<h4>Chapter 197: The voice...</h4>


    <strong>Charis.</strong>


    He nodded slowly, epting it even though it clearly hurt. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box again. For a horrible moment, I thought he was going to try again.


    But instead, he held it out to me. "Keep it anyway."


    "Marcus, I can’t—"


    "Please," he said. "Even if you won’t be with me, I want you to have it. As a reminder that someone out there thought you were worth a sapphire and diamonds. That someone saw you for who you really are and loved you anyway."


    "That’s actually kind of beautiful, man," ter said.


    "Shut up, ter," Marcus muttered, but there was no real heat in it.


    I took the box reluctantly. The ring sparkled inside, beautiful and sad. "Thank you. But I can’t keep this. It’s too expensive—"


    "It’s yours," Marcus said firmly. "Do whatever you want with it. Throw it in a river for all I care. But I’m not taking it back."


    He turned and started walking toward the door. The three boys parted to let him through.


    But at the doorway, he stopped and turned back. "For what it’s worth," he said, looking at Rhett, ter, and Kael, "you three better take care of her. Because if you don’t, if you hurt her, I’ll make you regret it. Mate bonds or not."


    "Noted," Rhett said dryly.


    Marcus left closing the door behind him.


    For a long moment, nobody spoke.


    Then ter said, "So... that was awkward."


    "Understatement," Rhett muttered.


    I looked down at the ring box in my hands. It felt heavy with meaning and loss and might-have-beens.


    "Are you okay?" Kael asked, moving closer.


    "I don’t know," I admitted. "I feel terrible. He really cared about me."


    "We really care about you, too," ter said. "The difference is we’re your mates. That’s not something either of us chose. It just is."


    "Doesn’t make it easier," I said.


    "No," Rhett agreed. "It doesn’t."


    Kael reached up and finally took off that ridiculous birthday hat. He looked at it for a moment, thenughed, maybe the firstugh that I’d ever seen him do. "Worst birthday ever."


    "Best birthday ever," ter corrected. "You’ve got to see Marcus propose and get rejected all in one night. That’s entertainment money can’t buy."


    "I hate you," Kael said, but he was smiling.


    "You love us," Rhett said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Admit it."


    "Well," Kael sighed, untangling himself from the hold of the boys and turned to them slowly. "There’s something I’ve been meaning to share with all of you. At first, I wanted to keep it to myself..."


    "ssic, Kael," Rhett snorted.


    "Yeah," Kael nodded. "I told you all, thest time I put abel on something, it turned out terrible. I’ve tried to run away from this friendship, way before we became mated to one person, but I keep circling back..."


    "Is this a confession, Kael?" ter chuckled with amusement, turning to Rhett, who had a broad grin on his face. "Shouldn’t we get this for posterity’s sake? This man is literally confessing his feelings for us."


    "If you all can just shut up and let me say what I want to say," Kael sighed.


    "Fine, go ahead," Rhett chuckled. "I hope we don’t fall in love with you by the end of your speech."


    Kael gave him an exasperated sigh before he continued. "I appreciate our friendship so much, and I care for every one of you as I would myself. However, I am not going to put myself in a barbaric situation of sharing a mate at the same time. Since we’d all be solidifying our bonds very soon, I think it’s wise wey some grand rules."


    "Some grand rules?" terughed. "Why do we need that?"


    "To make sure we don’t cross boundaries," Kael supplied. "It’s the best thing to do."


    "So, in summary," ter came closer, "You want us to reach some agreement where we’d discuss how we want to sleep with our mates. Maybe draft out a timetable and choose days..."


    Kael shrugged awkwardly. "Something like that."


    "It’s not going to work, Kael," Rhett shook his head. "The only reason why you’re making this argument is that, of the three of us, she has epted you. When she epts all three of us andpletes the bond, you’d understand that having her at the same time is mercy."


    "You’ve never been in a mate situation both of you and I can assure you that you’d be ten time hornier than you are right now. You won’t be able to resist her. When one person is horny, we’d all be," ter sighed. "Can we just let things y their course naturally rather than trying to figure things out when nothing’s been done yet?"


    "Fair enough," Kael nodded. "Second, how about babies? Children?"


    I flushed in embarrassment as he paused and sought my gaze. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"


    "I know pregnancy is a sensitive topic for you, but we have to make conscious efforts in deciding how to make sure you don’t end up pregnant."


    I shifted ufortably. "Don’t worry, I’ll handle that aspect."


    "No," Rhett shook his head. "You have to tell us what you n to do. Are you going on the pill? Will you take herbs? What is the n?"


    There was a n for that. "Isolde," I said quietly, catching my breath before I continued. "Isolde’s already booked me an appointment to meet with a gynae the day after my court appearance. I think going on the pill would be safer."


    "I think so too," ter said in a quiet tone, watching me.


    "Moving on," Kael continued, "in case she gets pregnant because I heard the pills are not 90% effective, what is the n? Asking her to abort the baby is out of the question; we’re old enough to father children. So, are we going to be joint fathers or ..."


    "Don’t you think you’re going too far?" Rhett interrupted him. "Babies are topics for the future, and it’s not like any of us is trying to be a father so soon. There’s still time, if you ask me."


    "There’s no time, Rhett," Kael shook his head. "Think of Marcus’s behaviour today and think of the worst-case scenario Charis might likely face if she remains single for too long. It is not enough that we’re mates; to be able to cement our bond and protect her from other men, we should be thinking of making our bond official. Even if it isn’t wedding yet, we could opt for the traditional Joining ceremony and have her saved from the likes of Darian ckmoor and any other man who wants to prey on her."


    "That might be a bad idea," ter said, nodding his head. He had a thoughtful expression on his face."


    "It is not bad either,"? Rhett nodded "but the more I think of it, the moreplications I l see."


    "What do you mean?" Kael asked.


    "We’re all Alphas..." he said looking at both boys "And it is expected that we produce heirs that would reign in our stead when we die. If we decide to raise children as one, there’ll be a lot ofplications..."


    "Whoa! Guys!" I interrupted them for the first time, raising my hand as if to surrender. "I’m right here, and y’all are making ns for me. Remember, it is my body, and aren’t we trying to take ten steps at the same time? Chill. We don’t even know if we would end up marrying or not..."


    "You don’t want to marry us?" Rhett asked with hurt in his voice.


    "Of course, I want to, but we need to figure out so much before we get to that point, that’s what I’m trying to say. I still have a pending trial in the court. Then Rhett still has his health to battle with. ter needs to find his sister, and I need to uncover the truth behind Ravenshore. We have so much to do... so getting married and pregnant is out of the question..."


    "Holding a joining ceremony would make it official, Charis. That’s what I want. If Darian ckmoor..." Kael started saying.


    "Darian cannot force me to be with him. Why are you so worried about other men having me? What is this desire to own me?"


    "Charis, I think you’re mistaken..." Rhett started saying but I cut him off.


    "I want more out of life than just bearing babies and trying to please you all. I don’t want to end up..."


    "You’re misunderstanding me again," Kael yelled, causing me to flinch and the boys to turn to him with surprise. He must have noticed that he crossed a line because he took a deep breath and tried to speak quietly. "I’m sorry, it’s just..."


    Just before he couldplete the sentence, loud shouting from downstairs reached us. Kael paused as we all turned and looked at each other.


    "Please tell me that’s not what I think it is," ter said.


    But we were already moving toward the door. The shouting got louder as we got closer to the stairs.


    And then I heard a voice I recognised. A voice that made my blood run cold.