Page 41 of Captivated By Alphas 1, Fated (The Blood Moon Chronicle #4)

Cole filed the information away, pleased to hear about the family’s attachment to Eli even as his panther bristled at the thought of others having such close bonds with their mate.

Cole pulled the BMW up to the front entrance, headlights cutting through rain to illuminate the assembled group.

The moment he killed the engine, Tricia rushed forward like a woman possessed, worry carved into every line of her face.

Behind her, Madi hovered with equal concern, while Jace and Adrian stayed locked under the portico, postures screaming territorial aggression that only another alpha would catch.

“There’s your welcoming committee,” Cole said, throwing the car in park. “Hell of a reception for pastries.” His panther was already locked on his cousins, recognizing their stance for what it was—a challenge, a declaration that they had rival claims.

Tricia yanked open the passenger door. “Eliot James Harper!” she burst out, relief and fury warring in her voice. “Where the hell have you been? Your car’s still at the café, and nobody could reach you!”

“Mom, I’m fine,” Eli assured her, stepping into her embrace. “My phone died, and then Michael was being… persistent. Cole rescued me.”

At Cole’s name, Tricia’s attention snapped to the driver’s side, where Cole was emerging from the vehicle with predatory grace despite the downpour.

“Mr. Cole!” she gasped, shock and surprise all over her face.

“Tricia,” Cole said, nodding acknowledgment. “I happened to be at the café when Eli needed help.” He moved to Eli’s side immediately, hand returning to the small of Eli’s back—protective and possessive, a clear signal to his watching cousins.

MINE, the gesture screamed. Back off.

Madi approached then, worry shifting to delight. “Cole, darling.” She embraced him before turning to Eli with that perfect mom blend of affection and reprimand. “And you, young man, scared us all to death.”

“I’m sorry, Madi,” Eli said, genuine guilt in his voice. “The storm got worse, and my phone died, and—”

“What matters is you’re safe,” Madi interrupted, squeezing his shoulder. “Though we’ll need to get your car tomorrow. Weather service says this storm’s only getting worse.”

Cole’s gaze drifted past his aunt to where his cousins stood like carved statues. To anyone else, they looked perfectly composed. But Cole saw what others missed—Jace’s jaw locked tight enough to crack teeth, Adrian’s dangerous stillness that meant his panther was clawing for release.

The tension pouring off them was thick enough to choke on, a silent warning only another alpha would recognize. Their eyes tracked Eli’s every move with predatory focus, then locked on Cole with unmistakable challenge.

Mine, their stances declared. Ours.

Cole’s panther rose to meet the challenge head-on, hackles bristling. MINE.

“We should get inside,” Madi declared, completely oblivious to the primal standoff happening right in front of her. “Tricia, get Eli into dry clothes. Cole, your uncle’s waiting in the study.”

As they moved toward the entrance, Cole positioned his body between Eli and his cousins without conscious thought—pure territorial instinct that screamed ownership to any predator watching.

Jace’s eyes narrowed to slits, while Adrian’s mouth curved into a smile that held zero warmth, only predatory assessment.

The tension between the three alphas crackled like a live wire, a silent battle of wills conducted over Eli’s oblivious head. Cole’s panther rose to full height inside him, refusing to back down, refusing to surrender even an inch where their mate was concerned.

“Cousin,” Jace greeted him, the word dripping challenge beneath its civilized surface. “What a surprise to find you playing chauffeur.”

“Right place, right time,” Cole replied, voice smooth as silk while his panther snarled beneath the surface.

He kept his position near Eli, hand still planted at the small of his back, fingers splayed in a possessive display that couldn’t be misread.

“Michael Huntington was being insistent with his attention.”

At Michael’s name, both cousins’ expressions went dark, territorial instincts temporarily redirecting toward a common enemy. The shift was subtle but significant—momentary alliance against an outside threat.

“Michael was at the café?” Adrian asked, voice light as air, though his eyes had turned to emerald ice. “He seems to be everywhere lately.”

“Yeah,” Eli answered, completely missing the undercurrents swirling around him. “He’s been… persistent. Cole helped me avoid an uncomfortable situation.”

“How fortunate you were there,” Jace said to Cole, words pleasant but tone loaded with unspoken accusations.

“Wasn’t it?” Cole agreed, meeting his cousin’s gaze dead-on, alpha to alpha. “Timing couldn’t have been better.”

The words hung between them, charged with meaning only the three alphas understood. Their panthers circled each other invisibly, territorial instincts warring with pack bonds forged over decades.

“Eli, come on,” Tricia called, breaking the tension. “You need to change.”

“Right.” Eli nodded, glancing between the three cousins with obvious confusion. “I should go. Thanks again, Cole.”

“Anytime,” Cole replied, eyes never leaving his cousins even as he spoke to Eli. “I mean that.”

As Eli followed his mother inside, Madi turned to the three men with a puzzled frown. “What’s gotten into you? You’re acting like strangers.”

“Just the storm, Mom,” Jace offered smoothly. “Makes everyone edgy.”

“Well, get un-edgy,” she instructed, patting Cole’s cheek before heading inside. “Your uncle’s waiting, and dinner’s soon. I need you all on your best behavior.”

She swept into the house, leaving the three alphas alone on the portico with the storm raging around them and a different kind of tempest building between them.

“Study. Now,” Jace said, words clipped with barely leashed fury.

“After you,” Cole replied, gesturing for his cousins to go first.

