Luna Elena POV
I pressed my hands against the protective barrier spell I'd been quietly maintaining around Iris, feeling it crack under the pressure of her wild power. Silver light poured from her skin like liquid fire, and I knew I was about to lose the girl I'd been guarding for eighteen years.
"Mother, help us!" Kieran begged, his voice breaking with desperation.
But I couldn't help without exposing the truth I'd sworn to keep hidden. The fact that would either save Iris or get us all killed.
I closed my eyes and made a choice that went against everything I'd promised.
"Everyone step back," I commanded, letting my Luna power flow through the words. "I need to touch her."
"Elena, no!" Sage cried. "The power feedback could kill you both!"
"Not if she recognizes my magic," I said quietly, walking toward Iris despite everyone's protests.
Because Iris didn't know the most important secret of all. Her mother, Anna Moon, hadn't just been my friend.
She'd been my sister.
I reached out slowly and put my hands on Iris's shoulders. The moment we touched, her silver power slammed into me like a huge wave. But instead of fighting it, I let my own power rise to meet hers.
Golden light flowed from my hands, swirling around Iris's silver fire. The two powers danced together like they were made to join, and gradually, Iris's wild energy began to calm.
"How?" she whispered, looking at me with wide violet eyes that looked exactly like Anna's had.
"Because we're family," I said softly. "Your mother was my younger sister."
The entire room went dead silent except for Viktor's howls getting closer outside.
"That's impossible," Damon said hoarsely. "Elena, you're a Golden Wolf. Anna was Silver Wolf. You can't be sisters."
"We can if we had different fathers," I replied, never taking my eyes off Iris. "My mother mated twice. First to a Golden Wolf Alpha, then to a Pure Silver Wolf after he died in battle."
Iris's legs gave out, and I caught her as she fell. "You're my aunt?"
"I've been your aunt for eighteen years," I confirmed. "Watching you, protecting you, waiting for the day your power awakened so I could teach you to control it."
"You knew?" Kieran demanded angrily. "You knew what she was this whole time and said nothing?"
"I said nothing because Anna made me promise," I snapped back. "She died in my arms, asking me to keep Iris safe. To let her grow up normal for as long as possible."
"Normal?" Asher laughed bitterly. "Look around, Mother. Does this look normal to you?"
He was right. The great hall looked like a war zone. Ice covered everything despite the warm night. The stone walls had cracks going through them from Iris's power surge. And through the windows, red eyes were beginning to glow in the forest.
Viktor had arrived.
"There's more you need to know," I said quickly, helping Iris to her feet. "About why your mother really died."
"She died giving birth to me," Iris whispered.
"No," I said strongly. "She died protecting a secret that could save or destroy the world."
Through the pack bond, I felt Damon's shock and uncertainty. In eighteen years of marriage, I'd never told him about my Silver Wolf background. I'd hidden it even from him.
"What secret?" Sage demanded.
I looked at the old woman who'd been Anna's guide, who'd helped me hide the truth for nearly two decades.
"Anna didn't just give birth to the last Pure Silver Wolf," I said quietly. "She gave birth to twins."
The quiet that followed was so complete I could hear everyone's heartbeats.
"Twins?" Iris breathed.
"Your brother was born first," I continued. "But his power was different. Darker. Instead of preserving dimensional barriers, he could tear them open."
"Where is he?" Zane asked, his voice barely a whisper.
My heart broke as I spoke the words I'd hoped never to say.
"Viktor took him the night Anna died. Raised him as his own son. Taught him to use his power for destruction instead of defense."
Iris made a sound like a hurt animal. "Viktor has my brother?"
"Not just has," I said, feeling sick. "Viktor's heir, the son he's training to be the next Shadowmoon Alpha, is your twin brother."
Through the windows, Viktor's voice boomed across our area, magically amplified.
"Sweet Elena! Still hiding lies, I see. But some facts can't stay buried forever!"
My blood turned to ice. He knew. Somehow, Viktor knew I'd told the truth.
"Bring me my son's sister, and I might let the rest of your pack live," Viktor continued, his laughter cruel and cold. "After all, family reunions should be celebrated!"
"He's lying," Damon growled. "He'll kill us all whether we surrender her or not."
"No," I said, parts of an old puzzle finally clicking together. "He's not lying about wanting a family reunion."
I turned to Iris, whose face had gone totally white.
"The binding ritual to seal the dimensional barriers requires the blood of both Silver Wolf twins," I explained desperately. "One to anchor the walls, one to power them. Viktor needs you living because without both twins working together, the ritual won't work."
"But if my brother is working with Viktor—" Iris started.
"Then Viktor plans to force you both to perform the ritual," Sage finished, understanding flooding her face. "But instead of sealing the barriers, he'll make you tear them wide open."
The implications hit everyone at once. With both Silver Wolf twins under his power, Viktor wouldn't just be able to attack our pack. He'd be able to release every supernatural horror that had ever been removed from our world.
"We have to run," Asher said quickly. "Get Iris out of here before—"
His words were cut off by the sound of glass breaking upstairs. Not from Iris's power this time.
Someone was already inside the pack house.
"Too late," a new voice said from the stairs.
We all turned to see a young man descending the steps. He had Iris's violet eyes and silver-streaked hair, but where her power felt warm and protecting, his felt cold and hungry.
"Hello, sister," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Father sent me to bring you home."
Iris's power flared again, but this time it felt different. Desperate instead of wild.
"You're my brother?" she whispered.
"I'm Marcus Shadowmoon," he answered. "And you're going to help me end this world."
He lifted his hand, and shadows poured from his fingers like living things. But these weren't normal shadows - they moved with intelligence, reaching toward Iris with clear hunger.
"The beautiful thing about twin bonds," Marcus continued conversationally, "is that I can drain your power to increase mine. Viktor taught me how years ago."
The shadows wrapped around Iris's ankles, and instantly her silver light began to dim. She gasped in pain as her energy flowed into her twin brother.
"Stop!" all three of my kids shouted at once, moving to protect their mate.
But Marcus just laughed. "Try to interrupt, and I'll drain her completely. She'll die, and the dimensional barriers will fall anyway."
I watched in fear as Iris grew weaker, her silver glow fading as Marcus grew stronger. The twin bond that should have made them defenders together was being used to turn them into predator and prey.
"There is one way to stop him," Sage whispered so quietly only I could hear.
"What?" I breathed back.
"Kill one twin, and the other loses their power totally. The ritual becomes impossible." I looked at Iris, barely standing as her brother sucked her life away. Then I looked at Marcus, who was smiling with wicked satisfaction.
If I killed Marcus to save Iris, she would lose her power and be safe from Viktor forever. But she would also lose her power to protect the dimensional barriers. If other threats emerged in the future, the world would be helpless.
If I killed Iris to save the world from Marcus, my boys would never forgive me. And Viktor would still have a powerful Silver Wolf under his care.
Either path would destroy everything I loved.
"Choose quickly," Marcus said, somehow feeling my thoughts. "Because in about thirty seconds, I'll have absorbed enough of her power to tear holes in reality whether she helps me or not."
Outside, Viktor's army circled our pack house. Inside, my niece was dying as her evil twin brother stole her life force.
And I had exactly thirty seconds to decide which of them had to die.