The Alpha Triplets And The Rogue
Chapter 221

Willow’s POV

Everything is moving so fast that I don’t have time to think. I do as Harold instructs and crawl under the small table at the cafe.

Gunshots ring out through the cafe. People are screaming and running out the front door. Peeking out from under the table, I see a dirty man holding a gun in the air. He isn’t aiming the shots at anyone; he is just shooting into the air to clear the cafe.

Harold doesn’t move from his position in front of the table. I can see that he has partially shifted. He flexes his fingers as his claws extend from his fingertips.

‘Raven,’ Leo’s voice rings in my head. ‘What is going on?’

‘There is a gunman in the cafe,’ I respond through the mind link. ‘I think he is looking for me.’

‘We will be right there,’ Leo says, but he doesn’t cut the mind link.

I hear the heavy footsteps of combat boots walking toward the table, and I slink back, hoping he won’t see me.

“Move,” the gunman grunts at Harold.

“No,” Harold growls in return.

“I have no quarrel with you, Harold,” the gunman says. “I would hate for you to be a casualty. We have always been close friends.”

Close friends? My bodyguard is friends with a recusant? Suddenly, it all makes sense. Luna Francesca was never planning on coming to lunch. This was the plan all along.

They made it so easy. They lured me into a false sense of security. I must say, Alpha Fernando played his part well. But none of this explains why Harold is protecting me now.

“She is the Luna Queen,” Harold yells loudly. “I heard tell that her wolf is golden. Have you ever seen a golden wolf before? It can only mean that she has been blessed by the Moon Goddess.”

“I don’t care if her wolf is rainbow,” the gunman snorts. “I came here to do a job, and I am going to finish it.”

“Why?” Harold questions. “So you can please some washed-up Luna?”

“She is the true Luna Queen,” the gunman screams. “Who else could have given birth to the Alpha Triplets?”

I gasp loudly. I knew that my fathers knew who the scarred woman is, but I never assumed she was their mother. Father had always insisted that both of their parents were dead. Killed by his hands. Why have they been keeping this from me?

Harold begins to laugh loudly. “So the rumors are true. The wicked b***h of the North lives.” I would have snorted with laughter if I wasn’t so scared for my life. My mother has always said that Luna Alice was one of the most callous and hateful people she had ever met. She always prayed when I would met my mate that my mother-in-law would be kind.

“Move out of the way,” the gunman yells. “I don’t want to have to kill you, Harold.”

I hear the sound of a gun c*****g, and I peek out from under the table to see Harold shifting into his wolf. He shifts into tan wolf within a second and lunges at the gunman. The sound of snarls fills the cafe as Harold pins the gunman to the ground with his massive paws. The man struggles under the weight of Harold’s massive wolf. What I don’t understand is why the gunman isn’t shifting into his wolf to fight.

‘It is because he is a human,’ Rose says in my mind.

‘A human?’ I ask. ‘Why would a human be working for Alice?’

‘I don’t know,’ Rose responds. ‘Perhaps he is a hunter.’

I can barely hear the sound of Rose’s voice inside my head over Harold’s growling. Did Rose really say that she thinks this man is a hunter? Would Alice go so far as to hire a hunter to come after me?

Reaching out with my mind, I search for the mind of the hunter. I want to know what is inside of his mind as I close my eyes and mettle in the minds of those closest to me. I can clearly see in Harold’s mind, but the mind of the hunter is hazy.

I ignore my curiosity to look through Harold’s mind. As much as I want to know how and why he is friendly with a hunter, now is not the time. I push my way into the hunter’s mind. It is easier to delve into than a werewolf’s mind.

Though the memories are hazy, I can easily find my way around. I flip through the pages of his mind until I come upon something odd. A memory that is nothing but darkness. I pause in the memory. I can hear voices, but there is still only darkness.

“Why am I blindfolded?” The hunter screams into the darkness.

“Don’t you worry about that,” a female voice snaps back at him. “Are you going to take the job or not?”

“Let me get this straight. You want me to kill your Queen?” The hunter says.

“She isn’t the true Luna Queen,” the woman hisses. “I am. Only I could give birth to the Alpha Triplets.”

“You are the one that brought the abominations into this world,” the hunter growls. “I should be killing you instead.”

“I told you this was a poor idea,” a familiar voice rings out of the darkness. A voice that I could place anywhere. Kieran.

I am pushed from the hunter’s mind as my own shock takes over. Kieran would never turn on me, and he would most certainly not try to have me killed. Before I know what I am doing, I am crawling out from under the table. Anger is surging throughout my body, and I am no longer able to keep Rose at bay. The thought of our brother turning against us has her b***d boiling.

Before I am even out from under the table, Rose has taken over and begun the shift. I look through Rose’s eyes and see Harold’s wolf still standing on the hunter. For some reason, he is reluctant to kill the hunter.

Leaping into the air, I push Harold’s wolf off the hunter and stand in his place. My claws are digging into the soft flesh of his shoulders. My lips fold back over my teeth as I snarl at the hunter. Just as I am about to sink my teeth into his neck the sound of a gun goes off, and I can’t breathe. I feel the rush of b***d pouring from my body before I feel the pain of the bullet.

Rose whines loudly and stumbles off of the hunter’s body. I fall to the side, and Rose loses control as I begin to shift back into my human form. Dots form behind my eyelids, and I am sucked into darkness.