The air trembled as the doors burst open.
Kael stood at the entrance, his chest heaving, eyes glowing an unnatural shade of crimson. He didn't have to ask what had happened , he felt it. Every shiver, every gasp, every forbidden surge of pleasure that wasn't his. It burned through the bond, searing him alive from the inside out.
"Darius." His voice came out like a growl that shook the marble floors. "Step away from her."
Selene's breath caught in her throat. The world seemed to tilt, the scent of smoke and power filling the room. Darius straightened slowly, his gaze locked on his brother, defiance flashing through the storm in his eyes.
"She needed me," Darius said quietly. "You weren't here."
Kael's snarl deepened. "You think that justifies it? You touched her…"
"I saved her!"
The brothers' voices clashed like blades. The windows rattled. Outside, wolves howled, responding to the tension rippling through their alphas.
Selene stumbled backward, her hands shaking. "Stop it. Both of you—"
But Kael was already moving. He crossed the room in a blur, grabbing Darius by the collar. Sparks crackled from their skin where their power collided, fire against lightning. The air smelled of ozone and fury.
"Tell me it wasn't real," Kael demanded. "Tell me you didn't feel it."
Darius's jaw tightened. His silence was answer enough.
Kael's fist connected with his brother's face. Darius reeled back, blood at the corner of his mouth, but he didn't strike back, not yet.
Selene's pulse raced. The energy of the bond pulsed like a heartbeat between them, wild and uncontrollable. She felt their rage, their pain, their need. It flooded her senses until she could barely breathe.
"Enough!"
The voice was sharp, cutting through the storm.
Lyra stood at the entrance, the youngest Sage in centuries, her cloak trailing silver threads that shimmered with moonlight. Her beauty was otherworldly , and her expression was unreadable.
"Is this how the heirs of the Crescent Moon pack behave?" she said coldly. "Like feral beasts fighting over prey?"
Darius wiped his mouth, his voice low. "You weren't summoned, Lyra."
"I go where the bond trembles," she replied, eyes flicking to Selene. "And it trembles because of her."
Selene met her gaze, icy blue, filled with calculation. There was something deeper there, something unspoken.
Kael's power still flared around him. "If you came to judge, Sage, then do it quickly. Because I won't tolerate betrayal in my own pack."
Lyra stepped closer. "You won't tolerate what destiny itself has written?"
Her words silenced the room. Even Kael faltered.
Lyra raised a pale hand, tracing symbols in the air that glowed faintly before fading. "Three souls bound by moonfire," she murmured. "One heart that defies death. The curse of the triple bond has not been seen in a thousand years."
Selene felt a chill crawl down her spine. "What are you saying?"
Lyra's gaze softened — barely. "That none of you chose this. But only one can survive it."
A murmur rippled through the nearby guards and advisors who had gathered at the doorway.
Kael's expression hardened. "Then we break it."
"Break it?" Lyra's smile was cold. "You think you can tear apart a bond sealed by the Moon Goddess herself? It will demand blood, Alpha. Yours, or hers."
Silence.
Selene's heart pounded. "There has to be another way."
"There might be," Lyra said, glancing briefly at Kael, then looking away too quickly. "But the path is dangerous. It lies beyond our lands, beyond our laws."
Kael stepped closer. "Tell us."
Lyra hesitated. Her voice lowered. "A quest into the Shadow Vale. To find the Mirror of Thorns. It reveals the truth behind bonds... and how to sever them — or strengthen them forever."
Darius frowned. "Why do I feel you're not telling us everything?"
Lyra's lips curved slightly, but the warmth never reached her eyes. "Because knowledge always has a price."
The tension shifted — charged and electric. Selene's gaze flicked between the three of them. Darius's concern was genuine. Kael's pain burned like wildfire. And Lyra... Lyra's eyes lingered on Kael with something far too familiar.
Jealousy.
Selene felt it through the bond — a flicker of possessive rage that wasn't hers.
The weight of it hit her all at once. Her knees weakened. Her vision blurred. The room swam with light and energy as the bond inside her twisted, pulling her in three directions at once.
Kael took a step forward. "Selene?"
Darius caught her just before she fell, his hand warm against her back. Her pulse raced under his touch. The glow from her mark , that cursed lunar sigil , began to pulse violently, illuminating the room with silvery fire.
"Her energy's destabilizing!" Lyra shouted. "The bond, it's reacting to your emotions!"
Kael grabbed Selene's other hand. The contact sent a jolt through all three of them , a surge of heat, power, and something primal.
Selene gasped as the bond flared, dragging her consciousness into blinding light.
And then everything went still.
Her body went limp. The light extinguished.
Kael shouted her name.
Lyra's eyes widened , for the first time, she looked afraid.
"She's not dying," Lyra whispered. "She's becoming."
In the darkness, Selene's voice echoed—a whisper that wasn't wholly hers.
"The Vale calls…"
And then she went still.
The moon outside turned blood-red.