POV: Aria
I stared at the three kings, my heart pounding. "Tell me everything. Now."
We sat in a circular room deep inside the Sanctuary. Ancient tapestries covered the stone walls, each one depicting wolves in battle—some fighting each other, others fighting creatures I didn't recognize.
And in every tapestry, one figure stood out: a massive silver wolf with black crown markings.
Just like mine.
"Your family ruled the Shadow Crown kingdom for over a thousand years," Theron began. He stood before the largest tapestry, which showed a silver wolf standing over a battlefield. "They were the first wolves created—not by the Moon Goddess, but by something older. Something that existed before the gods."
"Before the gods?" I whispered. "What could exist before—"
"The Wild," Lucian interrupted. "Pure, untamed magic. The force that created everything. The gods came later, shaping the Wild into their domains. But the Shadow Crown wolves were born directly from the Wild itself."
Damon stepped forward, pointing to another tapestry. This one showed wolves bowing before a silver throne. "That made your ancestors different from all other wolves. Normal wolves are bound to the Moon Goddess—she decides their mates, controls their transformations, enforces the pack hierarchies. But Shadow Crown wolves operate outside her control."
"That's why she hates us," I said slowly.
"Hates and fears," Theron corrected. "Your bloodline is the only thing in existence that can override her divine authority. Shadow Crown wolves can break mate bonds, reject divine commands, even grant free will to other wolves."
My stomach dropped. "Free will? But all wolves have—"
"No." Lucian's voice was hard. "They don't. The Moon Goddess controls every wolf through invisible chains—the pack hierarchy, Alpha commands that can't be disobeyed, mate bonds that force you to love someone. It's all her will, not theirs."
I thought about the pack. How Omegas could never disobey Alphas, even when the commands were cruel. How mate bonds formed whether you wanted them or not. How the hierarchy was absolute, unbreakable.
"She's been controlling us all," I breathed.
"For millennia," Damon confirmed. "Until your family became powerful enough to notice. And to resist."
Theron moved to another tapestry—this one showed two wolves standing side by side, both wearing crowns that looked like they were made of shadow and starlight.
"Your parents," he said softly. "King Aldric and Queen Celeste. They ruled the Shadow Crown kingdom and had begun teaching other wolves how to break free from divine control. Small things at first—Omegas learning to disobey unjust commands, rejected mates surviving the severed bond, wolves choosing their own paths instead of following pack law."
"The goddess couldn't allow it," Lucian said. "If word spread that freedom was possible, her control over all wolves would crumble. So twenty-three years ago, she orchestrated a coup."
"How?" My voice shook.
Damon pulled back a tapestry to reveal a carving on the wall behind it—a scene of wolves attacking a castle. "She blessed certain Alphas with divine power, promised them kingdoms if they destroyed yours. Led them to believe your family was a threat to all wolf-kind. Five kingdoms attacked simultaneously."
"Your parents fought," Theron continued, his voice heavy. "They killed hundreds. But they were outnumbered. And the goddess herself intervened at the end—something she's not supposed to do. Divine law forbids gods from directly killing mortals. But she did it anyway."
"Why didn't anyone stop her?" I demanded.
"Who could?" Lucian asked. "She's a goddess. The only beings powerful enough to challenge her were your parents. And she killed them."
I stood up, pacing the room. My silver hair fell around my shoulders, still strange and unfamiliar. "What happened to me?"
"You were hidden," Theron said. "Your parents knew the attack was coming. They had their most trusted guards take you—barely a month old—and place a curse on you."
"A curse to save me," I said bitterly. "By making me appear weak."
"Not just weak," Damon corrected. "The curse suppressed everything about you—your power, your scent, your royal blood. It made you register as an Omega, the lowest rank, someone no one would look at twice. The guards left you at the Crescent Moon Pack border with a note saying you were an abandoned child."
"Kade's father, the former Alpha, took you in," Lucian added. "Assigned you to the servant quarters. You grew up thinking you were worthless."
Tears burned my eyes. "I was tortured. Abused. Treated like garbage for twenty-three years because of this curse."
