Claimed By My Three Alphas
Chapter 170

AMERY'S POV

No.

"Please," I tell her, "Please you have to help me. There has to be a way I can save them."

"Like I told you before," She says,

,"These triplets were never

meant to be born. They were never meant to live. But the Queen had powerful forces on her side, she thought she could cheat fate." The old woman's eyes peel open.

She fixes her attention on the boys behind me, "Your mother had all three of you at the age of twenty-three.

Before the birth, she knew none of you would make it, so she turned to dark forces she never should have tampered with. The witch, Lerova, made the mistake of taking pity on the friend she'd held so dear to her heart."

"She cast a spell, binding the Queen's life force to that of her sons. You all would live to see the next day. But in doing so, you would never age past her, your mother."

Her gaze is fixed on them as she goes on, "The witch knew this, but as she watched her friend slowly fade away, she couldn't bring herself to tell your mother that the boys shed risked everything for wouldn't live to become men. She carried that burden alone for years. Day in and day out, she would turn to the spirits for help, a way to break fate, but, they shunned her. They were angry she had meddled with the balance."

The old woman turns to look at me, her eyes bright, "And then came Emelda."

I suck in a breath, "My mom."

"She was a barren woman. Couldn't conceive for years despite having lain with her husband the entire duration of their marriage. She sought out help, of the supernatural kind, and so she'd wound up at Lerova's door."

"The witch saw an opportunity to do right by her friend and the spirits of nature. She would atone for her sin by giving her own life to rectify the mistake as best as she could, all the while not letting the sacrifice of her dearest friend be in vain."

"Wait," I shake my head, voicing my confusion, "Emelda was a traitor to the realm. She and her husband were outcasts, they killed the Alpha King's daughter. Wasn't that why they were cast aside? For their treason?"

"That is not true."

I blanch, "What do you mean that's not true? The King has a personal vendetta against my real parents because of what they did."

"When you let a rumour fester, there's no telling how many people will choose to accept it as the truth at first glance. "But she ran." I say, "She was on the run, wasn't she?" "She was."

"If she did nothing"

"I never said she did nothing, she just wasn't a traitor. She played with delicate forces. Just because a Witch was a friend of the Queen's doesn't mean they weren't frowned upon. And your mother wasn't the brightest of the bunch." She looks over my shoulder at the boys on the last part, " Emelda was associated with that Witch, Dark magic is a crime, the rest though, words of the wind."

"Words of the wind?"

"Made up stories. Lies. When you cook up something and add a smidgen of reality it's easier to believe. Emelda was an outcast because of her relations with dark magic, not because she destroyed some king's family."

"But she was on the run."

"She was, but not from that king."

"Then which one?" I ask.

A grimace passes through her expression, and then she says, "King Casper Taxiar."

I've never heard that name before. "Casper Taxiar? What did she take from him?" "She took nothing from him." She says, "But she did have something he wanted." My brows pull together, "What did he want from her?"

"You."

My head draws back, "Me?"

Her hands squeeze mine, "You have those powers because you were brought onto earth by Lerova's life force. Her spirit passing caved the path for yours to be created and to give life, you must be willing to take it. The spirits let her do this, and in return, you would restore the balance that was lost.

Lerova had just this one request, if you all would live your lives, and never cross paths, the princes would eventually meet their untimely demise. But if you ever did meet, the first one to give you his mark out of the three of them would live out the rest of his days, in turn killing the other boys instantly. Lerova did this so she could save at least one of her friend's sons."

She pulls her hands out from underneath mine, "I'm sorry, but there is no loophole. You either choose one or lose them all."

Its like shes doused my body in gasoline and lit a match right in front of me. The cold tension that seizes me makes my heart ache in my chest. I stare blankly at her, those words repeatedly rolling through my head.

"I'm sorry. I can feel how much you care for them. But things are as they are meant to be. Nothing can be done."

I can't bring myself to turn around, to look at them. I can't bear it at the moment. There's nothing we could do? Nothing at all?

