The Way Alphas Love
RHYS
The rope snapped like a brittle bone.
Scarlett’s scream ripped through me sharper than any claw ever could.
I didn’t think or plan. I simply became violence.
I dropped.
The freezing river swallowed me whole for half a second before I exploded back to the surface.
Kane was already there, roaring, tearing into the creature’s flank like a man possessed.
Saint hit the water like a meteor, bones snapping mid-fall as his massive black wolf form erupted, red eyes blazing with pure murder.
The beast thrashed, trying to drag our mate under.
Its final, fatal mistake.
I surged forward and drove my claws into the side of its scaled throat, ripping downward in one long, savage tear.
Hot black blood sprayed across my face. I twisted deeper, fingers hooking behind pulsing arteries and yanking them free in wet, ragged strings.
No mercy. No hesitation. Just the cold, exquisite joy of destroying what had dared touch what was mine.
Kane slammed into the opposite side, laughing through the carnage as he ripped out fist-sized chunks of flesh and spat them into the churning water.
Saint clamped his enormous jaws around the creature’s lower jaw and wrenched upward with terrifying strength. Bone cracked. Tendons snapped. The monster’s mouth was forced open in a grotesque scream.
And there she was.
I dove straight into the gaping maw, claws slashing through soft tissue and cartilage, tearing the beast open from the inside while Saint held the jaws pried wide. Kane joined us, ripping through the lower jaw like it was paper. Blood clouded everything in thick red plumes.
We dragged her out.
Her body was slick with river water and monster gore. Deep puncture wounds tore through her leg and arm where the teeth had crushed down. She wasn’t moving.
Kaiden was already there on the bank. Saint shoved Scarlett into his arms the second they broke the surface. Kaiden took her without hesitation and swam hard for shore.
Then the three of us turned back to the creature.
We went ballistic.
I latched onto its face, claws punching through both glowing red eyes, then drove my fingers deep into the sockets and twisted, scrambling whatever brain it had left.
Kane tore its belly open from sternum to tail in one brutal swipe — guts spilling out in steaming loops.
Saint clamped down on its neck and shook his head like a dog with a rag, vertebrae popping, flesh shredding away in wet chunks.
The monster screamed. A high, gurgling wail of agony that vibrated through the water.
We didn’t stop.
Saint finally wrenched its head clean off with one final, savage twist. The severed neck fountained blood into the river, turning the water into a churning slaughterhouse. Chunks of scale, meat, and bone bobbed on the surface like obscene confetti.
Silence fell.
Only the soft lap of bloody water against the shore remained.
We climbed out together, three dripping, gore-soaked Alphas. I was still in human form, clothes torn and soaked crimson. Kane looked feral, chest heaving. Saint shook himself once, massive wolf melting back into his naked human body, every muscle glistening with blood and river water.
The crowd on the bank had frozen. Students, Lily, professors, everyone stared in stunned horror. They parted like prey as we stalked forward.
Kaiden was on one knee, Scarlett cradled carefully in his arms. Her leg and arm were still bleeding far too freely.
I reached them first.
“Give her to me.”
He handed her over without a word.
I pulled her against my chest, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other supporting her thighs. She was ice-cold. Her pulse was thready. The gashes on her leg and arm were trying to heal… but too slowly. Far too slowly for even a wolf.
Saint pressed in close on my left, still naked, and lowered his head. He dragged his tongue slowly, reverently over the deepest gash on her leg. The wound hissed faintly as his saliva worked, knitting flesh faster than her body could manage alone.
Kane flanked my right, one massive bloody hand resting possessively on her hip, thumb stroking slow circles over her torn clothes.
Scarlett stirred weakly, green eyes fluttering open just enough to find mine. Her small fingers curled into my soaked shirt.
“Rhys…” she whispered, voice cracked and raw.
I pressed my lips to her forehead, tasting blood, river water, and her.
“I’ve got you, darling,” I murmured, voice soft, deadly, and absolute. “No one will ever touch you again.”
Behind us, the river ran red.
And every soul on that bank had just witnessed exactly what happens when anything, man or monster dares to touch what belongs to the Triumvirate.
