Silence crashed over the Great Hall like a wave. Aria stood frozen behind Dorian's protective stance, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure everyone could hear it. "Step aside, son," Alpha Raphael's voice cut through the quiet. His silver-streaked black hair seemed darker against his pale, angry face.
"No." Dorian's single word repeated. The scar across his eyebrow twitched as he glared at his father. Tobias moved to Aria's left side, his steel-blue eyes calculating behind his round glasses. "Father, something amazing has happened. We should understand it before moving rashly."
Marcus stayed where he was, torn between duty to his father and the strange pull he felt toward Aria. His dark eyes burned with confusion. "This is witchcraft!" Alpha Raphael smashed his fist against his chair. "No Omega ties with Alpha heirs. It challenges pack law!" Sebastian Arden pushed through the crowd, his cane tapping furiously against the stone floor.
"My Alpha, please. She's just a girl. My daughter couldn't possibly" "Silence, Beta!" Raphael snarled. "Your daughter has disrupted our most sacred ceremony." Rowan Vale, the old seer, stepped forward. Her white braids swung with each step, feathers clicking together. "The moon chooses what the moon chooses," she said mysteriously.
"This bond was written in stars older than your laws, Alpha." The crowd mumbled, shifting nervously. Aria felt dizzy. The golden threads connecting her to each brother pulsed with energy Dorian's fierce protection, Tobias's calm wonder, and Marcus's wild confusion swirled through her like different currents in the same river. "What's happening to me?" she whispered. Elias Crow pushed to the front, his beautiful face twisted with fury.
"This is an outrage! I was offered consideration as Luna candidate. Now this... this nobody claims all three heirs?" "You were promised nothing," Tobias said coldly, adjusting his glasses. "Except your own arrogance." Selene appeared at Aria's side, her pale blue eyes wide with wonder. "I told you," she whispered.
"I told you that you were special." Alpha Raphael rose from his chair, his cloak billowing behind him like wings. "Rowan Vale, explain yourself. What is this triplet link you speak of?" The old seer placed her staff on the ground with a thud. "Each generation, the moon offers opportunities. Once, long ago, a Luna bonded to three men and united the packs. It hasn't happened since."
"Until now," Dorian said, his eyes never leaving his father. Aria felt the room spin. Everyone was looking at herthe Beta's daughter, the overlooked Omega, suddenly the center of the most shocking event in pack history. "It can't be real," Marcus finally spoke, his voice rough. "I feel nothing for this girl." But his eyes misled him, constantly drawn back to Aria's face.
"The bond has started," Rowan Vale announced, "but it is not complete. Each brother carries a piece of her soul now. They must choose, and she must choose." "Choose what?" Aria asked, finding her words. "Who completes the bond," Tobias answered softly.
"One of us must become your true mate." The word "mate" sent whispers rippling through the room. Sebastian's face had gone ghostly white. "This is madness," Alpha Raphael stated. "I will not allow it." "You may not have a choice," Rowan answered, her milky eyes somehow finding Raphael's face. "The link has been made. To break it violently could destroy all four of them." Fear flashed across the Alpha's face not for Aria, but for his boys. His memory. "Clear the hall!" he ordered suddenly. "Everyone out except the council and those involved."
The crowd reluctantly filed out, throwing backward glances at Aria and the triplets. Selene squeezed Aria's hand before being hurried away. "You too, Crow," Dorian growled at Elias, who stayed near the front. "I have every right to stay," Elias argued, his gray eyes fixed on Aria with a hungry look that made her skin crawl.
"As a Luna candidate" "Out!" Alpha Raphael roared, and Elias had no choice but to follow, shooting Aria a look of pure venom as he left. When the heavy doors closed, only eight people remained: Aria, Sebastian, the triplets, Alpha Raphael, Rowan Vale, and a stern-faced pack leader Aria didn't know. "Now," Alpha Raphael said, his voice dangerously soft, "explain how this nobody, this Omega, has claimed connection to my three heirs." Sebastian stepped forward.
