Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 39: A fracture.

The eastern wing of the royal chamber was quiet at that hour, the pale wash of dawn just beginning to stretch thin light across stone floors and carved wooden beams.

The air still held the coolness of night.

Edris walked down the corridor with deliberate calm, though he knew before he reached the door that the morning would not be peaceful. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

They would smell it.

He pushed the door open without hesitation.

Kael was already awake, seated at the edge of his bed, forearms resting on his knees. Ronan stood near the window, staring out across the training grounds where early risers had begun sparring in silence.

Both of them turned at the same time.

The silence that followed was not confusion. It was assessment.

Kael’s nostrils flared slightly.

Ronan’s jaw tightened.

"Where were you?" Ronan asked, his tone even, though it lacked its usual warmth.

Edris shut the door behind him. He did not rush to answer. He did not offer apology in posture or in breath. He simply crossed the room and began loosening the leather ties at his wrists.

"I went to make sure our mate was safe."

The word our was intentional.

Kael let out a humorless huff.

"Is that what you call it now?"

Edris glanced at him, already aware of where this was heading.

Kael rose slowly to his feet. "You smell like her."

There it was.

Not accusation yet. Just fact.

Edris met his brother’s gaze without flinching. "Yes."

Ronan stepped away from the window. "Is that all you did?"

The question hung in the air between them. It did not need clarification.

Edris did not pretend ignorance. Their senses were too sharp for lies. They could pick up the faint trace of Selena’s skin on his, the subtle intertwining of pheromones that lingered after intimacy.

Instead of defending himself, he tilted his head slightly and asked, "What do you think I did?"

Kael’s eyes flashed.

"You always do this," Kael snapped. "You only care about yourself. You act like you are calm while you take more than your share."

Edris felt the accusation land heavier than he expected.

"My share?" he repeated quietly.

"You think because you are the eldest, the most controlled, the most disciplined, that you are entitled to her first," Kael continued, stepping closer. "You always position yourself near her. You always want to be alone with her."

Ronan’s voice cut in, lower but firmer. "You should have called us."

Edris’s shoulders tightened.

"So you went to play the perfect mate," Ronan added. "While you left us."

That struck something sharp inside him.

"That was not the intention," Edris said. "Silas went to see her and I just needed to make sure she was safe afterwards."

Kael’s expression darkened further. "So you stayed the entire night."

"I did not plan to," Edris replied evenly. "I went there because he had gone to see her. I did not trust his intentions."

"And we would have come if you called," Ronan insisted. "We are all bound to her. Not just you."

The room seemed smaller suddenly.

Edris understood their anger. He truly did. The bond they shared with Selena was not ordinary. It was rare. Sacred. Three wolves tied to one mate, balanced only by trust between brothers.

But trust fractured easily when desire entered the space.

"I did not intend to stay the night," Edris said at last. "It happened."

"That is not enough," Kael replied sharply. "You made that choice alone."

Edris held his brother’s stare.

"Yes," he said simply.

Kael’s hands curled into fists. "You are selfish. You always have to be first."

The word landed harder than any physical blow.

For a brief second, something instinctual surged inside Edris. A territorial instinct. A primal refusal to yield. But he pressed it down.

He had always been the steadier one. The one who did not let emotion rule him.

Ronan watched him carefully. "We share her," he said more quietly. "That was the agreement. That was the balance."

Edris nodded once.

"I know."

But knowing and feeling were not the same thing.

The silence stretched. None of them moved.

At last, sensing that their tempers were too close to igniting, Edris turned away. He began unfastening his shirt, shrugging it off with controlled movements.

Neither brother looked away.

The faint marks along his collarbone and shoulder were subtle, but visible enough to confirm what scent had already revealed.

Kael swore under his breath.

Edris did not respond. He removed the rest of his clothing and walked toward the bathing chamber without another word.

The door shut behind him.

Water poured into the stone basin, steam slowly filling the enclosed space. He braced both hands against the edge and bowed his head.

For a long moment, he simply breathed.

Selfish.

The word echoed in his mind.

Was he?

He had gone to Selena because Silas had been there. That part was true. He had felt the shift in her emotions across the bond, the tension she carried. The unease.

