Claimed By My Three Alphas
Chapter 160

AMERY'S

POV

It's barely even nightfall and the boys are already passed out on the living room couch. An unconscious smile pulls on the corner of my mouth as I watch them.

Quincy lost the battle with the cat, my mother truly didn't let him bring it in for even a second. The boys have been chaotic all day, neither of them did anything productive.

Except Levi, who spent most of the day chopping up firewood for the fireplace. Yet shortly after dinner, they huddled in the living room and I'd barely even given them a five-minute head-start when I came in to find them asleep. There's a spare bedroom my mother arranged for them to use in the meantime, but they look rather comfortable pressed up against one another. The house isn't the biggest, so the living room only has enough space for one large sofa. "Amery," Mom calls, standing far behind me in the back of the house. "Come," She waves me over, "I'd like to show you something."

I toss one last glance at their sleeping forms over my shoulder. It hasn't been too long since we made this trip from my home in the human realm. And I've spent every minute in their presence other than when I fell into the pit since then. Asher snores softly, his lips slightly parted with his head tilted back on Quincy's shoulder. Despite everything I've been through with him so far, including the fact that he already apologized, I still can't bring myself to forgive him yet. Harsh, I'm well aware.

He's the only reason I'm standing where I am currently. In the home of my birth parents. On an even scale, his good deeds outweigh the bad. But still, letting go of the hurt comes with so much difficulty.

Seeing him with Natasha all those times. The bile churns in my gut even now.

Then there's Quincy. He's been the best out of all of them, and he's the one I've shown the least gratitude to. Guilt gnaws at my skin till I'm chewing on the inside of my mouth.

Finally, my gaze cuts to Levi. His blank hair is mussed, tousled over his eyes. He's deep asleep, shirtless, on the left edge. I trail my eyes over his exposed chest, taking in every dip and contour of muscle. It's like his body's been carved from precious stone. So handsome, sometimes it hurts to even look at him.

It hurts to want him too.

And God help me, do I want him.

Thave to constantly remind myself of who he is. Of what. he's done and why I need to stay away from him. My attraction to him is one thing, but acting on it any more than I already have is something else entirely.

With Asher and Quincy, things seem to come naturally, and easily. The attraction and affection I feel for them are just as simple as the emotions themselves. I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting with bated breath for when the next shoes going to drop. But with Levi? I feel like Im always in way over my head. I can never detect the next shift in his demeanor, or even try to guess his next move.

His actions keep giving me a whiplash. And recent events only prove that the more.

He's a liar, and he has no love lost for me. No matter how he tries to make me see things. I've fallen for his trap one too many times, despite my better judgement and the advice of everyone around me. And I've suffered for it.

Again and again. As much as I've let my naivety get the best of me, I always pay the price. And this time, I could have paid that price with my life. I could have died.

And despite all this, my gaze is locked on his sleeping form in longing. The feelings are there, black and white, and so completely draining.

I shake my head to clear it, sighing out a tired breath, I turn on my heel and follow my mom down the hallway.

Shes standing by the edge when I approach, staring at a. portrait of a small family framed in glass. This one I haven't seen before.

It's one of a young couple. A young Emelda and her husband, smiling at the camera, a tiny baby girl in the man's hands.

Me, in Dad's hands.

Pinpricks eat at the backs of my eyes. I'm pursing my lips, trying to keep the tears from falling as my hand ghosts over the glass.

"Why is this separate from the rest?" I whisper, "Why is it framed?"

I feel her footsteps come up behind me. She stares at the photograph, a small broken smile on her lips as she responds, "This was the day I had to let you go."

I turn sharply to look at her. Her sad eyes hold mine captive.

"We just had the photograph taken. You weren't even a year old." Her eyes turn glassy, "And then before we knew it, time was already up. I had to get you to safety." "The dream."

Her brows furrow, "Dream?"

I turn away from her, recalling the dream I had when Madeline had me in captivity. "Yeah," I tell her, "Call it a vision if you must, but, I had a dream not too long ago. It was of this memory." "You saw this memory from when you were a baby?"

"No," I shake my head, "It was of a young woman running.

You. You had a baby in your hands and people were chasing after you." My eyes meet hers, "You opened up the boundary and left me in the human realm."

