Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose. Chapter 170: Him

Zevran.

"I cannot do this anymore," I whispered to myself as I stood in front of Caelum’s bed in a daze.

My mind was a whirlwind of several conflicting thoughts; and while on one hand, I was worried about Caelum, on the other hand, my mind wouldn’t stop drifting back to Leilani and to the conversation we had earlier this evening before she lost consciousness.

Her words still echoed in my mind like lodies from a broken guitar, and the thought of letting go of her, of watching her live the life life always envisioned with another man filled with a kind of anguish that felt too much to bear.

My chest ached trendously when I simply thought about it and I couldn’t stop sweating despite standing so close to the air conditioner.

—So imagine what would happen when it finally happens?

Again, my eyes drifted to Caelum’s pale face and I shuddered when I rembered how he had co to be like this. How he had shocked us all by throwing himself in front of a bullet— one that would’ve either hit or Leilani.

Sighing, I dropped my head and closed my eyes; And when I opened them again, because I could sll the unmistakable scent of Chalice’s sugary perfu, I whipped my head back and hissed;

"What are you doing here?"

At the sound of my voice, she froze. She carefully lowered her head ekly, trying so hard to paint herself like the saint that she wasn’t.

When she wouldn’t respond, my eyes raked over her body slowly and I seethed; "Didn’t you faint like so hours ago? How are you here now?"

And at that, she lifted her head.

I couldn’t help but notice then that her eyes were swollen and red. She looked like she had spent the entire evening crying; And even from here I could hear the steady thumping of her heartbeat as she bounced from one foot to the other.

She whispered; "The doctor said that it was sothing minor and that it was due to the pregnancy; So he let go after letting rest for a while."

My eyes thinned into slits as I watched her, not believing a single word that had just co out of her mouth. But deciding that she was too insignificant to worry about at the mont, I looked away and drawled; "Okay."

A mont of silence passed between us before she spoke again. She muttered;

"I know that I am not supposed to be here... seeing as you three have ordered to not leave the house until told otherwise—"

"It’s a house arrest." I snickered sarcastically, interrupting her, whilst wondering if she was simply trying to dilute the severity of her punishnt or if she indeed didn’t know what it was called.

She turned to cast a glance but then looked away. Her voice soft as she continued; "I had to co because I wanted to see Caelum after hearing about what happened."

"It’s alright."

"No, it’s not." She argued, forcing to turn to her in confusion.

I cocked my eyebrows when I took in the stubborn set of her chin, and I snorted; "What do you an?"

"What I an is that this wouldn’t have happened to him if you three didn’t take it upon yourself to look for Leilani. It’s her fault that she got into trouble, not yours! Gosh, nowadays, it seems as if she’s the one you’re married to and not !"

"And you’re the one to talk?" I asked before I could stop myself, and frowned when her face fell.

Her bottom lips puckered out and from how she lowered her lashes, looking away, I imdiately knew that she was about to cry.

And I couldn’t handle that right now.

I added; "She was in danger."

"And did any of you stop to check if I was fine, myself? See I get that you don’t want to see but what about the baby? Our baby?"

Sothing about her words grated on my nerves. It made my eyes twitch in discomfort. I looked away from her because— I couldn’t stand her anymore, and because I couldn’t stop seeing Leilani’s face in hers— and spat;

"You’re fine, Chalice. Not everything has to be about you."

My words made her recoil as if she’d been physically struck by ; and with widened eyes, she took a shaky step back and shook her head as tears began to fall freely down her face.

She cried; "You don’t even hide it anymore!"

"What don’t I hide anymore?" I hissed.

"You don’t hide how much you’ve chosen her over ! You don’t hide how you don’t care about anymore. And in case you’ve all forgotten, I am your wife! Your wife! And she’s an outsider!"

I wanted to remind her that Leilani would’ve never been the outisider if it wasn’t for the petty stunts she’d pulled in the past. I wanted to inform her that in the grand sche of things, she was the real outsider, but I didn’t.

Instead, I glanced away from her, turned my attention to an unconscious Caelum and drawled;

"She’s your sister, and for that reason, she’s not an outsider."

Chalice didn’t respond.

She didn’t even say anything or move.

For a minute, I almost began to wonder if she had turned into a statue, but when I turned to face her, my eyes widened at the sight in front of . I gasped;

"Are you insane?!"

And that was because for so reason, she had taken off her dress. The thick woollen material now laid on the floor, rumpled around her feet while she stood in front of , bare to her skin with eyes gleaming under the dim light like candles on Halloween.

"You’ve not laid your hands on for as long as I can rember. So if I am indeed your wife and you’re certain that you only care about Leilani because she’s my sister, then make love to right here and now." She said slowly, her voice low in a desperate attempt to sound seductive.

But she didn’t sound seductive. She didn’t even sound good.

Instead, she simply sounded like a faulty motorcycle.

Now, I was far from confused. I was mad. Reasonably so. My hands shot out to grab her shoulders before I could stop myself, and squeezing tight, I growled into her face; "You’re crazy if you think that shit will work on ."

"But Zevran, I’m your—"

"I’ve told you ti and ti again that to you, I am Alpha Zevran, so do well to not repeat that stupid mistake another ti. Also, you’ll pick up your clothes now and wear them. I am married to a Luna, not a whore!"

"You make feel like a whore!" She clapped back, sobbing uncontrollably. "You three... none of you even care about anymore! You don’t touch ! You don’t care about my needs! All you do is dress up like I am a glamorous trophy, parade around etings and shit like that, then lock up in the house because apparently, I am too filthy to be anywhere close to you."

My eyes flashed. My wolf thrashed wildly in my head.

If there was sothing about her that I hated more than every other thing, then it was how good she was at spinning every narrative.

It was how she always tried to appear as the saint while everyone else was villains.

Which was the opposite to reality.

My hands dropped from her shoulders and balled into fists as I glared hard at her. I seethed; "You should know why you’re being punished like this... and you should be grateful that you’re covered in gold jewelry and not locked up in the dungeons!"

She gasped and more tears slipped out of her eyes.

But I wasn’t done with her.

I could never be.

I took a step back, creating as much distance as I could between us and sneered; "And in case you haven’t noticed, I hate it when you present yourself to like this."

"Zevran!"

"You say we make you feel like a whore... but you’re always acting like one."

"Stop please, you’re hurting !" She cried softly, covering her face in her hands, but did I care?

Of course I didn’t.

"You think sex is the answer to all the problems in the world, and I cannot stand it. I cannot stand you. So please, get off my face!" I snarled, and with that, I brushed past her and stord out of the room.

I had no idea where I was headed, as long as I was as far away from her as possible.

My feet moved on their own accord, leading to Leilani’s room and I froze when I saw a guy standing in front of the door and peeking into the room.

His face was barely visible due to the large hoodie he wore, but I could still make out the few strands of silver hair that had escaped from beneath the hoodie and now fanned the side of his face.

But it wasn’t his appearance that rubbed off on in a weird way...

It was his aura.

It was strong. Potent. And the closest to the kind I’d felt from Leilani just yesterday.

As if noticing my presence, he turned to peek at from the corner of his hoodie and I gasped when I was t with shiny purple eyes— just like Leilani’s.

I should’ve spoken but my tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth. My knees felt weak too and heavy, making it impossible for to move.

And then he turned and walked away silently, disappearing behind a dark hallway.

It wasn’t until he was gone that I could finally let out an exhale, and even the weakness in my knees miraculously disappeared too.

My eyes widened when it dawned on that the reason I hadn’t moved or spoken earlier wasn’t because I had been too stunned to,

...It was because I had been compelled— by him.

Goddess, how is that even possible?