Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

"Yes," Victoria said simply. "All of that."

Something inside Lilith broke. The careful control she had been maintaining since she woke up, the anger she had been holding onto like armor, it all shattered at once. She felt her knees give out and then Victoria was there, catching her, pulling her into her arms as Lilith dissolved into sobs.

"I know," Victoria murmured, holding her tightly. "I know, sweetheart. It’s not fair. None of this is fair."

"I can feel it," Lilith gasped between sobs. "The curse. It’s inside me. Growing. Like something alive and hateful coiled around my ribs."

Victoria’s arms tightened around her. "I know. That’s what the curse does. It feeds on life force. On magic. And you have so much magic inside you, Lilith. So much power. It will consume you from the inside out unless we stop it."

"How?" Lilith pulled back to look at her aunt’s face. "How do we stop it?"

Victoria’s expression was grave. "Come with me. Let me take you somewhere safe. Somewhere the bonds can’t reach you. Somewhere I can teach you to control your power and fight the curse before it kills you."

Lilith felt hope flare in her chest. "You can do that? You can stop the curse?"

"I can slow it," Victoria said carefully. "I can teach you to contain it, to keep it from spreading. But Lilith, you need to understand that as long as those bonds exist, as long as you’re tied to those wolves, the curse will keep growing. The bonds are feeding it. Strengthening it."

The hope died as quickly as it had come. "So what are you saying?"

"I’m saying the bonds have to be severed," Victoria said bluntly. "Completely. Permanently. It’s the only way to stop the curse from killing you."

Lilith shook her head. "Sebastian said severing complete bonds would kill me. That the trauma would be too much...."

"Sebastian doesn’t know what he’s talking about," Victoria interrupted. "He’s a wolf, not a witch. He doesn’t understand how magic works. Yes, severing the bonds will hurt. Yes, you’ll suffer. But I can do it properly. I can cut the connections in a way that won’t kill you."

"And then what?" Lilith asked. "I just....what? Live with the pain of severed bonds for the rest of my life?"

"The pain will fade," Victoria promised. "It will take time. Months, maybe a year. But eventually the bonds will atrophy. Die. And you’ll be free."

Free.

The word should have filled Lilith with relief. Should have made her want to agree immediately. But instead all she felt was a terrible aching loss.

"But I’ll never be able to be near them again," she said quietly. "Will I? Even after the bonds are severed, even after they fade, being near them would just make the bonds try to reform."

"Yes," Victoria confirmed. "You would have to leave. Permanently. Never come back to this territory. Never see them again."

Lilith felt like she could not breathe. "I don’t know if I can do that."

"Why not?" Victoria demanded, and there was frustration in her voice now. "They lied to you, Lilith. They kept the truth about your father from you. They marked you knowing what it would cost. Why would you want to stay with them?"

"Because I love them," Lilith whispered, and saying it out loud made it real in a way it had not been before. "I don’t want to. I shouldn’t. But I do."

Victoria’s expression softened with something that looked like pity. "That’s the bonds talking. Not your heart. The bonds are designed to make you love them, to make you want to stay even when every rational part of you knows you should run."

"Is it?" Lilith challenged. "Or do I actually love them and the bonds are just amplifying something that was already there?"

Victoria was quiet for a moment. "Does it matter? Either way, staying with them means dying. Is that really a price you’re willing to pay?"

Lilith thought about Nicholas promising they would find another way. About Sebastian saying he would rather stay cursed than let her die. About Lucian marking her without permission because he was too terrified to lose her.

"They said they won’t let me sacrifice myself," she said. "They said they’ll find another way to break the curse or they’ll live with it."

Victoria laughed....bitter and sad. "Of course they said that. They’ll say anything to keep you from leaving. But Lilith, listen to me, there IS no other way. The prophecy is absolute. And if they try to live with the curse, they’ll go feral within a year. Maybe less. And when they do, they’ll kill you themselves."

The words hit Lilith like a physical blow because she could hear the truth in them. "So what are my options? Die to break the curse? Or watch them go feral and die anyway?"

"No," Victoria said firmly. "Your option is to choose LIFE. Choose yourself. Come with me and let me save you."

She held out her hand and Lilith stared at it like it was a lifeline and a trap all at once.

"I can hide you," Victoria continued. "Teach you to control your power. The Morvaine bloodline is ancient, Lilith. Older than the packs. Older than most supernatural families. And you’re the last of us. The last Morvaine witch."

"What does that mean?" Lilith asked.

"It means you have power those wolves can’t even comprehend," Victoria said. "Power that’s been suppressed your entire life. Your mother hid you. Bound your magic. Tried to make you seem wolfless so no one would come looking for you. But the magic is there, Lilith. I can feel it. And it’s stronger than anything I’ve ever encountered."

Lilith felt a chill run down her spine. "My mother bound my magic? Why?"

"Because she was afraid," Victoria said quietly. "Afraid of what happened to our coven. Afraid of the hunters who came for us. Afraid that if anyone knew what you were, they would take you and use you the way they tried to use us."

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