All this time, part of me held on to the hope, the slight possibility that I could save my mates. All that longing and anticipation, it's all blown up in my face. They kept trying to tell me, but I never listened. And now what? "Let's go, Levi says.

He doesn't wait for anyone to comply and doesn't even acknowledge the old woman further before I hear him exit the cottage.

Someone lets out a long breath, following after him.

I feel Quincy come up behind me, placing both hands on my shoulders and squeezing gently, "Come on," his voice is soft, "Let's get out of here."

I sniffle, Until now, I wasn't even aware that I'd been crying.

I look up at the old woman sitting across from me, My voice cracks when I tell her, "Thank you."

"For what? I offered you no solutions."Updated By FindNovel.net.

I rise to my feet, "For the truth."

***

The walk back to the cabin was long. Excruciating, quiet.

No one said a word.

There was no point in talking anyway. Reality set in, for me at least.

I don't know which is harder. Letting all three of them die, or choosing one whom I'd want to survive.

It's such a bitter circumstance.

How do I look them in the eye, seconds before I make my choice? I don't even know how they feel about the prophecy anymore. Are they still alright with letting the best man win?

I think back to my conversation with Levi last night. It's obvious hes not okay with letting his brothers die, he never stood for that option in the first place. So what? Does he plan on playing the martyr now? The selfless brother who'll give up his life for the others. Tears burn the backs of my eyes. Were all together, right now, watching each other carefully in the living room.

There's still such a potent silence.

I take in each of them individually.

Quincy, on one of the recliners, has an arm tossed over his head that's resting on the back of the couch. He looks like he's sleeping, but his jaw is locked tight.

Asher has his hands on his knees on the sofa next to me, he's staring at the floor, and I can't see his face.

And when I turn to Levi, he's staring right at me. From across the room, leaning against the wall, arms folded over his chest. His gaze doesn't waver as I meet his stare.

I whisper, "I can't do it." The tear falls free, one drop making a thin trail down my cheek and landing on my cotton pants.

His brows pull together as his eyes follow its descent.

Asher reaches for me, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me into him. Like a bomb, I explode. It takes just that to turn me into a sobbing mess. My body heaves as I cry, hiccups slipping through now and then. It's messy and ugly. His fingers comb through my hair gently, as he coos, not even trying to tell me everything would be okay.

No more lies.

My fingers curl into his shirt as I bury my head against his chest, "I can't choose! I can't do that!"

"I know." He says, stroking my hair.

"But I have to!" I cry.

"Yeah," he says, "Yeah."

"It has to be your decision, Amery." Quincy sighs, "No more games, no more jokes. No more deceit. You'll be the one to decide. And no matter who you choose, two of us are going to be okay with it."

I lift my head, dragging my wrist over my runny nose," That's not fair."

"We can't choose for you," Asher says.

My bottom lip quivers, my face cracking with despair," Why?"

He offers me a sad smile. "We won't decide who you get to spend the rest of your life with, Amery. And after everything we've put you through, we have no right to meddle in this."

"Meddle?" I cry, "We're talking about your lives! You have every right!"

"We don't," Asher shakes his head, "We care about you, Amery. More than anything on earth. But we won't make this choice for you, this is no one's fault. Not yours, not ours. But the mark will be on your skin forever, your choice will be with you forever, and he'll be your mate. That's not our choice to make."

"But""

"Hey, Princess," He interrupts, smiling softly at me, "Don't fight it. Don't make it any harder than it needs to be. This has to be done. We'll be okay."

They'll be dead.

"What happened to not telling any more lies?"

"I'm not lying," he spares a glance at his brothers, "We've accepted this already. We're all ready for whatever outcome."

I turn to look at Quincy. His lips are folded over his teeth as he stares back at me, nodding his head in agreement. Levi offers a half smile, a slight pull and release of his lips, still across the room.

My eyes trail over each of them again and again.

It's heartbreaking, at the moment

Acceptance.

I breathe out the word, "Okay."