Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Chapter 167: What Are We Going To Do About Her?

Then she was gone, closing the door softly behind her.

Lilith stood alone in her room, her actual room, her own space, and let herself breathe for the first time since the carriage had pulled away from Shadowmere’s gates. The tears came then, quiet and exhausted, born of everything she’d left behind and everything waiting for her here.

She moved to the bed and sat down on its edge, taking in the reality of it all. The soft mattress. The quality of the linens. The space that was hers alone. The books on the shelves. The view of the gardens. All of it arranged with care, with thought, with some attempt at making her comfortable.

She thought of Agnes preparing this space. She thought of Sera’s genuine happiness at seeing her. She thought of Mara’s formal respect, of the entire household’s clear understanding that something had changed, that she was no longer a slave. no longer a payment.

The brothers hadn’t spoken a word, and yet their silence had communicated everything. Their presence had shifted how the entire estate treated her, had elevated her from visitor to... what? Not quite family, not yet. But something more permanent. Something that mattered.

She lay back against the pillows, exhausted and overwhelmed and caught somewhere between the life she’d left and the life she was walking into. Outside her window, the gardens darkened as the sun sank lower, painting the sky in shades of purple and gold.

She closed her eyes and listened to the quiet of the estate settling into evening, to the distant sounds of dinner being prepared in the kitchens below, to the life of Blackwood moving around her, holding her, beginning to make room for her in its ancient, powerful heart.

***

*Nicholas’s Office*

The late afternoon light filtered through the tall windows of Nicholas’s office, casting long shadows across the mahogany desk. Nicholas sat in his chair, reviewing reports of estate business that had accumulated during their seven days away in Shadowmere, though his mind was only partially engaged with the papers in front of him. The other part of his attention was turned inward, monitoring the steady pull of the curse that had begun the moment the carriage crossed back onto Blackwood territory.

Eli entered without knocking, the privilege of a trusted beta. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of competent bearing that had made him the obvious choice to manage the estate in their absence. Seven days wasn’t long, but it was long enough to test a beta’s capability, long enough to know whether someone could hold an alpha’s territory without letting it slip.

"Report," Nicholas said, setting down his pen.

Eli moved forward with the easy confidence of someone who’d managed the task without incident. "The pack is stable. No territorial challenges, no disruptions to the training rotations, the warriors have maintained their schedules without issue. The household staff continued their duties as normal. There were no incidents that required alpha intervention." He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as he assessed Nicholas. "Though I will say, the atmosphere shifted the moment word came that you were returning with the Thorne girl. There’s been... curiosity."

Nicholas looked up from his papers. "Curiosity."

"The pack have been talking. Speculation about why she’s returning, why she’s not staying back at Shadowmere after the contract. Mara noticed it and reported it to me directly." Eli’s expression remained professional, but there was something knowing in his eyes. "The pack senses something significant has changed."

"Let them sense," Nicholas said, returning his attention to his papers. "Speculation keeps them occupied."

"As you say, Alpha." Eli shifted his weight slightly, the kind of unconscious movement that suggested he wanted to say something else but was holding back.

"What else?" Nicholas prompted, reading the hesitation.

"The curse," Eli said carefully. "The full moon is in less than a week time"

Nicholas didn’t respond immediately. He already knew what Eli was implying but the door to the office opened without warning before he could respond.

Sebastian stepped inside, his dark eyes sharp with purpose. "Brother, we need to talk."

Lucian followed immediately behind him, and there was something in his movement that made Nicholas sit up straighter. The youngest brother was vibrating with barely contained energy, the kind that meant Zev was close to the surface, the kind that meant the curse was already making its presence felt despite their return being only hours old.

Eli read the room perfectly. He stepped back, moving to position himself behind Lucian in the hierarchy of the office, a beta’s place, giving the brothers their space while remaining present and available. The gesture itself communicated volumes: whatever was about to be discussed required privacy, required the kind of serious conversation that demanded no interruption.

"Eli, give us the room," Nicholas said.

"Yes, Alpha," Eli replied, moving toward the door. He paused briefly near Lucian, placing a steady hand on the youngest alpha’s shoulder...a small gesture of loyalty, of grounding. Then he was gone, closing the door softly behind him.

For a moment, the three brothers stood in charged silence.

Sebastian was the first to break it, crossing the room toward Nicholas’s desk with the kind of purposeful movement that suggested he’d been working up to this conversation for hours. "The full moon is in eight days," he said, all pretense of civility stripped away. "What are we going to do about her now that we are back?"

Nicholas leaned back in his chair slowly, his silver eyes moving between his brothers. "Explain the question."

"I woke up this morning," Lucian said, his voice rough, his gold eyes blazing with barely contained frustration, "irritated. Edgy. The kind of irritable that means Zev is clawing at the surface, that means the curse is pulling harder than it has in days." He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture of agitation. "And I know it’s only going to get worse. Every day between now and the full moon, it’s going to get worse. The pull toward her is already so intense I can barely think about anything else, and you both know it’s the same for you."