"Yes," Theron said simply. "And we're sorry. But if you'd shown even a hint of your true power, the goddess's hunters would have found and killed you immediately."
"The curse was supposed to break naturally when you turned twenty-five," Damon explained. "Old enough to control your power, young enough to fight. But the mate bond with Kade accelerated everything."
I stopped pacing. "The rejection broke the curse."
"The formation and severing of a mate bond creates massive magical backlash," Lucian said. "Especially when one partner is Shadow Crown. The curse couldn't withstand that kind of power surge. It shattered. Your true nature erupted all at once instead of gradually awakening."
"That's why the transformation was so violent," Theron added. "Your body was trying to make up for twenty-three years of suppression in a few hours."
I sank back into my chair, processing everything. My entire life had been a lie. Every moment of pain, every humiliation, every time I'd believed I was worthless—it was all because of a curse meant to save me.
"The prophecy," I said suddenly. "You mentioned a prophecy."
The three kings exchanged glances.
"Show me," I demanded.
Lucian walked to the far wall and pressed his hand against a stone. It slid aside, revealing a hidden chamber.
Inside, carved into black stone that seemed to absorb light, were words in a language I shouldn't have been able to read.
But I could.
When the Silver Wolf rises from ash and scorn
Three kings shall kneel before the Shadow Crown
She who was rejected shall reject the divine
And rewrite the fate of all wolf-kind
Bound by three threads of gold and blood
Her power shall break the goddess's flood
But beware—the Luna who chooses freedom's call
Must pay the price: she'll risk them all
I read it three times, my heart racing.
"Three kings," I whispered. "The mate bonds."
"The prophecy was written three hundred years ago," Theron explained. "By the last Shadow Crown oracle before your family went into hiding. She foretold that the next Shadow Crown Luna would have three mates, not one."
"Why three?"
"Because Shadow Crown power is too vast for one mate bond to channel," Damon said. "It would burn through a single mate, destroy them. But three bonds, properly balanced, can handle the power and amplify it."
Lucian stepped forward. "We're not random, Aria. The three of us were chosen specifically. Each of us has been cursed by the goddess in different ways. Each curse can only be broken by Shadow Crown magic channeled through a completed mate bond."
"What curses?" I asked.
Theron met my eyes. "I'll go first. Three hundred years ago, I was the goddess's champion. Her greatest warrior. She blessed me with Lycan blood—a more powerful, more primal wolf form. But when I refused to slaughter a pack of innocent wolves on her command, she twisted the blessing into a curse."
His eyes flashed silver. "My Lycan beast is consuming my humanity. Every year, I lose more of myself to it. In another decade, maybe two, I'll be nothing but a mindless monster. The prophecy says only a Shadow Crown Luna's touch can tame the beast without destroying me."
My chest tightened. I remembered his massive wolf form, the barely controlled violence.
"My turn," Damon said. His voice was cold as winter. "Two hundred years ago, I had a fated mate. She betrayed me, conspired with my enemies to steal my kingdom. When I discovered the truth, I killed her. Broke the sacred mate bond by murdering my own mate."
He placed his hand over his chest. "My heart stopped beating that day. The goddess's punishment—I'm technically dead, kept alive only by ice magic. I feel nothing, no warmth, no emotion, nothing but cold. The prophecy says Shadow Crown love can melt the ice and make my heart beat again."
I stared at him, seeing him differently now. Not cold by choice, but frozen by curse.
Finally, Lucian spoke. "My curse is the darkest. Two hundred eighty-nine years ago, the goddess commanded me to execute my entire family—parents, siblings, even children. She claimed they'd committed treason, that they were plotting against her. I obeyed. I slaughtered everyone I loved."
His red eyes blazed. "Then I discovered the truth. There was no treason. The goddess wanted my family dead because they were developing magic that could hide wolves from her sight. She used me as her weapon, made me murder innocents."
"What happened?" I whispered.
"I renounced her," Lucian said. "Broke my divine oath, rejected her authority. That should have killed me instantly. Instead, I survived—cursed to live with the memory of what I'd done. Darkness follows me everywhere. I can't enter temples, can't feel the moon's light, can't even pray. I'm the only wolf alive who operates completely outside the goddess's influence."
