Who's My Triplet's Alpha Daddy? Novel

Chapter 55 Dec 18, 2025 POV: Lysander The pack celebration hits different when you've been away long enough to forget how many wolves can fit in one space without committing violence. I'm nursing whiskey at the edge of the gathering, watching families cluster together with that easy intimacy I used to think I'd have. The kids are running wild-Phoenix leading a pack of cubs in what might be tag or might be strategic warfare. Orion's explaining something to a group of adults who look simultaneously impressed and confused.

Luna's holding court with the other empaths, all of them probably drowning in collective emotion. Kieran and Thalia move through the crowd like they're conducting an orchestra. His hand never leaves her lower back. She leans into him with unconscious trust. I used to watch this and feel like someone was carving out my chest with a spoon. Now I just want what they have. Not her specifically-just that bone-deep certainty, that partnership that doesn't require constant negotiation. My phone buzzes. Caroline: How's Seattle? Miss you. Not in a weird clingy way, in a normal human way.

Also my dad's being impossible about the contract terms and I need you to talk him down when you get back. I'm smiling at the screen when movement catches my eye. New girl. Maybe twenty-five, dark hair, watching me with the kind of intensity that should probably concern me. Not pack-I'd recognize the scent. But she's comfortable here, moving through wolves like she belongs. She doesn't look away when I meet her gaze. Just studies me with unnerving directness. "That's Maya." Kieran appears at my elbow, following my line of sight. "Joined the pack six months ago.

Transferred from the Oregon territory. She's smart, single, good bloodline." "Why are you telling me this?" "Because you've been eye-fucking her for the last five minutes?" He hands me a fresh drink. "And because she's been asking about you since you got back." "Not interested." "Right. Because you're too busy pining over Thalia?" His tone is careful, testing. "No." The word comes out easier than it should. "Because I'm too busy being a disaster about someone else." Kieran's eyebrows rise. "Someone else?" "Long story.

Involves bad decisions and potentially fatal consequences." I take a long drink. "Your favorite kind of story." "Try me." So I tell him. About Claire and Caroline and the spectacular mess I've made of both situations. About the hunter's daughter who makes me want things I shouldn't want. About feeling stuck between safe and stupid. He listens without interrupting, which is new for us. When I finish, he's quiet for a long moment. "The hunter's daughter," he says finally. "You're serious about her?" "I don't know. Maybe.

She makes me feel like I'm actually living instead of just surviving." I watch Luna separate two cubs who are about to fight. "But it could end with me dead and her family hunting everyone I love." "Sounds familiar." His voice goes dry. "Remember when I fell for a wolfless girl the entire pack said was beneath me? When every adviser told me I was destroying my future for someone who'd never be strong enough?" "That was different." "How?" "Thalia wasn't actively connected to people who kill wolves for sport." "True." He takes a drink. "But falling for her still almost cost me everything.

The pack fought me, my father threatened to disown me, half the council said I was making a mistake." He turns to look at me. "I chose her anyway." "And you got your mate bond. Confirmation from the universe that you were right." "Eventually. But I chose her before that. Before I knew she was my mate, before I knew she'd give me three impossible kids, before any of it was certain." His hand finds my shoulder. "I chose fire over safety. Best decision I ever made." The weight of that statement settles between us. "I'm sorry," I say. Don't plan to, but suddenly it's out there. "For wanting her.

For competing with you. For all of it." "I know." His grip tightens. "And I'm sorry for winning. For getting everything while you had to watch. For being the mate bond's choice instead of you." Something in my chest unclenches. Years of resentment draining away. "We're good," I tell him. "Actually good. Not just pretending for pack politics." "Yeah." He pulls me into a brief hug that would've been impossible six months ago. "We are." "Though for the record?" I step back. "Maya over there is definitely into you, not me. Seen it a hundred times.

She's got that 'why isn't he noticing me' energy." Kieran glances at the new girl, then back at me. "She asked about you specifically." "Because I'm mysterious. Give it a week and she'll realize I'm just emotionally unavailable and shift her attention to someone more interesting." I finish my drink. "Besides, I'm too busy planning how to not get murdered by my girlfriend's hunter father." "Girlfriend?" "Potential girlfriend. If I don't fuck it up." I watch Phoenix accidentally knock over three other kids. "Which knowing me, I probably will." "For what it's worth?" Kieran studies my face.

"I think you should fight for her. The hunter's daughter. Not the safe option." "Everyone keeps saying that." "Because it's true." He claps my shoulder once more. "You deserve someone who makes you want to burn down the world. Not someone who makes you comfortable while you slowly die inside." He disappears back into the crowd, back to his mate and his kids and his perfect life. I stand there finishing my drink, watching wolves celebrate, and think about Caroline's text still glowing on my phone. Maybe it's time to stop being the safe option. Even if it kills me. Archer