Kael POV
"Get behind me."
I shoved Aria toward Damon while keeping my eyes locked on the approaching vehicles. Twenty rogues. Silver weapons. And our ex-Beta leading the charge.
This was bad.
"We're outnumbered," Ryker said, his voice calm despite the danger. He always got calm before violence. It was terrifying.
"I know."
"They have silver."
"I know."
"And our mate just nearly killed herself trying to shift, so she can't fight."
"I KNOW, Ryker." I snapped, my wolf pushing for dominance. "Do you have a point or are you just listing problems?"
"Just making sure you understand we're probably going to die."
Through the mate bond, I felt Aria's spike of terror. She thought we were serious.
"We're not dying," I said firmly, both to my brothers and to her. "But we need a plan that doesn't involve heroic stupidity."
"Too late for that," Damon muttered. "We're already here."
The vehicles screeched to a stop fifty feet away, forming a semicircle that blocked our escape route. Doors opened. Rogues poured out—large, dangerous males with murder in their eyes.
And leading them was Damien Cross, carrying a silver sword that gleamed in the moonlight.
"Traitor," I growled.
Damien had the audacity to smile. "Traitor? I'm being loyal to the right side, Prince Kael. Something you'll understand when you're dead."
"Why?" Aria's voice came from behind me, small and broken. "Damien, why are you doing this?"
He looked past me to our mate, and something flickered across his face. Regret? Guilt? It disappeared quickly.
"Because the Rogue King pays better than being your mate ever would," he said coldly. "Luna Victoria made me an offer. Kill the triplets, bring you back alive, and I get everything I've ever wanted. Power. Status. Respect."
"You had my love," Aria whispered. "Wasn't that enough?"
"Love doesn't buy mansions, sweetheart." Damien's smile was cruel. "And it definitely doesn't make you king."
Through the bond, I felt Aria's heart break all over again. This male had destroyed her twice in one night.
I was going to enjoy killing him.
"Last chance," I said, letting my Alpha power roll out like a weapon. "Walk away now, and I'll make your deaths quick."
Damien laughed. "You're outnumbered twenty to three, and we have silver. You're not making threats from a position of strength, Prince."
He was right. Tactically, we were in a terrible position.
But he was forgetting something important.
"You're not fighting three regular Alphas," I said softly. "You're fighting the Moonshadow Triplets. We've killed armies. You think twenty rogues scare us?"
"No." A new voice spoke from the darkness. "But I do."
My blood turned to ice.
I knew that voice. Every wolf in the seven kingdoms knew that voice.
Marcus Bloodfang. The Rogue King himself.
He stepped out of the shadows—a massive male with scars covering half his face and eyes that promised death. The most dangerous wolf alive, second only to our father.
And he was here. Personally.
"This just got worse," Ryker said quietly.
"Agreed." My mind raced through options. We couldn't fight the Rogue King and twenty rogues. Not while protecting Aria. We'd all die.
"Hello, Moonshadow Princes," Marcus said, his voice like gravel. "I've waited a long time for this moment."
"What do you want?" I demanded.
"What I've always wanted." His eyes shifted to Aria, and pure hunger filled his expression. "The White Phoenix. The most powerful wolf in existence. Once I kill her and consume her heart, her power becomes mine."
Aria made a small sound of terror behind me.
"You'll have to go through us first," Damon snarled.
"I know." Marcus smiled, revealing teeth filed to points. "That's the best part."
This was it. The moment I'd trained for my entire life. The fight I might not survive.
Through the mate bond, I felt Aria's absolute terror—not for herself, but for us. She was afraid we'd die protecting her.
We won't, I sent through the bond. I promise.
You can't promise that, she sent back. There's too many of them.
Trust me.
I don't trust anyone.
Fair. But we were out of time for building trust.
"Damon, Ryker," I said quietly. "Formation Delta. Protect the mate at all costs."
"Understood." They moved into position, creating a triangle with Aria in the center.
"How noble," Marcus mocked. "You're going to die for a girl you met three hours ago."
"She's our mate," I said simply. "That's all that matters."
"Then you're fools." Marcus raised his hand, and the rogues charged.
Everything happened at once.
Silver flashed in moonlight. Rogues attacked from all sides. My brothers and I fought with everything we had—years of training, centuries of instinct, the desperate need to protect what was ours.
But Marcus was right. We were outnumbered.
A silver blade slashed across my ribs. I felt the burn, the poison spreading. Silver wounds didn't heal quickly. Another hit like that and I'd be too weak to fight.
Damon was already bleeding from multiple cuts. Ryker had a rogue on his back, trying to drive a silver knife into his spine.
We were losing.
Through the bond, I felt Aria's anguish. She knew we were dying for her.
Then I heard her voice in my mind: I'm sorry.
For what?
For this.
Before I could ask what she meant, violet power exploded from our mate like a bomb.
The force of it sent rogues flying. Sent MY brothers and me stumbling. Sent Marcus Bloodfang himself skidding backward with shock on his scarred face.
Aria stood in the center of the blast zone, her eyes glowing pure violet, power crackling around her like lightning.
"Nobody," she said in a voice layered with ancient authority, "hurts my mates."
Her wolf had taken partial control.
"Aria, no!" I shouted. "You can't control her yet!"
"I don't need to control her." Aria's smile was terrifying—all wolf, no mercy. "I just need to point her at our enemies and let go."
"You'll kill yourself!" Damon yelled.
"Maybe." She looked at me, and despite the violet glow, I saw the girl beneath—scared but determined. "But I'd rather die fighting than watch you die for me."
Then she turned to face Marcus Bloodfang, and the Rogue King actually took a step back.
"You want my heart?" Aria asked softly. "Come and take it."
Marcus charged with a roar.
Aria's power detonated.
And the night turned violet with the White Phoenix's rage.
The last thing I thought before the shockwave hit was:
Our mate is either going to save us all or destroy everything within a mile radius.
Either way, she's magnificent.