I grabbed the Death Stone from my mother's hand.
"If you want to kill them, you'll have to go through me first," I said, crushing the black crystal with my hands.
It exploded into dust, and Luna Morgana screamed with rage.
"You foolish child! Do you know what you've just done?"
"I stopped you from hurting them."
"No," she hissed. "You've doomed us all."
The room started shaking. Cracks appeared in the stone walls.
"The Death Stone was the only thing holding back the old curse," Rowan Vale said, his voice filled with fear. "Without it, the ancient magic will run wild."
"What ancient magic?" I asked, but I was already feeling it. Something dark and hungry was waking up inside me.
"The Ruby Wolf hunger," my mother whispered. "The curse that killed our people fifty years ago. The reason we had to hide."
The princes were still on their knees, but now they were staring at me with wide eyes.
"Aria," Dorian said slowly, "your eyes are changing."
I looked at my reflection in a broken piece of mirror. My golden eyes were turning red. Blood red.
"What's happening to me?"
"The hunger," Luna Morgana said. "It feeds on strong emotions. Anger, fear, love. And you, my daughter, are feeling all three right now."
She was right. I could feel it growing inside me like a living thing. A need to consume. To take. To devour.
"Fight it," Tobias said. "You're stronger than this."
But I wasn't sure I was. The hunger was so strong, and it was offering me things. Power. The ability to protect everyone I loved.
All I had to do was let it in.
"Don't listen to it," Rowan Vale said urgently. "The hunger lies. It will consume you from the inside out."
"Just like it consumed our ancestors," my mother added. "One by one, they fed on their own mates until there were no Ruby Wolves left."
"That's why you hid," I realized. "You were afraid you'd do the same thing."
"I was afraid," she admitted. "But I was also planning. Waiting for the right moment to strike back."
"And I was your weapon."
"You were supposed to be. But you're too soft. Too human." She spat the word like it was poison. "You care too much about these Blackwood boys to do what needs to be done."
The hunger grew stronger. It wanted me to hurt her for calling me weak.
"Aria," Marcus said, trying to stand. "Look at me."
I turned to him, and the hunger quieted a little. His dark eyes were steady and calm.
"You're not your mother," he said. "You're not your ancestors. You get to choose who you become."
"He's right," Dorian added. "The bond we share, it's not just about power. It's about choice. We chose each other."
"And we choose you," Tobias finished. "No matter what happens."
Their words were like cool water on a burning fire. The hunger backed down, but it didn't disappear. It was still there, waiting.
"This is touching," Luna Morgana said with a sneer. "But it changes nothing. The curse is loose now. It will find a way to feed, with or without your permission."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it will jump to the next strongest Ruby Wolf bloodline." She smiled coldly. "Your friend Selene."
My heart stopped. "Selene isn't a Ruby Wolf."
"Isn't she? Haven't you wondered why she's the only Omega who can calm your temper? Why she always knows what you're thinking?"
"She's my best friend. We grew up together."
"You grew up together because I made sure of it. Selene is your half-sister, daughter. Born from the same Ruby Wolf line."
The room turned around me. "That's impossible."
"Ask your father. Ask him about the night he met her mother in the forest. Ask him about the deal he made to keep both his daughters safe."
I looked at Dad, and his face told me everything I needed to know.
"You knew," I whispered. "You knew Selene was my sister."
"I was trying to protect you both," he said. "If anyone found out there were two Ruby Wolf heirs..."
"They would have killed us."
"Or used you against each other. Just like Luna Morgana is doing now."
"Where is Selene?" I asked my mother.
"Safe. For now. But if you don't cooperate, she'll be my next choice for Ruby Wolf Queen."
"She's just a child. She doesn't know what she is."
"Then she'll be easier to control than you." Luna Morgana's eyes glowed with hatred. "Selene has always been the sweeter one. The more obedient one. Perhaps she'll make a better weapon."
"Leave her alone!" I screamed.
The hunger roared back to life, stronger than before. This time, I didn't fight it.
Red power exploded out of me, hitting Luna Morgana and sending her flying across the room. She hit the wall hard and slumped to the floor.
"Aria, stop!" Rowan Vale shouted. "You're feeding the curse!"
But I couldn't stop. The thought of my mother hurting Selene had broken something inside me.
"Where is she?" I demanded, standing over Luna Morgana's crumpled form.
"Close," she gasped. "Closer than you think."
"Tell me!"
"She's in the dungeon. Has been there for three days. Waiting for you to make your choice."
"Three days?" I felt sick. "She's been a prisoner for three days?"
"Insurance," Luna Morgana replied smiling. "To make sure you cooperated."
I turned to the princes, but they were looking at something behind me.
"Aria," Dorian said quietly. "Look."
I turned around and saw my reflection in the broken mirror again. My eyes weren't just red anymore. They were glowing. And my canine teeth had grown into fangs.
"The transformation is beginning," Rowan Vale said sadly. "You have maybe an hour before it's complete."
"What happens when it's complete?"
"You become what your ancestors became. A creature that feeds on the life force of others. Starting with those you love most."
I looked at the three princes, and the hunger whispered sweet promises in my ear. Their power would taste so good. Their strength would make me invincible.
"I won't hurt them," I said, but my voice was different now. Rougher. More animal than human.
"You won't be able to control it," Luna Morgana said, pulling herself up from the floor. "The hunger will take over completely. You'll drain them dry and not even remember doing it."
"Then I'll leave. I'll go far away where I can't hurt anyone."
"You can't run from what you are, daughter. The hunger will follow you everywhere. And it will only get stronger."
"Then what do you suggest?"
Luna Morgana smiled, and I saw she had fangs too. "Embrace it. Accept your nature. Let me teach you how to control the hunger instead of fighting it."
"By killing innocent people?"
"By killing the people who deserve it. The ones who murdered our family. The ones who drove us into hiding." Her eyes burned with fifty years of rage. "Starting with Alpha Raphael."
Before I could answer, the door burst open.
Alpha Raphael himself stood there, along with twenty armed guards.
"Seize them all," he commanded. "The Ruby Wolves end tonight."
The guards raised their silver weapons, but something else walked through the door behind them.
Selene.
But she wasn't the same Selene I knew. Her eyes were glowing red, just like mine. And she was smiling a smile I had never seen before.
"Hello, sister," she said in a voice that wasn't quite her own. "Ready to hunt?"