None of them moved, unwilling to turn their backs in this moment of primal challenge. After a tense standoff, Adrian broke the impasse with a harsh laugh.

“This is fucking ridiculous,” he said, running a hand through rain-soaked hair. “We’re acting like teenagers fighting over prom dates.”

“This is hardly comparable,” Cole countered, voice low and controlled despite the storm raging inside him. “And you know it.”

“Inside,” Jace insisted again. “Before the staff notices something’s wrong.”

This time they moved together, maintaining equal distance as they entered the mansion.

The grand foyer buzzed with activity, staff prepping for the evening’s dinner.

They navigated through it with predatory grace, drawing admiring glances from household staff used to the Carmichael cousins’ commanding presence.

The study door was closed. Jace pushed it open without knocking—family privilege—and the three alphas filed in, shutting the door firmly behind them.

Empty. George was apparently delayed elsewhere. Fire crackled in the massive stone fireplace, casting dancing shadows across leather books and antique furniture. The space reeked of old paper, fine whiskey, and generations of Carmichael alphas who’d conducted pack business between these walls.

“What the hell was that?” Jace demanded the second the door closed, rounding on Cole with barely contained rage. “You were supposed to come straight here.”

“I stopped for coffee,” Cole replied, keeping his composure despite his cousin’s fury. “Had no idea I’d find Eli there.”

“With Michael Huntington,” Adrian added, his usual playful demeanor nowhere in sight. “Convenient timing.”

“What exactly are you implying?” Cole’s eyes narrowed, panther bristling at the accusation.

“Nothing,” Jace cut in, pacing the study like a caged animal. “But you need to understand what’s happening.”

“I understand perfectly,” Cole replied, voice deceptively calm while every sense stayed on high alert. “You both recognize Eli as your mate. And now, so do I.”

The blunt statement hit the room like a bomb. Silence crackled with primal energy. Jace stopped pacing, turning to face Cole with shock, fury, and something like grudging respect for his directness.

“Yeah,” Adrian confirmed after a beat, running a hand through damp hair. “Same reaction. Immediate. Absolute. Unprecedented.”

“When?” Cole asked, mind already building the timeline.

“Wednesday,” Jace said, jaw tight with remembered intensity. “He was cleaning my suite. I caught him falling.”

“Yesterday,” Adrian added. “At the lake. He was swimming.”

Cole’s panther snarled at these revelations, territorial challenge surging at the thought of his cousins seeing Eli vulnerable, touching what should be theirs alone. The beast wanted details, wanted to know exactly what happened, how far things went.

“And now you,” Jace continued, studying Cole with narrowed eyes. “Three alphas, one mate. You see the problem.”

“I see statistical impossibility,” Cole countered. “Three unrelated alphas recognizing the same person as mate defies all pack histories. Suggests something unique about Eli.”

“He’s not fully human,” Adrian stated flatly. “Can’t be. Our panthers wouldn’t respond this way to a human.”

“We’ve established that,” Jace agreed. “But we don’t know what he is. Tricia and Thomas are both betas, but they adopted him. We know nothing about his birth parents or bloodline.”

Cole’s panther processed this with intense interest. The mystery of Eli’s true nature added another layer to their mate’s allure, another reason to claim and protect what was theirs.

“So, what now?” Cole asked, cutting to the heart of it. “Three alphas don’t share mates. Biologically impossible. Our panthers should be trying to kill each other.”

“And yet they’re not,” Adrian pointed out. “Mine’s territorial, possessive, but not homicidal toward you two. It’s… confusing.”

“Same,” Jace admitted, looking disturbed. “My panther wants Eli exclusively but doesn’t want to eliminate you two to get him. That’s unprecedented.”

Cole’s beast confirmed this strange phenomenon. While fiercely possessive of Eli, it didn’t view his cousins with the murderous intent that should accompany rival mate claims. Tension, challenge, competition—but not the blind rage that normally drove alphas to fight to the death over mates.

“We need more information,” Cole concluded, his strategic mind already mapping possibilities. “About Eli’s true nature, why our panthers are responding this way, what it all means.”

“Meanwhile?” Jace pressed.

“We proceed carefully,” Cole replied. “Eli knows nothing about being our mate. He seems to be comfortable with our shifter nature considering he’s lived on the estate for years but has no idea what mate recognition means.”

“Or that he’s triggered it in all three of us,” Adrian added with a humorless laugh. “Can you imagine that conversation? ‘By the way, Eli, you’ve somehow become mate to three alpha panthers simultaneously. Congratulations on your statistical impossibility.’”

Cole’s mouth twitched despite the gravity. “Not the approach I’d recommend.”

“So we don’t tell him,” Jace concluded. “Not yet. Not until we understand what’s happening.”

“Agreed,” Cole said. “But I won’t back off. Won’t pretend I’m not interested.”

“None of us will,” Adrian stated, eyes flashing gold briefly. “May the best panther win.”

The declaration should have triggered violence, should have escalated tension to breaking point. Instead, it created unexpected clarity—three alphas acknowledging the extraordinary situation, agreeing to compete without destroying each other.

“To a fair hunt,” Jace said, extending his hand in traditional alpha agreement.

Cole clasped his cousin’s forearm, feeling Adrian’s hand join theirs. The three-way grip sealed their unusual pact—competitors rather than enemies, rivals with respect rather than blind hatred.

Their panthers rumbled reluctant agreement, accepting this unprecedented arrangement while maintaining individual claims. Something about Eli Harper had altered the very nature of their beasts, made possible what should have been biologically impossible.