Kieran POV
I slammed my fist against the library wall so hard that dust rained down from the old stones. Viktor's howls were getting closer, Iris was shining like a silver star, and I still had no idea how to protect her.
"There has to be something!" I growled, pulling another old book from the highest shelf. "Some law, some precedent, some answer!"
For three days, I'd been looking through every pack record we had. Multiple mate bonds weren't just rare - they were supposed to be impossible. But the link burning through my chest proved otherwise.
I could feel Asher's battle-ready excitement thrumming through our shared link. I could feel Zane's calm determination as he tracked Viktor's forces. And underneath it all was Iris - confused, scared, and oozing power that made my Alpha wolf want to bow down and protect her at the same time.
"Think, Kieran," I whispered, flipping through pages of faded text. "You're supposed to be the smart one. The responsible one. Figure this out."
But every book I opened just raised more questions. The mate bond section in our pack laws had exactly three lines. The chapters on Luna tasks assumed one Alpha, one Luna, one simple relationship.
Nobody had planned for this.
A leather-bound journal fell from between two bigger books, hitting the floor with a thud that echoed through the empty library. I picked it up and saw my grandfather's name written on the cover in worn gold letters.
My hands shook as I opened it. Grandfather had died when I was twelve, but he'd been known for keeping thorough records of pack history. Maybe he'd found something the official books had missed.
The first entry was written fifty years ago, just after my father became Alpha.
"Strange dreams again last night. A girl with silver hair and violet eyes, stood between three wolves under a blood moon. She speaks words in the old language - something about binding shadows and closing doors. Father always said prophetic dreams run in our family, but I've never had them before."
My heart stopped. Grandfather had been thinking about Iris for fifty years? Before she was even born?
I flipped through more pages, finding entry after entry about the same dream. But as the years passed, the dreams got more vivid. And more scary.
"The girl gets stronger in my visions, but so does the darkness chasing her. Something calls itself the Void Walker, and it hungers for her blood. There are doorways it wants to open, doorways that should never be opened."
"I've been studying the Silver Wolf bloodline in secret. Most records were destroyed centuries ago, but I found pieces. They weren't just powerful - they were guards. Protectors against things that live between worlds."
"The dreams show three young dogs who will stand with her. Three brothers who share her heart and her load. If the old texts are right, their bond won't just be about love. It will be about life."
My hands were shaking now. Grandfather had known about us. About what we would become.
I flipped to the last entry, written just weeks before his death.
"I understand now why the Moon Goddess has been showing me these dreams. The Void Walker is coming, and only the Pure Silver Wolf can stop it. But the rite required will demand everything from her - and from the three who love her."
"I've hidden the real Silver Wolf texts where my grandson will find them when the time comes. The official pack records were compromised long ago. Someone has been stealing pages, removing important information about the binding ritual."
"If Kieran is reading this, then the time has come. Look behind the false wall in the storage room. The truth is there. But be careful - once you learn what must be done, you cannot unknow it. And what you learn may break your heart."
The journal slipped from my numb fingers. Grandfather had hidden extra texts? Someone had been taking information from our pack records?
I ran to the archive room, feeling along the walls until I found a part that sounded hollow when I knocked. My claws extended naturally, and I tore through the false panel.
Inside was a wooden box wrapped in silver chains. The moment I touched it, pain shot through the mate bond so sharply that I gasped. Somewhere in the pack house, I could feel Iris crying out.
The box opened to show three books bound in silver leather. As I lifted the first one, words appeared on the cover as if written by unseen fire: "The True History of the Silver Wolf Guardians"
I opened it with shaking hands and read words that made my blood turn to ice. "The Pure Silver Wolf is born once every five hundred years to stand guard against the creatures that exist between worlds. When the barriers weaken during the blood moon eclipse, only her sacrifice can fix them."
"The ritual needs three Alpha-born wolves to anchor her spirit while she opens her heart and lets her life force flow into the dimensional walls. If the supports fail, she dies. If she fails, the world ends."
"The leaders must love her more than their own lives, for they will feel every moment of her pain. They will feel her death as if it were their own. Many anchors have gone mad from the pain."
I dropped the book like it was on fire. The binding rite wasn't just dangerous for Iris. It was meant to torture everyone who loved her.
"No," I whispered. "There has to be another way."
But as I picked up the second book, more terrible facts revealed themselves. The Pure Silver Wolf's power came with a curse. The stronger she became, the more she drew the creatures that wanted to devour her magic.
And once her strength fully awakened, she would never be able to turn it off. Every magical monster in existence would hunt her for the rest of her life.
The third book was the worst. It held detailed accounts of past Pure Silver Wolves and their fates. Every single one had died young, either from the binding rite or from being hunted by the creatures they were born to fight.
None of them had ever lived to see their twenty-first birthday.
"Kieran!" Asher's voice echoed through the thought link. "Get to the big hall NOW. Something's wrong with Iris!"
I abandoned the books and ran, my heart pounding with fear. Through the mate bond, I could feel Iris's power spinning out of control. She was scared and confused, and her magic was responding to her feelings.
I burst into the main hall to find chaos. Iris stood in the middle of the room, silver light pouring from her skin in waves. Every piece of glass in the room had broken. The wooden tables were covered in ice despite the warm evening air.
Asher and Zane flanked her protectively, but they looked frightened. Our father stood with Elder Sage, both of them chanting in the old language, trying to control Iris's wild magic.
"I can't make it stop!" Iris cried, silver tears running down her face. "It's too much!"
Through the windows, Viktor's howls grew closer. He was maybe ten minutes away now, bringing an army of rogues and worse things. And our mate was having a magical breakdown that might destroy the pack house before he even arrived.
"Kieran, help us!" Asher called desperately.
I started toward Iris, but Elder Sage grabbed my arm.
"Don't touch her," she warned. "The power spike will feedback through your mate bond. It could kill all four of you."
"Then what do we do?" I asked.
Sage's face was pale with fear. "We hope that she learns to control it before Viktor arrives. Because if he gets here while she's this unstable..."
"What?" Zane asked.
Sage's next words destroyed my world.
"Her power will call to him like a light. He won't need to look for her or fight through our defenses. Her own magic will guide him straight to where she stands."
I looked at Iris, surrounded by silver fire and crying with fear, and realized the horrible truth.
We weren't just failing to protect her from Viktor.
Her awakening powers were going to send her right into his hands.
And according to the books I'd just read, once Viktor had her blood, he could tear holes between realms that would never heal.
The world wouldn't just end tonight.
It would end because of us.