Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 87: He Would Pay.

Selena.

After five days in the woods, I decided it was time. Time to face Silas again. He had been desperate for a marriage, and I was going to give him one. One that would end him.

The road to the packhouse stretched ahead, dust swirling around our boots. The triplets walked beside me, silent but alert. Normally their presence steadied me, but today it did little to calm the storm inside. Every thought revolved around the same questions: what Silas had done, what he was planning now, and how far he would go to keep his control.

The healer had traveled to her daughter pack the day before. She had promised to return after spending some time there, but for now, I was on my own, with only the triplets to keep me grounded. The absence of her calm presence left a hollow ache, one I filled quickly with purpose and rage. I would not wait for anyone to act for me.

I was lost in the spiral of my own fury when voices reached my ears. Guards, up ahead. Low, urgent, their words cutting across the dry air.

"She’s... she’s dead," one muttered, faltering. "Lady Loretta... the disease... it spread faster than anyone expected."

My stomach dropped. Dead. The word hit like a physical blow, and I froze mid-step. The world narrowed to the sound of his voice. My heart pounded so violently I could hear it in my ears.

"The princess should never have brought those rogues to the pack. They killed Lady Loretta," another guard whispered, disbelief threading his tone.

"I heard the princess may have supported poisoning her sister because Lady Loretta was prettier," the first guard added, bitter and absurd.

I did not need to hear more. My fists clenched so tightly the leather on my gloves creaked. Rage surged through me, scorching every vein in my body. Teeth ground together as the truth became undeniable. "Silas," I hissed under my breath. "He killed her. He killed her."

The triplets glanced at me, concern etched in their faces. Ronan stepped closer, moving just enough that his hand brushed mine. Not touching, but grounding. "Selena, I know what you are thinking," he said softly. "We all feel it. But right now, we need to be careful. He has already framed this. He twisted everything in his favor."

I shook my head violently. "Careful? Ronan, he killed his mate and the child she carried. And now they are blaming us. They think we had something to do with it. We cannot just sit back and watch this happen."

Edris, walking slightly behind, spoke calmly, though steel hid beneath his tone. "Selena, I understand. I do. But if we rush straight into the pack, Silas will use it against us again. He wants us angry, unsteady, desperate. That is his power."

I let out a bitter laugh, short and sharp. "Power? He has murdered her, twisted the truth, and turned the pack against us. And you are telling me to wait?"

"Yes," Ronan said firmly. "We wait. We regroup. We plan. When we strike, we strike on our terms, not his."

The words chained my fury, restraining it but giving it direction. I could still feel the heat of my anger, the ache for justice, but their logic slowed the impulse to charge headfirst into a trap.

I took a deep breath, trying to force reason into my pounding heart. "Fine," I muttered, teeth gritted. "We go back to the cave. But we plan. And when the time comes..." My fists clenched again, nails digging into my palms. "He will pay."

Ronan nodded. "We will make sure he does. Every step. But first, survival. The pack believes the lies right now. We cannot fight them while they think we are the villains."

The triplets guided us away from the path toward the packhouse. The winding trails led to their hidden cave, a place of shadowed stone and quiet safety.

Dust rose with each hurried step. Sparse trees rattled their dry leaves in the wind. Silence stretched between us, filled only by the pounding of my heart and the weight of what we had just heard.

Finally, we reached the cave. The entrance was dark, shadowed by jagged stone. Inside, the fire flickered, casting long, dancing shadows. I sank to the edge of a rock, the fury inside me raw, sharp, unyielding.

Kael crouched in front of me, eyes steady and serious. "We will get him, Selena. Not just for Loretta, but for everything. But we have to do it smart. One misstep, and he could destroy everything, including you."

I allowed myself a bitter smile, the kind that tastes of both grief and defiance. "Smart, not reckless," I said, my voice low but fierce. "Fine. But when the time comes, he will not see it coming."

Edris rested a hand on my shoulder, a rare comfort in the darkness. "No, he will not. But we have to play the long game. Patience is our weapon now."

I nodded slowly, letting their words sink in. The anger still burned, but it had sharpened, tempered by strategy. Loretta was gone. The pack had turned against us. Silas had set the board, but the game was far from over.

I could not stop thinking about the audacity of it. He killed his mate, the one person he was supposed to protect. The one person he had shared blood and life with. He had twisted it all, turned the pack into his pawns. The thought churned my stomach with disgust. He was cruel, but he was clever. I would have to be cleverer.

Kael spoke again, quieter this time. "We need to track every move he makes. Watch for the smallest opening. He is strong, but he is not infallible. There is always a weakness."

Ronan added, "He thrives on our emotions. We cannot let him control us. We cannot give him the satisfaction of seeing us break. That is his power, and we take that away the moment we remain calm, even in the face of what he has done."

The fire crackled, shadows twisting and stretching with the flickering light. My fists remained clenched, but the tension shifted, bending into focus. Rage and the ache for revenge lingered, but clarity now cut through the fire.

We spent long minutes in silence, a silence that held decisions and plans like seeds waiting to bloom. I knew we had to be patient, but we could not wait too long.

Every moment Silas held the pack in his control was another moment he could destroy someone else, manipulate someone else, strengthen his hold.

I rose slightly from the rock, fists still tight, mind racing. The storm inside had not passed. It had sharpened. Every thought, every movement of Silas would be watched. Every lie he told would be remembered.

And when the time came, he would pay.

I could feel it in my chest, in my bones, in the way the firelight reflected in my eyes. He had made a mistake thinking he could control everything, twist the truth without consequence. He had underestimated us. He had underestimated me.

We would be ready. Every trap he laid, every deception, every twisted lie would be returned to him tenfold. And the pack he thought loyal would learn, in time, the full weight of his cruelty.

He would pay. That certainty burned brighter than the fire before me, steady, unyielding, and inevitable.