Rose's POV
I screamed and threw myself in front of Maya just as the gun went off.
The bullet hit me in the shoulder, spinning me around. Pain burst through my body, but I didn't care. All I cared about was protecting the girl who felt like my sister.
"Rose!" Dante roared, catching me as I fell.
Blood was everywhere, but I could see Maya looking at me with wide, shocked eyes.
"Why did you do that?" she whispered.
I didn't know how to answer. Something inside me had just taken over, like my body moved before my brain could think.
"Because," I said through hard teeth, "sisters protect each other."
Maya's face crumpled. "But I'm not your sister."
"Yes, you are," I said strongly. "I don't care what Elena says. I know you're my sister."
Behind us, Kane was reloading his gun with shaking hands. "Stupid girl! Now I have to kill you both!"
But before he could raise the weapon again, something incredible happened.
Maya's eyes started glowing.
Not just shining - they were burning like green fire. Power was radiating off her in waves that made my damaged shoulder stop hurting.
"Don't. Touch. Her." Maya's voice didn't sound human anymore.
The suppressants were wearing off. Her eighteenth birthday was awakening skills she'd never known she had.
Kane took a step back. "Impossible. The drugs should last until midnight."
"Strong emotions can override suppressants," Dante said, helping me stand. "And you just shot the person Maya cares about most. " Maya was changing. I could see her muscles growing stronger, her canine teeth getting longer. This was what a true Alpha looked like when they were angry.
"Maya," her father called out. "Sweetheart, you need to calm down. If you lose control—"
"I won't lose control," Maya said, but her voice was getting lower, more wolfish. "I'm going to save everyone I love."
She started walking toward Kane, and with each step, the ground cracked under her feet.
The real Aria broke away from the rogues again. "Maya, stop! This isn't how the prophecy is meant to work!"
Maya paused. "What do you mean?"
"The prophecy says you need your true mate to balance your power," little Aria explained. "Without him, you'll destroy everything, including the people you're trying to save."
We all looked at Dante. He was bleeding from a cut on his face, but he was living. The bullet had missed him and hit me instead.
"The mate bond," Dante said suddenly. "It's not just about love. It's about balance. Maya's power is too strong for one person to handle alone."
"But I don't know how to use the mate bond," Maya said desperately. "I don't even know how to shift into wolf form."
"I can teach you," Dante said, moving closer to her. "But you have to trust me."
Maya looked at him, then at me bleeding on the ground, then at little Aria surrounded by rogues.
"There's no time," she said. "They're going to hurt more people."
"Then we do this together," Dante said. "Right now."
Kane laughed nervously. "You can't complete a mate bond in the middle of a fight!"
"Watch us," Maya said.
She took Dante's hand, and the moment their skin touched, lightning seemed to flash between them. I could feel the mate bond acting even from several feet away.
"Maya," Dante said softly, "let me help you carry this power."
Maya nodded and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were still shining, but the light was calmer now. More controlled.
"Better?" Dante asked.
"Much better," Maya said. Then she turned to Kane. "Now, let's finish this."
Kane raised his gun again, but Maya was faster than any wolf I'd ever seen. She moved like lightning, knocking the weapon from his hands before he could blink.
"You want to know what the prophecy really means?" Maya asked, taking Kane by the throat. "It means I get to choose who lives and who dies."
Kane's red eyes were full of fear now. "Please, I was just trying to get justice for my father."
"Your father was going to force mate with my mother," Maya said bitterly. "That's not fair. That's bad."
"Maya," Dante said gently. "Remember what you're fighting for."
Maya looked around at all of us - me bleeding but alive, little Aria crying but safe, her father watching with pride and worry.
"I'm fighting for family," she said. "Real family. The kind that decides to love each other."
She relaxed her grip on Kane's throat. "I'm not going to kill you. But you're going to let Aria go, and you're never going to bother any of us again."
Kane nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, of course."
But as Maya started to turn away, I saw Kane reach for a secret knife.
"Maya, look out!" I screamed.
Maya spun around just as Kane lunged at her with the silver blade. She caught his wrist easily, her new strength making him look weak.
But in that moment of distraction, none of us spotted the other rogues moving.
One of them grabbed little Aria and put a silver knife to her throat.
"Let our Alpha go," the rogue ordered, "or the real Aria Nightwood dies."
Maya froze. If she used her power to save Aria, she might lose control and hurt the innocent kid. If she didn't, Aria would die anyway.
"What do I do?" Maya asked Dante desperately.
Before he could answer, little Aria did something that shocked everyone.
She bit the rogue's hand and broke free, then ran right toward Maya.
"I remember!" Aria yelled as she ran. "I remember everything!"
"Stay back!" Maya warned. "I might hurt you!"
"No, you won't," Aria said, grabbing Maya's free hand. "Because I remember who you really are."
The moment their hands touched, a bright light burst between them.
When the light faded, little Aria looked different. Older somehow, like she'd aged several years in seconds.
"You're not Maya Blackwood," she said clearly. "And I'm not Aria Nightwood."
Maya stared at her. "What?"
"We're sisters," Aria said with a smile. "We've always been sisters. My name is Lily Blackwood, and you're my big sister Maya."
"That's impossible," Kane gasped. "Victor Nightwood's daughter died in that river seven years ago."
"No," Lily said strongly. "Aria Nightwood died in that river. I lived because my sister saved me. But the stress made me forget who I was, so when Victor found me, I believed I was his daughter."
Maya's legs gave out, and she sank to her knees. "Lily? My little sister Lily?"
"I remember the day by the forbidden river," Lily said, kneeling beside Maya. "You tried to save me from drowning. You jumped in after me even though you couldn't swim very well."
"But you disappeared under the water," Maya whispered.
"The current took me downstream. When Victor's people found me, they thought I was his lost daughter because I looked so much like her. And because I couldn't remember anything, I believed them."
Maya pulled Lily into the biggest hug I'd ever seen. Both girls were crying now.
"I thought I killed you," Maya sobbed. "I've hated myself for ten years."
"You saved me," Lily said strongly. "You've always been my hero."
It was the most beautiful reunion I'd ever watched. But it was also terrifying, because I understood what this meant.
If Lily was really Maya's sister, and not Victor's kid, then who was I?
I was the girl with no memory, no family, and no name.
I was nobody at all.