POV: Ryder
The golden-haired woman's power hit me like a freight train.
I flew backward through the broken window, my body falling into the courtyard below. Pain burst through my ribs as I hit the stone ground, but I forced myself to roll and come up fighting. Around me, Dante and Phoenix landed hard, moaning as they struggled to their feet.
"What the hell was that?" Dante gasped, blood dripping from his nose.
Through the broken window above us, we could hear voices - the golden woman arguing with Seraphina in a language that sounded older than time itself. Their power sparked through the air like lightning, making my wolf pace nervously.
"She said she was Scarlett's mother," Phoenix whispered, his magical senses going wild. "But I can feel her power from here. She's not just any supernatural being."
"She's dead," I said simply. "Scarlett's mother died when she was born. Everyone knows that."
But even as I said the words, doubt gnawed at my heart. The woman's power felt familiar somehow, like an echo of Scarlett's own magic but increased a thousand times.
A scream of pure pain cut through the night air. Scarlett's scream.
"The ritual," I snarled, my protective reflexes exploding to life. "It's still going on."
I didn't think. I just moved.
I shifted mid-run, my wolf bursting free as I leaped back toward the broken window. I had to get to Scarlett. I had to save her from whatever was going up there.
But something unseen slammed into me mid-air, sending me tumbling back to the ground. Some kind of magical shield was keeping us out of the room.
"Let us in!" I roared, shifting back to human form and pounding my hands against the invisible wall.
That's when I felt it - a familiar tug at my heart. The Trinity Bond, weak but still there, pulling me away from the pack house.
"She's not up there anymore," Phoenix said, his eyes glowing silver as his magic searched the area. "Someone moved her."
"Where?" Dante asked.
Phoenix pointed toward the forest. "The lake. I can feel her signature by the water."
We ran without another word, following the weak pull of our mate bond through the dark woods. My heart pounded with fear and rage. Who had taken Scarlett? Was she hurt? Was she even still herself, or had the soul-stealing rite succeeded?
The lake emerged through the trees like a mirror reflecting the moon. And there, sitting on the bank with her feet in the water, was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.
Scarlett. Alive, whole, and crying her heart out.
I reached her first, dropping to my knees beside her without thought. "Scarlett! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
She looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes, and my heart broke at the pain I saw there. "Ryder? How did you find me?"
"The bond," I said softly, resisting the desire to pull her into my arms. "Even when it was severed, I could still feel you calling to me."
Fresh tears streamed down her face. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Vivienne got hurt because of me, and now there are all these scary people after me, and I don't even understand why."
"Hey," I said softly, reaching out to touch her hand. "None of this is your fault."
The moment my skin touched hers, energy shot through both of us like lightning. Scarlett gasped, her eyes going wide as silver light started glowing softly around our joined hands.
The Trinity Bond roared back to life, stronger than ever. Through it, I felt everything she was feeling - fear, confusion, guilt, and underneath it all, a pressing need for comfort and protection.
"The bond," she whispered, looking at our glowing hands. "It's back."
"It never really left," I said, my voice rough with emotion. "Nothing could break our bond completely. Not poison, not magic, not anything."
Dante and Phoenix reached us, both breathing hard from running. When they saw Scarlett safe and whole, relief flooded through all of our ties.
"What happened up there?" Dante asked, sitting down beside us. "Who was that woman?"
"She said she was my mother," Scarlett said, her voice shaking. "But my mother is dead. She died giving birth to me."
"What did she look like?" Phoenix asked softly.
"Beautiful. Powerful. She had golden hair and eyes like sunlight, and when she spoke, even Seraphina followed her." Scarlett wiped her tears with her free hand. "She stopped the ritual, saved me from having my soul stolen, but then..."
"What?" I prompted when she trailed off.
"Then she looked at me like I'd disappointed her," Scarlett whispered. "She said I wasn't ready yet, that I needed to be better before I could face what was coming. Then she just... disappeared. Left me here by the lake."
Anger burned through my chest. What kind of mother abandoned her daughter right after saving her? What kind of person looked at someone as amazing as Scarlett and found her lacking?
"You're strong enough," I said firmly, squeezing her hand. "You escaped a poisoning, a soul-stealing ritual, and forces that want to destroy you. You're the best person I know."
She looked up at me with such hope in her eyes that it took my breath away. "Do you really think so?"
"I know so," I said, raising our joined hands to press a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "And I promise you, no matter what comes next, I'll protect you. We all will."
The words felt like a sacred vow, binding me to her more fully than any ceremony ever could.
"Ryder," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for finding me. For not giving up on me even when the bond was broken."
"I'll always find you," I promised. "No matter where you are, no matter what tries to keep us apart. You're mine, Scarlett. Mine to protect, mine to love, mine to treasure."
She leaned closer, her eyes searching my face. "Show me."
I didn't need to be asked twice.
I cupped her face in my free hand and kissed her with all the emotion and need that had been building since the moment I first saw her. She tasted like moonlight and magic, like everything I'd been looking for my whole life.
Fire raced through my blood as she kissed me back, her free hand tangling in my hair. The Trinity Bond flared between us, linking not just our hearts but our very souls.
Through the bond, I felt Dante and Phoenix watching us with their own love and desire, waiting their turn to claim their mate. The thought should have been strange, but instead it felt right. Perfect. Like this was how it was always meant to be.
When we finally broke apart, Scarlett was glowing with silver light again. But this time it wasn't out of control. This time it was warm and gentle, like she was finally learning to trust her own power.
"I love you," I whispered against her lips, the words coming from the deepest part of my heart.
"I love you too," she whispered back. "All of you."
But our perfect moment was broken by the sound of slow clapping from the tree line.
"How touching," a familiar voice said mockingly. "The little omega thinks she's found her happy ending."
Vivienne stepped out of the shadows, but something was wrong with her. Her eyes were sparkling with silver light - Scarlett's silver light - and power radiated from her that made my skin crawl.
"The ritual worked after all," Phoenix breathed in fear.
"Not exactly," Vivienne said with a wicked smile. "Seraphina's spell was interrupted before it could be finished. But I still got a taste of moon wolf power before your mystery savior arrived."
She held up her hands, and silver fire danced between her fingers. Fire that looked exactly like Scarlett's magic.
"I may not have stolen your entire soul," Vivienne added, "but I did get a piece of it. A piece of your power. And now I'm going to use it to take everything else you have."
The stolen magic in her hands grew brighter and more dangerous. She was going to attack us, and we had no idea how strong she'd become or what she was capable of.
But as I moved to protect Scarlett, something even worse happened.
The golden-haired woman appeared behind Vivienne like a ghost, her hand resting on the girl's shoulder.
"Actually, dear," she said with a smile that promised death, "you're going to help me teach my daughter a very important lesson about power and consequence."
Terror flooded through me as I realized the truth. The woman who'd saved Scarlett wasn't her loving mother back from the dead.
She was something far more dangerous, and she'd been playing us all along.