Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Lilith lasted two days before she broke.

Two days of staying in her room like Nicholas told her to, two days of hearing Lucian’s footsteps in the hallway and feeling the pull of the incomplete bond tugging at her chest every time he walked past her door without stopping. Two days of Sebastian checking on her with worried eyes and Nicholas bringing her food and neither of them saying what they were all thinking.....that Lucian was getting worse, not better.

On the third morning she woke up to the sound of something breaking outside and she knew immediately it was him.

She got dressed quickly, her body still sore but functional now, and made her way downstairs and out through the side entrance that led to the training yard. The sun was barely up, the sky still grey with dawn, and the estate was quiet except for the rhythmic sound of fists hitting wood over and over and over.

Lilith stopped at the edge of the training yard and watched.

Lucian was alone in the center of the space, shirtless and covered in sweat, his fists slamming into a training dummy with brutal precision. Every hit was controlled and lethal, his body moving like a weapon, his breathing steady despite the violence of it. She could see the muscles in his back flexing with each strike, could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw was clenched so tight it had to hurt.

He knew she was there. She could tell by the way his body shifted slightly, the way his next punch landed harder than the one before. But he did not stop and he did not turn around.

Lilith stepped into the yard and walked toward him slowly. ”Lucian.”

He hit the dummy again, the impact so hard the wooden post cracked. ”Go back inside.”

”No.” Lilith replied.

”Lilith.” Her name came out as a warning, his voice rough and low. ”Go back inside.”

”Not until you talk to me.” Lilith insisted and took a step towards him.

He finally stopped, his fists still raised, his chest heaving. Slowly he lowered his hands and turned to face her, and her breath caught. His eyes were solid gold, no trace of his natural color left, and she could see Zev staring out at her through them...wild and desperate and barely contained.

”There,” he said flatly. ”We talked. Now go.” he said to her and then turn back to face the dummy.

She took another step closer. ”I am sorry.” she said.

”Do not.....” Lucian said, his face still turned away from her.

”I am sorry that you had to feel what happened between me and Sebastian. I am sorry that you are suffering because of the bond. I am sorry that...” her voice cracked.

”Stop,” he cut her off, his voice hard. ”Do not apologize for something that is not your fault.”

”Then whose fault is it?” Lilith asked, looking at him, her voice shaking.

”Mine. Nicholas’s. Sebastian’s. The fucking curse. Take your pick.” He turned away from her and braced his hands on the training dummy, his head hanging down between his shoulders. ”But it is not yours. So do not stand there and apologize to me like you did something wrong.”

Lilith watched him for a moment, saw the tension in every line of his body, the way his fingers were digging into the wood hard enough to leave marks. ”Are you okay?” She asked.

He laughed and it was bitter and rough and wrong. ”No.”

She took another step closer and he went rigid. ”Lucian...”

”Do not come near me right now.”

She stopped. ”Why?”

He turned his head just enough to look at her over his shoulder and the gold in his eyes was burning. ”Because Zev wants to mark you so badly I can barely breathe and if you touch me right now I will not be able to stop him.”

Her heart was pounding but she did not move away. ”Then maybe you should not stop him.”

”Lilith....” he started saying but she cut him off.

”I mean it.” She took another step and he straightened, turned to face her fully, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

”Everyone keeps telling me to wait, that it is not safe, that I will not survive it. But I am standing here telling you I do not care. Mark me. Claim me. Stop suffering and just do it.”

”You do not know what you are asking for” He said shaking his head,

”Yes I do.” Lilith said and moved closer to him.

”No,” his voice was louder now, an edge of desperation in it. ”You do not. You think you survived Sebastian in the woods but you have no idea how close he came to losing control completely. You think you can handle Zev but Zev is not Rhen. Zev does not have Sebastian’s restraint. Zev does not have Kael’s anchor. Zev has nothing except the desperate need to mark you and claim you and make you his and if I let him out right now he will not stop until you are bleeding and broken and maybe dead.”

She reached for him anyway, her hand stretching toward his chest, and he moved faster than she could track. His hand shot out and caught her wrist mid-air, his grip gentle but absolutely firm, stopping her inches from touching him.

”Lilith I am serious,” he said, and his voice was shaking now. ”Do not touch me. Do not push me. I am hanging on by a thread and you are making it impossible.”

She looked up at him and saw the truth written all over his face...the fear, the hunger, the love, the desperation all tangled together. ”Then let go of the thread.”

”I cannot.”

”Why not?” she asked.

”Because if I do, I will kill you,” he said simply. ”And I would rather suffer for the rest of my life than live one second in a world where you are dead because I could not control myself.”

She felt tears prick her eyes and she blinked them back. ”Then mark me.”

His control cracked.