"The prophecy says a Shadow Crown Luna who also defies the goddess can stand beside me," he finished. "Can share the burden of existing outside divine law."
Three curses. Three broken men. Three mate bonds I was supposed to accept.
"And if I don't?" I asked quietly. "If I refuse the bonds?"
"Then we stay cursed," Theron said simply. "I become a monster. Damon remains frozen. Lucian stays alone in his darkness."
"And you?" Damon added. "You stay half-powered. Unable to access the full Shadow Crown abilities. The goddess will hunt you forever, and you won't be strong enough to stop her."
"But if you accept the bonds," Lucian said, his red eyes intense, "you unlock everything. Full power. The ability to free all wolves from divine control. The strength to challenge the goddess herself."
I stood up, my legs shaking. This was too much. Too big. Three days ago I was an Omega servant. Now I was supposed to be a queen with three mates who would help me fight a goddess?
"I need time," I said.
"Time is the one thing we don't have," Damon said.
As if to prove his point, alarms suddenly blared through the Sanctuary. Loud, urgent, terrifying.
Theron's expression went dark. "No."
"What is it?" I demanded.
Lucian strode to the window and cursed. "She didn't waste any time."
I joined him and looked out.
My blood turned to ice.
The Sanctuary was surrounded. Hundreds—maybe thousands—of wolves with glowing white eyes. Divine Hunters. An entire army of them.
"They're here for you," Theron said quietly. "The goddess knows you've awakened. She's sending everything she has."
"How long can the walls hold?" I asked.
The three kings looked at each other.
"Three days," Damon calculated. "Maybe a week if we're lucky."
"Then what?"
"Then they break through," Lucian said bluntly. "And they kill everyone in this fortress. Starting with you."
I stared at the army below. All those hunters. All sent to murder me because of what I was born as.
"The mate bonds," I said slowly. "If I accept them, I'd be powerful enough to fight?"
"More than fight," Theron said. "You could destroy them all. Break the goddess's control over every single hunter at once."
"But accepting means trusting you." I turned to face them. "Trusting that you won't reject me like—"
"We can't reject you," Damon interrupted. "Physically impossible. Shadow Crown mate bonds work differently than normal ones. Once accepted, they're permanent. Unbreakable by anything—rejection, death, divine intervention, nothing can sever them."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" My voice rose. "Being trapped in a bond forever?"
"You wouldn't be trapped," Lucian said softly. "You'd be choosing. That's the difference. The goddess forces bonds. You would accept ours freely."
Outside, the hunters began their assault. Magic slammed against the Sanctuary's walls.
"We're out of time for long discussions," Theron said. "You need to decide, Aria. Trust us and fight, or stay alone and die."
I looked at each of them. At Theron, whose beast needed taming. At Damon, whose heart needed warming. At Lucian, whose darkness needed sharing.
Three broken kings who needed me as much as I needed them.
My wolf pressed forward. They're ours. Accept them.
But my wounded heart whispered warnings about trust, about pain, about rejection.
Then I felt it—that cold, malevolent presence pressing against my mind.
The Moon Goddess herself.
Her voice slithered into my thoughts like poison: "Accept those bonds, little Shadow Crown, and I'll kill everyone you've ever known. Every wolf in the Crescent Moon Pack. Every Omega you served with. Lisa and Thomas. Marcus. Every single soul who ever showed you kindness. Choose yourself, and watch them all burn."
I gasped, her threat crushing the air from my lungs.
"Aria?" Theron stepped forward, concerned. "What's wrong?"
I looked up at him with tears streaming down my face.
"She's threatening them," I whispered. "If I accept your bonds, the goddess will slaughter everyone from my old pack."
The three kings went still.
"That's her game," Lucian said darkly. "Make you choose between your power and innocent lives."
"It's not a choice," I said. "I can't let her kill them because of me."
Another explosion rocked the Sanctuary.
And somewhere in the fortress, someone screamed.
The hunters were getting closer.