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

Zevran.

If there was one thing I hated more than the unending responsibilities that came with being born an Alpha, then it was being the centre of attention.

And centre of attention was what I became as soon as Micah and his father stormed out of the meeting, cursing and whining under their breaths as they went after I had without remorse insulted them.

My eyes snagged on Kael’s face for a very brief moment and I couldn’t help but notice the smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he watched them storm off, his eyes glinting with amusement as he soon said;

"Now, gentlemen, shall we return to what we were talking about?"

To anyone, he seemed unfazed by what had just happened. But I knew better. And I knew that there was something disturbing him, especially with the way his eyes had lingered for a second too long on their backs.

"Yes, gentlemen, we shall." Mr Smith answered happily, and with a big smile, he added; "So we have all come to the conclusion that we won’t be working with the Mc’Leanns, right?"

"Yes." Everyone answered in distorted unison.

"Good. Since we’ve all agreed on that. Is there a possibility of us working with the Frostclaws instead? They’ve been coming up with groundbreaking ideas and pulling this whole tech space to greater heights. The Landrys and the Valemonts have been working with them for two months? Three?... and they’ve also been doing exceptionally well too. I think we should also consider it!"

As soon as he said those words, I immediately felt my heart leap in my chest because for a split second, I made myself imagine just how beautiful it would be to work side by side with Leilani.

I imagined how intensely awkward work meetings would be, especially with the mate bond doing its thing between us.

A small smile touched my face at the thought, but the smile was soon wiped off when I realized something weird.

Which was:

The fact that I always felt Leilani whenever I thought about her.

The fact that I could almost always feel her, smell her and hear her, whenever thoughts of her came to my mind especially since the night I marked her.

But for some reason right now, I felt none of those. She was simply... not there.

Caelum sighed. "We would try proposing this deal with the Frostclaws and if they agree with us..." he let his voice trail off while Mr Smith smiled.

"I hope it is a success."

I hope so too!" Someone else murmured from the other end of the table.

But at this point, I was hardly paying any attention anymore. I too soon began to feel that disturbance that I had only noticed on Kael’s face. But for some reason, I couldn’t shake it off like he had.

I also couldn’t help the way my heart raced like I was in a fucking marathon.

Feeling my panic clawing its way into my mind, I rose to my feet, sought an excuse to leave and then walked out of the room; and as soon as I stepped out, I began to call Leilani’s phone over and over and over again.

But she wasn’t picking up.

Her phone would ring for a while and then go into voicemail. And that was what it continued to do until my slight panic soon morphed into full blown fear.

I do not know for how long I stood there trying and retrying to reach her, but I was soon snapped out of my reverie when I felt something warm on my shoulder.

My eyes snapped open andI spun around to see who it was, only to let out a loud exhale when I saw that it was Kael.

He took one glance at my face then at my phone’s screen, and asked; "What happened to Leilani?"

"I never said anything happened to her."

"Yes, you didn’t." He answered crisply, and then pointing to my phone, he added; "But I know you. And I know that she is the only reason you would look so flustered and walk out of an ongoing meeting."

"Kael—" I began to say but stopped when he waved his hands in front of me.

"Tell me, what happened to Leilani?"

"I can’t reach her." I answered quietly. "I have been calling her phone for several minutes and she hasn’t been picking up... that is so unlike her."

"So now you’ll agree that you’ve been in touch with her all this while?" He drawled sassily. But he didn’t sound pissed. He sounded like he was simply pulling my legs.

I nodded quickly. "Yes. I never denied it."

Kael probably heard the sharpness in my tone but decided to ignore it and with a shrug, he fished his phone out of his pocket and turned to me, his voice quiet as he said;

"Try calling her with my phone then."

I blanched. Heavens, I wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told me he did this.

My hands shook slightly as I took the phone from his outstretched hands, but after calling her about five times and she still didn’t pick up, I began to worry.

So I turned to Kael and hissed; "I think something has happened to her."

As soon as those words left my lips, his face went pale. He asked; "What do you mean?"

"I think she’s unsafe. And I cannot help but fear that she may have been caught by whoever must’ve caused that fire in the first place."

Merely saying the words made my heart race in my chest and deciding that it was better to go find her myself rather than drawing conclusions from here, I added; "I want to go and check the hotel room where she’s been staying for a while now."

"You know where it is?" Kael seemed surprised when he asked and I nodded.

"I only know it because I’d sneakily followed her once to the place. She’s never allowed me to go in and doesn’t even know that I know it."

I do not know why I was explaining all of these to him or why I felt guilty for hiding them from him in the first place; But once again, Kael seemed unfazed.

He nodded. "Okay let’s go."

I nodded.

"I will mind-link Caelum now to come with us." He rasped and with that, he turned away from me and began to walk off in the direction of the meeting room, leaving me behind to pace about and gnash my teeth in worry.

However, I was just about to walk away too when I suddenly noticed a person hiding in the shadows, and from the stance, I could tell that they must have been listening to us the entire time.

My body stiffened at the thought, especially when my eyes met theirs, just for a few seconds, before they darted away deeper into the shadows.

But they’d been too slow and I had seen who it was.

It was Micah.