Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157: The Last Day Of The Submit

Garrett’s stomach dropped. "Yes, High Elder."

"An unusual injury for someone who wasn’t present at the meeting itself," Aldric said quietly. "I understand she collapsed the same night her husband was executed. Grief alone doesn’t typically induce a coma of that nature." His eyes held Garrett’s, patient and unhurried. "I find myself curious what exactly happened to her. But that’s a question for another day, I think."

Garrett said nothing, his throat suddenly tight.

"You may go," Aldric said, turning his attention back to his tea, the dismissal absolute.

Garrett left the study with his composure barely intact, walking quickly through the corridor until he was well clear of the guest wing before allowing himself to exhale. His hands, he realized, were trembling slightly.

He found himself thinking of Cassandra lying still in the medical wing, of the strange, sudden nature of her collapse that no doctor had ever fully explained. He thought of Victor, a man who’d served faithfully for over a decade with no history of discontent, suddenly and inexplicably a traitor.

He’d never let himself ask the questions Aldric had just asked so plainly. He’d accepted the official account the same way everyone else had, because questioning it had never seemed necessary, and because the Blackwoods’ wrath had made further inquiry feel like a luxury no one could afford.

Now, walking back toward the main hall with Aldric’s words still echoing in his ears, he wondered for the first time whether he’d simply been the second man in this whole affair too afraid to look closely at a story that had never quite made sense.

He pushed the thought down before it could take root any further. Whatever the truth was, it wasn’t his to chase. Lilith was leaving in three days. Whatever secrets lived buried in that alliance meeting would leave with her, carried into Blackwood territory, far beyond Shadowmere’s borders and Garrett’s responsibility.

He told himself that was enough. He told himself it had to be.

But as he made his way back to the Summit’s afternoon proceedings, he found he couldn’t quite shake the weight of Aldric’s final words, or the image of Cassandra’s still, unexplained silence, or the quiet, dawning suspicion that Shadowmere’s carefully maintained story had far more cracks in it than anyone currently sitting in that hall was prepared to admit.

***

The Summit was closing.

Lilith could feel it in the air the moment she stepped outside that morning, the compound humming with a different kind of energy than it had all week. Carriages being prepared near the front gates. Visiting alphas exchanging final pleasantries with their hosts. The formal tents in the courtyard slowly being dismantled by tired staff who’d been awake since dawn.

By tomorrow, Shadowmere would belong to Shadowmere again. And by tomorrow, she wouldn’t belong to it at all.

She found Emma during the midday lull, when duties briefly slowed enough for both of them to slip away to the small garden behind the omega quarters.They sat together on the low stone bench, shoulders touching, the late afternoon sun warm against their skin.

Lilith pulled her into a tight hug, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. Emma held on just as fiercely, her fingers gripping the back of Lilith’s dress like she could keep her here through sheer force of will.

"I’m going to miss you so much it’s going to hurt," Emma whispered against her shoulder.

"I know," Lilith said. "I’m going to miss you too."

They stayed like that for a long moment, holding on, neither willing to be the first to let go. When they finally pulled apart, Emma wiped roughly at her eyes, forcing a small, watery laugh.

"You have to call me," Emma said. "I want to know everything. Even the parts that scare you. Especially the parts that scare you."

"I promise," Lilith said.

"And you have to tell me if they’re not treating you right," Emma continued, some of her earlier fierceness returning. "I don’t care how powerful they are. I don’t care what kind of mate bond exists between you. If they hurt you, I want to know."