Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 48: A warning.

Later that evening, just before dinner, the corridor behind the eastern wing of the Pack house was unusually quiet.

Light from the late afternoon sun filtered weakly through the narrow windows.

Loretta walked slowly, her steps measured with confidence she did not entirely feel but refused to show.

She had come here looking for Silas earlier but had found him speaking with one of the guards. When she turned away, she felt the presence behind her before she heard the footsteps.

Edris stopped walking only when she reached the end of the corridor where the stone wall met a corner shadowed by tall pillars.

Loretta turned around, lifting her chin slightly in what she hoped appeared as natural elegance.

"Are you following me?" she asked lightly. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Her voice carried amusement, but there was tension inside it.

Edris did not answer immediately.

He studied her the way a predator studies it’s prey movement before deciding where to strike.

Then he took another step forward.

Loretta’s breath tightened faintly, though she forced a smile.

"You are very quiet today," she said. "I thought you preferred conversation."

Edris did not return her smile.

Instead he reached forward suddenly and pinned her against the wall behind her shoulder.

The movement was not violent, but it was firm enough to stop her from stepping away.

Loretta’s eyes widened slightly.

"What are you doing?" she asked, though her voice did not carry the anger she wished it did.

"Why are you resisting me now?" Edris asked quietly.

"Didn’t you say you were interested in me and my brothers?"

Loretta swallowed.

"I do not know what you are talking about."

The words came out carefully, too carefully.

Edris tilted his head slightly as if studying a child who had told a lie that was too obvious.

"You tried to approach Kael this morning," he said. "You implied you were available to him. You suggested he could find comfort in you."

Loretta lifted her chin.

"I did nothing of the sort."

"Liar," Edris said calmly.

The word did not carry anger.

It carried certainty.

Loretta’s fingers tightened slightly at her sides.

Edris continued, "You told everyone at breakfast that you kissed one of us."

"I did kiss someone," she said quickly.

"Kael did not kiss you," Edris replied.

Her silence was answer enough.

He watched her carefully.

"Kael can never find you attractive," he said.

The words struck harder than any threat.

Loretta’s eyes flickered.

"You know why? It’s because he is in love with Selena," Edris continued. Then added slowly, "As are Ronan and I."

The corridor seemed quieter after those words. Loretta’s chest rose once, then fell.

Edris leaned closer slightly.

"There is nothing you can do about it."

Loretta forced a small laugh.

"I never said I wanted him. He came for me."

"You are lying again."

The certainty in his voice made her jaw tighten.

"If you try to start a rumor about Kael," Edris said as he studied her face as if measuring how much pressure was required to break the silence inside her. "I will personally tell Selena that you are pregnant for Silas."

The effect was immediate.

Loretta’s eyes widened.

For a moment she could not speak.

"How... how did you know?" she whispered.

Edris’s expression did not change.

"That is not important."

Her fingers trembled slightly where they rested against the wall.

"I am not pregnant," she said quickly.

The defence was weak.

Both of them knew it.

Edris watched the fear settle slowly.

"You are sleeping with your sister’s fiancé," he said slowly. "And yet you had the courage to accuse someone else of the same behaviour."

Colour drained slightly from Loretta’s cheeks.

"That is not your business."

"It became my business the moment you tried to destroy Kael’s reputation."

Silence stretched between them.

Loretta tried to push him away but his hand tightened slightly, not hurting her, only ensuring she did not move.

Edris spoke again.

"The only way to keep yourself from humiliation is to let this matter die naturally."

His voice hardened slightly.

"If you continue trying to spread rumours, I will make sure not only Selena hears about your pregnancy, but the entire pack will know about your betrayal."

Loretta’s lips parted.

Fear flickered across her eyes.

"You wouldn’t," she said.

Edris did not answer immediately.

He allowed the silence to stretch long enough for fear to grow comfortable inside it.

"You underestimate how far I am willing to go to protect what belongs to me and my brothers."

He released her suddenly.

After Edris released her, Loretta did not move immediately.

The absence of his hand did not bring relief the way she had expected. Instead, the space he left behind felt heavier, as if the air itself had changed the moment he decided she was no longer worth holding in place.

Her fingers curled slightly, then relaxed again, betraying the tremor she tried to hide.

She hated the way her body reacted before her thoughts could catch up.

Edris had not raised his voice.

He had not threatened her with violence.

Yet the certainty in his voice made her shiver. It felt like judgment delivered by someone who had already decided the outcome long before the conversation began.

Loretta swallowed.

For the first time since the triplets arrived at the palace, she felt the uncomfortable sensation of standing inside a place where her confidence had no echo.

The corridor felt smaller after Edris released her. The silence behind him was heavier than the pressure of his hand had been.

She realized something then with slow, cold clarity.

This was a warning.

And warnings were given only when the speaker believed the listener still had the chance to choose a safer path.

Loretta pressed her lips together.

"I am not afraid of you," she said finally.

The words sounded weaker than she intended.

Edris did not turn around immediately.

The silence that followed was deliberate, stretching until Loretta felt the weight of her own statement hanging uselessly in the air.

When he spoke again, his voice carried the same controlled calm.

"That is good," he said. "Fear makes people desperate. Desperate people make mistakes they cannot recover from."

Loretta’s chest tightened.

"You are trying to scare me."

"No," Edris replied. "I am telling you what will happen if you continue."

Another silence followed.

He only spoke again after a moment.

"You should also understand something very clearly," Edris said.

"The reason Kael, Ronan, and I stand beside Selena is not because we were forced into it."

Loretta did not respond.

"It is because she does not steal power through lies or manipulation. She stands where others are afraid to stand, and she earns the authority she was born with."

His words struck something inside Loretta that she did not want to acknowledge.

Edris finally turned halfway, just enough that she could see the cold clarity in his eyes.

"If you truly want Silas, that is your choice," he said. "But dragging innocent people into your personal games will end badly for you."

Loretta felt anger rise briefly, sharp and defensive.

"He will marry me," she said.

The conviction sounded fragile even to her own ears.

Edris studied her for a long moment before speaking.

"Maybe," he said.

The single word carried no agreement.

Only detached possibility.

Then he added quietly, "But marriage does not erase betrayal. Packs remember what people try to hide."

Loretta did not reply.

Her throat felt tight.

Edris walked past her slowly.

Loretta wanted to say something.

But the words felt heavy inside her throat, as if they belonged to someone else and refused to be used.

He stopped only once beside her.

"If I were you," he said, voice almost gentle, "I would spend my energy protecting the secret I already have instead of creating new enemies."

Then, he walked off.

Loretta understood then.

Edris was not trying to win a conversation.

He was deciding whether she was worth destroying.