The pack meeting hall buzzed with anxiety as Alpha Calder called for order.
Aria slipped into the back row, her eyes quickly finding the three brothers seated at the front. Kieran sat straight and calculating, Kade lounged with forced casualness, but Kael... Kael sat like a statue cut from ice.
"The attacks on our borders grow bolder," Alpha Calder declared.
"Three patrol teams reported strange smells last night. Something is hunting us." Murmurs rippled through the gathering pack members. Aria's heart raced as she remembered Darius's threat and the red eyes in the forest.
"We need stronger defenses," Beta Quinn offered.
"Double the patrols, reinforce the perimeter." "And what of the... other matter?" Elder Thalia's voice cut through the conversation. Everyone knew she meant the tri-bonds. The impossible link that had shattered pack traditions and left three future Alphas at odds. Alpha Calder's jaw clenched.
"That situation remains... complicated." Aria felt the bonds pulse in her chest, reaching toward the boys. Kieran's thread hummed with hidden plans. Kade's burned with nervous energy.
But Kael's... Kael's bond felt like touching cold stone. She tried to catch his eye, but he looked straight ahead as if she didn't exist. As if the golden thread connecting their souls was just her fantasy. "The full moon approaches,"
Elder Thalia pushed.
"Preparations must be made." "Everything is under control," Kael spoke for the first time, his voice flat and lifeless.
Aria's heart clenched.
This wasn't the protective, passionate boy who'd protected her in the sacred clearing.
This was a stranger wearing Kael's face. After the meeting, pack members filed out in worried groups. Aria waited, hoping Kael would look her way, notice her presence, anything.
Instead, he walked past her like she was invisible. "Kael, wait," she called softly.
He stopped but didn't turn around. His shoulders were rigid with strain. "We need to talk," Aria said, moving closer.
"No," Kael's voice was cold.
"We don't." "Yes, we do. About the curse, about the links, about"
"About nothing," Kael cut her off. "There's nothing to discuss." He started walking again. Aria hurried after him, her desperation rising.
"Elder Thalia told me about your transformations," she said.
"About the danger you're all in." Kael stopped so suddenly she almost crashed into his back.
"She had no right," he said through hard teeth. "She was trying to help. I can help. The tri-bonds might be able to"
"Help?" Kael finally turned, and Aria gasped at the cold rage in his eyes.
"You think you can help? You've done enough." The words hit like physical blows. "What do you mean?" "Before you came along, we managed," Kael said cruelly.
"We survived our transformations, protected the pack, kept order. Now everything is chaos." "That's not my fault!" "Isn't it?" Kael stepped closer, using his height to frighten.
"You and your impossible ties have torn this pack apart. My brothers and I can barely stand to be in the same room."
Tears burned Aria's eyes.
"Because you're letting jealousy destroy you!"
"Jealousy?" Kael laughed bitterly. "You think this is about jealousy? You really don't understand anything, do you?"
"Then explain it to me!"
"Why?" Kael's mask of ice cracked slightly.
"So you can pity us? So you can feel important saving the cursed Thorn boys?"
"That's not what this is about!" "Then what is it about, Aria?" Kael demanded.
"What do you really want from us?" The question hung in the air between them. Aria looked for the right words, the ones that would break through his frozen walls.
"I want to help you," she whispered.
"All of you. I want to stop the evil before it kills you."
"And then what?"
Kael's voice was dangerously quiet. "After we're 'saved,' what happens to the bonds? Do you choose one of us?
Do you walk away? Do you expect us to share you like some pack prize?" "I don't know," Aria revealed. "I just know I can't watch you suffer."
"You can't watch us suffer," Kael repeated mockingly.
"How brave. The omega wants to help the big bad Alphas."
His words were meant to hurt, and they succeeded. Aria steps back as if slapped. "That's not fair."
"Fair?" Kael's control finally snapped. "Nothing about this is fair! You get to play hero while we get to tear ourselves apart over someone who can't even decide if she wants us!" "I never asked for the bonds!"
"Neither did we" Kael roared, his wolf flashing in his eyes. "But we're stuck with them, aren't we? Stuck wanting someone who runs away the moment things get tough!"
"I ran because you were going to kill each other!"
"Maybe that would've been better," Kael said coldly. "At least then you wouldn't have to choose." The words were like ice water in Aria's blood.
"You don't mean that."
"Don't I?" Kael's face went blank again.
"The curse has been our family's burden for ages. Maybe it's time to accept that some things can't be fixed." "Elder Thalia said"
"Elder Thalia is a romantic old fool," Kael interrupted.
"She sees hope where there's only death waiting." He started to walk away again, but this time Aria grabbed his arm.
The moment their skin touched, the bond flared to life, sending warmth shooting through both of them. Kael jerked away as if burned.
"Don't," he warned. "Don't make this harder than it already is."
"Harder than what?" Kael's jaw worked quietly. For a moment, his icy mask slipped, and Aria saw the pain underneath. Raw, frantic, terrifying pain.
"Harder than letting you go," he whispered. Before Aria could answer, he was gone, leaving her standing alone in the empty hallway with tears streaming down her face.
That night, she tried to find him again. She searched the training grounds, the weapon rooms, even the caves beneath the mountain where the brothers prepped for their transformations.
But Kael had vanished as totally as if he'd never existed. Two days until the full moon. Two days to somehow reach a boy who'd frozen his heart to protect hers.
Two days to save someone who didn't want to be saved.
As Aria finally gave up and went back to her small quarters, she didn't notice the figure watching from the shadows.
Didn't see Darius smile as he pulled out a small communication device.
"Yes," he whispered into the device. "The plan is working perfectly. The oldest brother is already pulling away. By the time the full moon rises, they'll be too split to fight what's coming."
The voice that answered was cold and ancient, speaking in a language that predated the pack by centuries. Darius nodded eagerly.
"Yes, lady. Soon the curse will claim them, and the tri-bond omega will be yours to command."
He melted back into the darkness, leaving only the echo of old magic and older hate hanging in the night air.