Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose. Chapter 23: Visit From The Past

Kael.

FOUR YEARS LATER.

Today marks the fourth year since my brothers and I took over our father’s company and pack; and unsurprisingly, we’ve been able to take it from being a semi diocre company to sothing even the elites wanted to partner with.

To celebrate it, we were establishing a new branch in Pennsylvania and all of our friends and family were invited.

Wine glasses clinked as soft music played in the background; But amidst all this sweet chaos, and all the excitent, my eyes remained on Chalice.

My Chalice.

She stood out in the crowd with her red dress and auburn hair, and her smile so bright, it lit up the entire hall. Her elegance and grace had srised, and now, after schooling for the past four years, she’s just happened to grow into a very fine and impeccable young woman.

The woman after mine and my brothers’ hearts.

A smile tugged at my lips as she gracefully made her way through the crowd to , and as she approached, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the magnificence that she displayed.

Her hips swayed slowly, as if in rhythm, and her eyes, so blue... so electric... snagged on for a second before her lips curved into a pretty smile.

We should have been married four years ago. She should have been ours by now, but for so reason, that wasn’t so. Today also made it exactly four years since Leilani disappeared from our lives without a trace. And because of it, mating with Chalice has been a tough nut to crack.

We could not go on with the mating ritual or the bonding process since our real mate was still ’sowhere’, alive and still bonded to us.

And I hated that bitch, Leilani, so much for it.

"Kael!" Chalice squealed excitedly as she threw her arms around my neck.

Her sweet vanilla perfu clouded my senses, and uncaring if there were people watching or listening, I moaned, pulling her even closer— And there were people watching. n and won alike who were either jealous of her or admired her altogether.

"I missed you like crazy!" I moaned against her ear and smiled when she shivered against .

"Oh, I did too!" She shrieked, burying her face into my neck. And then she pulled away to take in. "You look so good!"

"I look like shit compared to you."

Her face colored a bright shade of pink as soon as I said those words, and with her head bowed and eyes lowered, she chuckled, muttering; "you flatter , Kael!"

But I wasn’t.

She was srising.

Beautiful—still shy, still innocent—but srising.

My heart thumped wildly against my chest when she leaned close to plant a kiss on my cheek, and then with her arm around mine, she led to the small crowd where my brothers stood amongst our other business partners.

Patrick, our friend whistled. "Luna."

Even though Chalice wasn’t formally married to us yet, the mbers of our pack have already begun to acknowledge her as ours. They also loved her too, and from the way she was always so quick to jump to their aid, I knew she loved them right back.

"Oh, don’t flatter !" She exclaid excitedly, "how are you, Pat?"

Caelum and Zevran leaned close too, their eyes alight with glee as they took in her sight. They scooted closer to kiss her flushed cheeks and my heart swelled when she returned the favor, then kissed . Again.

Our whispers soon halted when a prominent figure entered the hall. It was Alpha Jarek Frostclaw, the business mogul we’ve been trying to buy into our corner for several months now. The fierce billionaire who we all looked up to.

He exuded an elegance that had my heart skidding to a stuttering stop for a minute, and when he got closer, sothing about him felt familiar.

Brushing away that feeling, I walked up to him, my brothers did too. And I drawled; "Welco to our branch opening, Alpha Frostclaw. It’s a pleasure to have you here."

Alpha Frostclaw was a cold person. Very aloof and unfriendly, so it was no surprise when he simply gave a curt bow and murmured; "It’s nice to et you too."

Chalice quickly let go of my arm and took out her hand towards him for a handshake. She smiled softly; "I am Chalice Blackthorne, it’s nice to finally et you, Alpha Frostclaw. I’ve heard so much about you."

"The pleasure’s all mine." He responded calmly, but I didn’t miss the way he eyed her hand skeptically, or how he didn’t even take the hand at all.

She dropped it in embarrassnt.

