Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

The machines beeped their steady rhythm.

"But I’m here now," Victoria continued, her voice hardening. "I’m here and I’m not going to fail her again. The Blackwoods think they can use her to break their curse. Think they can sacrifice her and walk away free. But I won’t let them."

She thought about Nicholas Blackwood standing at the border with his brother, claiming Lilith belonged to them. About the arrogance in his voice. About the bond marks on Lilith’s throat that marked her as theirs.

The rage that had been simmering inside Victoria for days roared to life.

"They took Victor from you," Victoria said, and her magic crackled in the air around her, making the machines flicker. "Their father gave the order that left him to die. And now they’ve taken Lilith and bonded her and cursed her and they think I’m just going to let that stand."

She stood abruptly, releasing her sister’s hand.

"I gave them three days to find another way to break the curse," Victoria said. "Three days to prove they deserve her. But I already know what they’re going to find. The same thing every witch who’s studied that curse has found, there is no other way. The prophecy is absolute."

She walked to the window and looked out at the city lights below.

"So I’m going to take her," Victoria said quietly. "Whether she wants to go or not. I’m going to sever those bonds and hide her somewhere they can never find her. And if they try to stop me..."

Her magic flared brighter, strong enough that the lights in the room flickered and went out for three full seconds before coming back.

".....I will burn their pack to the ground. I will destroy everything they’ve built. I will make them understand what it feels like to lose everything."

She turned back to look at her sister’s still form on the bed.

"I know you would tell me not to do this," Victoria said. "You would tell me that revenge won’t bring Victor back. That hurting them won’t heal us. That Lilith deserves to make her own choices."

She walked back to the bed and pressed a kiss to Cassandra’s forehead.

"But you’re not here to stop me," Victoria whispered. "And I can’t let them take her the way they took him. I can’t. So I’m going to save her even if she hates me for it. Even if it means she never forgives me. At least she’ll be alive."

She straightened and pulled her hood back up, preparing to leave.

"I’ll come back in a few days," Victoria said. "And when I do, I’ll have Lilith with me. I’ll bring her here so she can see you. So she can be safe."

The machines beeped.

Cassandra didn’t respond.

Victoria left the hospital and stepped out into the night, her magic already gathering around her like a storm waiting to break.

She had given the Blackwoods three days.

Tomorrow the deadline would expire.

And she would go for her niece with every ounce of power she possessed.

The Blackwoods thought they were prepared.

They had no idea what a Morvaine witch was capable of when someone she loved was threatened.

But they were about to find out.

***

Nicholas’s POV

The drive to the safe house took exactly four hours and twenty-three minutes.

Nicholas counted every single one of them.

Elena Markov sat in the backseat of the car they had borrowed from one of Silas’s contacts, silent and tense the entire journey. Sebastian drove while Nicholas kept his phone in his hand, checking the time obsessively and feeling the countdown ticking in his head like a bomb.

Twenty-two hours left until Victoria’s deadline.

Twenty-two hours to get Elena to safety, receive the witch’s location from Silas, find her, get answers, and make it back to the estate before everything fell apart.

It was not enough time.

Through the bond, Nicholas could feel Lilith.....awake and anxious back at the estate, the curse inside her growing stronger with every passing hour. Could feel her fear bleeding through the connection alongside something else. Hope, maybe. Or desperation.

She was counting on them to find answers.

Nicholas refused to let her down.

***

The safe house turned out to be a cabin in the mountains, remote, warded, completely isolated from any supernatural community that might report Elena’s location to the vampire hunting her. Sebastian pulled up to the entrance just as dawn was breaking, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold.

"This is it," Nicholas said, checking the address against the folder Silas had given them.

Elena looked out the window at the cabin and some of the tension left her shoulders. "It looks safe."

"It is," Nicholas assured her. "The wards are strong. You’ll be protected here."

They helped her inside, verified the access codes worked, and made sure she had everything she needed. Elena stood in the middle of the cabin’s main room looking small and lost, clutching her bag to her chest.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For bringing me here. For not...." She stopped. "For keeping your word."

"We told you we would," Sebastian said.

"I know. But wolves don’t always keep their promises to witches." Elena’s smile was bitter. "My family learned that the hard way."

Nicholas felt something twist in his chest but he did not have time to unpack whatever history was buried in that statement. "You’re safe now. That’s what matters."

Elena nodded and then surprised him by reaching into her bag and pulling out a small charm, a piece of crystal wrapped in silver wire.

"Here," she said, holding it out. "For your mate."

Nicholas stared at it. "What?"

"I can feel the bonds on you," Elena said. "Both of you. Connected to the same woman. And I can feel something else too. Something dark wrapped around those bonds." Her eyes were sympathetic. "A curse. Death magic. Old and powerful."

Nicholas’s jaw tightened. "How do you know that?"

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