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

Kael.

I knew from the moment Zevran came home two days ago with four tickets that I wasn’t supposed to be here. I knew that I didn’t want to be in such gatherings just yet.

Not after everything.

Not after the accident and everything else before it.

And now, seeing Leilani basking in the glow of being ’Alpha Frostclaw’s woman’, I simply wanted to be as far away from here as possible. I wanted to tie a rope around my neck and hang from the large chandelier above, whilst hoping that maybe my death would make her see me.

My brothers and I had come here to socialize. To gain investors and see if we could get to work with Frostclaw after managing to convince them of how capable we were, but as soon as Leilani began to speak on stage, the investors we’d been trying to gather began to disperse, their eyes shining with greed as they turned to her instead.

And it was frustrating.

It was annoying to think that she was messing with us both emotionally and financially.

I was snapped back to the present when Beta Caine from Silverstone pack mused from beside me, his voice low but not low enough that I wouldn’t hear him as he whispered; "She’s so beautiful. I admire her so much."

I froze at first, something akin to jealousy twisting in my guts as I turned fully to face him.

"Huh?"

"Her!" He answered without an iota of shame. "Ms Sinclair. I like her so much... I find her inspiring and smart; and even the heavens know that I wish to be in a romantic relationship with her."

Wait, the fuck?

My face twisted when I heard him say those words and goddess help me, I wanted to punch him hard in the face. Hell, I do not even wish to work with him anymore and wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

He clucked his tongue at me in excitement, and I watched in disgust as he lowered his head and scratched the back of his neck shyly, his ears and neck reddening as he whispered;

"Do you think she’ll like me?"

"No." I answered so fast— too fast— that he frowned at me, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline as he asked;

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, I’m fine." I answered coldly. "I just do not wish to talk about it." I added and with that, I walked away from him to join Zevran and Caelum lounging away at a corner of the room even though the expressions on their faces were stormy.

Chalice was nowhere in sight.

I cocked my eyebrows at them as I approached, asking; "Why are you both here? Have you forgotten the reason we attended this event in the first place?"

Caelum was the first to talk. He drawled; "Everyone wants to work with her. They won’t even spare us a glance."

By the word: "Her", I instantly knew who he was talking about, and like a default, I turned around to look at the front of the stage where she seemed to be concluding with her speech.

My chest hurt at the sight of her. And what hurt the most was how carefree she was around Jarek. How beautiful they both looked together... and how indifferent she was to me.

I wondered just how easy life would’ve been if she hadn’t been jealous of her sister. If she hadn’t been so vile all those years ago—

"Arghh!" A loud high pitched scream suddenly tore through the air, causing everyone to momentarily freeze before we all turned to the source of the sound.

And god, my eyes widened when I found Chalice sprawled on the floor with blood dripping down her legs and staining her yellow dress a bright crimson.

My heart stopped for a minute.

And shattered when I noticed the figure of the person standing in front of her with wide eyes and clutching a fork in her hands.

It was Leilani.

She glanced at me for a second and then at the gathering crowd before mumbling under her breath; "I didn’t do it... I really did not."

And you know what? Fuck me, but I believed her.

I didn’t need to be told what had just happened. I also didn’t need any proof either because I already knew what this was— that it was yet another ’Leilani attacked Chalice’ case, and this time, it had gone a little too far.

Without a thought, I rushed over to them and helped the crying Chalice into a chair close by. She buried her face into my chest, her body shaking violently as she cried; "Leilani tried to stab me in the stomach with that fork but barely missed it. I don’t feel comfortable living around her anymore. It is obvious that she hates me!"

"Chalice, calm down..." I whispered slowly, "maybe you’re stressed and seeing things. Maybe. But I don’t think Leilani hates you that much."

I felt her stiffen before she began to cry hysterically; "Are you saying that I’m blind? That I don’t know who I saw?"

My heart went stone cold and my breath came out hollowed and filled with anguish, because even though whatever this was seemed jarring that Leilani did it, I couldn’t buy it. I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.

I couldn’t believe that the same girl who had tended to me while I was drunk as a skunk would be this devious. That the girl who had made me breakfast and kept me notes could be this heartless.

So I did the only thing I could at that point, I hugged Chalice right but said nothing to Leilani.

God forbid I ’punish’ her and live with the guilt for another century.

Leilani looked like she was half expecting me to jump at her. She looked like she’d long since resigned her fate. So when I didn’t do anything, she stared at me with wide eyes, our gazes meeting over Chalice’s head for a moment too long as the world seemed to still around us.

We stayed like that for a long moment, long enough for me to see the innocence in her eyes and the tiredness in them as well when she looked away to gaze at Chalice’s shaking back.

That is until...

*Crack!*

Caelum slapped her.

He growled; "How dare you touch Chalice?! What’s your endgame? To kill my baby?"

Hades, his reaction made me see red. Bright crimson spilled at the edge of my vision, and next thing I knew, I was pushing Chalice off of me like she burned and running to Leilani’s aid.

Fuck me!