LAYLA'S POV
The bond is driving them insane.
I see it in the way they move—the triplets, my so-called mates. They try to act indifferent, unaffected, like I mean nothing to them, but I see the cracks in their armor. They avoid looking at me for too long, but when they slip, their gazes are hungry, haunted. Their hands clench when I walk by, as if holding themselves back. Their wolves are restless. Even when they stand across the hall, I feel them. Their emotions pulse through the bond like electricity,
But they refuse to give in.
Kaiden is the worst. He lashes out at everyone. He shouts orders unnecessarily. But I see the way his shoulders tighten when he sees me, how he inhales sharply if I stand too close. I caught him staring at me once in the training yard with an unreadable expression. His body was tense like he was restraining himself from marching toward me. The moment our eyes met, he turned on his heel and stormed off.
Killian isn't much better. He tries to drown himself in distractions, flirting with other women, pretending they satisfy him. But it's a lie. I can feel the frustration he feels when I'm near. His hands twitch at his sides, like he wants to reach for me but won't allow himself the weakness. When I walked past him in the corridors this morning, his wolf snarled in my head, and he looked away so fast I almost laughed.
Kieran is the quiet one. He watches me when he thinks I won't notice. He barely talks to me directly, but I can feel his desire. I once brushed against him accidentally, and his entire body went rigid. His breathing hitched. I swore I heard a growl before he turned and left the room without a word. He wants to fight this bond, but it's winning. It's only a matter of time before they all break.
Because I feel it too.
The nights are the worst. The bond makes me restless, needy. I know they can feel my emotions as clearly as I feel theirs. They're fighting it, but so am I. It's exhausting, pretending that my heart doesn't race when they're near, that my skin doesn't burn when they accidentally touch me. We are tied together in a way that neither of us asked for, and yet, I can't bring myself to wish it away.
There's something more to this. Something deeper.
I know it in my bones.
That's why I find myself sneaking through the castle halls at night. Something doesn't add up. Why are they fighting the bond so hard? It's more than just pride, more than stubbornness.
As I move silently through the corridors at night, I strain to listen. A whisper. A shift in the darkness. I freeze.
And then she steps out.
A woman, cloaked and hooded, comes from the shadows like she was born from them. My instincts scream at me to run, but something about her holds me still. There's an aura around her, something ethereal. She knows me.
"You're looking in the wrong places," she says softly.
I stiffen "Who are you?"
She ignores the question and takes a step closer. I don't move. There's something familiar in the way she holds herself, like she knows me in ways even I don't.
Then she speaks again, and her words shatter my reality.
"Your father was not an Omega. He was the Beta of Lunaris. And he was erased from history."
My breath catches. The ground beneath me tilts. My father... erased? My father, a Beta? Not the weak, forgotten Omega I had been told he was? It doesn't make sense.
I laugh, shaking my head. This woman is absolutely out of her mind. She has to be. My father—a Beta? Impossible. I was an Omega. That's all I've ever known. Omegas don't come from Betas. It doesn't make any sense.
But the look on her face was serious. Her expression makes my stomach drop. She isn't joking.
My laughter dies in my throat and my breath hitches
"That's impossible," I whisper, but my voice comes out weak even to my own ears.
The woman takes a step closer. Her eyes are filled with something I can't name. Pity? Urgency?
"And your mother?" she says, tilting her head. "She was not what you think, either."
The world around me blurs. My mind races, trying to process, trying to deny. I've lived my entire life believing I was nothing more than an Omega, bound to serve, to be invisible. My father—what little I remember of him—was no one important. And my mother? She was a mbroken woman, beaten down by the world.
Not what I think?
I open my mouth, but before I can demand answers, a sharp sound shatters the moment.
Shouts.
Boots pounding against the cold stone floors.
The guards.
The woman's head snaps toward the sound "They're coming." She curses under her breath, then she looks at me again. "Do not trust the royal family."
And then, like a ghost, she vanishes into the darkness.
My heart slams against my ribs. My breath is too fast. My thoughts keep spiraling.
