The Alpha Triplets And The Rogue
Chapter 31

Erica’s POV

Looking in the long mirror in Chris’s bathroom, I twist from side to side, making sure that I look presentable. The bright blue dress that Ace bought me shimmers in the light of the bathroom. The dress fits me like a glove. It hugs my curves perfectly and flares out just below h**s. I have to refrain from spinning around in the bathroom like a child. If I were to twirl around the skirt would flare out around me like the petals of a flower. I know that Ace is waiting for me, so there is no time to play around. I don’t want to keep him waiting.

Sliding on my favorite pair of black ballet flats, I smooth my hand down my dress and take a deep breath. For some reason I am more nervous about this date than I was the group date. Of course the brothers are intense when they are all together but at least they have each other to keep themselves entertained. Without the buffer of the other two triplets I know all of Ace’s attention will be on me.

A delicate knock on the door grabs my attention. I let out a deep sigh and open the door. Ace is standing on the other side with a single red rose in his hands. He has on a bright blue shirt that matches the blues in my dress and a pair of black slacks. The top few buttons of his shirt are undone and I can see a hint of his muscular chest peeking out. His blonde hair is tousled perfectly and his bright blue eyes glitter as he looks at me. I am sure that I am drooling.

“Wow,” he gasps as his eyes rake over my body. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” I say with a smirk on my face.

“Are you ready to go?” Ace asks and I can tell that he is holding his breath waiting for my response.

Chewing on my bottom l*p, I nod my head up and down. Intrusive thoughts have been making their way into my mind all day. Like is this a real date or just a prank. My heart tells me that I should be able to trust the brothers now, but my head disagrees.

‘You are worried for nothing,’ Envy howls in my head.

‘You are blinded by the mate bond,’ I growl back at her. Envy lets out a little huff and hides herself in the back of my mind.

Ace holds out his hand for me and I place my hand in his. I can’t help but notice how nicely our hands fit together. We were meant to be together. I can’t help but wonder if my hands would feel in Bryce’s and Chris’s hands. But something tells me that holding their hands would feel equally as perfect.

Ace normally walks quickly with long strides but as he leads me to his car, he shortens his steps so that it is easy for me to keep up. He opens the passenger side of his SUV and he gently helps me slide into my seat. Grabbing the seatbelt he reaches across me and buckles me into the seat and pulls the belt snuggly.

“You know, I can buckle myself in,” I roll my eyes at him.

“I know you can,” Ace says with a smile on his face. “But I want to make sure that you are safe.”

Ace climbs in the driver’s side of the car and reaches over and grabs my hand. Tingles spread throughout my body and I let out a comfortable sigh. So much for the no touching rule.

Ace drives us through the town but doesn’t stop at any of the restaurants inside the pack. I can feel my heartrate pick up as we leave the main city in the pack and head out towards the forest.

“Um,” I try not to let the panic show in my voice. “Where are we going?”

“It is a secret,” Ace grins at me.

“Like what kind of secret are we talking about?” I cannot help but think about all of the pranks that the boys used to play on me when we were younger.

“What do you mean?” Ace’s smile falls a little.

“Like are we talking about hiding my panties all over the pack house kind of secret…” I chuckle nervously.

Ace slams on the breaks and pulls off onto the side of the road. “Erica,” his voice is serious. “Why would you think that I am taking you out on a prank date?”

“Because I am still getting used to you all being nice to me,” I whisper.

“What was that?” Ace almost growls at me.

“Because I am still getting used to you all being nice to me,” I pipe up a little louder.

“We told you that we are done with all of that foolishness,” Ace grips his hands on the steering wheel until his knuckles turn white.

“You are going to have to forgive me if it is a little hard for me to believe,” I say as I look down at my hands. “For years you all tortured me and then all of a sudden you changed how you feel about me overnight. I am confused.”

“You have kind of changed overnight too,” Ace glares at me. “You don’t get to be the only one pointing fingers. You hated us. Do you still hate us?”

Chewing on my bottom l*p I refuse to answer the question, but I think Ace knows that I no longer hate him. Or at least I hope he knows that I don’t hate him. Ace pulls the car back on the road and continues on the way to wherever our destination is.

As Ace continues down the road, neither one of us is willing to speak to the other one. The tension in the car only grows thicker the longer we stay silent.

“I didn’t strike you as the stubborn type,” I hiss at Ace but he doesn’t take his eyes off the road in front of us.

“Then I guess you don’t know us as well as you think you did,” Ace grumbles in my direction.

‘Why are you fighting with our mate?’ Envy yells inside of my mind. ‘He loves us.’

‘I just have a hard time trusting them,’ I try to explain to Envy but she doesn’t understand. She hasn’t been around for years of torture.

Ace pulls onto a dirt road and I can feel the panic rising in my chest once again.

‘Our mate doesn’t want to hurt us,’ Envy yells in my head. ‘Calm down.’

I swallow the lump that has formed in the back of my throat just as we pull up to a tiny cabin in the woods.