Page 10 of Knotted By the Triad

His brows pulled together as his gaze roamed over me. A low sound rumbled through the room. I couldn't tell which one of them had made it. I tried to scoot back but found myself unable to move.

Instead, something inside me was urging me to move closer to the alphas. It took all of my strength to hold still. When Daemin started to lean toward me again, Kai stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back.

“We’re leaving,” Kai said suddenly, rubbing his free hand through his green tresses, disheveling his hair.

Looking slightly dazed, Daemin glanced at Kai but didn’t argue. Instead, the long-haired alpha backed away from me, shrugging Kai’s hand off his shoulder as he moved. For a moment, his eyes were glued to mine.

Then he shook his head, as if shaking himself out of a trance, and turned to leave. Zian glared at me for another moment before turning away also, following Daemin out of the room. Kai remained where he was, staring at me like he was trying to make sense of something.

Finally, he spoke. “Whatever Lord Bane gave you has clearly not worn off. We’ll discuss the terms of this marriage when you’re coherent enough to understand them.”

My confusion must have shown on my face because his mouth tightened.

“Your father drugged you. You were barely conscious when you arrived.” He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. “Whatever he gave you is affecting your scent. I’m guessing it was some type of aphrodisiac meant to provoke a response from us. None of us will touch you while you’re in this condition.”

Wait a minute.

What scent?

In the book, Zuri was a dragon shifter who couldn’t shift, which made her a cold omega. She’d never gone into heat and had never developed an omega scent. Her family considered her defective because of that.

That was part of the reason they despised her and sent her to live in the countryside with her grandmother. So why did I suddenly have a scent? Why was I suddenly wet and aroused? That never happened in the book.

“We’ll spend the rest of the evening with Lin’er,” Kai continued. “The King’s decree remains unchanged. We will not violate it. So rest assured, our marriage to her will not be consummated until an heir has been conceived within the primary marriage.”

I stared at him. Primary marriage? That would be this marriage.

They wanted an heir?

With me?

Did these men really expect me to sleep with them? I mean, that wouldn’t be a horrible thing. They were sexy as hell. And as long as they didn’t talk, I could take one for the team. However, I wasn’t the real Zuri.

And they never slept with her in the book. The King ordered them to produce an heir, but Zuri’s schemes eventually made them hate her so much they refused to touch her. Their refusal even caused problems between them and the King.

Kai kept talking, but I barely heard anything he said. I was too busy trying to remember the book’s timeline. I caught something about discussing the heir matter once I had recovered.

The problem was, when Zuri recovered, she immediately started targeting Mei Lin, angering the alphas and making them hate her more. Done talking, Kai took another step back, but his eyes remained on me.

A frown marred his handsome face, almost like there was something about me he couldn't figure out. Finally, he turned away from me and walked out, leaving me alone in this strange room, in this strange world, with these strange feelings.

With all of them finally gone, I closed my eyes, hoping when I reopened them, I’d be back home. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I was still trapped here, in a body that wasn’t mine, living a life that wasn’t mine. I lifted one hand and pinched myself as hard as I could.

“Ow.”

I immediately let go. The sting remained. I stared at the spot I’d pinched. Maybe dreams could hurt. But this didn’t feel like a dream. The heat was real. The lingering dizziness was real. The ridiculous amount of fabric weighing me down was real.

Even the embarrassing wetness between my thighs felt very, very real. I slowly lowered my hand. The last thing I remembered before ending up here was hanging upside down in Kena’s SUV, praying my friends were okay. Then darkness. Now I was here.

Inside the Realm of Fantasies.

I didn’t know how it had happened. I didn’t know if I was dead, unconscious, or had somehow lost my mind after the accident. But I knew this story. And I knew Zuri Bane. I knew she would become a manipulative villainess.

And I knew she would end up locked inside a tower by the three men I had just watched walk out of this room. In that tower was where she would breathe her last breath. She would die heartbroken, regretful, and alone.

And that would be my fate if I didn’t find a way to wake up.

CHAPTER THREE