Chapter 262: Eliminate the threat

Yvonne’s heart cracked at the sheer desolation in her daughter’s tone. She leaned forward, pulling Eloise into a tight, protective embrace against her chest. "Don’t talk like that, Eloise. It breaks my heart to hear you sound so defeated."

She smoothed her daughter’s back, her tone growing firm and strategic. "I assure you, you have nothing to fear. The mate bond is a sacred, absolute magic—a werewolf can never be mated to the exact same soul twice once the bond is severed. That door is permanently closed to Yuki."

Yvonne pulled back slightly, looking directly into Eloise’s tear-filled eyes. "Now, what we must focus on is tracking down their second-chance mates whenever they appear, and ensuring the triplets love you deeply enough to make you their official Luna, while relegating any second-chance female to a mere breeder. The council couldn’t force them to keep Yuki because of their deep prejudice against her bloodline, but if a second-chance mate appears and she carries no political stain, the elders won’t allow them to reject a second time."

Eloise digested her mother’s calculated words, her fingers clutching the crisp bedsheets as she nodded slowly. The tears were already drying. "You’re right... That’s what we have to do."

"That’s my brave girl," Yvonne said softly, breaking the hug and standing up. She picked up her leather purse from the chair, smoothing her jacket. "Try to get some rest now. I will come see you first thing in the morning. And please—no more crazy stunts."

Eloise offered her mother a soft, reassuring smile. "I promise, Mum."

Yvonne blew her a gentle kiss before stepping out into the quiet hallway, pulling the heavy door shut behind her.

The moment the latch clicked into place, the smile vanished from Eloise’s face completely. She sat up in bed, reached for her purse resting on the bedside table, and unzipped the inner compartment, rummaging through until her fingers found a tiny, leather-bound black notebook. She tore out a single, rough-edged page and slid out of the hospital bed. Barefoot, she walked quietly over to the wide window, standing beneath the cold, pale moonlight streaming through the glass.

Raising her hand to her mouth, she extended her small wolf fang and bit down hard on the tip of her index finger, a sharp hiss escaping her lips as a drop of dark crimson blood welled on her skin. Using her bleeding finger as a pen, she rapidly scribbled a sentence onto the torn paper:

*We need to find the next one.*

If a second-chance mate was destined to appear for the Ravencourt heirs, she needed to identify the threat long before the brothers ever laid eyes on her.

Eloise held the bloody paper up to the moonlight, her lips parting as she whispered a low, archaic Latin chant under her breath. "Vade retro, papilio..."

She knew with absolute certainty that she was not their fated match. If she had been, the sacred mate resonance would have awakened deep within her soul after their bond with Yuki was gone.

As the final syllable left her tongue, the blood-stained parchment twisted violently in her hands, dissolving into dark, smoky ash before remolding itself into a sleek, midnight-black moth. .

The creature flapped its delicate, velvet wings against the glass pane. Eloise unlatched the heavy window, pushing it open an inch, and watched as the dark moth fluttered out into the crisp night air, disappearing instantly into the shadows of the city.

As she closed the window, a terrifying, unbidden thought suddenly pierced through her mind.

*If Killian, Kieran, and Kaden aren’t my fated mates... then who is?*

The mere thought sent a cold shudder down her spine. Her entire life, her identity, and her ambitions had been built around the absolute conviction that she belonged to the Ravencourt triplets. What would happen if her true, heaven-decreed fated mate suddenly appeared in her life?

She was still lost in her spiraling thoughts when the heavy wooden door pushed open, and a calm, familiar voice drifted into the quiet room.

"Why is your finger bleeding, Eloise?"

Eloise jumped slightly, turning around to see Kieran standing in the doorway, clad in a cashmere sweater with his lab coat draped over his arm. She quickly popped her index finger into her mouth, sucking off the drop of blood as she shook her head with carefully measured vulnerability. "I... I accidentally bit it while resting my hand."

Kieran let out a long, quiet sigh, closing the door behind him and walking into the room. "You need to stay in bed and stop moving around."

Eloise offered him a small, vulnerable look, stepping back toward the mattress. She let her shoulders drop just enough to look fragile. "I was just getting restless. Is Killian coming back tonight?"

"I doubt it," Kieran replied smoothly, setting his coat over the back of the visitor’s chair. "He’s managing the security fallout from the city sweep. I’m actually off duty now and heading home."

Eloise’s brows pulled together in a slight pout. "You aren’t staying the night with me?"

Kieran sighed again, a faint trace of fatigue shadowing his refined features. He walked over to her, extending his long arms and pulling her gentle frame into a soft, comforting embrace. His familiar, soothing scent of rich herbal tea and dried lavender wrapped around her senses.

"I am not your attending physician, sunshine," Kieran explained softly, his warm breath fanning over her hair. "As much as I would love to sit by your bed all night, I am completely drained. I have a critical neurological research case arriving at the lab early tomorrow, and I need a few hours of sleep. You are perfectly stable now, and the head nurse is right outside. I will check on you first thing in the morning."

His embrace was as gentle as it had always been, his soothing tone unchanged, yet a hollow ache remained inside Eloise’s chest. She knew he was genuinely exhausted—she could hear the subtle strain in his deep voice—yet a selfish, desperate part of her wanted to scream at him to stay.

*Is it really too much to ask... to not lose what I thought was mine?*

"I love you, Kieran..." she whimpered softly, burying her face into the lapel of his jacket. She held on a second longer than necessary, testing whether he would linger.

Kieran’s hold on her tightened slightly, his fingers stroking her hair. "My feelings for you never change, sunshine," he replied smoothly, the familiar words slipping off his tongue like second nature. He pulled back slightly, a low, affectionate chuckle escaping his throat as he gently pinched her soft cheek. "Don’t be so emotional. Get some sleep."