13

Bringing Esme to the table might not have been such a good idea after all. Taylor could barely control herself while she wasn't aware of him since he'd seen her in class.

At least that's what I thought, she taught us better now. Not only had she discovered Taylor's amulet and seen through Tara, but him as well. Getting rid of her now was difficult and would surely make her even more suspicious.

I was amazed at how quickly she put all the pieces together and how readily Tara answered her questions.

I couldn't believe, any more than Taylor, that Tara didn't know who Caspian was to her. Not that it bothers me, on the contrary.

I glanced at Esme, who was walking beside me, a little too preoccupied for my liking. I still didn't know what to think of her and whether she could be dangerous to us.

Esme and I stopped almost simultaneously, her gaze just as shocking as the storm building inside me. I tossed one over my shoulder, something wasn't right and it seemed just in time.

Tara took another step and looked at me and in her beautiful eyes I saw nothing but desperation, regret and pain. However, I realized it too late. In an instant her tray fell out of her hands.

Trevor quickly reached out and caught her before she hit the ground. Esme clutched my arm, her claws digging into my skin, but it was nothing compared to what Tara was feeling.

"Tara, look at me," Trevor called out to her, but she didn't respond. She clutched her stomach in her hands and writhed in pain in his arms.

Esme was the first to collect herself and quickly grabbed all the trays from us. I looked at Trevor and Taylor who were bending over her and lifting her up.

"I guess I couldn't stand the food," she murmured, but the next moment she grimaced in pain again.

"Get her out of here," Esme snapped and Trevor did so without protest. As we left the cafeteria, I felt her forehead, it was red hot.

"The food?" I growled and looked at Trevor who just shook his head.

"Unlikely," Esme snorted, surprisingly keeping up with us.

your companions. I snatched Tara from Trevor's arms. I grabbed her and quickly ran with her out of the cafeteria.

"Tara? look at me!" I put her on the first bench I saw. In a corner where there weren't that many people, I thought. More and more came running after us, curious about what happened to Tara.

"That's not very helpful, Grayson," Esme growled from behind me.

"You know what she's got? I don't!" I snapped at her. I was sorry and Taylor growled at me as soon as I yelled at her.

"She probably doesn't like her companion," she answered dryly.

Tara was barely responsive and was getting weaker by the second. I brushed a few strands of hair out of her sweaty face. Again and again her eyes closed and the spasms got stronger.

"Check under her sweater," Esme prompted. I looked at her confused.

"I should what?"

"Just do it. I think you'd rather it be you than someone else." Esme fixed me with her gaze as if she knew everything about me.

I bent over Tara so no one could see what I was doing or what I was about to see. I felt uneasy and hoped Esme wasn't right.

I slipped my fingers under her sweater. Her skin was abnormally hot. Beads of sweat ran down her stomach. I narrowed my eyes and pushed the fabric up a little.

"I'd say King Caspian is having a blast without her right now," Esme whispered in my ear before I realized what I was seeing.

Her stomach was a deep black where I exposed. I felt sick at the thought of how she must be feeling or what the rest of her body looked like.

I quickly pulled the t-shirt over her stomach and dropped onto the bench next to her. Tara doubled over and her body jerked in pain next to me. I couldn't do anything. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing and hearing. This bastard.

"Do something about it!" A small hand slapped my face. It was Esme yelling at me.

I looked at her and then at Trevor and Taylor and my brothers immediately started walking without me saying anything. It was getting harder and harder for me to concentrate.

"Stop him however you do it," Esme called after them. Her hand rested on my shoulder. I wanted to pull her off me, but I found it difficult to move at all.

"Get lost," her voice thundered through the hall, deep and terrifying, and I saw the onlookers retreat in an instant.

"That's the tape, Grayson. You three really thought you were kidding me?" she murmured to herself, nuzzling my neck.

"I don't know what you mean," I mumbled, looking at her blurry.

"Don't lie to me. That may work for others, not for me." Her hands trembled as she fidgeted with my neck.

"What is the?" I tried to slap her hand away, but my attempt was beyond pathetic.

"I need your amulet, Grayson. It will ease the pain. She will still feel something, but not as much."

"Absolutely not," I choked out, but she had already untied it and put it around Tara.

"Not only does it not let your little mate know who you are. If she wears it, it will also weaken the connection to Caspian. Since the connection to Caspian is stronger than to you, she will still remember something," explained her in a bone dry tone.

"Esme," I warned her.

"You can thank me later. Try to relax. Those are the side effects. You feel their pain."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I ground out.

"Nice try, Grayson. I'm not kidding. I could wring all the secrets out of you in your condition and you wouldn't be able to resist telling me everything. But I'll save that for later. It gets a little more difficult then, but not impossible."

Esme turned back to Tara and rubbed her forehead with a cloth. "That's good Tara, that's very good," she murmured, looking back at me. "Unfortunately you'll feel better soon than her. Idiot!", she spat and threw the handkerchief in my face.

As much as I wanted to be mad at her. She was right, I felt my muscles relax, the pain subside and the fog in my head clear.

"Triple stupidity, unbelievable," she spat while looking at Taylor and Trevor, who now came back.

When I could move again, I pulled Tara onto my lap. I rested her head gently against my chest and a small, contented sigh escaped her lips.

"Well, if that isn't a pretty picture," Esme commented sharply, giving Taylor an evil look.

