Chapter 11: First Meeting
The Blackwood estate appeared through the trees like something out of a nightmare.
Massive. Ancient. Built from dark stone that seemed to swallow light rather than reflect it. Three stories of Gothic architecture with towers at each corner, narrow windows that looked like eyes watching, and iron gates that opened slowly as the car approached.
Lilith pressed herself against the car seat and stared.
This was where she’d spend the next month.
This was where three Alpha wolves waited to exact their revenge on a traitor’s daughter.
The car rolled through the gates and up a long gravel driveway lined with bare trees. It was barely ten AM but the estate grounds looked perpetually twilight.....shadowed and cold despite the weak morning sun.
Marcus pulled the car to a stop in front of the main entrance.
"We’re here," he said unnecessarily.
Lilith didn’t move.
Couldn’t move.
Her entire body had locked up, survival instinct screaming at her to run even though there was nowhere to run to.
Marcus got out and opened her door. "Miss Thorne. The Alphas are waiting."
She forced herself to move. Got out of the car on shaking legs. Grabbed her small bag.
The front doors of the estate opened.
A woman emerged....older, maybe sixty, with steel-grey hair pulled back in a severe bun and sharp eyes that assessed Lilith in a single glance. She wore a black dress with a white apron. Head housekeeper, Lilith guessed.
"You’re the Thorne girl," the woman said. Not a question.
"Yes, ma’am."
"I’m Mrs. Hallowell. Head of household staff." Her voice was crisp and professional. "Follow me. The Alphas are expecting you in the main hall."
She turned and walked back inside without waiting to see if Lilith followed.
Lilith looked at Marcus one last time.
He met her eyes with something that might have been sympathy. "Good luck," he said quietly.
Then he got back in the car and drove away.
Leaving her alone.
Lilith took a breath and walked through the front doors.
The interior of the estate was just as imposing as the exterior.
High ceilings. Dark wood paneling. Expensive artwork on the walls. A massive chandelier hanging in the entrance hall that probably cost more than her entire pack’s annual budget.
Everything about it screamed power and wealth and a world so far removed from her tiny omega apartment that it might as well have been a different planet.
Mrs. Hallowell led her through a maze of corridors without speaking. Their footsteps echoed on the polished marble floors. Lilith caught glimpses of rooms as they passed, a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a dining room with a table that could seat thirty, a sitting room with furniture that looked like it belonged in a museum.
Finally, they stopped in front of a set of double doors.
"The main hall," Mrs. Hallowell said. She looked at Lilith with those sharp assessing eyes. "The Alphas are inside. You’ll go in alone. I’ll be nearby if you need assistance, though I doubt you will." A pause. "Do you understand what you agreed to when you signed that contract?"
"Yes," Lilith said quietly.
"Do you?" Mrs. Hallowell’s gaze was piercing. "Because once you walk through those doors, there’s no changing your mind. No backing out. You belong to them for thirty days. Whatever they want to do to you, you endure it. That’s the agreement."
Lilith’s hands were shaking. She clasped them together to hide it. "I understand."
Mrs. Hallowell studied her for another moment. Then she reached forward and opened the doors.
"They’re waiting," she said.
Lilith walked inside.
The doors closed behind her with a heavy, final sound.
The main hall was enormous.
Two stories high with exposed wooden beams crossing the ceiling. A massive fireplace at one end with a fire already burning. Dark leather furniture arranged in a seating area. And at the far end, three men standing in front of floor-to-ceiling windows.
They turned when she entered.
Lilith’s breath caught.
She’d seen photos of the Blackwood triplets before. Everyone had, they were famous in the werewolf world, three Alpha brothers ruling one of the most powerful packs in the territory.
But photos didn’t do them justice.
Photos didn’t capture the sheer presence they had.
The one in the middle stepped forward first.
Tall....easily six-seven. Lean but powerfully built. Dark hair with silver streaks at the temples that caught the light. And eyes that made her stomach drop.
Silver.
Pure, metallic silver that seemed to glow even in the dim light of the hall.
"Lilith Thorne," he said. His voice was cold. Controlled. The kind of voice that expected immediate obedience. "I’m Nicholas Blackwood. Alpha of this pack."
He gestured to his left. "My brother Sebastian."
The second man stepped forward and Lilith had to tilt her head back to look at him properly.
Massive. That was the only word for him. Easily six-six and built like a wall....broad shoulders, thick arms, the kind of body that looked like it could break her in half without effort. Dark eyes. Short dark hair. A face that would have been handsome if it wasn’t currently set in an expression of cold assessment.
"And my youngest brother, Lucian," Nicholas continued.
The third man moved forward with a grace that was almost predatory.
Slightly shorter than his brothers, maybe six-four....but no less intimidating. Lean and lethal-looking. Dark hair that fell slightly into his face. And eyes that made her skin prickle.
Golden.
Bright, burning gold that tracked her every movement like a wolf watching prey.
All three of them stood there and studied her.
She felt completely exposed under their combined gaze. Like they could see through her clothes, through her skin, straight down to the terrified girl underneath who was trying very hard to look braver than she felt.
"You’re smaller than I expected," Sebastian said finally. His voice was a low rumble. "Barely nourished. Two months of omega life did a number on you."
