Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 148: The Traitor Revealed

BETA MARCUS POV

I crushed the transmission crystal in my hand.

The sharp pieces cut my palm, but I barely felt the pain. What I’d just heard through the magical link made my blood run cold.

"The girl has awakened," Lady Vex’s voice had said. "The Goddess-born is more powerful than we expected. Change of plans, Marcus. Kill them all. Tonight."

Kill them all. Including my own kid.

I looked across the strategy room where the alliance leaders were planning their next move. Aria sat at the head of the table, her face serious as she studied maps. Kael and Lucien flanked her, while Elder Thorne pointed out possible Shadow Lord strongholds.

They trusted me totally. For twenty-three years, I’d been their loyal Beta. I’d fought beside them, bled with them, helped raise their children.

And for the last five years, I’d been selling them out to their enemies.

"Marcus?" Aria looked up at me. "Are you alright? You look pale."

"I’m fine," I lied, quickly hiding my bleeding hand. "Just tired."

But I wasn’t great. I was falling apart.

It had started innocently enough. Five years ago, Shadow Lords took my mate, Sarah, during a raid. They sent me a message: work for them, and she’d live. Refuse, and they’d send me her head.

What choice did I have?

At first, they only wanted small things. Guard plans. Supply lines. Information that wouldn’t get anyone killed directly. I told myself I was saving my family.

But the calls got bigger. More dangerous. And now they wanted me to betray everyone I’d ever cared about.

"The eastern border is our weak spot," Kael was saying, pointing at the map. "If Shadow Lords attack there—"

"They won’t," I interrupted. "Intelligence suggests they’re focusing on the northern territories."

That was a lie. I knew they were going to hit the eastern border at dawn. But if I warned the union, Lady Vex would know I’d turned against her.

And Sarah would die.

"Are you sure?" Elder Thorne asked, frowning. "My sources say—"

"My sources are better," I said strongly. "Trust me."

Aria nodded. "We trust you, Marcus. You’ve never led us wrong."

The guilt hit me like a punch to the gut. If only she knew.

"I need some air," I said, standing up. "Keep planning. I’ll be back."

I walked out of the room and down the hallway, my mind racing. There had to be another way. Some plan that would save Sarah without destroying the alliance.

But I’d been looking for that answer for five years, and I’d never found it.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost missed the quiet talk coming from an empty classroom.

"—can’t let them find out about the ritual modification," someone was whispering.

I pressed myself against the wall and listened. Two voices, both known.

"The High Witch suspects something," the first voice said. "She’s asking too many questions about the missing components."

"Let her ask," answered the second voice. "By tomorrow night, it won’t matter. The Final Sacrifice will work exactly as we planned."

My heart stopped. I knew those sounds.

Elena, the witch trainee. And my own daughter, Rebecca.

"Rebecca, are you sure about this?" Elena asked. "Once we start, there’s no going back. Everyone will know we’ve been working with the Shadow Lords."

"I’m sure," Rebecca said strongly. "They have Mom, Elena. They have your little brother. If we don’t do this, they die."

I slumped against the wall. Rebecca knew. She’d known about Sarah’s capture all along, and she’d been making the same hard choice I had.

"My father suspects something," Rebecca continued. "He’s been asking questions about my whereabouts. We need to move faster."

"The ritual components are almost ready," Elena said. "But we still need someone on the inside to disable the protective wards when the Shadow Lords attack."

"I can do that," Rebecca said. "Dad taught me how to work the ward system when I was younger."

I closed my eyes, feeling sick. My daughter was going to betray everyone, just like I was. And it was all my fault.

If I hadn’t kept Sarah’s capture secret, maybe we could have saved her. Maybe none of this would have happened.

But now it was too late. Or was it?

I pulled out my emergency contact device and started to type a message to Lady Vex. But instead of confirming the sabotage plan, I put something different.

I quit. Find someone else to do your dirty work.

My finger paused over the send button. Once I sent this, Sarah was dead. I knew that. But maybe, just maybe, I could save everyone else.

I pressed send.

The device instantly buzzed with a reply. A picture appeared on the screen that made my knees go weak.

Sarah, tied to a wall, her face bloody and bruised. But living.

Below the photo was a message: You have two hours to finish your mission, or she dies. And just to make sure you understand how serious we are...

