Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

"They’re invested in keeping you safe," Agnes corrected. "But Alpha Nicholas gave explicit orders that you’re not to be held against your will. If you want to leave the estate, you can. Though I suspect they’ll insist on a guard following at a distance."

Lilith thought about that. The idea of leaving, of getting away from the bonds pulling at her constantly, of having space to think without three sets of emotions bleeding through her awareness, it was tempting. So tempting.

"Where would I go?" she asked.

"Anywhere you want," Sera said. "The forest. The town. The border. Hell, walk all the way to Victoria if that’s what you need. Just don’t make any permanent decisions while you’re this upset. Give yourself time to process everything first."

It was good advice. Logical advice. The kind of advice Lilith would have given someone else in her position.

"Okay," she said finally. "I’ll go for a walk. Clear my head. And then....." She stopped. "Then I’ll figure out what comes next."

Agnes squeezed her hand. "That’s all anyone can ask."

Sera stood and held out her hand to help Lilith up. "Come on. Let’s get you into some real clothes. You can’t go walking through the forest in one of Nicholas’s shirts."

Despite everything, Lilith smiled. "Why not? It’s comfortable."

"Because it smells like him," Sera said bluntly. "And you need to make this decision with a clear head, not while surrounded by Alpha pheromones that are specifically designed to make you want to stay."

She had a point.

Lilith let them help her get dressed in simple clothes, comfortable shoes, her hair pulled back in a braid. When she looked at herself in the cracked mirror she barely recognized the woman staring back. She looked older. Harder. Like she had lived a lifetime in the past few days.

Maybe she had.

"Thank you," she said to both of them. "For being here. For not judging me. For just....for being my friends."

"Always," Agnes said, pulling her into a hug.

Sera joined them, wrapping her arms around both of them, and for just a moment Lilith felt safe. Supported. Like maybe she was not completely alone in this nightmare.

When they finally pulled apart, Lilith took a deep breath and headed for the door.

"Lilith?" Agnes called after her.

She turned back. "Yes?"

"Whatever you decide," Agnes said quietly. "Whatever choice you make. Make it because it’s what YOU want. Not because it’s what anyone else wants for you. Not the Alphas. Not Victoria. Not us. You."

Lilith nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and walked out of the room.

The hallway was empty and quiet. Somewhere in the distance she could hear voices....pack members going about their day, probably whispering about what happened at the border, probably wondering if their future Luna was going to run.

She walked down the stairs and through the main hall, and no one stopped her. A few pack members looked at her with curiosity or concern, but no one tried to block her path.

When she reached the front doors she hesitated for just a moment, her hand on the handle.

Through the bonds she could feel them....Nicholas in his office working, Sebastian in the training yard, Lucian somewhere close by keeping watch even though he had promised to give her space. All three of them aware of her. All three of them holding back from reaching through the bonds to stop her.

She could feel their fear. Their desperate hope that she would stay. Their absolute certainty that if she walked out those doors, she might never come back.

Lilith took a breath, opened the door, and stepped outside.

***

The forest was quiet when Lilith stepped into it.

Not the peaceful kind of quiet, But the heavy oppressive kind that made her skin prickle and her steps slow. No birds sang in the branches overhead. No small animals rustled through the underbrush. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as she walked deeper into the trees, following a path she did not consciously choose but felt pulled toward anyway.

She had been walking for maybe twenty minutes when she felt it, a shift in the air, a charge of power that made the hair on her arms stand up.

Magic.

Old magic.

Morvaine magic.

"Hello, Lilith."

The voice came from behind her and Lilith spun around to find Victoria standing in the middle of the path like she had been there all along. She was dressed the same as she had been at the hospital...all black, elegant and severe and her eyes held that same mixture of relief and fury that Lilith remembered.

"Aunt Victoria," Lilith breathed.

Victoria’s expression softened slightly. "You came. I wasn’t sure you would."

"I needed to get away from the estate," Lilith said. "I needed space to think."

"And they let you leave?" Victoria looked genuinely surprised. "I would have thought the Alphas would chain you to the bed before allowing you to walk away."

"Nicholas said I’m not a prisoner."

"How magnanimous of him," Victoria said, and her tone was mocking. "To allow you freedom after completing three bonds and trapping you permanently."

The words stung because they were true. "You were waiting for me."

"I’ve been waiting since I felt the third bond complete," Victoria confirmed. "I knew you would need to leave eventually. Need to escape the suffocation of all those bonds pressing down on you." She moved closer, her gaze searching Lilith’s face. "I told you they would destroy you. And now look at you."

Lilith felt her composure crack. "They told me about the curse. About what it takes to break it."

"That you have to die?" Victoria’s voice was gentle now. "Yes. I’m sorry you had to hear it from them. I wanted to be the one to tell you. To explain it properly."

"Explain what?" Lilith demanded, and she felt tears burning behind her eyes. "That I’m their sacrificial lamb? That completing the bonds transferred the curse to me? That the only way to break it is for me to die?"

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