Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 28: The Triplet

Third Person’s POV.

The chambers prepared for the three warriors were spacious, almost regal, located on the same floor as the king’s private suite.

By pack standards, such rooms were reserved for royalty, not for men who had once been cast out.

Fresh linens, water basins, and wine had already been delivered. The servants who brought them moved with careful restraint, their politeness edged with caution, as though they expected danger to linger long after the doors closed.

The corridor outside felt unfamiliar in a way none of them trusted. It was not the carved stone or the scent of polished wood that unsettled them. They had lived in grander palaces during exile, had survived in harsher lands where vigilance was the only reason they still breathed.

What unsettled them now was absence.

Their mate was not here.

Edris stood by the window, arms folded, gaze fixed on the courtyard below. From this height he could see guards rotating more often than necessary and servants crossing the grounds with lowered voices and restless glances. Word of the disrupted coronation had already spread. The palace carried the strain of a story interrupted.

Kael paced from one end of the chamber to the other, tension riding his shoulders. Ronan remained near the door, listening to every footstep in the corridor, every shift of air beyond the walls.

"The guards rotate too frequently," Kael said at last. "Not enough to look defensive. Enough to watch."

"They see us as a threat," Ronan replied.

"They see uncertainty," Edris corrected without turning. "And uncertainty makes everyone uneasy."

Kael’s gaze sharpened. "We are not the ones who should feel hunted."

"No," Edris agreed. "And neither is she."

Silence stretched between them, thick and oppressive.

"She should not be alone," Kael said.

"She is in her own home," Edris answered evenly.

"That does not make it safe," Kael replied. "The elders are watching her. The pack is divided. And that mate of hers, he is always in her space."

Ronan’s jaw tightened. "We were fifteen when they banished us. We know what it feels like to stand in a place that once belonged to you and realize it does not anymore. She should not face that by herself."

Edris finally turned from the window, amber eyes steady. "She stopped a coronation in front of the entire pack," he said. "They believed she was dead, and she faced them without hesitation. That is not weakness."

"This is not about weakness," Kael said. "It is about trust. She cannot trust them yet. Especially the one that was to be crowned king. Silas."

At his name, the air seemed to harden.

"We do not know his plans," Edris said quietly. "That is reason enough to watch."

Ronan stepped closer to the window, fingers tapping the ledge. "She walks among them freely while we are kept at a distance. We are her mates. Her strength alone cannot guard her from everything."

Kael stopped pacing. "Do you believe she is safe with him?"

Edris inhaled slowly. "I do not know. What I do know is that I do not trust him."

That answer settled heavily between them.

"We need to protect what is ours," Ronan admitted. "Anyone who comes between us and our mate is fair game."

"We have to be careful," Kael said. "We need to know who we are up against before we move against him."

Edris’s voice remained controlled, but his hands tightened at his sides. "Silas is the son of the pack beta. He has connections and elders that would bend to do his will. We must be careful. And yet..." His amber gaze flicked to his brothers. "...we cannot stand idle."

"She has survived worse than him," Ronan said. "But I will not watch quietly while anyone else claims what is not his."

Kael pressed his palm against the cool stone wall, muscles coiled. "She never belonged to him. Not then. Not now."

Edris moved toward the door and rested his hand against the wood. "We do not interfere unless she asks," he said. "But we do not step away. Not ever."

Ronan nodded. "No one will protect her the way we do."

Kael faced them fully now, pacing forgotten. "Our lives are bound to hers. We were forced from this place once. We will not be pushed aside again."

Edris returned to the window, gaze steady. "She may not fully understand what we are willing to give to protect her," he said.

"She does not need to," Ronan said. "In time, she will."

Ronan leaned against the doorframe, eyes fixed on the corridor. "She may walk freely," he said, "but she does not walk alone."

Silence settled after Ronan’s last word.

Silas moved away from the window, his hands in his pockets.

"We are back in this pack."

Kael slowly let out a breath. Ronan quietly watched his brothers, a tight line forming on his lips.

Edris stopped, voice low but unwavering.

"Which means we no longer have to accept what we were told."

"The attack," Ronan said.

Twelve years had not dulled it. Selena in the field. Blood in the grass. Accusations that came too quickly. Exile delivered without hesitation. Every memory weighed like iron.

"They blamed us before they searched for proof," Kael said.

"Yes," Edris replied. "We should have been thanked for trying to save her. Instead, we were accused and banished."

The implication settled heavily.

"That is not coincidence," Kael said, jaw tightening.

"You think it was arranged?"

"I think someone benefited," Edris said.

"The princess survived. We are exiled. The pack stabilizes. Certain positions open. Someone gained from our absence."

Ronan folded his arms. "We were too young to challenge it."

"We are not now," Edris said. The shift in the room was immediate, a silent pact binding them all.

"If we intend to stand beside her," he continued, "we need the truth. Who hired those rogues that almost killed her? Who whispered lies into the ears of the elders?"

"Quietly?" Kael asked.

"Quietly," Edris confirmed. "We observe. We listen. We gather facts. Every detail matters. Every whisper counts." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"And when we have them?" Ronan asked.

Edris’s gaze hardened, amber eyes flashing. "Then we decide who pays. And they will pay dearly."