Selene lunged at me with her red glowing eyes, but I rolled away just in time.
"This isn't you!" I shouted at my best friend. "Fight it!"
But she wasn't listening. She grabbed one of the guards and threw him across the room like he weighed nothing. The other guards backed away in fear.
"Selene!" Alpha Raphael growled. "Stand down!"
She turned to him and laughed. It was a cold sound that made my skin crawl.
"I don't take orders from you anymore," she said. "I'm Ruby Wolf now. I'm stronger than all of you."
The hunger inside me was getting worse. I could feel it pulling at my chest, wanting me to join her. To hunt together like we were meant to.
"No," I whispered. "I won't become a monster."
"You already are one," Luna Morgana said from the floor. "Both of you. It's in your blood."
Alpha Raphael stepped forward, his silver sword shining. "Pack law is clear. Ruby Wolves are forbidden. You will both be executed."
"Try it," Selene hissed.
Before anyone could move, the triplets stepped between us and their father.
"Wait," Dorian said. "There has to be another way."
"Pack law doesn't lie," Alpha Raphael replied. "Ruby Wolves killed hundreds of our people fifty years ago. They cannot be allowed to live."
"But they're different," Tobias said quickly. "Aria saved us. She destroyed the Death Stone to protect us."
"And look what happened," the Alpha pointed at my red eyes. "She's turning anyway."
"Because you're scaring her!" Marcus growled. "She's fighting the hunger, but you're making it stronger."
Alpha Raphael's face was like stone. "Step aside, boys. Don't make me go through you."
"You'll have to," Dorian said firmly.
My heart broke a little. They were willing to fight their own father for me.
"This is pack law," Alpha Raphael said. "I cannot change it even for you."
"Then we'll leave," I said suddenly. "Selene and I will go far away. You'll never see us again."
"The hunger will follow you," Rowan Vale said sadly. "It always does."
"Then we'll find a way to stop it."
"There is no way," Luna Morgana laughed. "I've tried for fifty years. The only choice is to embrace what you are."
"I don't believe that," I said.
Selene suddenly stopped moving. Her red eyes blinked, and for a moment, they looked normal again.
"Aria?" she whispered. "What's happening to me?"
"It's okay," I said, moving toward her. "We'll figure this out."
But as soon as she saw me, her eyes flashed red again.
"No," she said, backing away. "I can feel it. The hunger. It wants me to hurt you."
"We're sisters," I said. "We can fight it together."
"Sisters?" Selene looked confused. "But your father is Sebastian Arden."
"He's your father too," I said gently. "Luna Morgana told me. We're half-sisters."
Selene looked at Dad, who nodded sadly.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I wanted to tell you both, but it was too dangerous."
"So I'm not really an Omega," Selene whispered. "I'm Ruby Wolf."
"You're both," I said. "Just like me."
"Enough!" Alpha Raphael yelled. "Pack law is pack law. Guards, arrest them."
The guards moved forward, but something strange happened. Their silver weapons started to smoke and melted.
"What's going on?" one of them asked.
"It's the sisters," Rowan Vale said with wonder. "Their power is growing. They're affecting the silver."
"Impossible," Alpha Raphael said. "Ruby Wolves are weak against silver."
"These aren't ordinary Ruby Wolves," Luna Morgana said, getting to her feet. "They're from the royal bloodline. The first Ruby Wolves. They're stronger than anything you've ever seen."
"Then we use iron," the Alpha said. "Guards, get the iron chains."
"Iron won't work either," my mother said with a smile. "Nothing will work against them now."
"There has to be something," Alpha Raphael said desperately.
"There is," Luna Morgana said. "The mate bond."
Everyone went quiet.
"What do you mean?" Dorian asked.
"The mate bond is the only thing that can control a Ruby Wolf," she explained. "It's why I stayed hidden for so long. I never found my true mate."
"But Aria is bonded to all three of us," Tobias said. "That's the problem."
"No," Luna Morgana said. "That's the solution."
"I don't understand," I said.
"Pack law says an Omega can only have one mate," she continued. "But you're not just an Omega anymore. You're a Ruby Wolf Queen. And Queens make their own rules."
"What are you saying?" Alpha Raphael demanded.
"I'm saying the old pack law doesn't apply to her anymore. She can have three mates if she wants."
"That's impossible," the Alpha said. "It's never been done."
"Because there's never been a Ruby Wolf Queen before," Luna Morgana said. "Your pack law was made by regular wolves for regular wolves. But my daughter is neither."
"Even if that's true," Alpha Raphael said, "the pack won't accept it."
"They will if you tell them to," Luna Morgana said. "You're the Alpha. Your word is law."
"I won't change centuries of tradition for two monsters."
"Then you'll lose your sons," she said softly.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at them," Luna Morgana pointed at the triplets. "They've already chosen. They'll follow Aria wherever she goes. Even if it means leaving the pack forever."
I looked at Dorian, Tobias, and Marcus. They were all nodding.
"She's right," Dorian said. "We made our choice in the bond ceremony."
"We're not leaving Aria," Tobias added.
"Even if it means giving up our titles," Marcus finished.
Alpha Raphael's face went pale. "You would abandon your pack? Your birthright?"
"For her, yes," Dorian said without hesitation.
"Then you're all fools," the Alpha said. "She'll kill you eventually. The hunger always wins."
"Maybe," I said. "But I have something my ancestors didn't have."
"What's that?"
"Love," I said, looking at the three princes. "Real love. Not just hunger disguised as love."
"Love won't save you," Luna Morgana said. "The hunger is stronger."
"We'll see," I said.
But even as I said it, I could feel the hunger growing stronger. It was whispering in my ear, telling me how easy it would be to take just a little bit of their power. Just enough to make the pain stop.
"Aria," Selene said suddenly. "I can't fight it much longer."
I looked at her and saw that her eyes were completely red now. She was shaking with the effort of holding back.
"I know," I said. "Me too."
"What do we do?"
Before I could answer, the room filled with a bright light.
When it disappeared, someone new was standing in the doorway.
Someone I had never seen before, but looked exactly like me.
"Hello, daughters," the woman sai
d. "I'm your grandmother. And it's time you know the real truth about what you are."