Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Lilith woke up to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows and an empty bed. She blinked slowly, her body protesting even that small movement, and realized she was in Sebastian’s room. The sheets smelled like him....pine and smoke and something darker she could not name. Her hand reached across the mattress to where he should have been but found only cool fabric.

He was already gone.

She sat up slowly and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through her thighs, her hips, her core....everywhere. She gasped and fell back against the pillows, breathing hard. Everything hurt. Everything ached in a way that was equal parts soreness and satisfaction, the kind of pain that reminded her exactly what had happened last night in the woods.

Sebastian had fucked her into the dirt like an animal and she had loved every second of it.

She tried sitting up again, slower this time, and managed to get her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet touched the floor and she braced her hands on the mattress, preparing to stand. She pushed herself up and her legs immediately gave out. She collapsed back onto the bed with a yelp, her thighs shaking and refusing to hold her weight.

”Fuck,” she whispered to the empty room.

The door opened and Sebastian walked in carrying a tray of food, his eyes finding her immediately. He took one look at her sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs trembling and a smile spread across his face....slow, smug, absolutely insufferable.

”Having trouble walking?”

Lilith glared at him. ”Shut up.”

He crossed the room and set the tray down on the nightstand, then stood in front of her with his arms crossed and that smile still playing at his lips. ”I am not saying anything.”

”You are thinking it very loudly.” Sebastian said.

”I have no idea what you mean.” she said and looked away from him.

She tried to stand again just to prove a point and her legs buckled immediately. Sebastian caught her before she hit the floor, his hands on her waist, and he was laughing now...low and rough and entirely too pleased with himself.

”You are an asshole,” she muttered against his chest.

”And you are the one who told me to do it again,” he said, lifting her easily and setting her back on the bed. ”Twice, if I remember correctly.”

Her face went hot. ”That is not the point.”

”That is exactly the point.” He sat down beside her and reached for the tray, pulling it closer. ”Eat. You need your strength.”

”For what?” she asked.

His eyes flicked to hers, still gold around the edges, ”For later.”

She should not have felt the heat low in her belly at those words, not when her body was screaming at her to never move again, but she did. She took the plate he offered and focused on the food instead of the way he was looking at her like he wanted to spread her out on this bed and start all over again.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, Sebastian watching her the entire time with that insufferable smile still in place. Finally she set her fork down and looked at him. ”Why did you not complete the mark?”

The smile faded. His jaw tightened and he set his own plate aside, his hands flexing on his thighs. ”You know why.”

”I know what you said in the bath. But I want to hear it again now that we are both thinking clearly.”

Sebastian exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. ”Nicholas is right. The bonds have to be spaced out. You barely survived Kael’s marking and he was the most controlled of all of us. Rhen is not as controlled as Kael was. Zev is barely controlled at all.”

”I can handle it.”

”No,” his voice was firm, his eyes locked on hers. ”You cannot. And I am not willing to find out what happens if I am wrong.”

She reached for his hand and he let her take it, his fingers curling around hers. ”Then when?”

”After the full moon, all three of us were unstable. You did not see it but Lucian nearly went feral that night. The chain cracked. I held on by my teeth. Even Kael was struggling and he already has the anchor of your bond.” He paused and his thumb rubbed circles on the back of her hand. ”Nicholas made the call. We wait until the wolves settle before we try again.”

”How long?”

”One week. Maybe two.”

”That is too long.”

”That is safe.”

She pulled her hand back and he let her, watching her with those too-sharp eyes. ”You said we have less than six weeks until the deadline. We do not have time to be safe.”

”We do not have time to be reckless either.” His voice was harder now, an edge to it that made her look up. ”If I mark you while the wolves are this unstable, the power surge could trigger Lucian to go feral. He would feel it through the incomplete bond and Zev would take over and he would come for you. And if that happens, you die. Or I lose control trying to protect you and I kill you myself. Either way, we lose everything.”

Lilith stared at him and saw the truth in his face...the frustration, the fear, the desperate restraint. ”You wanted to do it last night.”

”Rhen wanted to do it last night,” he corrected. ”I had to fight him off you. He was screaming for it, clawing at me from the inside, and it took everything I had to pull back. But if I had done it and Lucian went feral because of it, we would lose everything.”

She looked down at her hands. ”So we wait.”

”We wait.”

”And what about Lucian?”

Sebastian went very still. ”What about him?”

”How is he doing with the wait?”

The silence stretched long enough that she looked up and found Sebastian staring at the wall, his jaw clenched, his shoulders tense. When he finally spoke his voice was low. ”He is barely holding on.”