Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

He kicked open the door to his bedroom and laid her carefully on his bed, smoothing her tangled hair back from her face. Her nightgown was torn and filthy, her feet scratched and bleeding, but her breathing was steady and her pulse was strong under his fingers.

”Lilith,” he said quietly, his hand cupping her cheek. ”Come on. Wake up.”

Nothing.

Sebastian dropped to his knees beside the bed and took her hand, pressing it between both of his. ”Please. Please wake up.”

Lucian was pacing at the foot of the bed, his whole body vibrating with barely contained violence. ”Where the fuck is the doctor?”

”Here.”

Dr. Aldric swept into the room with his medical bag already open, his silver hair catching the lamplight as he moved to Lilith’s side. He was older than any of them, had been the pack physician for thirty years, and his hands were steady as he began his examination.

Nicholas stepped back to give him room but did not go far. Just stood at the edge of the bed with his arms crossed and watched as Dr. Aldric checked Lilith’s pulse, her breathing, her pupils, the temperature of her skin.

”Vitals are stable,” Dr. Aldric said after a moment. ”Heart rate normal. Breathing normal. No sign of physical trauma beyond the superficial cuts and scratches.”

”Then why won’t she wake up?” Sebastian demanded.

Dr. Aldric’s expression darkened. He leaned closer to Lilith and inhaled deeply, then placed his hand flat against her forehead and closed his eyes. The air in the room shifted, became heavier, and Nicholas felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Magic.

Dr. Aldric was not just a physician. He was a wizard....low level, nothing like what the Morvaine bloodline was supposed to be capable of, but enough to sense things that normal wolves could not.

After a long moment Dr. Aldric opened his eyes and pulled his hand back. ”She’s under a spell.”

Nicholas went very still. ”What kind of spell.”

”A compulsion. Someone called her, pulled her into a trance state, and now she’s trapped somewhere between waking and dreaming.” Dr. Aldric looked at Nicholas grimly. ”Her consciousness is not here. It’s somewhere else. And until we can pull her back, she won’t wake up.”

”How do we pull her back?” Lucian asked.

”The bond.” Dr. Aldric gestured to the mark on Lilith’s throat, the one Aplha Kael had left weeks ago. ”Alpha Nicholas, your bond is complete. You should be able to reach her through it, anchor her, bring her back.”

Nicholas had already tried that. Had been trying it since the moment he woke up and felt the bond go blank. ”I can’t. Something is blocking it.”

Dr. Aldric frowned and placed his hand on Lilith’s forehead again, and this time his frown deepened. ”You’re right. There’s a barrier. Someone put a block on the bond from her side. You can’t reach her because she’s....”

Lilith started convulsing.

Her whole body arched off the bed violently, her back bowing, her hands clawing at the sheets. A choked sound tore from her throat and her eyes flew open....but they were unseeing, completely white, rolled back in her head.

”Lilith!” Sebastian lunged forward and tried to hold her down but she thrashed against him, her strength impossible for someone who should be unconscious.

Nicholas was at her other side in an instant, pinning her shoulders. ”What’s happening to her?!”

”She’s fighting it,” Dr. Aldric said, his voice tight. ”Whatever has her, she’s trying to break free. But she’s not strong enough. The spell is too powerful.”

Lilith convulsed again, harder this time, and blood began trickling from her nose. Her breathing turned ragged and desperate and her lips were moving like she was trying to speak but no sound came out.

”Do something!” Lucian roared at Dr. Aldric.

”I can’t break a spell this strong....”

”Then what the fuck good are you?!” Lucian backed at him.

”Wait.” Dr. Aldric’s eyes were wide and he was staring at Lilith’s throat, at the mark Nicholas had left. ”The bond. You need another bond.”

Nicholas looked at him sharply. ”What?”

”One bond isn’t enough to pull her back through a barrier this strong. But two bonds....two anchors....might be.” Dr. Aldric turned to Sebastian. ”You need to mark her. Now.”

Sebastian went pale. ”We were waiting. We agreed to wait until...”

”She’s dying,” Dr. Aldric cut him off. ”Right now. Whatever is happening in that dream state, it’s killing her. If you want to save her, you mark her and you do it now.”

Sebastian looked at Nicholas and Nicholas saw his own fear reflected back at him. They had planned this. They had a timeline. They were supposed to wait until the wolves were stable, until everything was ready, until they could do this right.

But Lilith was convulsing on the bed and bleeding and trapped somewhere they could not reach her and they were out of time.

”Do it,” Nicholas said.

Sebastian did not hesitate after that.

He let Rhen surge forward and the shift took him fast and brutal. One moment Sebastian was kneeling beside the bed and the next Rhen was there....all black fur and golden eyes and barely contained power. The wolf leaned over Lilith’s thrashing body and lowered his head to her throat, to the spot on the opposite side from where Kael’s mark sat.

Nicholas held her shoulders down. Lucian held her legs. Dr. Aldric stepped back and watched with tense eyes.

Rhen’s teeth sank into her throat.

Lilith’s scream tore through the room.

The bond started forming immediately....Nicholas could feel it, could feel the new connection sparking to life between Lilith and Sebastian, could feel Rhen pouring everything he had into the mark. The air crackled with energy and Lilith’s body went rigid beneath them and for one perfect moment Nicholas thought it was going to work.

Then something exploded outward from Lilith’s body.

An invisible force...pure raw power....erupted from her like a shockwave. It hit Rhen square in the chest and threw him backward with enough force to send him crashing into the wall ten feet away. Nicholas and Lucian were both knocked back, stumbling, and Dr. Aldric barely managed to stay on his feet.

”What the fuck?!” Lucian shouted.