Betrayed by My Fated Alphas

Xavier knocked on my door right after lunch. He didn't wait for me to answer before pushing it open. He carried a long, flat box wrapped in matte black paper.

"I have something for you," he said. His charismatic smile was perfectly in place.

I set down my needle and stood up. I didn't say anything as he placed the box on my small desk. He lifted the lid and pulled back the crisp white tissue paper.

My breath hitched in my throat.

It was a bolt of hand-dyed silk. But it wasn't just any silk. It was the exact, highly specific shade of dusty rose. Milani's favorite color.

I reached out, my fingers trembling slightly. The fabric was like water. It was the highest quality I had ever seen. But as I touched it, a sudden chill ran down my spine.

I stared at the pink silk. Then I looked up at Xavier.

I had never told Xavier about this color. I had only mentioned it once, late at night, in the kitchen with Weston.

They talked about me. They traded my words like currency. Weston had taken my quiet, vulnerable confession about my sister's dream and handed it to Xavier to use as a token.

I looked at Xavier's face. He was watching me closely, waiting for a reaction. I gave him a look that hovered right between gratitude and deep, cold suspicion. I didn't smile. I didn't cry.

"Thank you," I said softly. I kept my face blank.

"Only the best for your work, Cleo," he replied smoothly. But his eyes narrowed just a fraction. He knew I had caught the slip. He just didn't care.

When he left, I locked the door. I took the scissors and laid the dusty rose silk flat on my desk. My hands felt numb. Every cut of the fabric felt like a betrayal, but I did it anyway. I cut the panels for the bodice that very night. I needed the gown for Milani. Even if the thread binding it was made of lies, I would finish it.

Two nights later, the illusion shattered completely.

I woke up parched. The water pitcher in my room was empty, so I slipped out into the dark hallway to head down to the kitchen. The pack house was dead quiet.

As I passed Weston's study, I heard a low voice. The door was cracked open just an inch. A sliver of yellow light spilled onto the floorboards.

"The timeline is accelerating," a man said. It was Silas Vane, Weston's Beta. His voice was tight and urgent. "The Lycan King's tribunal isn't waiting. We have weeks, maybe less, before they want the case filed."

I froze. I pressed my back against the cold stone wall and held my breath.

"Is the evidence chain secure?" Weston asked. His Alpha tone was heavy, vibrating through the wood of the door.

"Yes," Silas replied. "But only if Paulina doesn't catch wind of the operation before we file. If she finds out we're building a case on her tribute ledgers, she'll burn the evidence and run."

There was a pause. Then Xavier spoke up. His voice lacked all its usual warmth. It was pure, calculating ice.

"Then we make sure she doesn't find out," Xavier said. "And we keep the girl happy. She doesn't leave this house. Give her whatever she wants. Her cooperation is the only thing tying Paulina directly to the private safe. We cannot lose our witness now. Keep her compliant at all costs."

*Keep the girl happy. Keep her compliant.*

I closed my eyes. The words hit me like a physical blow to the stomach. The late-night kitchen meals. The soft tone. The expensive fabrics. The dusty rose silk.

It was all a strategy. I wasn't a guest. I wasn't a girl they cared about. I was a tool. An evidence chain. A witness they needed to keep docile until they got what they wanted.

I didn't go to the kitchen. I turned around and walked silently back to my room. I crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. I didn't cry. Tears were for people who had hope. I just stared at the ceiling, my heart turning into a hard, cold stone. I would play their game. I would smile and take their silk, because I needed Paulina gone to keep Milani safe. But I would never, ever trust them again.

By the end of the week, the tension in the pack house snapped.

It happened on a Thursday afternoon. I was sewing the lace overlay onto the bodice when I heard shouting downstairs. Heavy boots pounded against the floorboards. The air in the house grew thick with static. I couldn't hear the pack mind-link, but I could feel the violent shift in the Alpha auras around me.

My door flew open.

Weston and Xavier stepped inside. Silas was right behind them, his face pale. Weston's jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek.

"What's wrong?" I asked, standing up and dropping my needle.

"Paulina is gone," Weston said grimly.

My blood ran ice cold. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"An allied Beta from the Pine Ridge pack found discrepancies in the tribute ledgers," Xavier explained quickly. He ran a hand through his hair, looking stressed. "He raised the issue at the regional council meeting this morning. Paulina sensed the trap. She vanished from Thornveil territory two hours ago."

Panic flared in my chest. If Paulina was on the run, she was dangerous. "What about Milani? Is the sanctuary safe?"

"The neutral territory is secure," Weston said, stepping closer to me. His dark eyes locked onto mine. His aura flared, heavy and commanding. "But you are in danger. If she figures out you're here, she will try to silence you."

"You are not to leave this room," Xavier added smoothly. He stepped up beside Weston, forming a solid wall of muscle between me and the open door. "Silas is posting guards at the end of the hall. The windows stay locked."

I looked back and forth between the two Alphas. They looked fierce. They looked protective.

But I remembered the whisper in the dark study.

*We cannot lose our witness now.*

They weren't just protecting me from Paulina. They were locking me in a vault because I was their most valuable asset.

"To keep me safe?" I asked softly. I kept my voice perfectly flat.

Weston's eyes flickered. He stepped even closer, his chest almost touching me. I could smell the winter pine and warm stone. "To keep you safe, Cleo," he murmured.

He sounded so sincere. It almost broke my heart.

"Okay," I whispered.

They backed away. They walked out into the hall. The heavy oak door swung shut.

*Click.*

I stared at the brass handle. The lock had been turned from the outside. The cage was finally sealed, and the monsters keeping me inside had the faces of saviors.