Why? Why am I here?

King's eyes darted to the left, then to his right. His eyes swooped around, sweeping through furniture and every item across the unfamiliar room, slowly feeling creeped out that everything, to the oversized black pajama that he was wearing, had the Lykaois triplet's scent! Where was he?!

King was tucked in the humongous bed, so betrayingly comfortable than what he should be feeling. The vast room, on the other hand, was sensationally dazzling, immense, and organized, from the bookshelves filled with volumes of books to the corner where a blue tabby tomcat curled up to sleep.

King pondered to himself, brows knitted together as he still allowed the comfort and the warmth to surround him. His throat was a desert, and his brain was a dead recharging battery, consequences of the night that happened two days ago exerting itself into running a marathon of untangling memories.

Right, as he remembered, they were in the ascension gala event when the vampires attacked them. He saw Annabelle; they ran to the basement, got chased by a vampire, and he was leeched out nearly to the brink of death.

King gasped and bolted upright, running his hand along his neck and finding fresh scabs on the area between it and his shoulder. It wasn't a nightmare.

Was he dead? 

No, King knew he wasn't, but he could swear he was nearly going to die right at that moment. So why was he here?

Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't realize that the bathroom door next to his left had creaked open. He blinked, catching a figure moved to the corner of his eyes, and when he turned, he saw Zachary, skin bronze, dripping wet and clothed with nothing but the white towel that was wrapped on his lower waist. The man stared back at him with wide bluish-green eyes.

King's eyes ran from the man's head, analyzing his strong profile, to his unexpectedly ripped chest, down to his naked feet just to make sure he understood everything right. King's every movement was on hold as his mind registered that he was surely in the same room with one of the Lykaios alphas. His breathing turned to heavy, shallow breaths.

Zachary ran his fingers across his damp black hair. "Oh. You're awake—"

King unintentionally let out a short yet sharp yell, freaked out. Zachary's eyes widened at his outburst, shocked on his spot. Just then, there were loud crashing and thumping, and then the door busted open.

"What happened?!" Kain gnarled, bed hair springing in his head and remainders of deprived sleep on his eyes.

"Kain, did you just break my d—"

King yelled a short dry scream again, breath pitching higher as he stared at the newly awoken person, who jolted from his reaction.

"Oi! Why the fuck are you screaming?!" Kain growled.

"Why are you here?!" King's eyes darted around, and he patted his body. "No! Why am I here?!" He gasped. "You guys kidnapped me, didn't you?!"

The two werewolves' expression darkened.

"You—" a growl buzzed out of Kain's chest, face burning into a deep red. "Are you fucking kidding me?! That's what you say after I saved your ass the other day?!"

King lifted a brow. "Saved me?" And he did have a faint buzz in his memory, like a busted light flickering on and off. And yes, he did recollect a blurry vision of a figure who came in to save him. So, it must've been Kain, he thought.

"What's happening?" Yusef came into the room in a daze, eyes still night-glued. He rubbed his eye as he passed by the triggered Kain, walking towards the bed.

"We're having a talk with this ungrateful punk, that's what's happening."

"Sorry," King muttered as he scratched the back of his neck. He tensed up when Yusef plopped down on the side of the bed he was on, yawning.

"Hmph," Kain huffed, crossing his arms against his chest.

"How are you feeling?" Yusef asked, tilting his head to look at the younger man's averting gaze.

"I... I feel better, I guess." 

Yusef smiled, eyes still lingering with worry. Then he turned his head to the side and took the alarm clock by the nightstand. "You already took a bath, Zach? It's just five forty-six," he asked, disbelieving how a person could withstand the chilly breeze in the morning.

"You know I wake up early," Zach replied, moving towards his cabinet while rubbing his wet hair with a spare towel. The cat from earlier stretched, then paced towards him, meowing as it rubbed itself around its feet.

A wolf with a cat. How ironic, King thought. He then drove his eyes down on the blanket, feeling his cheeks rush with heat. How come they're talking so casually near him. . . Wait, in the first place, why was he with them?

Without thinking, he blurted out, "Why am I here?"

The triplets looked at him, and Kain huffed, "I just told you I saved your ass after you almost got killed by that bloodsucker—"

"I get that. I mean, why am I here? Why aren't I in Tierra Madre."

The three brothers stilled, remaining silent than the trustworthy time bar.

"Umm..." Yusef held the back of his nape.

King squinted his eyes. "You didn't really snatch me off, did you?" They looked reluctant, and the youngster gasped. "You did!"

"We didn't!" Kain snapped back. Zachary covered his eyes with his hand.

"You totally did!"

"This is different from kidnapping!" Kain refuted.

"I didn't say anything about kidnapping!"

"Okay, okay. Time out, you two." Yusef chuckled. He then reached out and poked King's cheek. "Look, we just can't take it if something happened to you."

King furrowed his brow, leaning away from him. "Uh, that's very nice. But why would you even go that far? I mean, we don't even know each other fully well for you to, uh, actually can't take it."

This is just too full of bullshit, King thought.

Yusef tilted his head and sighed. "Cause we told you, you're our mate. It's natural."

There was a pause. King's mind rewound, but it felt like he was caught in a loop. "... Hm? What did you say?"

"You're our mate."

"Whose mate?"

"Ours."

He picked his ear. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said you're our mate—"

"Ha-ha. Okay, prank is over people. I'm going." King was about to get out of bed when Yusef pulled him back.

"Hey, it's not a prank," Yusef said with a rare frown on his face.

"You expect me to believe your bullshit?!"

"Hey, watch your mouth," Kain growled.

"Says Mr. Panty-Ripper," King snapped back with a growl. Zachary sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Kain's face darkened, a threatening growl buzzing out of his chest again. "You're really getting too cocky, aren't you? How about I rip your—"

"Kain, don't get him overworked," Zachary finally cut in, dressed in his striped pajama, which King never noticed him changed in. He moved towards King, and the young werecat tensed up again when he reached out an arm towards him, hand moving gently yet firmly across his neck. "The bite is healing slowly. But your fever had gone down. That's good," Zach said before he retreated his hand. "We already notified your clan last night, and your cousins had already made preparations to visit you tomorrow, so you shouldn't worry about that. And regarding what my brother said," Zach stared him eye to eye, "we're not kidding."

King immediately felt authenticity coat what Yusef had just stated earlier, and he felt like he was splashed with a bucket of ice-cold water.

"You can deny it all you want. We can't expect you to sink in and accept what we've told you immediately. But without doubts, we've already imprinted on you, and I, for one, have every intention of redeeming what I think should be mine, Mr. Stefan." 

Zach then walked towards the door. Waiting for the youngster's outburst or response, but surprisingly, he did not get any. He looked over his shoulder, face still as straight as before as he stared at the werecat whose face bore a priceless expression. "I'll bring you a glass of water and get someone to make you a simple breakfast. You're dehydrated, so we should stick to liquid-based meal for now."

Yusef leaned over to King like a viper. His lips curled up from a devilish chuckle as he whispered, "We can always start slow."

King felt like he was about to faint again. Just what is this bullshit, Moon Goddess?