POV: Phoenix
Magic slammed into my head like a sledgehammer.
Visions exploded behind my eyes - old ceremonies, silver wolves under blood moons, and a prophecy written in starlight. The mysterious woman's power crashed over me in waves, each one bringing memories that weren't mine.
I saw a young girl with Scarlett's face running through a burning castle. I saw troops in black armor chasing her while a woman with silver hair screamed orders. I saw blood and death and terrible magic that turned the sky red.
"Phoenix!" Scarlett's words cut through the visions, her mental link anchoring me to the present. "What are you seeing?"
Through our bond, I shared the images flooding my thoughts. Her grandma - because that's exactly who this terrifying woman was - standing over the dead bodies of an entire royal court. The silver-haired woman drinks from a goblet filled with glowing blood. Power beyond imagination flowing into her as she killed Scarlett's entire family.
"Grandmother," Scarlett whispered, her voice shaking with fear and recognition.
"Hello, dear one," the woman said, her voice like poisoned honey. "My name is Morgana Nightshade, and I am the Queen of the Moon Wolves. The throne you inherited when your mother died."
Ice filled my blood. This wasn't just Scarlett's grandmother. This was the most dangerous supernatural being living, the one who'd been hunting moon wolf royalty for centuries to steal their power.
"You killed my family," Scarlett said, silver light starting to glow around her hands.
"I killed the weak ones," Morgana corrected with a cold smile. "Your mother was strong enough to escape me for eighteen years. You, my dear, are strong enough to join me."
My magic was yelling warnings at me. This woman radiated power that made my teeth ache, but there was something wrong with it. Something twisted and strange.
"She's using stolen magic," I whispered to my brothers through our mental link. "Every spell she casts is powered by blood she's taken from others."
Dante's rage flooded through our bond, and Ryder's protective reflexes roared to life. But I forced myself to focus on what my magic was showing me. We needed to understand what we were facing before we could fight it.
More visions crashed through my mind. I saw Morgana centuries ago, young and beautiful, learning forbidden magic from old books. I saw her first kill - her own sister - and the moment she tasted moon wolf blood and became addicted to the power it gave her.
"The prophecy," I gasped, as the final image hit me. "I can see the whole prophecy."
Ancient words emerged in the air around us, glowing with silver fire: "When the Lost Daughter awakens to her true blood, three hearts shall guard her as one. Together they shall fix what was broken, or watch the world burn in shadow. The choice belongs to her alone - to rule with love or fall to hunger."
Morgana's eyes narrowed as she read the moving words. "Ah, the old forecast. I wondered when that would surface."
"What does it mean?" Scarlett asked, but I already knew. The visions had shown me everything.
"It means you have a choice to make," I said, my voice heavy with the weight of fate. "You can use your power to heal the magical world and bring peace to all the packs. Or..."
"Or she can follow in my footsteps," Morgana finished with a cruel laugh. "Take power from those too weak to defend it and become the ruler this world truly needs."
Through our mental link, I felt Scarlett's horror at the idea. She would never hurt harmless people for power. But Morgana didn't know about our link. She couldn't feel the goodness in Scarlett's heart.
"The three hearts that guard her," Ryder said slowly, understanding coming in his voice. "That's us."
"The Trinity Bond," I whispered, the old name appearing in my mind. "It's only happened three times in magical history. When one soul is so powerful that it needs three mates to keep it balanced."
Dante's strategic mind was already working through the consequences. "That's why she's so strong. That's why her magic is out of control. She was never meant to handle all that power alone."
"But together, we can help her control it," I said, hope blooming in my chest. "The four of us together are stronger than any single supernatural being who ever lived."
Morgana was listening to our talk with growing interest. "How interesting. The Trinity Bond. I thought that was just a story."
"Magic never lies," I said, letting my power flow out to show her exactly what she was facing.
Silver, gold, and purple light burst from Dante, Ryder, and me, flowing toward Scarlett and mixing with her white radiance. The four lights combined into something new - a rainbow of power that made the old stones around us sing with joy.
For the first time since she'd appeared, Morgana looked worried.
"Impossible," she breathed. "Four linked souls. The legends said it could never happen again."
"Legends are often wrong," Scarlett said, her voice ringing with new confidence. Our united power was making her stronger, braver, more sure of herself.
But Morgana's surprise quickly turned to greed. "Even better," she purred. "Four sources of royal blood instead of one. I'll drain all of you and become more powerful than any being who ever lived."
She raised her hands, and dark power began swirling around her fingers. But this wasn't regular dark magic. This was blood magic, powered by the life force she'd stolen from hundreds of victims over the ages.
"Phoenix," Scarlett said hurriedly through our mental link. "Can you see how to stop her?"
I dove deeper into my visions, looking for any weakness in Morgana's stolen power. The magical sight showed me the truth - all of her strength came from external sources. She had no natural power of her own anymore.
"She's hollow inside," I told my brothers and mate. "All her power is stolen. If we can break her link to it..."
"She'll be powerless," Dante finished.
But before we could act on this knowledge, Morgana struck.
Dark magic erupted from her hands like black lightning, directed straight at Scarlett's heart. Our combined light rose to meet it, causing a collision of opposing forces that shook the entire forest.
The fight was on, but I could feel something else through my magical senses. Other presences moving through the woods toward us. Powerful presences that made my skin crawl with fear.
"She's not alone," I gasped, my magic showing me shapes moving in the darkness. "There are others coming. Lots of others."
Through the trees came more figures in black armor, but these weren't ordinary troops. They moved with supernatural grace and carried weapons that glowed with the same dark power as Morgana's spells.
"My children," Morgana said with mother pride. "Supernatural beings I've collected over the ages. They serve me now, body and soul."
Horror crashed over me as I realized what she meant. These weren't willing workers. They were supernatural beings she'd enslaved using blood magic, forced to obey her every order.
"We have to free them," Scarlett said, her heart breaking for the captive victims.
"We will," I promised. "But first we have to survive."
The enslaved supernaturals circled us - vampires with glowing red eyes, witches with twisted magic, and werewolves whose humanity had been burned away by Morgana's control. There had to be fifty of them, all ready to die to protect their boss.
But as I looked at our impossible situation, my magic showed me one more vision. The most important one yet.
I saw the four of us standing together in a place of pure white light. Our hands were joined, our power running as one, and around us knelt every supernatural being in the world. Not in submission, but in thanks.
We weren't just meant to win this fight. We were meant to win it and change everything.
"The Trinity Bond isn't just about us," I said, understanding rushing through me. "It's about healing the whole supernatural world."
"What do you mean?" Ryder asked.
But before I could explain, Morgana's enslaved army charged from all sides, and something in the visions made my blood run cold.
Because I'd seen one more thing in that final vision. A fourth figure standing behind Morgana, someone whose face I couldn't make out but whose presence filled me with total terror.
Someone who made Morgana look like a harmless child in comparison.
Someone who was coming here tonight.