heel, it breaks off. He grabs Asher's shoulders, pulling him off the metal, All the while, Levi charges toward me at lightning speed. Soldiers try to defend their king, getting in Levis path and engaging in combat. It's of no use. He's on a warpath.

Knocking people unconscious and ripping out throats with his bare hands. His jaw is locked tight, fury burning in the greys of his eyes as he moves closer.

Casper tosses me behind him, I bump into the healer as he bellows,

"Enough!"

He reaches for my mother, and I let out a desperate cry.

His hand presses against her throat as he pulls her roughly to her feet, "One more step and I'll tear her head from her neck!"

Levi stops.

My heart is hammering in my chest, the air seems to be still. No one moves.

He turns to me, eyes crazed, "Reject them!"

A gust of air slips out of me. My lips part.

"Reject them now, or I will kill her."

My eyes seek out Asher, his chest wound almost fully healed.

"Don't test me! Do it now!"

I open my mouth, but no words come through. My mom gasps for air, as he tightens his hold, pressing hard against her jugular. Her face is bright red, veins sticking out on her forehead. "Stop!" I cry, "I'll do what you ask."

He doesn't let up. Her hands are tied at her back, so she can't fight him.

"Please!" I scream.

He loosens his hold, just a fraction, enough for her to inhale a broken breath. Tears stream down her face.

I choke back a sob, lifting my gaze, my eyes lock on Asher's across the clearing.

Beautiful Asher.

"1, Amery Hunter," I begin, my voice barely audible, my back heaves on my sharp inhale, " Reject you... Asher Stark, as my fated mate."

Nothing happens, for just a second

And then his eyes bulge, and he gags. Blood spurts from his mouth, from his nose. It dribbles down his chin. His hands claw at his chest, at his heart.

He falls to his knees, and so do I. His body convulses until he takes his last breath.

My mouth falls open in a silent cry.

He's dead.

He's dead.

"Continue!" Casper shouts. I hear my mother whimper.

"I-" My voice cracks, "1, Amery Hunter, reject you, Quincy

Stark, as my fated mate."

I squeeze my eyes shut at his first gasp for air. This time, I don't watch.

"Be done with it."

My eyes peel, open, locking gazes with Levi, mere inches away from me.

His eyes are rimmed red, and glassy. My lower lip trembles.

"|-"

BOOM!

The Forrest goes up in flames. There's a loud explosion, rattling the ground and disorienting my balance. The alter shakes, Casper losing his footing Soldiers emerge from the growing flames, dozens of them.

"Charge!" A man bellows.

A man I recognize. He's used that same venom when he wanted me killed when he tried to get me away from his

sons.

Riding on horseback, he barrels into the battle.

King Killian Stark.