POV: Aria
Someone was watching me.
I felt their eyes on me even before I opened mine. My wolf stirred inside me—not the weak, broken thing from before, but something strong and alert. Protective.
When had that changed?
I forced my eyes open and immediately regretted it. Everything hurt. My muscles felt like they'd been torn apart and put back together wrong. My throat burned like I'd swallowed fire.
"Easy." A deep voice. Familiar. "Don't try to move yet."
Theron sat in a chair beside the bed, his silver eyes watching me carefully. He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes, his hair messy like he'd been running his hands through it.
How long had he been sitting there?
I tried to speak, but all that came out was a painful rasp.
Theron immediately lifted a glass of water to my lips. "Slow sips. Your throat is raw from screaming during the transformation."
Screaming? I didn't remember screaming. I didn't remember much of anything after the hunters attacked and that silver light exploded from my body.
The water helped. After a few sips, I could finally croak out words. "Where am I?"
"The Sanctuary. My fortress in the Northern Reaches." Theron set the glass down. "You've been asleep for three days."
Three days?
I tried to sit up, and every muscle in my body screamed in protest. Theron's hand steadied me, his touch sending strange tingles across my skin.
"What happened?" I asked. "The hunters, the light, I remember—"
"You used Shadow Crown magic to defend yourself," Theron said. "Something you shouldn't have been able to do yet. The awakening usually takes weeks, not hours. Your body wasn't ready for that kind of power surge."
I looked down at my hands. They looked normal. Small. Definitely not the massive paws I remembered having.
"Was it real?" I whispered. "The giant wolf, the silver light, all of it? Or did I just go crazy?"
"It was real." Theron's voice was gentle. "You're real, Aria. The Shadow Crown heir. The queen we've been waiting for."
Queen. That word again. It felt wrong on me, like wearing clothes that belonged to someone else.
"I need a mirror," I said suddenly.
Theron hesitated. "Aria, you should rest—"
"Please." My voice cracked. "I need to see."
He studied me for a long moment, then stood and retrieved a hand mirror from a dresser. He held it out but didn't let go immediately.
"The transformation changes things," he warned. "You won't look exactly how you remember."
I grabbed the mirror and looked.
The face staring back at me wasn't mine.
Well, it was, but... different. My hair, which had always been a dull brown-gray that I hid under hoods, was now pure silver-white. It cascaded over my shoulders like moonlight. And my eyes—instead of the muddy brown I'd always hated—were violet. Actual violet, with pupils so dark they looked black.
I looked like someone from a fairy tale. Someone important.
Someone who definitely wasn't me.
"What did you do to me?" I whispered, unable to look away from my reflection.
"We didn't do anything." Theron knelt beside the bed so we were at eye level. "We just broke the curse hiding what you've always been."
"What am I?" The question came out broken. Desperate.
"You're a queen."
I spun toward the door. Damon stood there, his ice-blue eyes cold as always, but something flickered in them when he looked at me. "And the Moon Goddess wants you dead."
"That's comforting," I muttered, setting the mirror down with shaking hands.
Damon entered the room, followed by Lucian whose red eyes immediately found me. All three kings in one small space made the air feel heavy, charged with power.
"How do you feel?" Lucian asked.
"Like I died and woke up in someone else's body." I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. "None of this makes sense. Three days ago, I was an Omega serving drinks at a ceremony. Now you're telling me I'm some kind of... what? Lost princess?"
"Your parents ruled the Shadow Crown kingdom," Damon said, his voice matter-of-fact. "The strongest werewolf bloodline in history. They could command any wolf, break divine bonds, even rewrite fate itself."
"So the Moon Goddess killed them," I finished bitterly. "Let me guess—they were a threat to her power?"
"Exactly." Lucian leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Twenty-three years ago, the goddess orchestrated a coup. Had your parents murdered and their kingdom erased from history. You were just a baby."
"They cursed you to hide your power," Theron added. "Made you appear weak so no one would recognize what you were. Then left you at the Crescent Moon Pack border hoping you'd die unknown and powerless."
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Well, they almost got their wish. If Kade hadn't rejected me, I'd still be an Omega servant."
