Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Chapter 171: They Like You

By early afternoon, Lilith had read the same paragraph three times without absorbing a single word. The book in her lap remained open, but her attention kept drifting toward the windows, toward the gardens visible beyond the glass, toward the pull of fresh air and sunlight and space that felt infinite compared to the small omega apartment at Shadowmere.

She set the book down carefully on the arm of the chair and stood, stretching slightly. Agnes hadn’t said she couldn’t go outside. She’d said she was free to move about the grounds as she wished. The gardens qualified as grounds.

She changed into practical shoes, a luxury from the wardrobe that still felt surreal, and made her way out of her room, down the corridor, toward the main stairs. The estate was quieter during the day than it had been at night, the afternoon light turning familiar hallways into something almost welcoming. She passed a few household staff, who nodded respectfully as she passed. No one stopped her. No one questioned her right to be moving through the house.

The main doors opened onto the stone terrace overlooking the gardens, and Lilith took a moment to simply breathe in the fresh air. It was warmer than the air inside, and it carried the scent of growing things...flowers, greenery, rich earth. She descended the stone steps carefully, acutely aware of being visible to anyone who might be watching from the windows above, but pushing that awareness aside. She was allowed to be here. She was allowed to want this.

The gardens were even more beautiful up close than they were from her window. Winding pathways of pale stone curved between carefully arranged beds of flowering plants in full bloom. Rosa bushes in shades of pink and red. Hydrangeas in blue and purple. Lavender in neat rows that rustled slightly in the breeze. Everything was tended with obvious care, each plant positioned to complement the ones around it, creating a tapestry of color and scent.

Lilith began to walk, following one of the pathways almost at random, simply letting herself exist in the beauty of it. She ran her fingers along the edge of a rose bloom as she passed, careful not to damage the petals, just touching the softness of it. When had she last had the luxury of noticing something beautiful just for the sake of noticing?

"You came outside!"

Lilith turned to find Sera hurrying down one of the intersecting pathways, her young face bright with obvious pleasure. She was wearing practical working clothes, her hair slightly mussed, suggesting she’d been doing physical labor before spotting Lilith.

"I hope that’s all right," Lilith said, though she wasn’t entirely sure why she felt the need to ask permission.

"Of course it’s all right," Sera said, coming to a stop beside her. "You live here now. You can go wherever you want." She looked around at the gardens with obvious affection. "These are my favorite part of the estate. I come out here whenever I can, it’s the one place that feels peaceful, you know? Everything else is all stone and formality and alphas being intense. But out here..." She gestured toward the flowers. "Out here it’s just beautiful."

They began to walk together, following the pathways deeper into the gardens. Sera proved to be an excellent guide, pointing out different flowers and telling her their names, explaining which ones bloomed in spring and which were summer flowers, which ones smelled the sweetest. Her enthusiasm was infectious, genuine in a way that made it easy to forget, for stretches of time, that Lilith was living in the home of three powerful alphas who still remained mostly strangers.

"The library has the best view in the late afternoon," Sera was saying as they rounded a corner toward a particularly secluded section of the garden. "The sun comes through the western windows and just... it’s beautiful. Though you have to be careful because that’s usually when Alpha Nicholas is working, and he gets grumpy if you interrupt him." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "He’s not actually mean or anything, but he gets this very controlled, very cold. It’s almost scarier than when Alpha Lucian loses his temper, honestly."

"How often do they lose their tempers?" Lilith asked carefully.

Sera considered the question as they walked. "It depends. Alpha Lucian’s pretty much always on the edge of something, but he’s never actually hurt anyone unless they deserved it. Alpha Sebastian’s better at controlling his, but that just means when he does get angry, it’s more calculated. Scarier in a different way." She paused, stopping in front of a bench positioned in an alcove surrounded by flowering bushes. "Alpha Nicholas almost never gets angry. But when he does, the entire pack goes silent."

They sat on the bench, and Lilith found herself relaxing slightly. This was what she’d been missing at Shadowmere in the omega quarters, a genuine friend, someone to talk to without the weight of hierarchy or fear.

"What about the full moon, how do you celebrate it here?" Lilith asked, the question escaping before she could stop it.

Sera’s expression shifted, became more serious. "That’s..." She trailed off, choosing her words carefully. "That’s different. The full moon brings out something in all werewolves, but with the Blackwoods, it’s worse. There’s a curse....I don’t know all the details, but it makes them more feral, harder to control. The last full moon..." She paused. "Let’s just say the entire estate was on high alert, and the Alphas were locked in their private quarters the entire night."

"So they’re dangerous?" Lilith asked quietly.

"To people who challenge them? Yes. To people they care about?" Sera shook her head. "I’ve never seen them hurt someone they care about. But I’ve also never seen them with a mate before, so..." She shrugged, leaving the implication hanging.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the breeze moving through the flowers, the distant sound of birds calling from somewhere beyond the garden walls.

"They like you," Sera said finally, her voice soft. "I can tell because they’re different when you’re around. Less sharp. More..." She searched for the word. "Present. Like they’re actually thinking about something other than their own power for once."

Before Lilith could respond, a shadow fell across the bench, and both women looked up to find Mara standing at the edge of the garden alcove. The warrior was in full working gear, leather armor, weapons at her sides, which made her presence feel suddenly formal, suddenly official.

"Miss Thorne," Mara said, inclining her head respectfully. "I wanted to ensure you were aware of the estate’s security protocols. The gardens are safe, but there are areas beyond the outer walls where it’s not advisable to wander without escort."

"Of course," Lilith said, grateful for the practical information. "Sera’s been showing me around."