Her hands were raw. Visibly damaged. The skin on her palms was callused and marked with small cuts. Her wrists were thin enough that the brothers could see the delicate bones clearly.

She looked like she’d been worked to exhaustion.

Lucian stood up abruptly.

"Fuck that bastard," he said, his voice rough and dangerous. "I’m going to kill him right now."

He moved toward the door with the intention of leaving the room, of finding Garrett, of extracting payment for what the pack had done to their mate.

"Sit down," Nicholas said, his voice dropping to something lethal.

Lucian stopped. For a moment, there was visible internal struggle, Zev fighting against Nicholas’s command, desperate to hunt, desperate to claim, desperate to protect what was theirs.

Then Lucian sat back down, but his entire body was vibrating with barely contained rage and need. His eyes were completely gold. His hands were clenched into fists. The muscles in his jaw were working like he was grinding his teeth hard enough to break them.

Nicholas turned back to look at Lilith.

She was standing in the center of the room, her small frame looking even smaller in the luxurious space. Her expression was one of pure fear. She was looking between the three brothers with the expression of a prey animal surrounded by predators.

Nicholas understood immediately.

The last time she’d been summoned like this, during the contract...it had ended in multiple rounds of sex. She’d been brought to their rooms and they’d used her body without restraint. She’d experienced the full intensity of their need and their possession.

She expected the same now.

The fear in her eyes was absolute.

Nicholas stood slowly, deliberately, showing her that his movements were controlled. He wasn’t rushing toward her. Wasn’t making any sudden movements. He was being careful.

"Lilith," he said, his voice smooth and measured. "How are you?"

The question was simple. But the way he said her name, the way his voice wrapped around the syllables...made something inside her shudder.

She didn’t answer.

"Lilith," Nicholas said again, using her name like a tool to draw her attention. "Answer me."

"I’m... fine," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her face was turned down, her eyes on the floor, her entire body language screaming that she was trying to make herself invisible.

"How is your mother?" Nicholas asked.

Still looking at the floor, Lilith answered: "She’s... the same. Still unconscious."

Her voice was hollow. Defeated.

"How has the pack been treating you since you returned?" Nicholas asked.

"Fine," Lilith said again, the lie obvious in her voice.

Nicholas let that hang for a moment. Then: "Raise your head, Lilith. I want to see your face when you answer me."

She hesitated. The command was gentle, but it was still a command. The alpha authority behind it was undeniable.

Slowly, reluctantly, Lilith raised her head.

She looked at Nicholas and saw the intensity of his silver gaze...Kael showing completely, the wolf visible and present in his human eyes. The wolf recognized her as theirs. The wolf was possessive and hungry and completely focused on her.

The intensity of that gaze was too much.

She dropped her face immediately, like she’d been burned by fire.

Her entire body was shaking.

In the silence that followed, Sebastian sent a mindlink to his brothers, his mental voice sharp and frustrated:

"Well, we’re fucked. She can’t even look at us. How are we supposed to win her over?"

But none of them had answers. All they could do was watch as their mate trembled in the center of the room, terrified of them, completely unprepared for gentleness.

"Your mother needs medical care," Nicholas said, his voice becoming gentler somehow, more conversational. "Expensive medical care. You’ve been trying to cover those costs with omega wages?"

Lilith nodded slightly, still not looking up.

"The pack hasn’t been treating you well," Nicholas continued, and it wasn’t a question. He could see it in her appearance. Could read it in every exhausted line of her body. "They’ve been working you hard. Not feeding you enough. Not letting you rest."

Lilith’s hands clenched into fists at her sides.

She was confused. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. The brothers were supposed to claim her immediately. Use her body. Satisfy their need. But instead, Nicholas was asking questions. Was showing concern. Was being... gentle?

It didn’t make sense.

It terrified her more than straightforward aggression would have.

Lucian stood up again.

He walked toward her slowly, deliberately, his movements controlled but his eyes completely gold. His entire body was vibrating with the effort it took to not just pick her up and carry her to one of the bedrooms.

Zev was screaming inside him. The wolf wanted to claim her. Wanted to mark her. Wanted to bury himself inside her and make it clear to every alpha in the realm that she belonged to them.

But Lucian held the line.

He stopped a few feet away from her. Close enough that she could feel his presence. Close enough that his scent would reach her. Close enough that his proximity would register on her nervous system.

But not close enough to touch.

"Lilith," he said, and his voice was rough with barely contained need. "Look at me."

She shook her head slightly.

"Look at me," Lucian repeated, the command more insistent now.

Slowly, reluctantly, Lilith raised her eyes to meet his.

Gold eyes met terrified human eyes.

In that moment, Lucian’s entire body went rigid. The urge to claim her hit him like a physical force. His hands clenched. His breathing became shallow. His muscles locked as Zev surged against his skin, desperate and feral and completely consumed with the need to possess.

For a second, just one terrible second...Lucian looked like he was going to break. Like he was going to close the distance between them and ravage her right there in the center of the room.

His eyes flickered. Gold to black to gold again. His hands trembled. His jaw clenched so tightly it looked like his teeth might crack.

"Lucian," Nicholas said, his voice carrying absolute alpha authority. "Control yourself!"