Blood & Betrayal

Chapter 7: Blood and Betrayal

Liora

I opened my mouth to answer Kael, but the words died in my throat as three massive shadows exploded into the cave.

The triplets moved like liquid death, faster than my eyes could follow. Rowan came through the main entrance, his golden eyes blazing with fury. Damon dropped from somewhere above, landing in a crouch with claws already extended. Riven seemed to materialize from the shadows themselves, his face twisted with rage.

"Get away from her," Rowan snarled, his voice so deep it made the cave walls vibrate.

Kael laughed, backing toward a tunnel I hadn't noticed before. "Too late, brothers. She's already heard the truth."

"What truth?" Damon demanded, his scarred face dangerous in the torchlight.

But I barely heard his words. Something strange was happening to me. The mark on my neck was burning hot, and suddenly I could feel things that weren't mine. Anger, so intense it made my hands shake. Fear, sharp and cold, cutting through me like ice. And underneath it all, something that felt like... love? Desperate, protective love that took my breath away.

The emotions weren't coming from me. They were coming from the triplets.

"Liora," Riven called out, his eyes finding mine across the cave. "Are you hurt?"

I tried to answer, but another wave of emotion hit me. This time it was Riven's - relief so powerful it made me dizzy, mixed with guilt that tasted like copper in my mouth.

"I'm... I'm okay," I managed to say, though my voice shook.

Kael pulled something from his jacket, a small silver blade that glinted in the firelight. "Are you, little wolf? Are you really okay? Or are you just another victim of their lies?"

"Put the knife down," Rowan ordered, taking a step forward.

"Stay back!" Kael pressed the blade to his own throat. "One more step and I'll cut my own throat. Then you'll never know the truth about what really happened that night."

The triplets froze. I could feel confusion rippling through the mate bond, mixed with something that felt like panic.

"What night?" I whispered.

Kael's red eyes fixed on mine. "The night your parents died, little wolf. The night these monsters destroyed your family."

My heart stopped. "My parents died in an accident. A rogue attack."

"No," Kael said softly. "They were murdered. Hunted down like animals and slaughtered in their own home."

"That's enough," Damon growled, his claws extending further.

"Is it?" Kael tilted his head, still holding the knife to his throat. "Tell her, brothers. Tell her how you tracked them for days. How you cornered them. How they begged for mercy."

The emotions flooding through the mate bond shifted. Guilt, so heavy it made me nauseous. Shame that burned worse than the mark on my neck. And from Rowan, something that felt like regret so deep it might have been carved into his soul.

"They were challenging our territory," Rowan said quietly, his voice empty of emotion.

"They had a baby," Kael continued, his smile cruel. "A little girl they were trying to protect. They offered you everything, their submission, their lives, their loyalty. All they asked was that you spare their child."

My vision started to blur. The cave was spinning around me, and I couldn't catch my breath.

"Stop," Riven said, his voice breaking. "She doesn't need to hear this."

"Doesn't she?" Kael laughed. "She's their mate now. She has a right to know what kind of monsters she's bound to."

I could feel tears streaming down my face, but I couldn't make them stop. Through the mate bond, I felt the triplets' emotions like knives in my chest. They weren't denying it. They weren't saying Kael was lying.

They had killed my parents.

"We didn't know about you," Damon said suddenly, his voice rough. "We didn't know they had a child."

"Would it have mattered?" I whispered.

The silence that followed was answer enough.

Kael lowered the knife from his throat and reached into his other pocket. "They kept trophies, you know. Little reminders of their victories."

He pulled out something small and threw it toward me. It landed with a soft clink on the cave floor near my feet. A necklace. Silver chain, with a small pendant shaped like a crescent moon.

My mother's necklace.

I remembered it perfectly. She wore it every day, and told me it had been her mother's before her. She said she'd give it to me when I was old enough to take care of it.

The pendant was stained with something dark. Something that looked like dried blood.

"No," I breathed, staring at the necklace. "No, that's not... that can't be..."

"Your mother was wearing it when they killed her," Kael said softly. "I thought you should have it back."

Through the mate bond, I felt something shatter inside Rowan. Horror and disbelief crashed through me so hard I gasped.

"Where did you get that?" Rowan demanded, his face going pale.

"Does it matter?" Kael asked, backing further toward the tunnel. "What matters is that she knows the truth now. About her parents. About you."

The cave was spinning faster now. I could barely breathe, couldn't think past the image of my mother's bloodstained necklace.

"Liora," Damon started toward me, but I flinched away from him.

"Don't," I whispered. "Don't touch me."

The pain that flashed through the mate bond at my rejection was so sharp I cried out. But I didn't care. I couldn't stand the thought of them touching me. Not after this.

"This is what I was trying to save you from," Kael said, his voice gentle now. "They're killers, little wolf. Murderers who destroy families for sport."

"We were protecting our territory," Riven said, but his voice sounded hollow.

"From a family with a baby?" Kael shook his head. "From two wolves who just wanted to live in peace?"

I could feel the triplets' emotions through the bond - guilt and shame and something that might have been grief. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the bloodstained necklace at my feet.

"I have to go," Kael said, glancing at the tunnel behind him. "But think about what I offered you, little wolf. Freedom from the bond that ties you to your parents' killers."

"You're not going anywhere," Rowan snarled, lunging forward.

But Kael was already moving. Shadows erupted around him like smoke, thick and black and completely unnatural. In seconds, he was gone, vanished into the darkness of the tunnel.

The triplets rushed after him, but I could hear their frustrated growls echoing from the tunnel. He was gone.

I stared at the necklace, my whole body shaking. With trembling fingers, I picked it up. The metal was cold, and the dark stains on the pendant felt rough under my thumb.

My mother's blood.

"Liora," Rowan's voice was soft as he emerged from the tunnel. "We need to talk."

I looked up at him, this man who had killed my parents. Who had marked me and claimed me and made me his mate. His golden eyes were filled with something that looked like pain.

"Where did he get this?" I whispered, holding up the necklace.

Alpha Rowan's face went white when he saw the necklace, whispering, "That's impossible. We made sure there were no survivors.”