Betrayed By One. Bound To Three

Selena.

It was late afternoon, and the triplets were heading out for their usual workout. They had insisted that I followed them whether I wanted to or not.

I followed behind them, trying to keep my steps steady even though my body refused to listen. My hands were clasped tightly in front of me, fingers pressing into each other until it almost hurt, but the trembling would not stop. No matter how hard I tried, I could not hide it.

They walked like they owned the ground beneath their feet.

Like nothing here could touch them.

And I... I was just trying to keep up.

It has been six months since they suddenly changed, and no day passes without them finding a way to tell me how much they hate me.

Edris was the first to slow, his attention shifting slightly, and I felt it before I understood it. A rogue had stepped too close to me. I had not even noticed him at first, but Edris had.

The man looked at me like I was someone he could walk up to. Or maybe even have a conversation with. But before he could even open his mouth, Edris beat him into it.

"Step back," Edris said.

His voice was quiet, but it carried enough that the man stopped.

For a second.

Then he laughed under his breath, glancing at me again. "Why? She yours?"

Something in my chest tightened.

Nyra let out a soft laugh, stepping slightly to the side, her eyes never leaving him. "That is not a question you should be asking."

The man shrugged, like none of this mattered, like he did not understand what he had just stepped into. "She doesn’t look like much," he said, his gaze dragging over me again. "You guarding her for fun or what?"

I wished he would stop talking.

I wished he would leave.

But he did not.

Edris moved.

It happened so fast I barely saw it, just the shift of his body and then the sound of impact. The man stumbled back, breath knocked out of him, confusion flashing across his face before it turned into panic.

"Wait—" he started.

Nyra was already there.

She moved like she had been waiting for it, quick and sharp, her strike forcing him further back. He tried to steady himself, but Ronan stepped in next, cutting off whatever escape he thought he had.

"Too late," Ronan said, his voice low.

The man tried to fight back then, but it did not matter. It never mattered.

They were faster.

Stronger.

More certain.

Every move he made only made it worse for him.

"Stop!" he said, his voice breaking now, the arrogance gone.

Edris did not stop.

None of them did.

I stood there, frozen, my chest tight, my stomach twisting in a way I could not control. I should have looked away, but I could not. I watched as they broke him down piece by piece, like it was nothing, like it was normal.

Like this was just how things worked.

"Please—" the man choked out.

Edris grabbed him, holding him in place just long enough to look him in the eye. "Get lost," he said quietly.

Then he let him drop.

The man hit the ground hard, barely moving, and just like that... it was over.

No one moved. No one questioned it. I have come to understand that this was normal out here.

The others in the clearing kept their distance, pretending not to see, pretending not to hear.

For a moment, I wondered if I had seen this side of them and had ignored it? Of course I knew they were rogues, but this violence, I never saw.

My throat felt dry as I swallowed, my hands shaking even more now, and I realized something I had been trying not to think about.

They had not done it just because of him.

They had done it because of me.

Lyra stirred inside me, restless, uneasy. "This is not dominance. This is damage. They are twisting the bond."

I closed my eyes for a second, my chest rising and falling too fast. "Yes," I whispered.

This is not protection, she said. Not the way it should be.

I opened my eyes again, staring at the man on the ground, at the way no one went near him.

At the way the triplets did not even look back.

"They weren’t protecting me," I said quietly. "They were showing us."

Showing us what?

I swallowed hard.

"What we are to them."

My voice felt smaller than I wanted it to.

They turned back to me then.

All three of them.

And suddenly, it was worse than before.

Because now their attention was on me.

Kael stepped closer, his expression calm, like nothing had just happened. Like the man on the ground meant nothing.

"You see what happens when anyone comes close to you without our permission," he said.

I forced myself to hold his gaze, even though everything in me wanted to look away. "He was just talking."

Ronan let out a quiet laugh behind me. "That is all it takes."

"That is not fair," I said before I could stop myself.

The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them.

Edris’s gaze shifted to me, sharp, warning. "Fair?"

I felt my heart stutter.

"You think this place is fair?" he asked.

I did not answer.

Because I knew better.

Kael stepped closer, stopping just in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him, the weight of his presence pressing into me.

"You were looked at," he said simply. "That is enough."

Something in me twisted at that.

"I cannot control that," I said, quieter now.

"You do not need to," Ronan said.

I felt him step closer behind me again, not touching, just there, just enough to remind me I was surrounded.

"We do."

The words settled into me, heavy and cold.

I shook my head faintly. "I am not something you control."

Edris let out a short breath, almost like a laugh. "You still think you have a choice."

Kael did not smile.

He just looked at me.

"You are ours," he said.

My chest tightened.

"Not because we want you," he added, his voice steady, almost indifferent.

That hurt more than anything else.

"But because you are bound to us," he finished. "And that means you do not get to decide anything anymore."

I felt something crack inside me then, small but sharp.

"You all hate me," I said, the words barely leaving my lips.

No one denied it.

Ronan stepped to the side, his gaze dragging over me in a way that made my skin feel too tight. "You are starting to understand."

Edris crossed his arms, watching me like I was something already figured out. "You bring trouble. You make mistakes. And then you stand there like you do not know why things go wrong."

"I did nothing," I whispered.

Kael tilted his head slightly, studying me. "That is exactly the problem. You made him believe he could talk to you."

The silence that followed felt heavy.

Lyra stirred again, sharper this time. This is wrong. The bond should not feel like this.

I swallowed, my throat tight. "It doesn’t matter."

It does.

"No," I said quietly. "It doesn’t."

Because nothing I said would change this.

Nothing I did would change this.

Kael stepped back first, like he was done with the conversation.

"You belong to us," he said. "Learn what that means. Next time, we won’t stop at a warning."

Ronan turned away after him.

Edris followed.

Just like that.

Like I was nothing again.

I stood there for a moment longer, staring at the ground, at the place where the man had been, at the space they had just left behind.

My hands were still shaking.

My chest still hurt.

And the worst part was...

I didn’t want to understand. But something in me already did.

They had not done it to protect me.

They had done it so I would never forget.

That I belonged to them.

And that I had no say in it.