CHAPTER 64: YOU ARE OUR MATE

Iris’ POV

I am still in my wedding attire and was in what happens to be my room as I began to undress. Everything felt suffocating as I loosened the buttons at the back of the dress. My fingers fumbled, part nerves, part exhaustion. I could feel sweat trapped beneath the corset, my skin itching where the lace dug in tightly. I just needed it off. All of it.

Earlier, Lila, my personal maid had offered to help, standing dutifully. But I refused. Told her gently, "If I need you, I’ll call."

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and slipped out without protest.

Now I stood alone, the top of my gown halfway down my torso, exposing my bare back and shoulders wben suddenly I heard footsteps approaching my door. I barely had time to react before the door burst open.

Startled, I gasped and yanked the dress back up over my chest, clumsily holding it against myself as I spun around to the door. My heart hammered in my chest as my voice ripped from my throat.

"Don’t you know how to knock?!"

Standing there in the doorway, bold as anything were the triplets. Zane, Kael, and Cade.

Zane’s eyes locked onto mine, cold and piercing. "Why should we knock before entering our own house?"

His tone was dismissive. Like I’d just asked the dumbest question on earth.

Kael stepped in behind him, arms crossed casually. His expression carried a hint of amusement.

Then Cade closed the door behind them. He looked directly at me. "There’s no point in knocking when this is going to be our room from now on."

I blinked, completely caught off guard. "What?"

Kael shrugged like it was obvious. "From now on, this is where we will stay. We are married anyway. Did you forget that too?"

I stared at them, trying to process the words. "You can’t be serious," I said slowly. "This... this is supposed to be my room."

Zane’s mouth curled into a mocking smile. "Let me help you, since you’re clearly struggling with your memories. This room? It’s called the Crescent Chamber. Reserved for the future alphas... and their mate. And you are our mate"

The word settled wrong inside me. I wanted to believe it but instead, it felt like a lie.

I swallowed hard. "For some reason... I don’t feel like I belong here. With you."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "Why does that not surprise me?"

Every time they were near, I felt... disconnected and uncomfortable. Their presence doesn’t spark anything in me. There’s no pull. No... bond."

"Why don’t I feel the pull?"

Zane scoffed and took a slow step toward me. "That’s your broken memory talking."

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to seem afraid but I was. I just didn’t want them to know.

The only reason I asked one of the warriors to send for them was because I thought maybe they could help me remember.

Maybe if I really had a wolf inside me, theirs would help trigger something. Anything. But it wasn’t looking like they would. They looked cruel and it doesn’t show that I was indeed their mate.

Cade was silent. They all were.

Zane’s gaze, however, sharpened. "You wanted answers. And now you have them."

"No," I said, more forcefully. "You gave me nothing. And now you’re telling me I have to share a room with you."

"You’re our mate," Kael said coolly. "You don’t have to like it. You just have to accept it."

I gritted my teeth. "I can’t sleep in the same room with you all. At least give me time to adjust to this lifestyle."

Zane’s lips twitched. Not quite a smile. Something more cruel. "And again I ask... Do you think you have a choice?"

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms as I fought to keep my voice calm. "I should have a choice. This is my life, not some game you get to control."

Zane creased his brows and then took a step closer, "You’re not in a position to make demands mate. You’re here because of us. Because of what you are to this pack."

"What I am?" I snapped. "I don’t even know what that means! You keep throwing around words like ’mate’ and ’bond,’ but I feel nothing. No connection, no instinct, no... anything!" frustration bubbling over. "If I’m supposed to be your mate, why does every part of me scream to run from you all?"

Kael’s amusement faded, replaced by something unreadable. Cade, still by the door, shifted uncomfortably.

"Run?" Zane mocked, stepping so close. "You think you can outrun fate? Outrun us? You’re tied to this pack, to this room, to us, whether you feel it or not."

I took a step back, my back brushing against the cool stone wall. "And if I refuse?" I challenged.

Cade finally spoke. "Refusing doesn’t change what’s already written. The Crescent Chamber is where we belong together as couples."

Kael tilted his head, studying me. "You’re fighting something you don’t even understand."

"Oh yes!" scoffed, shaking my head. "Nothing about this feels natural. You’re strangers to me. I don’t know you, and I don’t trust you."

Zane’s smirk returned. "Trust is earned, not given. But time? That we can’t give you. You’ll stay here, sleep here, live here. You don’t need to remember your past."

"And if I reject you all?"

Kael’s eyes softened for a fraction of a second. "Your rejection is not valid. For now, this is your reality."

Zane stepped forward again. I instinctively pressed my back harder to the wall where I stood.

Zane’s eyes never left mine as he reached up, slowly and brushed a loose strand of hair from my face. The tips of his fingers ghosted along my cheek, causing some shivering sensation, but he didn’t stop.

His hand moved downward, tracing a line from my cheek to the hollow of my neck. I felt every brush of his fingers, every but of it! But not the kind that made your skin tingle unpleasantly.

His hand reached my collarbone, then slowly trailed toward the center of my chest as I could hear the sound of my heart, beating so fast as I shut my eyes. I wanted to push him away but his touches made my legs feel like jelly and craved for more of the touch since my body looked uncomfortable with it even though my heart wasn’t.

He paused just at the edge of where the dress covered me, right above my cleavage. His fingers lingered there for a moment, sending chills against my skin.

Zane leaned slightly closer, his breath brushing across my face. His eyes dropped, and then a slow, mocking smirk spread across his lips.

"Why are your nipples standing?"