POV: Aria
The wall exploded inward.
Stone and dust filled the air as a section of the Sanctuary's outer wall crumbled. Through the gap, white-eyed hunters poured in like a flood.
"They broke through!" someone shouted from below.
I stood frozen at the window, watching the three kings shift into their massive wolf forms. Theron's silver wolf was the largest, his beast form even more terrifying than I remembered. Damon's ice-blue wolf moved like winter itself—cold and deadly. Lucian's blood-red eyes glowed as he tore into the first hunter that reached him.
They were magnificent. Powerful. Born for battle.
And I was useless.
"Stay in your room!" Theron's voice commanded in my mind before he leaped into the fray. "Lock the door. Don't come out until we come for you."
Like I was a helpless child. Something to be protected and hidden away.
My wolf snarled inside me. We're not weak anymore.
"I know," I whispered. "But I don't know how to fight."
Then learn. Fast.
More hunters breached the walls. The sounds of battle echoed through the fortress—snarls, howls, the sickening crunch of bone. I wanted to help, but what could I do? I'd only transformed once, and I'd been unconscious for three days afterward.
I'd just get in the way.
A scream cut through the air. A female voice, terrified.
I ran to the window and saw a young woman—one of the Sanctuary's servants—cornered by two hunters in the courtyard below. She was human, defenseless.
The hunters lunged.
My body moved before my brain could stop it. I was at the door, yanking it open, racing down the stone hallway toward the stairs.
"Aria, no!" Damon's voice roared in my mind, but I didn't stop.
I burst into the courtyard just as the hunters' jaws closed around—
"Get away from her!" I screamed.
Both hunters turned toward me. Their white eyes locked onto mine, and I felt the Moon Goddess's will flowing through them like poison. Kill the Shadow Crown. That was their only purpose.
They forgot about the servant and charged at me.
My wolf exploded forward.
The shift was instant this time—no pain, no hesitation. One second I was human, the next I was a massive silver wolf with black crown markings. My new body moved on pure instinct.
I met the first hunter head-on. We collided with a force that would have killed my old Omega wolf. But I was stronger now. So much stronger.
My jaws found his throat. I bit down hard.
The hunter dissolved into white mist, dead.
The second hunter tackled me from the side. We rolled across the courtyard, snapping and clawing. He was fast, blessed with the goddess's speed.
But I was a Shadow Crown.
I twisted beneath him and kicked up with my powerful hind legs. The hunter flew backward, smashing into the wall. Before he could recover, I was on him.
This time, I didn't hesitate. My jaws closed around his throat and ripped.
More white mist.
I shifted back to human form, panting, my hands and face covered in blood that was already evaporating into nothing.
The servant stared at me in shock. "Thank you," she whispered, then ran.
I looked down at my shaking hands. The blood was gone, but I could still feel it. Still taste it.
I'd killed two wolves without thinking. Without hesitation.
What did that make me?
A sound behind me. I spun, ready to shift again.
But it was just Theron in human form, covered in scratches and blood—real blood this time, from his enemies and maybe some from himself.
"Are you hurt?" he demanded, checking me over with his eyes.
"I'm fine." My voice sounded hollow. "I killed them. Two hunters. I just... I didn't even think about it."
Theron's expression softened. "Good."
"Good?" I stared at him. "I murdered two creatures and you're saying good?"
"They came here to kill you," Theron said firmly. "They would have torn that servant apart just to get to you. You defended yourself and protected someone weaker. That's not murder, Aria. That's survival."
"It felt too easy," I whispered. "Like my body knew exactly what to do. Like I'd done it a thousand times before."
"That's your instinct." Theron stepped closer, his silver eyes intense. "You're a Shadow Crown. Your bloodline has been at war with the goddess for generations. Fighting, killing—it comes naturally to you."
"I don't want it to come naturally." My hands were still shaking. "I don't want to be someone who kills easily."
"Then you'll die easily instead." Lucian's voice cut through the courtyard. He strode toward us, also in human form, blood splattered across his chest. "The goddess isn't going to stop sending hunters. You need to get comfortable with killing, fast."
"He's right," Damon said, appearing from another direction. The three kings surrounded me, and I realized the sounds of battle had faded. "This was just the first wave. A test. She'll send more."
"How many more?" I asked.
"As many as it takes." Theron's jaw was tight. "Until you accept the mate bonds and access your full power. Right now, you're dangerous but beatable. Fully awakened? You'd be unstoppable."
The mate bonds. Always back to that.
"I need time," I said. "I can't just—"
An explosion rocked the fortress—bigger than the others. The entire building shook.
"They're targeting the foundation," Damon said grimly. "Trying to bring the whole structure down."
"How long do we have?" I asked.