What the hell just happened? What did she mean? My father was the Beta? Someone erased him from history? How? Why?
"Hey! You there!"
I spin around just in time to see the guards storming toward me.
I take a step back instinctively.
"Why are you sneaking around?" one of them demands, narrowing his eyes at me. "Who were you speaking to?"
I open my mouth, then close it. What am I supposed to say? That a strange woman just told me my entire life was a lie before disappearing into thin air? That my father, the man no one ever spoke of, was supposedly a Beta—someone important, someone powerful—and yet, somehow, no record of him remains?
I swallow hard. "I—I wasn't speaking to anyone," I manage to say.
The guards exchange glances, clearly not convinced. One of them steps closer, looking at me suspiciously "Then why are you lurking in the halls after curfew?"
Think, Layla. Think.
"I got lost," I blurt out. "I was sent on an errand and took a wrong turn."
Another guard scoffs. "An Omega shouldn't be wandering the halls alone at night."
He looks at me up and down in disgust and my hands curl into fists at my sides.
"We should take her to the warden," the first guard suggests.
Panic flares in my chest. If they take me to the warden, I'll be questioned. They'll dig, they'll pry, and if they think I'm lying—
No. I can't let that happen.
I force myself to straighten, to steady my breath.
"Please," I say. I place just the right amount of submission into my tone. "It was a mistake. I won't let it happen again."
The guards hesitate. I hold my breath, praying they'll let it go. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, one of them grunts. "Get back to your quarters. If we catch you again, there will be consequences."
I nod quickly, bowing my head, and turn away before they can change their minds.
My thoughts are still spinning in my head.
My father was the Beta. Someone erased him from history.
And now, I have to find out why.
-
The castle is silent at this hour. I prefer the darkness—it is where I feel most at home, where my instincts sharpen, where I see things others miss. And tonight, I see her.
Layla.
I have never trusted her.
There is something about her that doesn't add up. Omegas are supposed to be weak. Submissive. Easy to break. But Layla defies all expectations.
No matter what my brothers and I do, she refuses to submit. I see her take punishments in silence, refuse to beg, refuse to show fear even when she has every reason to. That should make her reckless. But no—she is careful. Controlled. Calculated.
Dangerous.
And now, she is sneaking through the castle at night. I can see her.
I step from the shadows, blocking her path before she can disappear.
"Where were you?" I ask her.
Layla looks at me with those alluring eyes of hers. For the briefest second, something unreadable crosses them, but it is gone before I can grasp it. Then, she straightens her spine.
"The library," she says smoothly.
Lie.
My wolf stirs. As an Alpha, I can sense lies.
I step forward, forcing her back against the cold stone wall. "Do not test me," I growl.
Layla doesn't shrink away. She doesn't even flinch.
We are so close to each other now. The air between us crackles with something raw, something electric. My hand lifts before I can stop myself. I wrap my hands around her throat. Still, she doesn't look scared.
She isn't afraid of me.
Something inside me twists violently.
Her scent—warm, intoxicating—wraps around me, clouding my senses. My gaze drops to her lips. They are full and slightly parted. My eyes move lower, to where her thin nightgown does nothing to hide the soft curves of her body. I can see the rise and fall of her chest. I can hear the way her breathing quickens just slightly.
My wolf howls. He is desperate to close the distance, to claim, to devour.
I lean in. My lips hover just above hers.
Layla doesn't move. Doesn't speak. She just watches me with those wide, intense eyes, challenging me.
The mate bond shouldn't exist between us. It is impossible. But in that moment, with her scent wrapping around me, her heat seeping into my skin, I feel more connected to her than I ever have to anyone.
No.
I tear myself away. We haven't done anything, yet I am breathing heavily. My hands curl into fists at my sides as I force myself to take a step back, then another.
Layla remains against the wall, watching me with an unreadable expression.
Without another word, I turn and walk away, but my thoughts are scattered.
Why does she feel so familiar?
And why does my wolf whisper that Layla is more than she seems?