CHAPTER 65: WRONG RESTROOM

Eleanor’s POV

This can’t be real. I must have hit my head when I fainted at the library. Any second now, I’ll wake up.

But the solid weight of Mr. Kayden’s body against mine is terrifyingly real. His arms are locked around me, his face buried in my neck, and his warm breath is sending shivers down my spine that have absolutely nothing to do with fear.

And that’s not even the most insane part.

Beatrice called him mate.

What kind of twisted, cosmic joke is this? One of the Vexxon brothers? The silent, intimidating, devastatingly powerful Kayden Vexxon? It has to be a mistake. A complete fluke.

The Moon Goddess does not make mistakes, Beatrice chides, her voice a smug purr in my mind. She gives us exactly what we need.

The realization hits me like a physical blow. The man from the storage room... the monster I somehow soothed... that was him? My mind reels, trying to reconcile the terrifying creature with the man currently trembling in my arms.

My body is betraying me completely. A deep, throbbing heat is pooling low in my stomach, a direct response to the feel of his breath on my sensitive skin. Every place we’re touching feels electric.

I remember the way he’s looked at me before—those intense, silent stares. I’d thought it was just his way, but was it more? Did he already know?

No. I can’t think that. His brothers have looked at me with similar intensity. It must just be how they are.

But this... this is different. Feeling him slowly calm down in my arms, his frantic breaths evening out, I’m overwhelmed by a ferocious, instinctual need to protect him. To hold him. To... have him. Where are these filthy, crazy thoughts coming from?

Beatrice is practically doing cartwheels in my head, ecstatic that our mate has been found.

The core of heat between my thighs intensifies, a dull, aching throb I have never, ever felt before. Not with Dickson. Not with anyone. This isn’t just attraction. This is a primal, magnetic pull, a biological imperative I have no control over.

Yep. It’s definitely the bond. And it is completely, utterly terrifying.

I can’t accept this.

The thought is a desperate mantra in my head. My life is already a spiraling disaster; I don’t need this. Getting involved with him—with them—would be a catastrophe of epic proportions. And I already know the triplets share one woman. The idea of being a part of that... it’s unthinkable.

A low, needy sound rumbles from Kayden’s chest, vibrating through me. The sound goes straight to the heat coiling deep inside, making it flare. For a dizzying second, the urge to just sink back into him, to let this strange, intoxicating feeling take over, is almost overpowering.

Gah, Beatrice, stop corrupting me!

I am merely a passenger on this delightful ride of your hormones, she retorts, her tone dripping with dark amusement. Do not blame your newly discovered libido on me.

That’s it. I have to break this.

I pull back, putting a few inches of space between us. But his hand, which had been resting on my back, slides instantly to my waist, his grip firm but not painful. He’s not letting me go completely.

My mind goes blank. What do I even say? ’Sorry, Mr. Vexxon, but I’m going to have to reject this soul-deep, biological bond because my life is complicated enough’? The words won’t form. I’m trapped by his silent plea and the traitorous response of my own body.

The sound of frantic footsteps pounding down the hallway shattered the tense silence. The bathroom door flew open, slamming against the wall.

I twisted my neck to look, and my entire body went rigid.

Standing in the doorway, their chests heaving, were Mr. Keith and Mr. Kieran. Their identical blue eyes swept the scene—me on my knees, Kayden clinging to my waist—and the shock in their gaze hardened into something colder, sharper. Annoyance. Anger.

Keith moved with a predator’s speed. He was on us in an instant, his hand clamping around my upper arm like a vice. He yanked me backward with a force that sent me sprawling onto the cold tile floor. I heard a sickening rrrip as a section of my beautiful sapphire gown tore.

The connection to Kayden was violently severed. Kieran immediately dropped to his brother’s side, his hands on Kayden’s shoulders, his face a mask of pure, brotherly concern.

Keith loomed over me, his expression terrifying. His voice was a low, dangerous growl that vibrated through the floor.

"What the hell did you do to my brother?"

I was speechless, frozen under the weight of his fury. I could only stare up at him, my mind a terrified blank.

Then he moved again. His hand shot out, gripping my face, his fingers digging into my cheeks as he forced me to look at him. The pressure was bruising. A suffocating aura erupted from him, pressing down on me, stealing the air from my lungs.

"I won’t ask again," he snarled. "What. Did. You. Do. To. Him?"

"I... I didn’t do anything!" I choked out, the words mangled by his grip.

"Liar," he spat, his eyes blazing.

But before he could say another word, Kayden was there. He moved in a blur, shoving Keith’s hand away from my face and placing himself squarely between us. He was a solid, protective wall, his back to me.

His hands flew, his fingers forming sharp, frantic signs. I couldn’t understand them, but I didn’t need to.

The looks on Keith and Kieran’s faces said it all. Their shock was palpable, their eyes wide as they stared at their brother as if he’d just grown a second head.

Kieran found his voice first, his tone disbelieving. "Kayden... are you sure?"

Kayden gave a single, sharp, definitive nod. Then his hands moved again, slower this time, signing something else. His gaze was locked on his brothers, but the meaning was clear. Whatever he was telling them was about me.

The conversation ended. Kayden turned his head, his intense blue eyes meeting mine. And then, all three of them were looking at me.

In that moment, with three sets of powerful, supernatural eyes pinned on me, I wished with every fiber of my being that the earth would just open up and swallow me whole.

The silence was crushing. I had to say something, anything, to break it.

"I... I was in the restroom," I stammered, my voice shaking. "Mr. Kayden came in. I was freaked out! You can check the CCTV cameras! He just barged in!"

Kieran’s brow furrowed. He glanced at the door, then back at me, his expression shifting from shock to confusion. "Eleanor... this is the men’s restroom."

What?

My brain short-circuited. I looked around frantically. I noticed the urinals separated by a wall.

Oh, no. In my panic to get away from Mr. Hans, I hadn’t even looked at the sign on the door. I had fled right into the men’s room.

"I... I’m so sorry," I whispered, humiliation burning my cheeks. "I didn’t know. I wasn’t paying attention."

Keith’s icy voice cut through my apology. "How could you not know? Are you blind?" His gaze was a physical weight, demanding a better explanation.

How could I possibly explain? That I was running from a human trafficker that said he will be seeing me more frequently? That the sight of that man made me so desperate to hide that I didn’t care which door I went through? It was too much to spill in this already impossibly awkward situation.

. "You’re coming with us. And you’d better be preparing a much better explanation by the time we get back."