"If Kade hadn't rejected you," Damon said coldly, "you'd be bound to a fool who would have used your power without ever seeing your worth."
Something warm flickered in my chest at his words. These three men—these kings—kept saying I had worth. That I was powerful. That I mattered.
It was terrifying how much I wanted to believe them.
"The rejection probably saved your life," Lucian said. "The exile brought you to the Forbidden Lands. To us."
"Lucky me," I muttered.
Theron's hand covered mine. "I know this is overwhelming. But you're safe here. The Sanctuary's walls are protected by ancient magic. The hunters can't breach them."
"For how long?" I asked. "How long before the Moon Goddess finds a way to kill me?"
The three kings exchanged dark looks.
"That's... complicated," Damon finally said.
"Uncomplicate it."
Lucian pushed off the wall. "The goddess can't kill you directly. Divine law prevents her from personally executing wolves. But she can send hunters, manipulate other wolves to do it, or—"
Alarms suddenly blared through the fortress. Loud, urgent, terrifying.
Theron was on his feet instantly. "No. It's too soon."
"What's happening?" I demanded.
Damon moved to the window, his face going hard. "She didn't waste time."
I stumbled out of bed, my legs shaky but holding. I made it to the window and looked out.
My blood turned to ice.
The Sanctuary was surrounded. Hundreds—no, thousands—of wolves with glowing white eyes. Divine Hunters. An army of them.
"How?" I breathed. "You said the walls were protected."
"They are," Theron growled. "But she brought enough hunters to siege us. She's going to starve us out or break through by sheer numbers."
"We have maybe three days before the walls fall," Damon calculated. "A week at most."
I stared at the army below. All those hunters. All sent to kill me.
Because of what I was. Because of power I didn't ask for and didn't know how to use.
"I should leave," I said quietly. "Draw them away from here. You three don't deserve to die because—"
"No." All three kings spoke at once.
Theron grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "You're not going anywhere. We didn't wait twenty-three years to find you just to let you sacrifice yourself."
"Then what do we do?" My voice broke. "I can't fight. I don't know how to use this power. I'm useless."
"You're not useless," Lucian said fiercely. "You're untrained. There's a difference."
Damon stepped away from the window, his cold eyes calculating. "We need to accelerate the awakening. Full power, full access to your bloodline abilities."
"How?" I asked.
The three kings looked at each other. Some unspoken conversation passed between them.
Finally, Theron spoke. "The Shadow Crown power only fully awakens when you accept your mate bonds."
My heart stopped. "What?"
"The prophecy is clear," Damon said. "The Shadow Crown queen will have three kings as mates. Only when all three bonds are accepted does she access her complete power."
I backed away from them. "No. No, I'm not doing that. My last mate bond ended with me rejected and exiled. I'm not—"
"We're not him," Lucian interrupted, his red eyes burning into mine.
"You don't understand." My voice shook. "I can't. I won't survive another rejection."
"We would never reject you," Theron said softly.
"You say that now, but—"
A massive explosion rocked the fortress. The walls shuddered.
"They're using siege magic," Damon said grimly. "We have less time than I thought."
Another explosion. Closer.
Theron moved in front of me, protective. "You don't have to decide now. But Aria, we're running out of options."
I looked at each of them. Three kings. Three powerful, dangerous men who claimed to be my mates. Who wanted me to trust them with the thing Kade had just shattered.
My wolf stirred inside me. And for the first time since the rejection, she spoke clearly.
They're ours. I can feel it.
"Even if I wanted to accept the bonds," I whispered, "I don't know how."
Lucian's smile was dark. "The bonds are already forming. You just have to stop fighting them."
I felt it then—three golden threads, faint but there, connecting me to each king. Just like the bond with Kade had been.
My chest tightened with panic.
Another explosion. The hunters were getting closer.
"How long do I have to decide?" I asked.
Damon checked the window again. His face said everything.
"Hours. Maybe less."
Accept three mate bonds from men I barely knew, or stay powerless while an army of divine assassins broke down the walls to kill me.
Some choice.
Then I felt it—a cold presence pressing against my mind. Ancient. Powerful. Feminine.
The Moon Goddess herself was watching.
And she was laughing.