Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 85: Missing Piece.

Selena.

The forest felt different the moment I stepped into it with purpose.

Earlier, it had been open, almost playful in the way the wind moved through the trees and sunlight filtered through the leaves. Now, it felt quieter. Heavier. As though it were holding its breath along with me.

The healer walked ahead with practiced ease, her steps sure and unhurried, her fingers occasionally brushing against leaves and low branches as though she knew exactly where everything was without needing to look. I followed closely behind, my gaze fixed on her back, studying her in silence.

I hadn’t needed to say much when I told her that I was coming with her. She had seen it in my expression.

The questions.

They had been building for some time now, lingering at the edge of my thoughts, waiting for the right moment to be asked. Now that moment had come, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the answers—but I knew I couldn’t keep avoiding them.

We walked deeper into the woods until the distant sounds of the others disappeared completely. No laughter. No movement. Just the quiet rustle of leaves beneath our feet and the occasional whisper of wind through the trees.

When the healer finally slowed to a stop beside a small clearing dotted with wild herbs, I felt something inside me tighten. She crouched, brushing her fingers lightly over the leaves as though inspecting them, but I could tell her attention had shifted. She was waiting.

So was I.

"There’s something I want to ask you," I said, my voice quieter than I intended.

She didn’t look up immediately. "I figured."

My fingers curled slightly at my sides as I forced myself to continue. "The boys. The ones who were banished."

That got her attention.

She turned her head slowly, her gaze lifting to meet mine, sharp and knowing.

I nodded.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken understanding, before she exhaled softly and straightened to her full height.

"Most people don’t fully understand what happened that day," she said carefully. "The information given to the pack was limited."

"Limited how?" I asked.

She hesitated, then answered with a single word. "The information given to the pack was controlled."

Something about the way she said it made my chest tighten. My heartbeat picked up, slow but insistent, as though it already understood what I was only beginning to realize.

"What do you remember?" I pressed.

Her gaze drifted past me, unfocused, as though she were looking into something far older than the forest around us.

"Before the incident," she began slowly, "the Blackthorne family was one of the most respected in the pack."

The name stirred something faint in my memory. Not clear enough to grasp, but familiar enough to unsettle me.

"The man and his wife both served in the pack army," she continued. "They were strong, loyal, and trusted. The kind of people others relied on without question."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. "And then, they died."

"Yes," she said quietly. "That was what we were told. They said it happened during a war."

A frown pulled at my brows. "They said?"

Her eyes returned to mine, sharper now. "To the best of my memory, there was no war at that time."

The words struck harder than I expected.

"What?"

"Some people noticed," she continued. "But they didn’t question it openly."

"Why not?"

"Because your father never gave them a reason to."

The answer came too easily, too firmly.

My chest tightened at the mention of him—my father, the late king. A man I had always believed to be just, unwavering, and fair.

I forced myself to stay focused. "And the boys?"

"You mean the sons."

"Yes," I said, stepping closer. "Were they officially banished?"

The healer shook her head slowly. "No. There was no formal declaration. No trial. Nothing that followed the laws of the pack."

A chill crept down my spine. "Then how—"

"It was done quietly," she interrupted. "By the elders... and the Beta."

Silas’s father.

The realization settled heavily in my stomach, cold and unwelcome.

"Why?" I asked, my voice lower now.

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she bent down, plucking a leaf and rolling it between her fingers as though she needed something to ground herself.

"You’re not saying everything," I said.

She paused, then exhaled slowly. "You’re perceptive."

"I need the truth."

She looked at me then—really looked at me—as though weighing whether I was ready for what she might say next.

"There have always been speculations," she admitted.

My heart skipped. "What kind of speculations?"

Her voice dropped slightly. "That your father may have had a hand in their disappearance."

For a moment, the world seemed to still.

"That’s not possible," I said automatically, but even to my own ears, the words sounded uncertain.

The healer didn’t react. She simply continued.

"The Blackthorne family had been promised a vast piece of land," she said. "Land that would have allowed them to start their own pack. It was meant to be compensation for their years of service."

"And it never happened?"

She shook her head. "No. They died before it could be fulfilled, and after that... everything unraveled."

I stared at her, trying to make sense of it all. "So you think—"

"I think there were too many things that didn’t add up," she said gently. "Too many silences where there should have been answers."

The forest suddenly felt colder, the air heavier against my skin. I wrapped my arms around myself without realizing it.

"And the boys," I whispered. "They tried to kill me."

That was the story I had been told. The truth I had accepted without question.

"That is what we were told," she replied.

Something in her tone made my chest tighten further.

"You don’t believe it," I said.

She didn’t deny it.

My thoughts began to spiral as the pieces started fitting together—the missing war, the dead parents, the quiet banishment, and the absence of a trial.

"What if they didn’t do it?" I asked softly.

The question hung between us, fragile and dangerous.

The healer studied me for a long moment before answering. "Then it means someone wanted you to believe they did."

A chill ran through me.

I turned my gaze deeper into the forest, my thoughts unraveling faster than I could catch them. Nothing felt certain anymore—not my past, not my father, not even the story I had built my life around.

After a moment, I spoke again. "What were they like?"

The healer tilted her head slightly. "There wasn’t to be known about the boys. They kept to themselves. Even though they lived in the pack, they didn’t mix with others."

"That must have been noticed."

"It was," she said. "But most believed their parents were protecting them from enemies."

I nodded slowly. It made sense, given everything.

"Did they have any other family?"

"None that I can recall," she said. "But I can ask when we return. There are those who might remember more."

I hesitated at the thought of returning to the pack—of facing everything waiting there—but pushed it aside.

"There’s something else," I said.

Her attention sharpened immediately.

"The antidote," I continued. "Vermora is rare. Deadly. Most people don’t survive it."

"And yet you did."

"Yes," I said quietly. "How?"

For the first time, she seemed uncertain.

"You should ask your mates," she said.

"I have," I replied. "They won’t tell me."

She studied me, thoughtful. "Then perhaps it is for the best."

I frowned. "How can that be for the best?"

"Because some truths come with a weight you may not be ready to carry," she said gently. "What matters is that they saved you. They chose you. Not out of duty, but because they love you."

Warmth spread through my chest despite everything.

"I know," I admitted softly.

She nodded, satisfied, and glanced down at the herbs in her hand. "I’m done here. We should head back."

As we began walking, my thoughts returned, circling endlessly.

The boys. The lies. The missing pieces.

And the truth that felt just out of reach.

Somewhere ahead, beyond the trees, I could feel them—Ronan, Edris, Kael.

Waiting.

And for reasons I couldn’t fully explain, my heart began to beat faster.

Because something told me the answers I was searching for were closer than I realized.