Today, my brothers and I had invited him and his leading dical engineer to discuss business. We heard from a reliable gossip that they were finally producing a prototype that could help wolfless wolves either find their wolves or genetically modify them to be as strong as full blooded werewolves, and we wanted in on that project.

We were interested in it in order to help all the runts and ogas like Leilani in the pack—that’s if we ever found her— as well as tap into the enormous wealth that investing in it would bring.

For the past three years, Frostclaw. Inc has been making waves in the tech and artificial intelligence market both for Humans and werewolves. Their net worth had suddenly skyrocketed from hundreds of millions to hundreds of billions, so it was only normal for —us— to want to be a part of them.

My smile widened at the thought, but then Zevran asked; "Alpha Frostclaw, will your leading engineer still join us for the party?"

I nodded briskly. "Yes, I almost thought you’d both co together."

Frostclaw, at the ntion of that, looked towards the door and then he shrugged. "She just flew in from Denmark today so I doubt she’ll join us."

With that, he walked away from us to go sit in one of the chairs at the front.

It wasn’t until he was gone that I finally let out the breath I’d been holding. Caelum did a fist bump, whispering; "He’s here!"

"Of course he is!

"Let’s try to close the deal with him today, alright?!"

Now, it was Zevran who spoke up. He drawled; "Alright. However, I do not know why but sothing about him feels very familiar. Like I have seen him sowhere before."

I thought so too. But brushing off the thought, I sighed; "...you probably saw him on Forbes’ recently updated list."

Shortly afterwards, the party went into full swing. Everyone was wining and dining... and networking. Even Chalice was busy making connections, trying to get the leading tech companies around to take notice of her.

She was good. Very good. So it would be no surprise if one of them chose to hire her on the spot.

I was deep into a conversation with my brothers and Gavin when suddenly a stunning woman in a black vintage Valentino off shoulder dress stalked into the room, the heels of her shiny Louboutins clacking against the floor as she sashayed in.

As soon as she stepped inside, all attention turned to her. n stopped drinking, won stopped chatting—all of their gazes now fastened on the beauty that has suddenly graced us with her presence.

My wolf stirred within , and in surprise, I looked up to find my brothers all sporting an uncomfortable expression on their faces as well.

"Who is she?" Caelum whispered to .

Zevran leaned close. "I do not rember sending an invitation to anyone like that. Did any of you—"

Before he could finish, both Caelum and I snapped; "No."

But my wolf, Zephyr, wouldn’t stop thrashing wildly in the barrier between us. He wanted to co out... to feel her... to see her.

That was...strange.

"What do we do?"

As soon as I asked that question, I saw her walk up to Alpha Frostclaw, and forgive for being so crazy, but that instantly made feel enraged. I balled my hands into tight fists. "She’s with Alpha Frostclaw." I sneered.

"Yes, maybe she’s the leading engineer he was talking about."

As soon as Zevran said those words, I froze.

You an that beauty was the leading dical engineer?

So she was all beauty and brains? Damn!

Sothing tightened in my chest; I gulped. "Then let’s go have a word with her."

Ignoring Chalice for the first ti tonight, we made our way towards Alpha Frostclaw and the beauty standing beside him, but as soon as they saw us approaching, Alpha Frostclaw grimaced.

The girl’s face—which had been smiling only a second ago— hardened so much, a chill ran down my spine.

She smirked; "Kael, Zevran... Caelum. I don’t think it’s a pleasure to see you again."

I froze.

Her voice. Her eyes. Her hair... they all looked so familiar.

...and her face...

That was when it hit . The purple eyes. The silver hair. The disgust rolling off of her in waves. The rage... the years and years of buried contempt.

Zevran and Caelum looked confused for a while. They stared at her in shock, unsure as to why she sounded so hostile. Surprised that she’d referred to us on a first na basis.

But I knew why. I whispered; "Leilani...?"

"Ahh, I see you still have a functioning brain, Alpha Kael. How are you?"