"What were you guys thinking?" she snapped at Taylor, grabbing his brown hair and pulling his head back.

"You're gone!"

"She knows!" I said wearily to Taylor who looked at Esme guiltily. Oh man we're too old for that dachshund look.

"How?" Taylor took a step away from her and Esme just put her hands on her hips angrily.

"We should go," Trevor murmured. "Can you walk, Gray?" He grabbed Tara and I was suddenly sane again. I growled at my brother and he held up his hands in reassurance.

"I would take that as a yes. Where is your room?" Esme clearly took charge and neither of us objected.

I got up and realized that I was still a bit dizzy. I gripped Tara tighter than I could drop her.

We walked down the aisles and curious, sometimes disbelieving looks followed us. I realized that most knew what was going on here. It's good for them that they didn't know who was responsible, who turned the corner the next moment.

I didn't look at him and was glad that we had already reached the stairs to the rooms. I rushed upstairs with Tara in my arms without looking back. He wouldn't dare follow us. In the end, it was his reputation that suffered if word got out.

Trevor yanked open the door to Tara's room and I laid her on her bed. She was still burning hot, but she was breathing evenly now.

"How long does this last?" I looked questioningly at Esme, who seemed to know everything.

"I have no idea. I've never seen that either", sue sighed

"Then how did you know what to do?" Taylor growled at her.

"I didn't know that. But if the amulet protects you from someone feeling something for you. It was worth a try, wasn't it?" she answered him and Esme punished him with a glare.

"Well, we can feel anything," Taylor replies, sinking into a chair. That was our little curse. Being triplets was easy when it was about having fun, but when someone was suffering, we suffered with them.

I had received the amulet after Tara returned to our borders two months ago, right where she had left me. Taylor and Trevor did the same before we went to see them together. None of us suspected that our guest of honor picked up their scent faster than we did, nor why.

"Then you two were probably fast enough since it was over pretty quickly?" Esme asked, looking at my brothers. Trevor and Taylor just shrugged.

"We don't know. When we arrived, he was already standing in front of the office. He didn't look happy, but he didn't say anything either."

"Then he must have felt her pain," Esme paced restlessly around the room.

"Does he know you're her mate?" I shook my head, this woman probably knew all the answers before even asking her question.

"And you?" She points to Tara and I shook my head again.

"Hmm, strange. I'd seen her shelter with you more than once today," Esme murmured, and I wondered when that was. It wasn't like I was particularly nice to her.

"May I see the amulet?" She looked back and forth between us, but her gaze lingered on Taylor.

"Most people who come to St Vincent of Ice find their mate here, Taylor. Now give me the amulet," she demanded. If the situation were different, I would laugh heartily at Esme and Taylor. She was exactly what he needed.

Reluctantly he took it off and she started to purr the moment he undid the clasp. However, it only took a few seconds before she was the old Esme. She snatched it from his hand and was calm again, unlike Taylor.

"Interesting, it calms my wolf down too," she murmured. Which witch did this?

"What makes you think it was a witch?" Taylor growled.

"What were we talking about earlier? Witches come and go in my house. Of course I know a lot about them. They're dangerous. I'd be stupid if I didn't know about their practices. So, what's her name?"

"Roxanne Stefford." Esme's head snapped towards Taylor as expected.

"Roxanne?" she asked in disbelief. "She has been an outcast for many hundreds of years. She was once a member of the circle that lives with us." Now that was something that even we didn't know.

"She's powerful," Esme murmured. "We work them?" Esme handed the amulet back to Taylor and I saw him struggling to put it back on. I shook my head that he should let it go.

"They mask our scent and weaken the bond when we meet our mate," Taylor explained to her, cradling the amulet in his hand.

"Why are you all wearing one when it's obviously just Grayson who doesn't want Tara to know who he is to her." Esme was smart. Too smart. Lying to her would probably do no good and she would work on Taylor until he told her everything.

"We all smell alike. She would notice, or maybe think I'm her mate," Taylor replied, putting the amulet back on and Esme gave a soft whimper as he closed it.

"I'm sorry Esme, it's better this way." Taylor turned away from her and so she did.

"Maybe Caspian shouldn't know who you are, Grayson. I don't know what he would do." Esme appeared completely sober, even though her mate was closing in on her.

"Lycans are unpredictable, Grayson. Elisane is also a powerful Lycan from an even more powerful family. Even if Tara didn't pose a threat to her, she would eliminate her. I'm sure of it."

I rubbed my forehead, unable to process everything she was saying.

"And now?" Taylor asked, just as clueless as I was. I took my amulet from Tara and put it around my neck. The last thing she needed to know was that I was her mate.

"I don't know what happened between you guys, Grayson. My advice is, win her heart. Make her forget about Caspian." Esme didn't know what she was saying.

Caspian was the king. Though I was reluctant to let him have my mate, I could not allow an angry lycan to sweep across our pack.

"It's not that easy," Trevor cleared his throat for the first time.

"Trevor," I growled at him.

"What? Taylor will tell her everything in detail anyway." He was probably right, but I didn't want to hear all that.

"She didn't treat Gray that well," Taylor interjected.

"It doesn't look to me like she doesn't like you, Grayson." Esme looked at me inquiringly and her words left me speechless. When did she find out?

"Well, she left him dying in the woods last year," Taylor gritted his teeth.

"I see this is a long story. Well I have time until she wakes up and so do you Grayson. Think about fighting for your mate."