Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 50: Edris knows.

Silas caught up with Loretta in the eastern corridor just before she reached the staircase that led toward the upper wing of the pack house.

Loretta heard his footsteps behind her, yet she did not slow down immediately. She walked for several more steps as though deciding whether acknowledging his presence was necessary, before finally coming to a halt beside one of the tall stone pillars that supported the hallway arches.

Her fingers tightened faintly around the edge of her sleeve, a small unconscious gesture that betrayed the tension she worked so carefully to conceal.

Silas stood watching her.

His expression remained calm, composed in the manner of a man who was accustomed to holding power quietly rather than displaying it openly.

Yet his eyes carried the attentive stillness of someone who suspected that something had gone wrong, the kind of observation that missed nothing but revealed nothing in return.

"What is the problem?" he asked.

His voice was low and patient, carrying the deliberate weight of a man who expected honesty without needing to demand it.

Loretta shook her head.

"Nothing."

The answer came too quickly.

Silas studied her.

"You left dinner early."

"I was not hungry."

Silas did not respond immediately.

The corridor had fallen quiet. A faint evening breeze drifted through the open windows at the far end where fading sunlight stretched across the stone floor. Lanterns along the walls cast a warm glow that softened the hard lines of the architecture.

Loretta felt his gaze settle on her like a weight she could not easily escape.

"You are hiding something," Silas said at last.

"I am not."

Silas took one slow step closer.

The movement was deliberate, controlled — not meant to frighten, only to remind her that distance between them was unnecessary.

"You left because something happened," he said quietly. "What was it?"

Silence followed.

Silas waited. He understood Loretta well enough to know that pressing her too quickly would only drive her deeper into stubborn silence. She had always been proud, independent, unwilling to reveal weakness unless she believed it was absolutely necessary.

After a moment he spoke again.

"Is this about the triplets?"

Loretta’s eyes flickered.

The reaction was brief, almost invisible, but it was enough.

Silas inhaled slowly.

He had suspected as much, but he preferred hearing the truth spoken aloud.

"Did one of them say something to you?" he asked.

Loretta did not answer.

Silas’s voice remained calm.

"What did they say to you?"

Her shoulders stiffened slightly.

"I am your mate," he continued quietly. "There is no reason to hide things from me."

Loretta’s jaw tightened.

"I was not hiding anything."

"Then tell me."

Silence stretched between them again.

Loretta felt her throat tighten. For a moment she considered saying nothing at all, but the weight of what had happened pressed too heavily against her chest.

Finally she spoke, her voice very low.

"Edris knows."

Silas’s expression did not change.

"Knows what?"

Loretta forced herself to meet his eyes.

"He knows I am pregnant with your child."

Silas’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"How?"

"I do not know."

Silas fell silent, thinking.

The pregnancy was still very early. Only he and Loretta were supposed to know. He had taken care to keep the matter private, and Loretta had been equally careful.

The possibility that the triplets had discovered the secret this early was deeply concerning.

A colder thought crept into his mind.

Had Edris somehow read the truth without being told?

Or had Loretta spoken somewhere carelessly where someone might have overheard?

"What exactly did he say?" Silas asked.

Loretta explained the condition Edris had given her.

If she attempted to start a rumor about Kael, he would reveal the pregnancy to the entire pack.

Silas’s jaw tightened.

"So he threatened you."

"It was more like a warning."

Silas exhaled slowly through his nose.

Anger settled quietly beneath his calm exterior.

"You were careless," he said quietly. "Careless mistakes can destroy far more than reputations."

Loretta lowered her head slightly.

"I have never told anyone."

Silas studied her face.

Her fingers had tightened again around her sleeve, and he noticed the faint tremor in her hand.

The fear there was real.

He believed her.

Silas remained silent for a moment.

The truth was beginning to settle in his mind with uncomfortable clarity.

The child complicated everything.

If Selena discovered the pregnancy, the delicate political balance he had spent years building would collapse before it had the chance to serve its purpose.

For the first time that evening, an unfamiliar emotion brushed against the edges of his thoughts.

Fear.

Silas finally spoke again, his voice still calm.

"Have you ever thought about ending the pregnancy?"

The words fell heavily into the quiet corridor.

Loretta’s head snapped up.

Her expression hardened instantly.

"No."

The answer was sharp and absolute.

Silas watched her carefully.

Loretta’s eyes burned with a fierce determination that surprised him slightly.

She was not afraid of that possibility.

She was offended by it.

Silas exhaled slowly.

"Good," he said quietly. "I was only asking."

He let the subject drop.

The moment passed, though the tension lingered faintly in the air between them.

"You must be more careful," Silas continued. "Do not speak about the triplets. Do not provoke them."

Loretta frowned.

She clearly disliked being instructed in such a manner.

Silas noticed the reaction immediately and raised one hand slightly in a gesture meant to soften the command.

"I was joking earlier," he said. "I would not ask you to harm the child."

Loretta said nothing.

Her breathing had steadied, but a trace of resentment still lingered in her eyes.

After a moment Silas spoke again, his tone calmer.

"Go back to your room and rest tonight."

Loretta studied him.

"What are you planning?" she asked.

Silas turned slightly, his gaze drifting down the corridor as though he were studying a chessboard that only he could see.

"They think they are clever," he said quietly.

"Let them believe it."

"For now."

"If they believe we are afraid, they will grow careless."

Loretta watched him.

"What will you do?"

Silas’s lips curved faintly.

"I am not certain yet," he admitted. "But they will not be laughing for long."

Loretta nodded slowly.

Then she walked past him toward the staircase.

Silas remained where he was, watching until she disappeared from sight.

When she was gone, the corridor felt strangely larger and far quieter.

He stood there for a long time.

His thoughts circled the same question again and again.

How did Edris know?

The uncertainty unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.

Silas had spent years studying people, learning how to read every small shift in expression or tone.

Edris had just read him without being told a single word.

Silas finally turned.

Rogues were dangerous.

But every man had a weakness.

Every man had a price.

If the triplets wanted leverage, then he would discover exactly what they valued most.

Silas began walking slowly down the corridor.

He would need to see Edris.

And discover the true cost of his silence.