Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 49: Dinning room.

Selena.

Dinner had already begun by the time I noticed the empty chair. Everyone else was seated around the long table, the servants moving quietly as they placed the last dishes in front of us, but Loretta’s place remained untouched.

My eyes drifted to the doorway for a moment before I looked back down at the table.

Silas must have noticed it too because he glanced in the same direction before turning back to me with a soft smile that looked perfectly calm.

If Loretta’s absence bothered him, he did not show it. Instead he reached for my hand, his thumb brushing gently across my knuckles as though his only concern in the room was me.

Silas sat beside me at the table. His posture was relaxed, one arm resting along the back of my chair in a way that suggested comfortable familiarity.

Anyone watching us would have believed we were a couple who had long grown used to sitting close together.

Across the table the triplets had already taken their seats.

Kael leaned slightly forward with his elbows on the table, though his eyes stayed lowered more often than usual as if he preferred studying the grain of the wood rather than looking directly at anyone.

Ronan sat upright beside him, his shoulders relaxed but his attention quietly alert to everything happening around him.

Edris sat at the far end of their side of the table.

As always, his expression revealed very little.

Silas glanced toward the entrance of the dining hall once, then again a few moments later. The movement was subtle enough that most people at the table probably would not have noticed it.

But I did.

Loretta was rarely late to dinner.

Silas must have noticed my glance toward the empty chair because he turned back toward me with an easy smile that seemed slightly brighter than necessary.

"I was telling the others earlier," he said warmly, loud enough for the table to hear, "that I do not believe I have ever been more grateful for anything than I am for Selena."

The statement drew the attention of everyone seated nearby.

Silas continued without hesitation.

"It was always her father’s dream that one day we would be married," he said, his tone carrying gentle nostalgia. "He trusted me to take care of her when the time came."

Ronan listened politely.

Kael’s gaze remained lowered, though I noticed his fingers tighten slightly around the fork he held.

Silas rested his hand lightly over mine.

"I intend to honor that trust," he continued. "Selena deserves every comfort the pack can offer. I make certain she takes the best herbal tea our healers prepare every morning. Strength and health are important, especially for someone who carries the responsibility she does."

A few of the elders at the table nodded approvingly.

Silas smiled faintly.

"And of course," he added, his voice softening slightly, "I look forward to the day I can finally call her my wife."

The room remained quiet for a moment after he finished speaking.

The triplets had not interrupted him once.

Then Edris spoke.

His tone was calm, almost conversational.

"Do you think it is possible," he asked slowly, "for someone to love one person and yet remain loyal to another?"

The question settled over the table with quiet weight.

Silas turned his head slightly toward him.

"What do you mean?"

Edris lifted his glass and took a small sip before answering.

"Nothing," he said calmly. "Just a thought that crossed my mind."

His voice carried no urgency.

Silas studied him for a moment as if deciding whether the question held any deeper meaning.

Finally he shrugged lightly.

"People are capable of many complicated emotions," he replied. "But loyalty should always come first."

Across the table Kael’s gaze lifted briefly.

For a moment our eyes met.

The glance lasted only a second before he looked away again.

The exchange was small enough that no one else seemed to notice.

Servants began placing plates in front of us as the food arrived.

The first dishes had just been set down when the doors of the dining hall opened quietly.

Loretta stepped inside.

Her entrance was calm and graceful as always, yet something about her posture felt slightly different. She moved toward the table with measured steps, her expression composed but distant.

Silas’s shoulders relaxed the moment he saw her.

The relief was so brief that it would have been easy to miss.

He rose halfway from his chair as she approached.

"Loretta," he said with a small smile. "I was beginning to think you had decided to miss dinner tonight."

Loretta paused beside her chair.

"I did not realize it was already time," she replied.

Her voice carried its usual cool distance, but there was an unfamiliar flatness beneath it that made several people glance toward her.

Silas studied her carefully.

"Where have you been?"

"I went for a walk," she said simply. "I needed some air."

I leaned slightly forward.

"Are you alright?"

Loretta turned her head toward me.

"I am fine," she said.

The answer sounded prepared.

She sat down and reached for the utensils beside her plate.

For a few minutes the table returned to its usual rhythm. People began eating, and the soft noise of conversation resumed around us.

Yet the tension beneath the surface had not disappeared.

Silas spoke occasionally, though I noticed his eyes drifting toward Loretta every so often.

She kept her attention on her food.

Across the table Edris lifted his glass slowly.

"My day has been unusually wonderful," he said.

Several people looked up at him.

Ronan raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds suspicious," he said lightly. "You usually say very little about your day."

Edris allowed himself a faint smile.

"That is true," he replied. "But today has made me feel particularly welcome here."

Kael glanced toward him.

"What happened?"

Edris leaned back slightly in his chair.

"I was able to address a situation that had been bothering me for some time."

His tone remained calm.

He did not elaborate further.

Ronan waited a moment before asking, "Did the situation resolve itself?"

"In a manner of speaking."

Edris reached for a piece of bread.

"Sometimes problems disappear once people are reminded that certain behaviors are unwise."

The comment hung in the air.

Loretta’s fork scraped faintly against her plate.

Silas looked toward Edris with mild curiosity.

"I did not realize you enjoyed speaking so much," he said. "I always believed you were the quietest of the three brothers."

Edris nodded slightly.

"That is true."

He took another sip of his drink.

"Some people mistake quietness for calmness," he added thoughtfully. "Fortunately I feel much calmer now."

His eyes moved briefly across the table.

They paused on Loretta for a fraction of a second before returning to his plate.

Ronan studied him carefully.

"What exactly happened today?"

Edris smiled faintly.

"Nothing dramatic."

Then he added with quiet amusement, "I simply remembered that people who live in glass houses should be careful about throwing stones."

Silence settled over the table for a moment.

Silas chuckled lightly as though he found the comment amusing.

"That is a wise observation," he said. "Though I suspect it could apply to many people in the pack."

Edris inclined his head slightly.

"Indeed."

Loretta placed her fork down.

Her appetite had clearly vanished.

"I should excuse myself," she said suddenly.

The chair moved softly as she stood.

Silas looked up in surprise.

"You have barely eaten."

"I am not very hungry tonight."

Before anyone could respond, she turned and walked toward the doors of the dining hall.

Silas hesitated for only a moment before standing as well.

"Excuse me," he said politely.

He followed her out of the room.

The doors closed behind them, leaving the rest of us seated at the table.

For a few seconds no one spoke.

Then I looked toward Edris.

He met my gaze calmly.

He did not need to explain anything.

The quiet certainty in his eyes told me enough.

I understood exactly what had happened.

"You did something," I said quietly.

Edris shrugged lightly.

"I resolved a situation."

Ronan watched the exchange with interest.

Kael remained silent.

After a moment I pushed my chair back.

"Excuse me," I said.

I had just begun to stand when Kael’s voice stopped me.

"Selena."

I turned back. His eyes were finally on me.

"What?" I asked.

"I need to speak with you."

For a moment, I almost said yes.

Then I remembered how his temper was almost ruining everything.

"I’m not in the mood yet," I said quietly.

Something flickered across his face before he looked away.

Walking away from him hurt more than I expected.

But maybe he needed to feel that distance.

Maybe next time, he would remember it before letting his temper speak for him.