They would not forget it.
We made sure of that.
*****
We carried her through the parted crowd like a blood offering.
I held her against my chest the entire way back, one arm under her thighs, the other cradling her head.
Kane walked on my right like a snarling guard dog, black eyes still glowing with leftover rage.
Saint stayed glued to my left, completely naked, blood and river water streaking down his massive body.
Every few steps he leaned in and dragged his tongue over the worst gash on her leg, low possessive rumbles vibrating in his chest.
By the time we reached the tents, Scarlett was half-conscious, shivering, her small hands weakly fisted in my torn shirt.
I ducked into their tent first, Kane and Saint following like shadows. The space felt too small for three Alphas and all the violence still rolling off us, but I didn’t care.
“Lights,” I ordered quietly.
I lowered her gently onto the thick sleeping pad. She winced as her back met the fabric.
“Easy, darling,” I murmured, brushing soaked strands of hair from her face. My golden eyes locked on hers. “We’re going to take care of you now.”
Her breath hitched. “I… I’m fine. Really. You don’t have to….”
Kane’s low, filthy chuckle cut her off. “Too late for that, love.”
Saint dropped to his knees beside her. His massive hands reached for the hem of her torn, blood-soaked shirt. I helped him peel the wet fabric up and over her head. Her full breasts spilled free, nipples hardened from the cold. She gasped, arms flying up to cover herself.
Kane caught her wrists, pinning them above her head with one hand. “None of that, princess. Let us see what’s ours.”
Saint lowered his head and dragged his long tongue slowly over the deep puncture wounds on her thigh. The gashes hissed and knitted visibly under his saliva, pink new skin forming. He growled softly with every lick, eyes half-lidded.
Kane moved to her arm, licking the jagged tears there with hungry strokes, black eyes locked on her face. “Fuck, princess… even your blood tastes sweet.”
He grabbed a canteen and poured fresh water over her, washing away blood and river filth. His rough hands followed, gentle despite their size, smoothing over her skin, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts, her stomach, the curve of her waist.
I took her other arm and traced the torn flesh from elbow to wrist in one slow lick. She shivered hard, a broken whimper escaping her throat.
“Rhys…” she breathed, cheeks flaming as her body arched slightly toward us. “I’m not a pup… you don’t have to clean me with your tongues…”
Kane grinned wildly, licking a slow circle around the fading bite on her hip. “But we want to, love. Every fucking inch.”
Saint’s tongue moved higher along her inner thigh, dangerously close to her core, ice-blue eyes flicking up to watch her face as he licked again, savoring. A fresh wave of her slick scent bloomed in the tent, sweet and unmistakable.
I pressed my lips to the side of her neck, licking away a streak of blood before whispering against her ear, “You taste like fear and ours. Let us worship what almost got taken from us.”
Scarlett’s breath came in short, embarrassed pants. Her thighs pressed together, but Saint’s broad shoulders kept them parted. “You’re all insane… I can just use water and bandages…”
I leaned down, brushing my lips against her ear while my fingers trailed slowly down her bare stomach.
“Insane? Maybe. But you’re still bleeding, little one. And we don’t trust anything else to heal you fast enough.”
My fingertips brushed just below her navel.
“So be a good girl and let your Alphas clean you properly.”
Kane licked his lips, still grinning. “See, love? All better. Mostly.”
Scarlett stared up at the three of us, blood-streaked, naked, utterly fixated on her and something between a laugh and a sob escaped her.
“You three are completely Mad,” she whispered.
I smiled, brushing my thumb across her bottom lip. “Yes, darling. And you’re never getting rid of us.”
Kane lifted his head, lips shiny with her blood. “Gonna lick every inch of you until there’s not a mark left. Then maybe we’ll start leaving our own.”
Saint rumbled in agreement, his tongue dragging higher along her slit, possessive and hungry.
Scarlett’s breath hitched, her eyes turning glassy as her cheeks flushed an even deeper red.
Outside the tent, the camp was deathly quiet.
But inside?
We were only just beginning to remind our little Omega exactly who she belonged to.