Kieran POV
The golden thread burned through my ribs like molten fire, and I couldn't breathe.
I stared at the small omega girl kneeling in the middle of the ceremony hall, her silver-streaked hair catching the light like starshine. Three threads of pure energy linked us - me, Asher, and Zane - to her trembling form.
This was impossible. This broke every rule our pack had ever known.
My wolf was going crazy inside my head, barking one word over and over: MATE. MATE. MATE.
But I was supposed to mate with Celeste. I was the future Alpha. I had duties, responsibilities, a whole pack relying on me to make smart choices. I couldn't be mated to some strange omega who burned down our kitchen.
Could I?
"What's happening to us?" Asher whispered beside me, his face white with shock.
I tried to answer, but no words came out. The mate bond was pulling at me like an invisible rope, asking that I go to her. Protect her. Claim her.
Elder Sage's words cut through the chaos filling the hall. "The prophecy has started. The Silver Wolf has woken, and she will either save us all... or destroy everything we hold dear."
Silver Wolf? I knew that name from somewhere deep in my mind, from old stories Grandfather used to tell when we were little.
The crowd erupted in angry shouts and confused questions. Some pack members were pointing at Iris and yelling about dark magic. Others were backing away like she might burst.
But all I could focus on was the fear in her violet eyes as she looked between me and my brothers.
"This is fake!" Celeste's scream cut through everything else. "She's using witchcraft! Test her for dark magic!"
Father stood up slowly, his face grave. "Everyone calm down. This matter will be examined properly."
Investigated? Like we were criminals?
The mate bond pulsed stronger, and I felt Asher and Zane's emotions mixing with mine through the link. Asher's watchful anger. Zane's deep confusion. And underneath it all, Iris's pure fear.
She was scared. Of us. Of this link. Of what it meant.
"Take the girl to the guest quarters," Father told two guards. "No one speaks to her until I decide what to do."
"No." The word ripped out of my throat before I could stop it.
Every eye in the hall turned to me. Father's golden look hardened with warning, but I couldn't back down. My wolf wouldn't let me.
"She's our mate," I said, my words carrying through the silent room. "The Moon Goddess picked her for us. You can't lock her away like a prisoner."
"The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes like this," Father answered coldly. "Multiple mate ties are myths. Stories to scare children."
"Then explain what just happened," Zane spoke up for the first time, his quiet voice somehow louder than everyone else's screaming. "Explain why we can all feel her emotions right now."
It was true. Through the bond, I could sense Iris's heartbeat racing with panic. I could feel her confusion and hurt. She was overwhelmed and alone, surrounded by people who saw her as a problem to solve instead of a person to protect.
Father's jaw tightened. "Guards, lead Miss Moon to her room. Now."
As two large fighters moved toward Iris, something inside me snapped. I was on my feet and moving before my brain caught up, my body putting itself between the guards and my mate.
"Don't touch her," I growled, and my voice held the Alpha command that made even grown warriors step back.
Asher and Zane flanked me instantly, the three of us forming a wall around Iris. The mate bond hummed with shared purpose.
"Kieran," Father's voice held a warning that promised punishment later. "Stand down."
"I won't let you treat her like a criminal," I said, meeting his stare directly. "She's done nothing wrong."
"She burned down our kitchen this morning," Celeste said smugly. "And now she's somehow tricked your kids into thinking she's their mate. If that's not dark magic, what is?"
Dark magic. The charge hit me like a cold slap. What if Celeste was right? What if this link wasn't real?
But then Iris made a small, broken sound behind us, and I felt her pain echo through the link like a physical blow. No dark magic could fake something that pure.
"The bond is real," I said strongly. "Whatever this means, whatever the prophecy says, we'll figure it out. But we won't leave our mate."
Father studied me for a long moment, then looked at my brothers. "You all feel this... connection?"
"Yes," we answered together.
He closed his eyes briefly, like he was fighting a headache. "Very well. Miss Moon will stay in the family area until we understand what's happening. But," his voice hardened again, "she's not to leave the pack house grounds. And you three will not be alone with her until we know if this bond is natural or magical."
It wasn't perfect, but it was better than jail. I felt some of the stress leave my shoulders.
"Thank you, Father," I said.
But as the guards helped a shaky Iris to her feet, Elder Sage grabbed my arm with surprising strength.
"Be very careful, young Alpha," she whispered anxiously. "The Silver Wolf's rising will bring enemies. They've been waiting for this day for decades, and they're already on their way."
"What enemies?" I asked, but she was already walking away.
I looked back at Iris, who was being led out of the hall by the guards. She glanced over her shoulder once, her violet eyes meeting mine.
In that moment, I felt something I'd never experienced before. Not just the mate bond, but a deep confidence that this small, frightened omega was going to change everything.
The question was: would she save us or ruin us?
As if reading my thoughts, Zane appeared beside me. "Can you hear that?" he asked quietly.
I listened carefully. In the distance, barely heard over the crowd's noise, came the sound of howls. Wild, angry screams that didn't belong to any pack member.
Rogues. Moving toward our area.
"They're coming for her," Zane said with absolute confidence. "Whoever she really is, they've been waiting for her to awaken."
My blood turned to ice as I realized what that meant.
The ritual had been a trap. And we'd walked right into it.
The real question wasn't whether Iris would save or kill us.
It was whether we'd all survive long enough to find out.