The heavy wrought-iron gates of Blackwell Manor loomed before her, shadowed under a gray-tinged sky. Eila stood still, her fingers tightening around the sealed scroll now tucked into her leather satchel. Her wolf, Sera, paced anxiously within her, sensing the turmoil radiating through Eila's soul.
This was it.
This was where she would tell them.
Everything.
That she was the child of the Triad. That the world's fate had somehow chosen her. That loving her might destroy them. That maybe… they should let her go.
The butler opened the gate without a word—he'd been instructed to expect her. As she stepped into the grand foyer, she spotted Leonard near the staircase, arms folded, his presence as commanding as ever. His icy blue eyes softened only slightly at the sight of her.
"You're late," he murmured, though not unkindly.
"I was… deciding if I should come at all," she replied honestly.
Leonard stepped aside, revealing the Baldwin twins sitting in the drawing room behind him. Lukas was tapping his fingers against the armrest of a velvet chair, while Zois leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the door as if willing her to appear.
And now she had.
The atmosphere shifted the moment she stepped in. A subtle tension filled the room, one that carried both dread and hope.
"I called you here for a reason," she began, voice wavering.
Leonard crossed the room to her side, while the twins stood together, silent but attentive.
Eila took out the prophecy scroll and laid it on the central table. "This… is what I found in the Alpha's restricted library. Luna Priscilla allowed me access—after nearly punishing me for sneaking in. She wanted me to understand."
The room fell into stillness. Leonard raised a brow. Zois tilted his head. Lukas stepped forward.
"Understand what?" Lukas asked.
"When did that happen we don't remember anything like that happening." Zois wondered.
Eila just said, "that was later when she was about to leave and you were talking to the Alpha."
"That I'm not just any mate," she whispered.
"I'm the center of an ancient prophecy. The mate of the Triad. The girl the world will either shatter or be saved by. I was asked to meet the high seer and in her chambers I saw a very horrible vision of the upcoming future in there. And this scroll which showed contained a prophecy around us three."
She unrolled the scroll slowly, letting them read the words themselves. Crimson ink. Old tongue. The weight of centuries bleeding through every line.
As their eyes moved across the parchment, the twins' postures stiffened. Leonard's jaw clenched.
When they looked up again, she was already speaking.
"I know what you're thinking. That this is insane. That 's too much. And you'd be right. That's why I've decided…" she took a breath, steadying herself. "To reject the bond. I haven't been marked by Zois and Lukas so there won't be much to lose but Leonard is strong and I will survive the pain I know."
Three stunned expressions greeted her.
"I'll go to the High Seer. Make it official. I don't want your lives tied to something that could end in fire and blood. You're both respected heirs of the Alpha. Leonard… you've already suffered enough. You deserve peace. All of you."
"You're not serious," Zois said quietly.
"I am," she insisted. "The prophecy says if I'm divided, the Veil will tear. If I'm broken—" her voice cracked, "—the world will burn. I don't know what that means yet. But I won't let any of you be the reason that happens."
"You think rejecting us will make things better like this?" Lukas asked, stepping closer. "That pretending we're not bound will erase the fate the Moon Goddess has carved into your soul?"
"I don't want you punished for being with me. Luna was ready to exile me for stepping foot in the Alpha's library. What will happen when they find out we're all—"
"Stop." Leonard's voice cut through the air. Cold, calm, terrifyingly certain.
"I didn't wait sixteen years in silence, hiding pain behind duty, only to give you up now that I finally know what you mean to me."
"But the prophecy—"
"Means nothing if you're dead," Zois said fiercely. "We won't let that happen."
"We're not leaving you," Lukas added. "Not now. Not ever."
Tears blurred her vision. "But you'll suffer."
"So?" Lukas shrugged. "You're worth it."
"We were chosen for this bond, Eila," Leonard said, stepping forward to take her hand. "The prophecy called it a Triad. Not a burden. A balance. And we intend to be exactly that—your balance."
Her knees gave way, but Leonard caught her. Zois knelt beside her, brushing a tear from her cheek, while Lukas reached for her hand.
The scroll remained open on the table, crimson ink glowing faintly in the golden light from the tall windows.
In the stillness that followed, Eila found her answer—not in rejection, but in the unity of their touch.
She couldn't believe herself that her mates were ready to go to that extent for her. She made a determined decision in her mind that whatever happens she will never let any harm come to them.
And together, they just might be able to save their world and her parents.