ARIA'S POV
I can't breathe.
Not because of the pain—though my body still feels like it's been ripped apart and put back together wrong. Not because I'm being carried by a stranger who just threatened to kill my entire pack.
I can't breathe because of what I feel in my chest.
Three golden threads. Three blazing connections where there should only be one. Three bonds burning so bright I'm surprised they're not visible to everyone watching.
"Put me down," I whisper, but my voice comes out weak and shaky.
The silver-eyed man—Thane, he called himself—looks down at me. Up close, he's even more terrifying. Scars cross his face like he's fought a hundred wars. His eyes are ancient, knowing, like he can see straight through me.
"No," he says simply.
That one word makes me angry enough to forget I'm dying. "I'm not asking—"
"You're badly hurt," he interrupts, his voice rumbling through his chest into mine. "I'm not putting you down until we're somewhere safe."
"Safe?" I laugh, and it sounds a little crazy. "You just showed up out of nowhere and started threatening people! How is that safe?"
The shadow man—Ryker—releases Kael and walks toward us. Kael collapses to the ground, gasping and clutching his throat. Good. I hope it hurts.
"We're safer than the pack that just tried to kill you," Ryker says, his completely black eyes fixed on me. "The rejection should have stopped your heart. They left you to die."
The truth of his words hits me like a punch.
They did. My father stood there and watched. Celeste smiled. Lyanna looked triumphant. Even the pack members who claimed to be my friends just... watched.
Only Sage tried to help, and they held her back.
"I can See what happened," the blue-eyed one—Caspian—says quietly. He's staring at me with glowing eyes that make my skin prickle. "I See your whole life. Twenty-two years of pain. Of being called weak. Broken. Worthless."
Tears burn my eyes. "Stop."
"I See your father ignoring you while his new wife poisoned you," Caspian continues, his voice getting louder. "I See your sister sabotaging you at every turn. I See the male you loved choosing her in front of everyone just to humiliate you—"
"I SAID STOP!" My voice comes out as a command that makes several wolves drop to their knees.
I didn't mean to do that. But power ripples through me, and for the first time in my life, people listen.
Caspian stops talking, but his eyes are full of understanding. "You feel it now, don't you? The power that's always been inside you?"
I do. It's like something that was sleeping has woken up, and it's angry.
"This is impossible," I say, looking at the three males surrounding me. "I don't have a wolf. I can't feel mate bonds. I'm—"
"The True Luna," Thane finishes. "The first female born with the Original Bloodline in over a thousand years."
I stare at him. "That's a fairy tale. A legend Elders tell children."
"We're the legends," Ryker says with a dark smile. "And you woke us up."
My father finally finds his voice. He pushes himself to his knees, though his head stays bowed like he can't lift it. "You can't just take my daughter!"
"She's not your daughter," Thane says coldly, still not looking at him. "You gave up that right when you let them torture her."
"I am ALPHA here!" my father roars, trying to sound commanding. But his voice shakes.
Thane finally looks at him, and the look makes my father go completely silent.
"You're Alpha of nothing," Thane says quietly, which is somehow scarier than if he'd yelled. "This female carries bloodline older than your pack, older than your territories, older than your pathetic laws. She is True Luna. She belongs with us."
"The Moon Goddess wouldn't give one female three mates," Celeste speaks up from where she's trying to edge toward the trees. "It's unnatural. Dark magic—"
Shadows explode from Ryker's body and wrap around Celeste, yanking her back to the center of the clearing. She screams.
"The only dark magic here is yours," Ryker growls. "We can smell it on you. In her. You've been poisoning the True Luna since she was a child."
The crowd gasps. Even I'm shocked.
Poisoned? Is that why I never shifted? Why I was always weak and sick?
"Aria!" Sage's voice cuts through the chaos. My best friend pushes through the crowd, tears streaming down her face. "Tell them you don't want to go! Tell them—"
"She wants to come with us," Caspian interrupts, and his eyes are glowing brighter now. "I See it. I See her choosing us."
"You don't know what I want!" I snap at him.
But the scary thing is... he might be right.
I look around the clearing. At my father, who couldn't even stand up for me when Kael rejected me. At Celeste, who apparently has been poisoning me my whole life. At Lyanna, who's wearing the future Luna title like a crown while I'm bleeding on the ground.
At Kael, who's staring at me now with something that might be regret, but it's too late. Way too late.
Then I look at Sage, my only real friend, and my heart hurts.
"I'm sorry," I whisper to her.
Her eyes go wide. "Aria, no—"
I look up at Thane. At Ryker. At Caspian. Three strangers who somehow feel more familiar than the pack I've known my whole life.
Three mates. Three golden threads connecting me to them, getting stronger every second.
"Take me away from here," I say quietly.
The words barely leave my mouth before several things happen at once.
Kael lunges forward, shouting "NO!"
My father roars commands that no one follows.
Sage screams my name.
And Caspian's eyes go completely white.
"WAIT!" he shouts, his voice desperate and terrified. "I See—"
He doesn't finish. His eyes roll back and he collapses.
Ryker catches him before he hits the ground. "What did you See?"
Caspian's whole body is shaking. When he opens his eyes again, they're full of horror.
"We need to leave," he gasps. "Right now. They're coming."
"Who's coming?" Thane demands.
Caspian looks at me, and the fear in his eyes makes my blood run cold.
"Everyone," he whispers. "Every pack in the territories. They felt her awakening. They're coming to take her."
Before anyone can respond, a howl splits the night.
Then another. And another.
Dozens of howls, coming from every direction, getting closer.
Thane's arms tighten around me. "Run. NOW."
But it's too late.
The trees around the clearing explode as wolves pour through—massive, snarling wolves from packs I don't recognize. Their eyes are all fixed on me with a hunger that makes my skin crawl.
And leading them is a wolf I've only seen in pictures.
The High Alpha. The one who rules over all territories.
He shifts to human form, and his smile is cold and calculated.
"Well, well," he says, staring right at me. "The True Luna. I've been waiting a very long time to meet you."