The Betas Revenge

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Emma POV

Cast stepped fully out of the shadows, the low torchlight catching the sharp line of his jaw and the cold, calculating glitter in his dark eyes. He didn't look angry; he looked satisfied, like a grandmaster who had just watched his opponent walk straight into a trap.

"A murder pact," Cast murmured, taking a deliberate step toward us. "A stolen relic. And a vengeance contract signed in blood right under my nose. You two really know how to make a late-night perimeter check entertaining."

Kieran didn't lower his blade. His posture remained rigid, his breathing ragged as the raw, suffocating weight of his confession hung in the freezing night air. "Stay out of this, Cast."

"I would love to, Beta," Cast replied, stopping just inches away from us. The Alpha aura radiating off him was heavy, smooth, and utterly suffocating. "Except you're standing on my border, brandishing steel at the female who holds the key to our pack's survival. And more importantly..." Cast's gaze flicked to me, his brown eyes darkening with a sudden, intense heat that made my breath hitch. "...you're fighting a bond that's currently making the air vibrate."

He was right. The magnetic pull between us wasn't just humming anymore—it was roaring. But it wasn't just between Kieran and me. As Cast closed the remaining distance, a second wave of electric static slammed into my chest, hooking into my soul and pulling me toward both of them. The realization hit me like a physical blow: the Moon Goddess hadn't tied me to a single male. The bond was a triad. A sharp, undeniable link binding Emma, Kieran, and Cast together.

Kieran let out a strained, strangled groan, staggering back a step as the overwhelming surge of raw mate energy hit him. His blade slipped from his trembling fingers, clattering loudly against the damp stone path.

"No..." Kieran gasped, clutching his head as his wolf thrashed wildly inside him. "No, it's—it's a trick. Liv was—she was my mate. You're a viper. You killed her!"

"Kieran, look at me!" I commanded, stepping straight into his personal space before he could retreat into the darkness.

The hyperventilation hit him fast and hard. His chest heaved in shallow, frantic bursts, his amber eyes wide and unfocused as panic swallowed him whole. The grief, the betrayal, the sudden, overwhelming crash of the true bond breaking through his hallucinations—it was too much. He was suffocating on his own ghosts.

Cast moved with blinding Alpha speed, appearing at Kieran's side to catch him by the shoulders before his knees could buckle. "Kieran. Breath, damn it. Look at her."

"I can't—I can't lose her again—" Kieran choked out, his hands clawing uselessly at his own chest, right over the breast pocket where his family's silver watch rested.

"You didn't lose anyone tonight," I whispered. Driven by an instinct older than memory, I reached up and cupped Kieran's jaw, forcing his wild gaze to lock onto mine.

The moment my skin brushed his, the static flared into a wildfire. Kieran flinched, a ragged gasp tearing from his throat, but he didn't pull away. Beside him, Cast made a low, guttural sound in his chest, his own hand resting firmly against the back of Kieran's neck.

Without thinking, I leaned up. Cast leaned down at the exact same second.

Our lips met in a sudden, explosive crash of passion that shattered the freezing air. It wasn't a soft touch—it was a desperate, consuming collision born from months of denial, hidden hatred, and raw, undeniable fate. I felt Kieran's lips part against mine, hot and trembling, while Cast's mouth claimed us both, his hand sliding around my waist to pull me flush against Kieran's chest.

The spark of electric heat rushed through all three of us at once, locking our souls into a tight, unbreakable circuit. The dark magic that had clouded Kieran's mind for years was instantly incinerated by the sheer purity of the triad bond.

When we finally broke apart, all three of us were chest-heaving, our lips slick and breathing coming in ragged, shared gasps.

Kieran's panic attack had broken. The wild amber in his eyes had softened into a deep, exhausted dark brown. He stared at me, then at Cast, looking entirely undone.

"We need to get him inside," Cast rasped, his voice rough with an emotion he could no longer mask. His arm was wrapped securely around Kieran's waist, supporting most of the Beta's heavy weight. "Now."

"I've got his other side," I said softly, slipping under Kieran's right arm.

Together, step by heavy step, Cast and I guided Kieran out of the mist-drenched courtyard and back through the heavy oak doors of the fortress. We bypassed the main halls and the lingering guards, taking the private spiral staircase up to the Alpha suite.

The master bedroom was warm, illuminated only by the dying embers of a massive stone fireplace. Cast eased Kieran down onto the edge of the sprawling, fur-covered bed. The Beta looked exhausted, his broad shoulders slumping as the adrenaline finally drained from his system, leaving him vulnerable and raw.

"Stay," Kieran rasped into the quiet room, his fingers blindly reaching out to snatch the emerald silk of my dress. He looked like a man terrified that if he closed his eyes, he would wake up back in his nightmare.

"I'm not going anywhere," I murmured.

Cast kicked off his heavy leather boots, unbuttoning his dark jacket and tossing it aside before climbing onto the grand bed. He pulled Kieran back into the center of the mattress, wrapping a arm over his chest to anchor him.

I shed my heavy gown, sliding onto the bed from the other side. Kieran ended up firmly in the middle, sandwiched safely between Cast's broad, protective frame and mine.

Kieran let out a long, shuddering sigh, burying his face into the crook of my neck. His arms reached out instinctively—one hand gripping my waist tight enough to leave a mark, the other tangling into the back of Cast's shirt.

Cast rested his chin on Kieran's shoulder, his brown eyes meeting mine over Kieran's dark hair. The usual arrogance and cold calculation in Cast's gaze were entirely gone, replaced by a quiet, fierce possessiveness that wrapped around all three of us like a heavy blanket.

As the quiet ticking of the silver pocket watch echoed softly against Kieran's chest, the three of us curled together in the firelight. For the first time in two years, Kieran's breathing slowed into a deep, peaceful rhythm—safe, grounded, and surrounded by the mates he was destined to keep.