Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

The words hit Lilith like a physical blow. She stumbled backward, would have fallen if the chair had not caught her. ”No. That’s not....they wouldn’t do that. They wouldn’t,,,....”

”Wouldn’t they?” Victoria demanded. ”You’ve been with them for what, weeks? months? And you think you know them? You think you understand what they’re capable of?”

”They’re investigating my father’s death,” Lilith said desperately, clinging to the one truth she thought she knew. ”They told me they were looking into it. They said...”

”They lied.” Victoria’s voice was flat, absolute. ”Everything they’ve told you is a lie designed to keep you compliant while they use you to break their curse.”

Lilith’s vision was blurring with tears and she could not breathe properly and the bonds were screaming at her....Nicholas’s presence pulling at her, Sebastian’s warmth trying to comfort her, both of them feeling her distress even from miles away.

”You need to leave,” Victoria said urgently, her hands gentle now as she cupped Lilith’s face. ”Right now. We’ll take your mother, we’ll go, and I’ll hide you where they can never find you. I have places prepared, wards ready. They won’t be able to track you even with the bonds....”

”I can’t just leave....” Lilith started saying, looking up at Victoria.

”Yes you can.” Victoria’s thumb wiped away Lilith’s tears. ”You’re all I have left of my sister, of our family. I won’t let them take you too. I won’t let them destroy you the way they destroyed your father, the way they’re destroying everything good in this world.”

”Aunt Victoria....” Lilith stuttered.

”Please, Lilith.” Victoria was begging now, her own tears falling freely. ”Please trust me. Come with me before it’s too late. Before they complete the third bond and seal your fate forever.”

”Before who completes what bond?”

The voice cut through the room like a blade.....cold, deadly and absolutely furious.

Lilith’s head snapped toward the door and her heart stopped.

Three massive figures filled the doorway, their eyes glowing gold, their wolves so close to the surface that the air around them shimmered with barely contained violence.

Nicholas. Sebastian and Lucian.

And they looked ready to kill.

***

Nicholas POV

The moment Lilith’s fear spiked through the bond....sharp and visceral and absolutely terrified, Nicholas was moving.

He did not think. Did not hesitate. Just grabbed Sebastian and Lucian through the mindlink and ran.

”She’s in danger,” he sent to both his brothers. ”We need to get to that hospital. Now.”

They shifted in the courtyard, three massive wolves tearing across the territory at speeds that would have been impossible for normal wolves, and the entire time Nicholas felt Lilith’s emotions through the bond....confusion, betrayal, grief, terror, and knew with absolute certainty who was with her.

Victoria.

Of course. Of fucking course she would show up now, when they were not there to protect Lilith, when Lilith was vulnerable and confused and desperate for answers.

They reached the hospital in minutes that felt like hours. Shifted back to human form in the parking lot....naked and furious and not caring about any of it, and Callum passed them the clothes he had carried with him before they left the estate within seconds, the terrified staff members at the reception took one look at their eyes and scattered.

Nicholas pulled on pants and a shirt without bothering to button it and took the stairs to the third floor three at a time. He could hear Lilith’s heartbeat now, could smell Victoria’s magic polluting the air, could feel his mate’s absolute devastation through the bond.

Whatever Victoria was telling her, it was tearing her apart.

The door to the hospital room was closed but not locked. Nicholas did not bother to knock. Just slammed it open with enough force that it cracked against the wall, and stepped inside with his brothers flanking him.

Victoria had Lilith by the shoulders. Lilith was crying. And the expression on Victoria’s face when she turned to face them was pure, undiluted hatred.

”Get your hands off her,” Nicholas said, his voice deadly calm despite the rage burning through him.

Victoria’s eyes flashed with power and she pulled Lilith behind her, shielding her with her own body. ”You.”

”Hello, Victoria,” Nicholas said coldly. ”It’s been a long time.”

Lilith looked between them, her face pale and tear-streaked and utterly confused. ”You know each other?”

”Oh, we know each other,” Victoria said bitterly. ”Don’t we, Alpha Nicholas? Just like I knew your father and just like I knew Victor before you killed him.”

”We didn’t kill Marcus,” Sebastian growled, stepping forward. His eyes were still gold, his control hanging by a thread. ”And you know that.”

”Do I?” Victoria’s laugh was sharp and ugly. ”Then explain to your precious mate how her father died. Tell her the truth.”

”This isn’t the place for this conversation,” Nicholas said, his eyes never leaving Lilith’s face. She was shaking, terrified, and through the bond he could feel her tearing herself apart trying to decide who to believe.

”No?” Victoria challenged. ”Then where is the place? Your estate where you’ve been holding her prisoner? Where you’ve been marking her and claiming her without telling her what it means? Without telling her what you’re using her for?”

”She’s not a prisoner,” Lucian snarled from the doorway. ”She’s our mate. She chose us.”

”She chose you before she knew you killed her father,” Victoria shot back.

”We. Didn’t. Kill. Him.” Nicholas’s voice was ice and fury combined. ”Our father made choices we didn’t agree with. Victor was caught in pack politics that had nothing to do with us directly. But we were there, yes. And we’ve carried the guilt of it ever since.”

Lilith made a small broken sound and Nicholas felt his chest crack open.

”You were there?” she whispered. ”You were there when he died?”

”Lilith....” Nicholas started saying but Lilith cut him off.

”Answer me!” She was shouting now, her power flaring beneath her skin, the lights in the room flickering. ”Were you there when my father died?”

”Yes,” Nicholas said, because he would not lie to her. Not about this. ”We were there.”