He had not planned to stay.

But when he saw her, when he felt the warmth of her body and the relief in her eyes, something inside him had tightened possessively. The thought of leaving her alone after Silas’s visit had felt wrong.

And when she had touched him, when she had chosen him in that moment, he had not resisted.

The water cascaded over his shoulders as he stepped beneath it, heat sliding over muscle and skin.

He closed his eyes.

He understood that Selena belonged to the three of them. The bond was not fractured. It was whole. Equal.

Yet the idea of sharing her did not sit easily within him.

He had always been able to divide resources, territory, responsibility. Brotherhood meant sacrifice.

But this was not land. This was not power.

This was her.

Her laughter. Her scent. The way her fingers curled against his chest when she fell asleep.

He exhaled slowly.

Perhaps Kael was right.

Perhaps there was a part of him that wanted more than his allotted portion. A part that wanted to be the one she reached for first every time.

The thought unsettled him.

Because if that were true, it meant he was not as balanced as he believed.

He leaned his forehead against the cool stone wall, water sliding down his back.

And then another thought crept in, quieter but sharper.

Who does she love more?

Him.

Kael.

Ronan.

He had never allowed himself to consider it before. They had agreed not to compete in that way. The bond was shared, not ranked.

But now, alone in the steam and silence, the question would not be dismissed.

Did her heartbeat change more for one of them?

Did her smile soften differently?

Did she seek one presence more instinctively?

He replayed the previous night in his mind, not in detail, but in feeling. The way she had relaxed against him. The way she had whispered his name.

Was that simply comfort in the moment?

Or something deeper?

Jealousy was an ugly thing. He had seen it tear apart packs before. Brothers who once fought side by side turned vicious over mates.

He would not allow that to happen here.

Yet the possibility lingered like a shadow.

If she chose one of them above the others, what then?

The water ran colder as the basin emptied.

Edris straightened, dragging a hand through his wet hair. He stared at his reflection in the fogged metal mirror mounted on the wall.

Calm. Controlled. Rational.

That was how he had always defined himself.

But beneath that composure lay something far more primal. A wolf that did not like to share what it claimed.

He clenched his jaw.

Selena was not property. She was not territory.

She had chosen them all.

And if he allowed selfishness to fracture that bond, he would lose far more than pride.

He turned off the water and stepped out, reaching for a cloth. The scent of her still lingered faintly on his skin despite the steam.

Instead of resenting it, he let himself breathe it in one last time before it faded completely.

When he exited the bathing chamber, Kael and Ronan were still there.

The tension had cooled slightly, replaced with something more uncertain.

Edris dressed without speaking.

As he pulled his shirt over his shoulders, he met his brothers’ eyes.

"I will not keep things from you again," he said quietly. "But understand this. I did not go there to take something from you."

Kael’s jaw tightened, but he did not interrupt.

"I went because I was worried," Edris continued. "And I stayed because she needed comfort."

Ronan studied him carefully. "And what did you need?"

The question lingered.

Edris did not answer immediately.

Finally, he said, "The same."

Silence settled between them once more.

Kael let out a short, bitter laugh.

"Of course," he muttered.

Ronan glanced at him. "Kael—"

"No." Kael stepped back, shaking his head once. "I am not doing this."

Edris’s gaze sharpened slightly. "Doing what?"

"Pretending this is balanced."

The words landed heavy.

Kael’s chest rose and fell once, hard. "You say you were worried. You say she needed comfort. Fine. But do not stand there and act like you did not want it. Like you did not choose it."

Edris did not deny it.

That was answer enough.

Something flickered across Kael’s face then. Not rage.

Something closer to hurt.

He grabbed his jacket from the chair beside his bed.

"Where are you going?" Ronan asked.

"Out."

The single word was clipped.

He did not look at either of them as he moved toward the door.

When he reached it, his hand paused briefly on the handle.

For a moment, it seemed like he might turn back.

He didn’t.

The door shut harder than necessary behind him.

The sound echoed through the chamber.

Silence followed.

Ronan exhaled slowly.

Edris stared at the closed door, jaw tight.

The fracture was no longer invisible.

And for the first time since the bond had formed between the three of them, it felt like something might actually break.