"Hours." Lucian's red eyes blazed. "Maybe less if they concentrate their magic."
Theron grabbed my arm. "We need to get you somewhere safer. The inner sanctuary has additional protections—"
A hunter crashed through the window of my room three stories up. Then another. And another.
"They're inside the fortress," Damon said.
More hunters poured through windows, breaching doors, coming from everywhere at once. This wasn't a siege anymore.
It was an invasion.
"Protect the queen!" someone shouted. Sanctuary guards rushed to form a circle around me, but hunters tore through them like paper.
"Aria, shift!" Theron commanded. "We need to move now!"
I shifted into my wolf form as the three kings did the same. We ran through the fortress, hunters snapping at our heels. Guards fought and died buying us seconds.
Too many. There were too many hunters.
We burst into a massive hall—the inner sanctuary Theron had mentioned. The moment we crossed the threshold, invisible barriers slammed down behind us. Hunters crashed into the magical walls and bounced back, unable to enter.
"This will hold them," Damon said, shifting to human. "For a while."
We all shifted back. I was getting better at it—the transformation barely hurt now.
"How long?" I asked.
The three kings looked at each other.
"The barriers were designed to hold for three days against normal attacks," Theron said carefully. "But with this many hunters using goddess-blessed magic? Maybe twelve hours."
Twelve hours until the barriers fell and an army of divine assassins tore me apart.
"Then we use the time we have," I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. "You said the mate bonds will awaken my full power?"
"Yes," all three answered.
"And with that power, I can fight the goddess? Stop the hunters?"
"You could do more than fight her," Lucian said darkly. "You could break her control over every wolf in existence."
I looked at each king. At Theron, who'd protected me from the moment we met. At Damon, whose cold logic somehow made me feel safe. At Lucian, whose darkness matched something inside me I was just starting to understand.
They weren't Kade. They'd proven that already.
My wolf pressed against my consciousness. Trust them. Trust us.
"If I accept the bonds," I said slowly, "what happens?"
"The connections we already have will solidify," Theron explained. "Become permanent. You'll access the full Shadow Crown power—the ability to command wolves, break divine bonds, manipulate fate itself."
"And the mate bond can't be broken after that," Damon added. "Not by rejection, not by dark magic, not even by death. We'll be bound to you forever."
Forever. The word hung heavy between us.
"What if..." I hated how small my voice sounded. "What if you regret it later? What if I'm not worth—"
"Stop." Lucian crossed the distance between us in two strides. His hand cupped my jaw, forcing me to meet his blood-red eyes. "You're a queen. Act like it. Stop letting one fool's rejection define your worth."
The words hit harder than any blow.
"We've waited centuries for you," Theron said softly. "Not for your power. For you."
"The mate bonds chose us for a reason," Damon said. "Trust that."
Outside the barriers, hunters crashed against the magical walls. Each impact made the barriers shimmer and weaken.
I had twelve hours to decide: stay powerless and die, or trust three men I barely knew with the thing Kade had just destroyed.
"I need to understand something first," I said. "Why me? Why three mates? What makes me so special that the Moon Goddess herself wants me dead?"
The three kings exchanged looks.
"Because," Theron said carefully, "the Shadow Crown doesn't just break the goddess's control over wolves."
"It can kill her," Lucian finished.
The temperature dropped. My blood turned to ice.
"Kill a goddess?" I whispered. "That's impossible."
"For everyone except you," Damon said. "Your bloodline was created specifically to balance divine power. To ensure no deity—not even the Moon Goddess—could control wolves absolutely."
"Your parents were getting close to figuring out how," Theron added. "That's why she had them murdered before they could teach you."
I staggered back. This wasn't just about survival. This was about war with a deity.
"You want me to kill her," I said. "That's why you've been waiting for me. Not for a mate. For a weapon."
"No." Theron's voice was fierce. "We want you to be free. All of us to be free. If that means the goddess dies, so be it."
Another massive impact against the barriers. Cracks appeared in the magical walls.
"Ten hours now," Damon said grimly.
My wolf was certain. They're ours. Accept them.
But my heart—my shattered, rejected heart—screamed warnings.
I opened my mouth to answer when I felt it.
That cold presence again. The Moon Goddess, pressing against my mind, her voice like ice in my skull:
"Accept those bonds, little Shadow Crown, and I'll kill everyone you've ever known. Every wolf in the Crescent Moon Pack. Every Omega you served with. Every single soul who ever showed you kindness. Choose yourself, and watch the world burn."
I gasped, the goddess's threat crushing my chest.
The three kings moved closer, sensing something wrong.
"Aria?" Theron asked. "What is it?"
I looked up at them, tears streaming down my face.
"She'll kill them all," I whispered. "If I accept your bonds, the goddess will slaughter everyone from my old pack."