"Little sister?" Aria let out a gasp.
The bad guy's red eyes were like hot coals in her eyes. It got quiet in the clearing. Alpha Magnus himself looked shocked.
Aria said in a shaky voice, "I don't have a brother."
The bad guy smiled and showed his sharp teeth. "They didn't tell you, did they?" They died to keep your secret safe. He stepped closer. "My name is Vex. Our mother was a Moon Wolf too."
Luna Seraphina ran forward. "Get back!" she yelled at Vex. "Guards!"
But the triplets moved faster. Their bodies were changing, muscles moving under skin. Half-shifted, they made a wall between Aria and the rogue.
"She stays with us," Caleb growled, his voice deeper than normal.
"Her choice, not yours," Vex answered calmly. He raised his hand, and suddenly, twenty more rogues stepped from the darkness.
The pack members screamed, scrambling backwards. Omegas ran for cover while betas and alphas shifted to fight.
"Stop!" Alpha Magnus roared. He turned to Aria. "What have you brought upon us, girl?"
"I didn't know—" Aria started, but a hand grabbed her arm.
It was Dorian, his face bloody but determined. "We need to go, now!"
"You're working with them?" Aria couldn't believe it.
"I'm trying to save you!" Dorian hissed. "These rogues aren't what you think."
Before she could answer, Caden reached them. He grabbed Dorian's wrist, breaking his hold on Aria.
"Don't touch her," Caden said quietly. His ice-blue eyes glowed brighter than the flames.
The moment Caden touched Aria again, lightning seemed to strike. Both of them gasped as energy surged between them. Aria's skin lit up with a strange silver light, and Caden's eyes blazed blue fire.
"The bond," someone whispered in the crowd.
Cyrus pushed through, grabbing for Aria's other hand. "Wait—"
The moment his fingers touched her skin, the same shock hit them. Cyrus's green eyes flared, and the silver light running through Aria's veins brightened.
"Impossible," Beta Voss mumbled.
Caleb stood frozen, watching his brothers. His face showed anger, but his body leaned forward like he couldn't help it. Finally, with a growl of anger, he stormed over and grabbed Aria's shoulder.
The third link was like an explosion. Everyone nearby stumbled back as a wave of strength burst outward. All three brothers and Aria were now linked by streams of light – gold, green, blue, and silver weaving together.
"A four-way mate bond," Luna Seraphina whispered.
"The prophecy..." Vex laughed, the sound cutting through the noise. "Now you see why they want her? One wolf connected to three alpha heirs. Her power could change everything."
Liana stepped forward, her face twisted with rage. "This is a trick! She's charmed them somehow!"
"Quiet!" Alpha Magnus ordered. He stared at the glowing bond between Aria and his boys. "This can't be natural."
The silver light running through Aria suddenly pulsed. Pain shot through her body. She fell to her knees, crying out.
"What's happening to her?" Caden knelt beside her, panic in his words.
"The bond is too strong," Luna Seraphina said quickly. "Three alphas pulling on one omega – it's tearing her apart!"
The triplets looked at each other in fear. The light linking them to Aria was getting brighter, but her face was growing pale.
"Break it," Caleb told his brothers. "We need to let go."
"I can't," Cyrus said, trying to pull his hand away. "It won't let me!"
Vex stepped closer. "Only she can control it. That's why she needs to come with us – to learn how."
"Stay back!" Caden warned, his wolf ready to attack.
Aria felt like she was burning from the inside. The power was too much. Through blurry eyes, she saw the brothers arguing, felt their fear mixing with her pain.
"Choose," a voice whispered in her mind. "You must choose one."
"I can't," she gasped out loud.
"Choose or the bond will destroy you all," the voice urged.
With the last of her strength, Aria looked at the three boys. Caleb, fighting the link even now. Cyrus, suddenly scared instead of cocky. And Caden, who hadn't left her side. She reached for Caden's face with shaky fingers.
"NO!" Vex shouted, lunging forward.
Everything happened at once. Rogues struck from all sides. Pack members shifted, meeting them in fight. Liana screamed as a rogue grabbed her. Alpha Magnus roared orders while Luna Seraphina tried to reach her sons.
And in the middle of it all, Aria touched Caden's cheek. The silver light flared blindingly bright, then focused, flowing largely between them while weakening its hold on Caleb and Cyrus.
"She chose," Luna Seraphina breathed.
Caleb stumbled back, free from the bond's pull but looking strangely lost. Cyrus fell to his knees, gasping like he'd been hit. The relief was quick.
Aria could breathe again. The pain faded, replaced by a warm glow focused on her connection with Caden.
"Kill them!" Vex screamed, his plan falling apart. "Take the girl!"
A massive black wolf – Alpha Magnus – jumped at Vex, teeth bared. The rogues closed in, but pack members fought back furiously.
Caden lifted Aria in his arms. "We need to get you somewhere safe."
"My brother—" she started.
"He's not your brother," Caden said strongly. "Brothers don't try to use their sisters as weapons."
As they rushed toward Moonhold, Aria looked back. The area had become a battlefield. Wolves fought everywhere. She saw Caleb tearing through rogues with cold precision while Cyrus fought with wild abandon, his eyes occasionally finding her with a look of betrayal.
Then she spotted Dorian, not fighting but trying to reach her. "Aria!" he called. "They're lying to you! Ask about your mother! Ask about—" A guard attacked him, cutting off his words.
Inside Moonhold, Caden carried her to a small room and locked the door. "You'll be safe here," he promised.
"What just happened?" Aria asked, her mind spinning. "Did I really choose you?"
Caden's eyes still glowed faintly blue. "The mate bond usually joins just two wolves. But you're a Moon Wolf. Somehow, you bonded with all three of us."
"And I picked you," she whispered, touching her chest where the warm feeling rested.
"You saved us," he corrected. "The link was killing you. By focusing on one of us, you fixed it."
A crash shook the building. The fighting was getting closer.
"Why did that rogue claim to be my brother?" Aria asked. "And what did Dorian mean about my mother?"
Caden looked worried. "I don't know. But I promise we'll find out."
Suddenly, the door burst open. Luna Seraphina ran in, blood on her dress. "They're inside Moonhold! We need to move!"
"Where's my father? My brothers?" Caden asked.
"Fighting," she answered grimly. "But there's something else. The rogues—they're not just after Aria."
"What do you mean?" Aria asked.
Luna Seraphina looked at her with sad eyes. "They want all three of you. The triplets. There's more to the forecast than I told you."
Before she could explain, a howl echoed through the hallway. Not the hunting howl of an alpha, but the eerie, bone-chilling cry of something else.
"Hide!" Luna Seraphina pushed, pushing them toward a hidden door in the wall.
As the panel slid closed, Aria caught a glimpse of a person in the doorway. Not Vex or any rogue she'd seen before, but a woman with silver hair like hers and glowing violet eyes.
"Mother?" she whispered in shock as darkness swallowed them.