Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 11: The Brothers.

Third person POV:

Selena is asleep.

Her breathing is slow and even, her body finally relaxed after everything the night has held. The bond has quieted, not healed, but no longer burning. For now, there is peace.

Ronan stands beside the bed for a long moment, watching her chest rise and fall, committing the sight of her calm to memory. Then he straightens and turns toward the door.

"Let’s go outside," he says quietly.

Kael nods, already moving.

They step out of the cabin together, pulling the door closed gently behind them so it doesn’t make a sound. The night air greets them, cool and heavy with the scent of trees and earth. Moonlight filters through the branches, casting broken silver patterns across the ground.

Edris is already outside.

He stands near the tree line, arms folded across his chest, his posture rigid, his gaze fixed on the dark forest as if he is waiting for something to emerge from it.

Ronan exhales slowly and walks toward him.

"What is it?" he asks. "Why don’t you like her?"

Edris doesn’t look at him.

"This has nothing to do with liking her," he says. "Or not liking her."

Kael steps closer, his voice calm but firm. "Then what does it have to do with?"

Edris finally turns, his expression tight with restrained frustration. "It has to do with risk. With danger. With what her presence already means for us. Her being here puts a target on us, and her hiding a mate makes it worse."

"She didn’t hide him out of malice," Ronan says. "She was confused. She apologized."

"That doesn’t change the consequences," Edris replies. "Apologies don’t erase threats. They don’t undo politics. They won’t stop bloodshed."

Kael runs a hand through his hair, releasing a slow breath. "I understand why you’re agitated. I really do. But you can’t let the past dictate every decision we make."

Edris’s eyes sharpen. "The past made us rogues."

"And she was a child when it happened," Kael says quietly. "A child who didn’t choose any of it."

Ronan’s expression shifts as something heavier settles in his mind.

"Do you think she knows?" he asks. "That she was the reason we were driven out?"

Kael shakes his head without hesitation. "No. I don’t think she knows. And if she did, she wouldn’t be here. She wouldn’t look at us the way she does. She wouldn’t touch us without fear. She wouldn’t trust us."

Edris stays silent, but his jaw tightens.

Kael turns toward him. "What do you know about Silas?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Edris hesitates, then speaks.

"Nothing much. But I know he is the son of her late father’s Beta," he says. "After we were driven out of the pack, I never bothered checking up on them. When I first heard about their marriage, I thought he was her chosen mate. But it seems I was wrong. He is her fated mate."

Ronan frowns. "Fated."

"That part is a little confusing to me as well," Kael says. His expression darkens. "Something about that doesn’t feel right."

Edris studies him. "Explain."

"She doesn’t respond to that bond," Kael says slowly. "Not in her wolf or her body. That’s not how true bonds behave."

Ronan nods. "Her wolf responds to us. She called out to us when she was in danger. If her wolf accepts all three of us, don’t you think accepting another bond wouldn’t be a problem?"

Edris shakes his head. "It doesn’t work the same way with us. We are triplets. We share the same origin bond, the same bloodline, the same core thread. We are not three separate bonds. We are one divided form."

Silence stretches between them.

"So what does that mean?" Ronan asks.

"It means," Edris says quietly, "that if she bonds with us, it overrides any other claim. Completely."

The weight of that settles heavily in the air.

Kael’s voice lowers. "Then why does the bond resist us?"

No one answers immediately.

Then Edris speaks again.

"I think the bond is rejecting us because of whatever bond she already shares with her palace mate," he says, his jaw twitching. "Moreover, I think she knows who attacked her that night."

Ronan stiffens. "What?"

"I think she knows," Edris repeats. "And I think she’s hiding it or protecting the person."

Ronan clenches his fists. "Why would she want to protect someone who tried to kill her?"

Kael’s eyes darken with understanding. "If she’s protecting someone," he says slowly, "then that person is closer than we think."

"Warriors from her pack have been roaming the forest," Ronan says. "I think they are looking for her."

Edris’s gaze shifts from his brothers to the surrounding woods.

"They have to. From what I hear, she is more than just a princess. She carries a special blood that produces the strongest alphas. That is why her father tried to protect her with everything he had while he was alive."

Ronan sighs.

"If that is true, then we should be expecting an attack from the pack warriors anytime soon."

Edris’s eyes darken.

"They wouldn’t dare cross into our territory," he says. "If they do, they won’t return to tell their stories. She is under our protection until she decides otherwise."

The forest is silent around them, listening.

Edris finally faces them fully. "But first, we prepare her."

"For what?" Ronan asks.

"For whoever attacked her that night," Edris answers. "If they tried to kill her once, they are going to do it again."

Kael’s voice is steady and certain. "We train her."

Ronan’s gaze hardens with quiet resolve. "So no one ever gets the chance to hurt her again."

"While we are at it, we need to find out about this mate of hers and why she was alone in the forest that night," Kael adds.

"I’ll sniff around and find out who would have a motive to kill her," Ronan says.

"And when you do, we’ll remind them that no one touches our mate and lives to regret it," Edris says, his voice calm and lethal.