Another shot appeared. Rebecca, walking through the bush near our camp. She had no idea she was being watched.

We have people watching your daughter too. Betray us, and you’ll lose everyone you love.

I stared at the screen in horror. They had planned for this. They’d known I might try to back out, so they’d prepared protection.

I heard footsteps in the hallway. Someone was coming.

Quickly, I deleted the texts and put the device away. When Elder Thorne rounded the turn, I tried to look casual.

"Marcus," he said, looking relieved. "I was looking for you. We need to talk something important."

"What is it?"

"I’ve been analyzing the Shadow Lord attack patterns," Elder Thorne said. "Something doesn’t add up. They always seem to know exactly where we’ll be weaker. It’s like they have inside knowledge."

My mouth went dry. "That’s... concerning."

"I think we have a traitor," Elder Thorne said quietly. "Someone high up in our command system. Someone with access to our plans."

I nodded, trying to keep my face neutral. "What do you want to do about it?"

"I’ve been watching people carefully," Elder Thorne said. "Looking for odd behavior. Strange talks. Unexplained absences."

He stepped closer to me, and I saw something in his eyes that made my heart race.

"Marcus," he said softly, "where were you three nights ago between midnight and dawn?"

The question hit me like a slap. Three nights ago, I’d been meeting with a Shadow Lord messenger, passing along details about our supply routes.

"I was... I was on patrol," I said, but my voice came out shaky.

"Were you?" Elder Thorne asked. "Because I checked the watch logs. Your name isn’t on them."

I opened my mouth to lie again, but no words came out. After five years of lying, I was finally caught.

"I can explain," I said desperately.

"I’m sure you can," Elder Thorne said. "But first, I think you should see this."

He pulled out a small magical recording device and pushed a button. My own voice filled the hallway.

"The eastern border will be lightly watched tomorrow night. Your forces should have no problem breaking through."

It was from my meeting three nights ago. Someone had been listening.

"How long?" Elder Thorne asked quietly.

I slumped against the wall, beaten. "Five years."

"Why?"

"They have my mate," I whispered. "They’ve had Sarah for five years. Every day, they send me proof she’s still living. Every day, they threaten to kill her if I don’t cooperate."

Elder Thorne’s face softened slightly. "Marcus, why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped. We could have tried to help her."

"They said they’d kill her if I told anyone," I said. "I couldn’t risk it."

"And now?"

I thought about Rebecca, about Elena, about all the young people who were making the same bad choices I’d made.

"Now I’m tired of being afraid," I said. "I’m tired of abandoning people I love to save someone I love. There has to be a better way."

Elder Thorne studied my face for a long moment. "There might be. But it will force you to do something very dangerous."

"What?"

"I want you to contact Lady Vex," he said. "Tell her you’ve found something important about the Final Sacrifice ritual. Something that could help the Shadow Lords."

"You want me to feed her false information?"

"I want you to walk into her trap," Elder Thorne said grimly. "And when you do, I want you to be wearing this."

He handed me a small silver charm. It looked harmless, but I could feel the magic coming from it.

"What does it do?"

"It’s a tracking device," Elder Thorne said. "And a recording gadget. And when the time is right, it becomes a very powerful bomb."

I stared at the pendant. "You want me to die."

"I want you to choose," Elder Thorne said. "You can keep abandoning us to save one person. Or you can sacrifice yourself to save everyone."

I thought about Sarah, somewhere in a Shadow Lord jail. I thought about Rebecca, making the same impossible decisions I’d made.

"If I do this," I said, "will you promise to help my family? Both of them?"

"I promise to try," Elder Thorne said.

It wasn’t enough. But it was better than nothing.

I took the pendant and put it around my neck.

"When do I contact Lady Vex?" I asked.

"Right now," Elder Thorne said. "Tell her you’ve found the location of the Moon Goddess herself."

I pulled out my contact device with shaking hands. As I started to type the message, I heard footsteps again.

Rebecca emerged at the end of the hallway, her face pale when she saw Elder Thorne and me together.

"Dad?" she said uncertainly. "What’s going on?"

Elder Thorne and I looked at each other. This wasn’t part of the plan.

"Rebecca," I said slowly, "how much do you know about your mother’s disappearance?"