Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Caelum.

"When did you last hear from Leilani?" Kael asked as soon as he stepped into my room dressed in a gray three piece that matched his eyes perfectly.

Ever since that day at Frostclaw where she’d refused to give us the CUSP contract, I’d noticed something different about him. And that is the fact that he was always in her business.

Every single day.

And while that used to be solely Zevran’s job, when Kael took it upon himself to start investigating her, I saw nothing suspicious about it. I simply shook it off as him being cautious. I felt he wanted to know about her every move to be able to decipher if she was up to another harm.

But these days, it’s bloomed into something else. He seemed obsessive. Callous even. It was like his breakfast and dinner each day consisted of Leilani as a side dish.

I sighed. "You know I haven’t." Then frowning seriously, I added; "I would never. Not after this."

At that, I flashed him a wide smile, showing off the golden tooth I had to acquire after Leilani chipped off one of my premolars.

But he didn’t seem to get the joke. He plopped into my chair, that is after helping himself to a bottle of scotch, and drawled; "She said something to me the last time we met."

"And we both know that whatever comes out of her mouth are all lies." I chirped in, glancing away from him to pick up my phone.

Chalice had just sent me one thirst trap picture, and I wasn’t going to sit here listening to Kael when I could use the time for something more fun.

I drawled; "She’s just bitter."

Usually, whenever I said that, Kael would instantly agree. But not today. Today, he shook his head at me, his face downturned into the ugliest frown I’ve ever seen on his face.

He muttered; "No."

"No, what?"

Now, he was beginning to get on my nerves. His sudden softness for the wretched girl irritated me more than anything. I used to be able to endure it when it was only Zevran she had wrapped around her little finger, but now, seeing as Kael was in it too, it was unbearable.

"She didn’t sound bitter." He muttered, earning himself an eye roll from me. "...you see, when she said these things, she looked and sounded strange... different even. It felt like she was talking from a place of pain. Or maybe hurt. Not bitterness."

Again, I rolled my eyes. "And how are you sure she wasn’t lying?" I asked, causing him to immediately go quiet.

I looked away from him to Chalice’s picture and a smile tugged at the corners of my face when I saw her message underneath it, it read;

’My body misses you.’

I sighed dreamily.

I could already begin to imagine what she feels like beneath me. I could vaguely hear the sound of her soft moans in my ear and how she would cry softly whenever I plundered into her cunt.

My dick stirred, straining hard against my pants.

"I don’t know," Kael drawled after a moment of silence, "...she may not be lying as well. We can’t say."

"And what did she say? What lies has she spun that’s made you so distraught?"

Kael frowned, his face contorting into a look of despair and frustration puy together. He dropped his gaze and said; "She said that Chalice lied to us about a lot of things. That she’d been wrongfully accused so many times in the past. And she told me to ask Chalice about it."

And when I heard that, I scoffed. There was no way my Chalice would lie. No way she was the villain while Leilani was a saint. To my utter dissatisfaction, I dropped my phone and turned to glare at Kael who still seemed so deep in thoughts.

I snorted. "Of course she’ll say something like that." I snapped, "...however, I’m not mad at her for being who she is: a total loser and liar. I am pissed that you were able to believe her."

Kael frowned. "But I never said I believed her."

"And you won’t be talking about it right now if you don’t believe her." I clapped back, not missing the way he instantly snapped his lips shut.

His face crumpled and a look so forlorn etched itself deep into his face. I watched him silently— the way he fidgeted, the way he wouldn’t stop fiddling with his fingers... the deep frown creasing his brows— and everything annoyed me.

I drawled; "Let’s do something different tonight."

And that... that caught his attention. He turned his face to meet my gaze and I was surprised at the amount of sadness I found whirling around his orbs. It tugged at my heartstrings, making my heart feel heavy.

He asked; "What is that?"

"Let us invite Chalice into our bedroom tonight." I whispered, cocking my eyebrows at him.

I had first hoped that he would understand where I was headed with that, but when he frowned and muttered; "Do you want us to ask her everything?" I knew then and there that he was lost.

That he’d gone completely mad.

I scoffed. "Hell, no! I want her to fuck some sense into you and Zevran."

"But that hurts Leilani!" He argued, annoying me even further— as if that was possible given how mad I already was. "Making love to Chalice hurts Leilani! You know it. You were there when she said it that day. Weren’t you?"

"And who gives a shit what happens to Leilani?" I snarled. "If she’s so affected by it then she should learn to live with it. Or kill herself. I don’t care!"

But as soon as I said that, without being judged, I already felt like shit.

My smile dropped.

"I didn’t mean it that way..." I said quickly, but Kael didn’t respond. He simply stared at me like I had sprouted a second head; a look of disappointment plastered across his face.

And heavens, that hurt.

I added; "I really didn’t mean it that way."

"Do you want to know what she goes through? Then wait and witness a night of her making love to another man. She seems to be close to Frostclaw. So it may happen soon." Kael drawled, but as soon as those words slipped through his mouth, a painful feeling ripped through my chest.

I stumbled backward, my chest feeling tight. "You can’t say that." I growled.

"Oh, I can." He snarled. "Since we have the right to be with others, it’s only normal that she does too!"

"She shouldn’t!" I yelled. "She belongs to us. She has always been ours!" I yelled with a snarl.

A snarl that soon morphed into a frown when Kael turned to glare at me.

He didn’t say another word, he simply rose to his feet and chose to walk away, but just as he pulled the door open, a young maidservant, Ruby, immediately appeared, her head bowed so low it nearly touched the ground. She whispered;

"Alpha... Alphas, The queen has asked that you join her for dinner."

And goddess, I couldn’t help but grimace.

Mom has been back for a few days now, and even though most of these days were spent with her going from one meeting to the other, I knew deep down that there was a reason she was back.

And now, judging by the look on Kael’s face and the tightness in my chest, I instinctively knew that I was about to find out.

That we were about to find out.

And I hoped to the moon goddess that it has nothing to do with Leilani as well.