The Play-Toy Of Three Lycan Kings-Chapter 407: Reveals V

SAGE

Shock didn’t hit me all at once.

It came in slow, nauseating waves, each one heavier than the last, until my knees finally gave out and I was lying fully on Adam, that he had to sit down at the edge of the bed, legs stretched outward, my fingers curling into his shirt as if fabric could anchor me to reality.

Claire was behind it all? How?

Naomi’s confession still echoed in my ears, unfinished yet already devastating.

My mind leapt ahead, unwillingly—to the rest of the truths that would soon spill, to the consequences waiting just beyond this room. To the vampires.

They would be here soon. I could feel it in my bones, in the way the air seemed to tighten around my chest. The wards I had placed earlier , after getting the first truth, were thinning, stretched by my own unstable magic.

Could I fight vampires?

The thought wasn’t heroic. It was practical. Cold. Fear-edged.

I reached inward, instinctively searching for El, for her voice that always cut through my spirals.

El.

Nothing.

I tried again, sharper this time. El, I need you.

Silence.

Stubborn, infuriating silence. Even though I knew she was present.

A flicker of panic threatened to rise, quickly followed by shame so crushing it almost stole my breath. I had been so sure. So righteous in my anger. Every act of revenge, every spell I cast, every life I had threatened—it had all been for nothing.

Worse. It had put the entire world in danger.

I stared at Naomi as she cried, her apologies tumbling out in broken fragments. Her eyes were swollen, red, and sincere.

I searched myself for words—anger, condemnation, even satisfaction. There was nothing. I wasn’t in a place to be angry, to even judge.

"I wouldn’t have done it," Naomi sobbed. "If I had known you were Maya... I swear, Sage, I wouldn’t have—"

I wasn’t sure I believed her. Not fully. I remembered too well how obsessed she had been,, still was, with Noah, how she had watched him, clung to him, measured herself against every woman who stood too close. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Part of me—an ugly, honest part—was angrier at Noah than at her.

He must have known. He must have seen it and chosen to do nothing, other than giving her the term ’bride’ like a reward.

The thought sat bitter on my tongue, but I swallowed it down. I had no right to cast stones. Not now. Maybe not ever.

Forgiveness wasn’t something I felt entitled to withhold, not when guilt weighed on me like chains. Not when my mind dragged me back, unwillingly, to the dream I had had only hours ago—the one I had dismissed as fear and imagination.

The dream that had shown me this exact outcome.

Cities burning. Lines blurred. Blood soaking into the earth, not red alone, but blackened with magic gone wrong. My hands raised in power, my face streaked with tears, the world fracturing around a single, unforgivable mistake.

Chills broke out across my skin.

I wanted to cry again, the urge sudden and overwhelming, but I clenched my jaw hard. Crying blood had not inspired sympathy earlier. I doubted it would now.

Then Adam’s hands reached for mine, warm, solid, making my breath hitch despite myself.

His voice brushed my mind instead of my ears. Everything will be fine.

My eyes flew to his, and his widened in equal surprise.

The mind path was open.

The realization sent a strange, aching throb through my chest. He had marked me—claimed me in the most ancient, irreversible way—and yet... how could everything possibly be fine?

The world was already cracking.

Then Adam straightened, authority settling over him like armor. "Lilian," he said. "Speak."

Lilian flinched. Her gaze darted to Claire before dropping to the floor. "I didn’t know much," she said quietly. "Claire didn’t involve us deeply. She was careful."

A pause. "But... Naomi said it. And she was right... That Claire was the one planning everything."

Her head bowed, waiting for judgment.

I felt none rise in me.

I should have hated her. She had once been my sister, and not a good one. Instead, all my anger turned inward.. I had done worse than gossip or silence.

I had nearly ended lives. Would actually do so, if I didn’t think fast on how to right my wrongs.

"Claire," Adam said.

She scoffed loudly and turned toward the door.

"Don’t move," her brother snapped. "The alpha is speaking to you."

She hissed at him, pure venom. "Shut up, Catel. You’re stupid. Weak." Her eyes flicked to his mate with open disgust. "You bonded with that weak she-wolf. You don’t get to command me."

I wasn’t surprised.

Claire had always been reckless, cruel in the way of people who mistook volume for power. I wouldn’t have been shocked if she had rejected her own mate outright.

Adam’s voice brushed my mind again, dark with confirmation. She did.

Of course she had.

I almost judged her then. The instinct rose fast—but it died just as quickly. I was no better. Rejection took many forms. I had rejected truth, patience, mercy.

So I watched.

Catel stepped in front of the door, blocking it with his body. "Tell the truth," he said hoarsely. "Just once."

Claire laughed. "Or what? What happens if I don’t?" Her gaze swept the room. "You’re all fools. Instead of killing Maya when you had the chance, you’re letting her pull your strings."

Noah repeated Adam’s earlier question, voice tight. "Who helped you?"

She pressed her lips together, stubborn, defiant. "I won’t say anything. You can’t make me."

That did it.

The need for truth burned through me, fierce, consuming. I rose to my feet, magic surging hot and immediate, snapping around Claire like invisible chains.

She froze mid-breath.

I moved toward her, heart pounding, lifting my hand to place it against her head—to rip the memories straight from her mind if I had to.

Then Claire smiled.

The magic shattered.

She stepped out of the hold as if it had never existed, lifting her hand lazily. Power flickered around her fingers—dark, unfamiliar, wrong.

"Do you think," she said softly, dangerously, "you’re the only one with magic?"