"My Alpha, Aria is not nobody.
She is my daughter and" "Your daughter should know her place," Raphael cut in. "Instead, she upsets years of planning.
The Luna candidates have been in training for this moment. The agreements were nearly secured." "I didn't do anything," Aria muttered, then louder: "I didn't ask for this!" All eyes turned to her. Aria fought the urge to shrink back. Instead, she stood taller. "The ceremony was meant to match me with another Omega. That's all I expected. I don't know why this happened."
Marcus stalked closer, his dark eyes searching her face. "What magic did you use?" "None!" Aria stepped back. "I've never done magic in my life."
"She speaks truth," Rowan Vale confirmed. "The girl used no magic. The bond chose them."
"Why?" Tobias asked, his scholarly mind already racing with options. "Why us? Why her?" The old seer paused, her gaze drifting to Sebastian, who subtly shook his head. "Some secrets are buried for good reason," Rowan said cryptically.
"But they rarely stay buried." Alpha Raphael's patience snapped. "Enough puzzles, old woman! Tell me how to undo this!" "You cannot," Rowan answered simply. "The link exists.
By the next blood moon, Aria must finish it with one brother or face consequences none of us wish to see." "What consequences?" Dorian ordered, his protective instincts flaring.
"A bond begun but not completed turns sour," Rowan explained. "It poisons both dog and human spirit. In rare cases, it drives dogs mad." Sebastian stumbled forward, leaning heavily on his cane. "My Alpha, please. There must be a solution that doesn't risk your boys or my daughter." Raphael's cold eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps there is." He turned to Aria, and she fought the urge to hide behind Dorian again. "Girl, you will stay in the eastern tower until I decide your fate.
You will speak to no one of this... oddity." "Father!" Tobias protested. "She's done nothing wrong."
"She has upset the balance of our pack," Raphael snapped. "Until I understand how and why, she remains isolated." Aria felt the threads connecting her to the brothers pull tight with stress. Dorian's jaw clenched.
Tobias removed his glasses, cleaning them nervously. Marcus paced like a caged animal. "Sebastian," Alpha Raphael continued, "consider yourself fortunate I don't banish your family for this disruption." Sebastian bowed his head, beaten.
"Yes, Alpha." "And my boys," Raphael looked at each triplet in turn, "you will have no contact with this girl until I say otherwise.
Is that clear?" The brothers exchanged looks. Something unspoken passed between them. "Is that clear?" Raphael repeated, his words dangerous. "Yes, Father," they answered in unison, but Aria felt the lie through their bond. Guards appeared at the doors, called by some silent signal.
"Take her to the eastern tower," Raphael ordered. As they approached, Dorian stepped forward again. "I'll escort her."
"You will do no such thing," his father answered. "The bond is fresh," Rowan Vale warned. "Separation may cause pain." "Then let them feel pain," Raphael said bitterly. "Perhaps it will remind them of their duty to this pack."
The guards took Aria's arms. She looked desperately at her father, but Sebastian could only watch helplessly as she was led away. Just before the doors closed behind her, Aria heard Rowan Vale's voice: "The moon rises and sets, Alpha, but some ties are eternal. What happens next depends not on your will, but on theirs." As Aria climbed the twisting stairs to her prison in the eastern tower, she felt the golden threads stretching, pulling tight across the distance.
Each step brought a new wave of feelings not her own Dorian's anger, Tobias's concern, and strangest of all, Marcus's reluctant fascination. She reached a small room at the top of the tower. The guard locked the heavy door behind her. Alone, Aria walked to the single window and looked out at the forest beyond Suncrest territory.
The sun was setting, sending long shadows across the land. Some birthday this had turned out to be. A sharp knock at her door made her turn. Who could that be already?
"Who's there?" she called. The lock clicked. The door swung open. Elias Crow stepped inside, a dangerous smile playing across his beautiful face.
"Hello, little Luna," he said softly. "You and I need to have a talk about your father's promises." The door closed behind him with an ominous click.