Her bottom lip trembles and she jerks me into a crushing embrace. "My dear girl!"

She pulls away from me, dropping down to her knees in front of a large wooden cabinet.

I joined her.

"I kept all your stuff, you know, she says, pulling out several dusty boxes from the bottom compartment. She shoves one open in front in front of me and a laugh tumbles free. "Baby toys?" I ask, lifting the rattle in between us, "You kept all my baby toys?"

"There's more."

She pulls opens up different boxes filled with clothing, and another one of photo albums.

"We tried to make as many memories as we could," she states, "Maybe we always knew deep down that something was bound to tear our family apart."

My eyes sort through the mound of tiny clothes as she opens up a binder of old photos on her lap. I'm in almost. each one. Now that I think about it really, I'd never actually seen photos of me as a tiny infant with my human parents.

I take it all in, finding it so difficult to recognize the tiny baby with a gummy smile as myself

"How come you never got rid of all this?"

She smiles ruefully, shrugging one of her shoulders, "I don't know. I guess I'd always felt better having a part of you here, in our house even if you couldn't physically be with us.

I love my human parents, I appreciate them and everything they've done for me. But I can't deny the joy I feel finally getting to know the biological people that birthed me. And to know they didn't abandon or resent me, to know they truly love me as well.

I pull on one of the old blankets, rubbing the still-soft material over my cheek. This time I can't fight the tears that make a path down my face. I'm feeling so many different things all at once. I never knew it would be possible to miss something you'd never experienced. I've missed out on all these memories, I've missed out on this life. I feel so defeated, so utterly cheated.

"Why?" I ask, my voice coming out watery, "Why us? Why me? Why did I have to be given up."

Before I can react, shes pulled me into a hard embrace. I feel her mouth on my hair, "I'm so sorry I had to leave you,"

She gasps, "I'll never let us be apart again. No matter what it takes, I know now that I've made the right decision."

My voice is muffled against her chest, "Right decision?"

She pulls away from me, gripping my arms on either side, "I won't let anything bad happen to you, mark my words Ondina." "Mom, nothing bad is-"

She gets to her feet, and I stare wide eyed as she begins pacing.

"Mom," I ask tentatively, rising to my own feet, "Is everything okay?"

She's nodding her head frantically, not meeting my eyes." Everything is perfect now." And then she turns to look at me, "Now everything will be perfect, we can be a family again."

The air gushes out of my chest like I've been struck by a hard palm. "What does that mean?" I whisper.

"Those boys," She's nodding her head again, "Those boys are the key to everything. Once I hand them over, we can finally stop worrying about all this. We'll never have to think about that godforsaken prophecy and-"

"The prophecy, what" I pause, confused, "They have nothing to do with the prophecy, what are you talking about?"

Her head draws back, brows furrowed as she stares at me.

"You don't know."

"Don't know what?" My voice is sharper than I intended, and I'm growing frustrated with the pivot in our conversation. "You have many things people covet." She tells me.

Is she talking about my powers?

Even I barely understand the gifts I've been given, and I'm wondering how she's even aware of them. "What do you mean?"

"The Princes," she stalks toward me, pointing a finger in the general direction of the living room, "Are all fated to you. That's correct, yes?"

I shake my head, unsure where she's going with this, "Yeah, but-"

"It's correct to think that, yes." She tells me, "But the same doesn't apply to you."

Now I'm beyond confused, "What do you mean, Mom? I don't know how, considering they're all brothers, but I feel it with all of them, the mate bond, so I don't know what you mean."

"Those boys, have been chosen for you, but you can only choose one of them. And you're running out of time."

An icy numbness wraps around my heart, this conversation is starting to seem all too familiar, "What are you saying?, How do you know that?"

"They never told you." Her spine straightens as her mouth settles into a thin line, "I must protect you, and now I have no regrets."

"Never told me what mom?"

She turns her back to me and I toss my hands up in frustration, My eyes scan the area surrounding me. Taking in the discarded toys and clothing, the open photo albums, I wondered how the hell I'd lost track of this discussion." Mom-" "When you choose one of those brothers," She interrupts, " When you pick one of them to mark you, the other two... will die."