1 Chapter 1: When It All Went Wrong

AXEL

It was like all the colors had been drained from the world. Or possibly he refused to see them. The world couldn't be so cruel that it would take her away. Not after everything they'd been through.

"Come here, baby," her weak voice rattled. His brothers sat on either side of her bed. Vaughn's silent sobs shook his body, while Remy loud sniffles filled the room.

She held her hand out to him. Her hands were once so strong and steady. He slipped his hand into hers, hating how frail she felt. The way those hands trembled now only enraged him more. Why was this happening?

"I need you boys to be strong," she whispered.

"Mom," Vaughn's voice cracked. "You should be resting."

"Please listen," she struggled. "Vaughn, you have to be the voice of reason for these two knuckleheads. Remy, please keep your brothers laughing and smiling. And Axel," her eyes looked into his. Once vibrant and full of life, now two pale orbs he wasn't even sure could see him anymore. "Keep them safe. Can you do that for me?"

Can you do that for me?

That was how she got the three of them to do everything. Because they would do anything for her.

***

Axel shot up from sleep. His body slick with a sheen of cold sweat. A pair of bright, green eyes hovered above him, concern shining in them.

"You too?" a deep voice asked. Axel ran a hand through his short dark, wavy hair. A long, heavy sigh escaped him.

"Yeah," he answered, his voice thick with emotion.

"Me too," another voice answered. "The same one as usual?"

Axel looked at his brothers. Exactly physically identical to him except for their eyes. Axel's were an icy gray. His mother joked that it was because he was as stubborn and unbendable as steel. Vaughn's were a bright green. A touch of mischief always gleamed in them. And then Remy's were a rich amber. Warm, and inviting to anyone he let in. Which was no one.

They were plagued with nightmares. Always the same one. The night their mother died. They had lost their father years earlier, the night they were born in fact. He was killed on his way to them, choosing to fight off attackers to give their mother time to escape. He hadn't even known they were triplets.

Their father, Eric Albright, was the Alpha of their pack. Alhambra was a large shifter city, nestled into a mountainside and folded into the forest. It was once home to many smaller werewolf packs. For years, those packs were vulnerable to rogue attacks. Alpha Eric had acquired the territory and the smaller packs that resided there and formed a "super" pack. It was known simply as the Alhambra Pack. Under his leadership, Alhambra Pack thrived. It soon became one of the largest packs of wolves on the East Coast.

It was where they were born. Multiple births were just as common among shifters as they were with humans. What made their birth so special is that they were born at the exact same time. Neither was older than the other which meant all three were the next Alpha.

Their father's ambition had blinded him to the sedition around him. His own beta, Otis, had been plotting against Eric. Otis led a coup. Killing Eric and ascending Eric's estranged brother, Richard, as Alpha. Otis wasn't stupid. He could never be Alpha. It wasn't in his blood. But he could make an Alpha his puppet. And that’s exactly what Richard was.

Of course, Otis had lied to the pack. As far as anyone knew, their Alpha had been killed by a band of rogues. Their Luna and her newborn pup had met the same fate. No one knew there were three heirs to Alhambra pack.

Their mother had fled Alhambra and did her best to raise three Alpha pups on her own. They gave her a run for her money, but they cherished her. They lost her soon after turning fourteen.

"How long has it been now?" Remy asked through his hands, cradling his face with his palms.

"Ten years," Vaughn said.

"Ten years to the day that we lost her," Axel said through gritted teeth. The loss of their mother, the loss of their entire life left a hole that gnawed at the very center of him. He filled that hole with anger and hatred. It festered within of him, and he let it. That was how he dealt with his trauma. They were broken. And they only had each other to put themselves back together.

Alina had brought them to a small shifter town called Camden Hills. It was still within Alhambra Pack's territory, so they were hiding in plain sight. After she died, the brothers were raised by their mother's friend. They called her Aunt Terry.

"Damn," Remy lamented, letting his body fall back into his bed. "It feels like yesterday."

"Yeah, it does," Axel and Vaughn said together.

"I'm going to go for a run," Axel announced, getting up from the bed.

"No way," Remy protested. "Your wolf isn't even showing."

"Some of us know how to control that," Axel rolled his eyes. “My wolf doesn’t need to be clawing at the surface for me to shift. Unlike some people.”

"Please," Remy laughed, throwing a pillow at his brother. "No one is a bigger hot head than you are."

"And no one is bigger horn dog than you," Axel rebutted, throwing the pillow back.

"All right guys, come on. Let's get some sleep," Vaughn said. Always the voice of reason. "We have a... difficult day ahead of us."

Axel and Remy grumbled in response. The three brothers laid back in their beds, but neither got any sleep that night.

The sun was new in the sky. A breeze caressed them as it danced through the air, carrying the scent of morning dew. It was what she smelled like. Like morning dew on grass. They stood on a knoll, just outside Camden Hills. Beneath a large, towering willow tree sat a headstone covered in large, ornate bouquets of flowers. They always made sure the bouquets included lots of carnations. They were simple blooms, but they were her favorites. The willow tree had been her preferred spot to rest in her final days. It casted beautiful shadows around them, like a cloak of protection. 'Alina Heroux, mother friend, survivor.'

Heroux was the last name she'd given them before she passed. She told them it meant 'wolf army.' And that's exactly what they were, Axel thought. They were her army.

Year after year they visited her final resting place. Neither of them speaking, letting their past eat away at them just a little more. Then going back to Aunt Terry, living the small town life as though their destinies weren't plucked from them. Axel hated it.

Their mother had told them everything. Not a single detail was kept from them. They knew exactly who was responsible for everything they lost. And year after year they did nothing. They honored her memory by being alive. By existing and carrying on through life like she never existed. It infuriated him to no end.

"Mom would want more for us," he seethed. "She'd want us to live our lives the way we were meant to live them. The way we were born to live them."

"Mom doesn't want anything," Remy whispered. "She's dead."

"She died to protect us!" Axel spat.

"She died of a broken heart," Vaughn said, stepping in between his brothers. "We watched her die slowly for years. Losing her mate broke something inside her."

"Losing her broke something inside of us!" Axel argued. "And I want it back! I know both of you do too!"

Because they were triplets, they were bonded in a way no one would be able to understand. Sometimes they swore they were three parts of a whole. They kept each other sane, grounded. But they also drove each other crazy. No one understood Axel the way his brothers did. No one ever would.

"What are you saying?" Vaughn scoffed. "That we go back to Alhambra and take everything back?"

"Yes," Axel said. "We go back, find our way into the pack house and take back what was stolen from us. Richard isn't exactly Mr. Popular. No one likes him as Alpha. We go back, get our revenge. Avenge Mom."

"We get close to those closest to him and to Otis," Remy perked up. "Then we turn everyone against him. Expose him for the murderous f*ckhead he really is."

"And then we do what we always wanted," Vaughn continued. "Divide Alhambra into three and each rule as Alpha of our own pack."

"So, you're in?" Axel asked, wrapping his arms around each brother's shoulder. "We're going to do this?"

"For Mom," Remy answered. Vaughn and Axel nodded. The three of them looked back at her headstone, and they were sure they didn't imagine the way the sun seemed to shine down directly on it like a spotlight.