Lilith stood at the window of her bedroom and stared out at the forest that stretched endlessly beyond the estate grounds, her fingers pressed against the cool glass.
Five days since the pack meeting. Five days since she had stood in front of hundreds of wolves and felt their fear directed at her like a physical thing. Five days of feeling like she was suffocating under the weight of everything she did not understand.
She needed to get out.
Needed space to breathe and think without three sets of eyes watching her every move, without two bonds humming constantly beneath her skin demanding her attention.
She needed to see her mother.
Lilith turned from the window and grabbed her jacket, pulling it on over the simple dress she wore. The marks on her throat were visible, she had stopped trying to hide them days ago, and when she caught sight of herself in the mirror she barely recognized the woman staring back.
Two bond marks. Two completed claims. And still so much she did not know.
A knock at the door made her turn.
"Come in."
Nicholas entered first, followed by Sebastian and Lucian, and the moment all three of them were in the room the air felt heavier, charged with the tension that had been building between them for days.
"I’m going to visit my mother," Lilith said before any of them could speak. "At the hospital. I’ll be back this afternoon."
Nicholas’s silver eyes studied her face with an intensity that made her want to look away. "Maybe you should wait. Just a few more days,,,,"
"Why?" Lilith interrupted, her frustration finally breaking through. "Why do I need to wait? What’s wrong?"
She saw them exchange glances, that silent communication through the mindlink that always made her feel like an outsider even with the bonds connecting her to them.
"Nothing’s wrong," Sebastian said carefully. "We just think it’s better if you stay close to the estate right now. After the pack meeting, with everything that’s happened..."
"I’m not a prisoner," Lilith said, her voice sharper than she intended. "I need to see my mother. I need some space. I need...." She stopped, took a breath. "I just need this. Please."
Another silence, heavier this time.
Through the bonds she could feel their conflict.....worry, protectiveness, something darker that felt almost like fear. But fear of what? What weren’t they telling her?
"Fine," Nicholas said finally, though his jaw was tight. "But you’re not going alone."
"I can take care of myself...."
"That’s not negotiable." His Alpha voice, the one that left no room for argument. "Sebastian’s Beta will drive you. He’ll stay with the car while you visit your mother. And you call us the moment you’re ready to leave."
Lilith wanted to argue, wanted to demand why they were being so overprotective, but she was too tired to fight. "Fine. Whatever. Can I go now?"
Sebastian stepped forward and caught her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. Through the bond she felt his concern, his reluctance to let her leave. "We’re not trying to control you, Lilith. We’re trying to keep you safe."
"Safe from what?" She asked.
"From things you don’t understand yet," Lucian said quietly from near the door. His gold eyes were shadowed with something she could not quite read. "Please. Just trust us."
Lilith pulled her hand from Sebastian’s and looked at all three of them, these men who had claimed her, marked her, bound themselves to her permanently, and felt the weight of everything unsaid pressing down on her chest.
"I’ll call when I’m ready to come back," she said, and walked past them out of the room before they could say anything else.
***
Finn was waiting by the black SUV when Lilith emerged from the estate, his expression carefully neutral. He was Sebastian’s Beta....loyal, competent, and clearly under strict orders not to let her out of his sight.
"Luna," he greeted, opening the passenger door for her.
"I’m not your Luna yet," Lilith said automatically, though the protest felt weaker every time she said it. Two bonds complete. One more to go. How much longer could she pretend this was temporary?
Finn just smiled slightly. "The bonds say otherwise."
Lilith slid into the car and he closed the door gently before moving around to the driver’s side. The engine purred to life and they pulled away from the estate, and with every mile that passed Lilith felt like she could breathe a little easier.
Through the bonds she could still feel them....Nicholas’s steady presence like an anchor, Sebastian’s warmth wrapping around her even from a distance, and Lucian’s restless energy that never quite settled. But at least here in the car with distance between them, the bonds were not so overwhelming.
"How long have you been Sebastian’s Beta?" Lilith asked, needing to fill the silence.
"Six years," Finn answered, his eyes on the road. "Since I was twenty-one."
"And before that?"
"I was in training. All potential Betas go through years of preparation before they’re chosen." He glanced at her. "It’s an honor. The Blackwood Alphas are... complicated. But they’re good leaders. Good men."
Lilith heard the unspoken question in his words. "You’re wondering if I think they’re good men."
"I’m wondering if you’re going to run," Finn said bluntly. "The pack is taking bets. Half think you’ll bolt the moment you get the chance. The other half think the bonds are too strong now."
"And what do you think?"
Finn was quiet for a moment. "I think you’re scared. And I think you have every right to be. But I also think if you were going to run, you would have done it already."
Lilith looked out the window at the trees blurring past. "Maybe I’m just waiting for the right moment."
"Maybe," Finn agreed. "Or maybe you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be and you just don’t want to admit it yet."
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
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