Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

Three days.

It had been three days since Lilith woke up in Nicholas’s bed with a partial mark on her throat and holes in her memory and the overwhelming knowledge that she was not what she thought she was.

Three days of sleeping and waking and sleeping again, her body exhausted in a way that went deeper than physical tiredness. Three days of Agnes bringing her food and sitting with her while she picked at it, not pushing her to talk but just being there. Three days of Nicholas checking on her with careful eyes and Lucian hovering in doorways without coming in and Sebastian....

Sebastian stayed away.

Not entirely. She could feel him through the incomplete bond, could sense when he was close even when she could not see him. The bond pulled at her constantly, an ache in her chest that never quite went away, and she knew without asking that he was suffering too.

But he did not come to her room. Did not push her. Did not ask her to make a decision she was not ready to make.

And somehow that made it worse.

Lilith was sitting by the window in her bedroom, she had moved back to her own room the day after she woke up, unable to stay in Nicholas’s space any longer when Agnes knocked and entered with a tray.

”Lunch, dear,” Agnes said, setting it on the small table. ”You need to eat something.”

”I’m not hungry.” Lilith said looking at her.

”You haven’t been hungry for three days and you’re going to waste away if you keep this up.” Agnes’s voice was gentle but firm. ”At least try.”

Lilith looked at the tray....soup and bread and fruit and felt her stomach turn. But Agnes was right. She had barely eaten since waking up and her body was already weak. She needed to take care of herself even if she did not feel like it.

She moved to the table and picked up the spoon, forcing herself to take a bite of soup. It was warm and well-seasoned and tasted like nothing.

Agnes sat in the chair across from her and watched with patient eyes. After a moment she said quietly, ”How are you feeling?”

”I don’t know,” Lilith admitted. ”Confused. Scared. Tired. Name it”

”That’s understandable given what you’ve been through.”

Lilith set the spoon down and looked at Agnes. ”Do you know what I am?”

Agnes was quiet for a moment, her expression thoughtful. ”I know you’re not entirely wolfless. I’ve suspected that for a while now.”

”Why didn’t you say anything?”

”Because it wasn’t my place to tell you something the Alphas were still trying to understand themselves.” Agnes leaned forward slightly. ”And because I didn’t want to frighten you.”

”Well I’m frightened now.” she replied, looking at her hand.

”I know, dear. But you’re also still here. Still breathing. Still fighting.” Agnes reached across the table and covered Lilith’s hand with her own. ”You’re stronger than you think child.”

Lilith wanted to believe that. Wanted to feel strong instead of fragile and broken and utterly lost.

”The incomplete bond,” she said quietly. ”Does it hurt him? Sebastian?”

Agnes’s expression softened. ”Yes. Very much.”

”How bad?” she asked.

”Bad enough that he hasn’t slept in three days. Bad enough that he’s been training himself into exhaustion trying to manage the pain. Bad enough that his brothers are worried about him.” Agnes squeezed her hand gently. ”But he won’t push you. He would rather suffer than make you feel pressured.”

Lilith felt something twist in her chest. ”I don’t know what to do.”

”You don’t have to know right now. You just have to take it one day at a time.”

”But I can feel it,” Lilith whispered. ”The bond. It pulls at me constantly. Like something is incomplete and wrong and it won’t let me forget it.”

”That’s what incomplete bonds do,” Agnes said. ”They ache until they’re finished.”

”And if I don’t finish it?” she asked.

”Then it will keep aching. For both of you. Until one of you can’t take it anymore.”

Lilith closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the weight of that. She had three days to think and all she had managed to do was confuse herself more.

Agnes stood and moved to the door. ”Sera is here to see you. Should I send her up?”

Lilith nodded. ”Yes. Please.”

***

Sera arrived a few minutes later, knocking softly before entering. She looked the same as always...dark hair pulled back, amber eyes sharp and assessing, but there was something softer in her expression now.

”Hey,” Sera said.

”Hey.” Lilith responded from her spot at the window.

Sera closed the door and came to sit in the chair Agnes had vacated, looking at Lilith for a long moment before speaking. ”You look terrible.”

Lilith laughed despite herself. ”Thanks.”

”I’m serious. When was the last time you slept properly?”

”I don’t know. I keep having dreams. Fragments of things I don’t understand. So sleeping doesn’t really help.”

Sera nodded slowly. ”The pack is talking.”

”About me?” Lilith asked.

”About everything. About you walking into the forest. About Alpha Sebastian’s partial mark. About what happens next.” Sera leaned back in her chair. ”They’re worried. Some of them are scared. But most of them are just waiting to see what you decide.”

”That makes two of us,” Lilith muttered.

”Are you going to complete the bond?” Sera asked.

Lilith looked at her friend and felt the weight of the question settle over her. ”I don’t know. How do I choose something this permanent when I don’t even know what I am?”

”You’re Lilith,” Sera said simply. ”That’s all you need to be.”

”But I’m not just Lilith anymore, am I? I’m something else. Something I don’t understand. Something that can reject an Alpha’s mark and walk six miles through the forest without remembering it and make lights flicker when I get upset.” She felt tears burning behind her eyes. ”How am I supposed to make a choice about bonding permanently to someone when I don’t even know who I am?”