The music echoes through the grand ballroom as lights swirl like illusions. Sam watches from a shadowed corner, body tense, eyes on Noah, who stands laughing softly among a crowd of elites.
Oliver leans in close.
Oliver:
"Still watching him?"
Sam:
"He hasn't looked at me once since James stepped in."
Oliver:
careful
"And James definitely knows, doesn't he?"
Sam:
"Yeah. He didn't just look at me like a threat… he looked at me like property. Like I was already claimed."
Oliver:
"Sam, this is bad. If both brothers are working together—"
Sam cuts him off with a sharp glance.
Sam:
"Then we're already trapped."
Just then, across the room, Max and Silas are laughing near the bar, when Noah walks past them.
Time slows.
The moment Noah passes between them, their laughter dies. Silas blinks like he's suddenly short of breath. Max's hand tightens around his glass until it nearly cracks.
They both freeze.
Max:
barely a whisper
"What… was that?"
Silas:
"My wolf just—"
he clutches his chest
"It reacted. To him."
They both turn to look at Noah.
He's standing a few feet away now, looking over his shoulder — not surprised. Not confused. He's smiling. Calm. All-knowing.
Noah:
softly
"So… you felt it."
Max:
hoarse
"What did you do to us?"
Noah:
"I didn't do anything. You just finally recognized what was already yours."
Silas:
"This isn't possible… you're—you're a supreme omega."
Noah:
stepping closer, voice smooth and eerily calm
"And you are true blood alphas. All three of you. You were made for me. I've always known."
Max and Silas exchange shocked looks, their bond with Sam already so deep that the idea of sharing something as intimate as a mate — and not knowing — rattles them.
Silas:
"But Sam—he would've told us."
Noah tilts his head, smile cool and patient.
Noah:
"Would he?"
Behind them, Sam has stepped closer, pale and wide-eyed as he realizes what's happening.
Sam:
quietly, devastated
"You… you planned this."
Noah:
turning to him now, gently
"I didn't plan the bond, Sam. Fate did that. I'm just… guiding it. Accepting it faster than you are."
Silas:
to Sam, stunned
"You knew?!"
Sam:
"Only about me. I didn't know it'd be all three of us. I swear."
Max:
"So what now? You expect us to—what—share?"
Noah:
"You don't have to decide anything now. I just want you to feel it. Let your wolves speak."
Oliver, still at Sam's side, mutters under his breath.
Oliver:
"God, he's good."
Sam:
gritting his teeth
"He's dangerous."
Noah walks forward and, shockingly, takes Max's hand and presses it lightly to his own neck.
A silent offering.
Noah:
"Don't fight it. You're mine… just like Sam. Just like Silas."
Max stiffens, every muscle in his body screaming to pull away—
But his wolf doesn't let him.
Across the room, James leans against the balcony railing, watching with a smirk.
James:
quietly to himself
"And now the rest of the trap snaps shut."