Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Chapter 141: You Want Us To Lie To Her?

The words landed in the room like a grenade.

Both Sebastian and Lucian’s heads snapped up immediately, their bodies tensing with alarm.

Sebastian’s eyes changed. The dark brown flickered with gold as Rhen surged forward, alarmed and confused.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Sebastian demanded, his voice sharp with shock and alarm. "Are you trying to get her to stay with us or to run away from us, brother? Because we all know perfectly well what happened during that alliance meeting. We can’t promise to look into it at all."

Lucian dropped his head into his hand, processing what Nicholas was suggesting. When he looked up again, his eyes met Sebastian’s with a heavy understanding.

"Since we can’t tell her the truth about her father’s death," Lucian said slowly, his voice carrying the weight of resignation, "since we can’t tell her why he was labeled a traitor and murderer, then let’s keep the truth from her."

He paused, his gold eyes blazing with the implications of what he was suggesting, with the moral line they were about to cross.

"But we tell her we will look into it again," Lucian continued, his voice becoming harder. "We promise to investigate. We promise to try to clear her father’s name. We give her hope that the stain on his memory might be washed away. We give her a reason to stay. A reason to come with us. A reason to believe that we’re trying to help her, not just claim her and use her."

Sebastian stared at him in something like horror mixed with desperate understanding.

"You want us to lie to her?" he asked quietly, his voice hollow. "To lie to our mate? To feed her false hope about clearing her father’s name when we know the truth? When we know exactly what happened and we can’t change that?"

Lucian’s eyes blazed gold, completely gold now, Zev showing through without any attempt at control. The wolf was visible in his gaze, raw and desperate and willing to do whatever it took.

"What would you have us do, brother?" his voice was harsh, desperate, final. "Because from the looks of it, this is the only choice we have right now. We can tell her the truth and watch her reject us. We can watch her try to run from us. We can watch our mate choose her memory of her father over her life with us. Or we can lie."

He stood, his body vibrating with intensity.

"We lie," Lucian said again, the words carrying absolute finality. "We tell her we’ll look into it. We give her false hope. We use her father’s memory as leverage to keep her with us. We do whatever it takes because the alternative is losing her completely. And I won’t accept that. I won’t accept losing her."

The brothers stood in silence.

Long minutes passed where none of them spoke. Where the weight of what they were about to do, what they were already deciding to do, settled over them like a heavy cloak.

This was the moment where they stopped being seducers. This was the moment where they became what the realm feared them to be. This was the moment where they made the conscious decision to cross a line that couldn’t be uncrossed.

Nicholas turned from the window.

His silver eyes were cold now. Not cruel, but cold. Strategic. Ruthless in the way that only true alphas could be ruthless. The kind of ruthlessness that came from understanding that sometimes love required sacrifice, and sometimes love required deception, and sometimes love required doing things that would haunt you forever.

"Tell Finn to bring Lilith to my room," he said, looking directly at Lucian. "It’s time to talk to her."

His voice was absolute. Final. There was no negotiation in it, no room for reconsideration.

He looked at both of his brothers in turn, his gaze heavy with what was about to happen.

"We will tell her she is our mate," Nicholas said, each word carrying weight and consequence. "We will tell her she’s coming with us when we leave Shadowmere. We will offer to take care of her mother. All her medical expenses. All her housing costs. Everything. We will ensure her mother is cared for in ways that Shadowmere could never manage."

He paused, letting that settle into their understanding.

"And we will promise to look into what happened during the alliance meeting," Nicholas continued, his voice steady despite the darkness of what he was saying. "We will promise to investigate her father’s death. We will promise to try to clear his name. We will give her hope that we’re trying to fix what was broken."

His silver eyes flickered with gold.

"Even if it’s a lie," he said quietly. "Even if we already know the complete truth about her father’s death and we have no intention of changing our understanding of it. We lie."

Lucian’s reaction was immediate, almost involuntary.

"Fuck! I can’t believe we’re actually going with this insane plan," he said, but his hand was already moving toward the door. His body was already accepting the command even as his words expressed the doubt that lived in his heart.

Sebastian looked between his brothers, his expression carrying the weight of what they were doing and what they were becoming in this moment.

"Well, we obviously don’t have any other choice here, brother," he said, his voice hollow but determined. "The clock is ticking. The full moon approaches. We have less than two weeks. We can’t afford to play this game much longer. We can’t afford to lose her."

Nicholas turned to look out the window one final time, his silhouette framed by the morning light.

"We have to do it," he said, his voice becoming harder than it had been throughout the entire conversation. Harder and more final. "We have to make her come back with us. We have to make her stay. Even if we have to lie a thousand times. Even if we have to coerce her completely."

He turned back to face his brothers, and his expression was absolutely resolved. This was Nicholas in his element. This was the strategic mastermind that the realm feared. This was the alpha who would do whatever it took.

"She stays with us," Nicholas said, his voice carrying the absolute authority of an alpha who had made a final decision that would shape the rest of all their lives. "And I don’t care what method we use to make that happen. I don’t care if we have to manipulate her. I don’t care if we have to use her mother’s welfare as leverage. I don’t care if we have to lie about investigating her father’s death."

His eyes locked on Lucian.

"She stays with us," Nicholas repeated, and it was a vow. A promise. An absolute statement of intent.

"Tell Finn to bring her now."