Luna's POV
I forced my silver paws to move, following the pack deeper into the forest. Maybe if I got closer to them, the bonds would wake up on their side too. Maybe proximity would fix whatever was broken.
"Luna, be careful," Selene warned. "I can feel something dark tangled in our bonds. Like thorns wrapped around the threads."
"What does that mean?"
"It means someone did this on purpose."
I didn't have time to think about that because suddenly, Kael's wolf stopped running. Through our bond, I felt his emotion shift—annoyance mixed with dark amusement. He'd found a target.
My stomach dropped when I saw who it was.
A small grey wolf cowered behind a boulder—Melissa, another omega. She must have fallen behind during the run. Kael's massive black wolf stalked toward her, his amber eyes glowing with predatory intent.
"No," I whispered, but my wolf body wouldn't move. The mate bond flooded me with Kael's emotions—the rush he felt from intimidating someone weaker, the cold satisfaction of maintaining dominance.
He lunged at Melissa, snapping his jaws inches from her throat. She yelped and scrambled away, terrified. Kael's wolf radiated pleasure.
Through our bond, I felt everything he felt. And underneath the cruelty, there was... nothing. No guilt. No hesitation. Just empty coldness where warmth should be.
This was my fated mate. The Moon Goddess had chosen this wolf for me.
"The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes," Selene said firmly. "Something else is going on here. I can sense it."
Ryland's wolf suddenly appeared beside Kael's, and I felt the second bond flare to life with his proximity. His emotions were completely different—light, playful, charming. He bumped Kael's wolf with his shoulder like they were just playing, then turned and winked at Melissa before running off.
The wink seemed friendly, but through the bond I felt the truth. Ryland was silently telling Melissa that he'd be watching, that she should be grateful he'd stopped Kael, that she now owed him. It was manipulation wrapped in a pretty package.
My second mate was just as twisted as the first, just better at hiding it.
"And the third?" Selene asked quietly.
As if summoned by her words, Dante's auburn wolf emerged from the shadows. The third bond hummed between us, and I braced myself for whatever darkness I'd feel from him.
But Dante's emotions were... different.
Conflict. Guilt. Self-hatred so deep it felt like drowning.
His grey eyes swept across the clearing, and for one heart-stopping second, they landed directly on me. I froze, my silver fur glowing in a beam of moonlight.
The bond between us vibrated like a struck bell.
Could he feel it? Did he recognize me?
Dante's wolf went completely still. His ears pricked forward. Through the bond, I felt confusion spike through him—something was different, wrong, important. His wolf was sensing something his human mind couldn't quite grasp.
Then Kael howled, calling his brother, and Dante shook his head like clearing away fog. He turned and loped after Kael without looking back.
The moment shattered.
"He almost felt it," I breathed. "He almost knew."
"Almost isn't enough," Selene said sadly. "The dark magic blocking the bonds is strong. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."
I followed the pack from a distance, staying in the shadows. Every step closer to my three mates made the bonds burn hotter. I could feel their emotions like they were my own—Kael's cold control, Ryland's performance for the crowd, Dante's silent war with himself.
It was torture.
The pack gathered at the Moon Pool, a sacred clearing with a small lake that reflected the full moon perfectly. Wolves shifted back to human form, laughing and talking. I stayed hidden in the trees, watching.
Kael shifted first, his human body appearing—tall, muscular, dangerous. "Good run tonight," he announced to the pack. "Tomorrow we train hard. I want to see improvement from everyone, especially the weak links."
His eyes swept over the omegas when he said "weak links."
Through our bond, I felt his absolute belief that weakness deserved punishment. That was how he'd been raised. That was what his father had taught him.
Ryland shifted next, immediately surrounded by admirers. He flashed that charming smile, accepting praise like it was his due. But through our bond, I felt his exhaustion from maintaining the perfect image, his deep fear of not being good enough, his desperation to be loved even while pushing everyone away with lies.
Dante shifted last, staying separate from the group. He didn't speak—he never did. Just stood with his arms crossed, watching everything with those storm-grey eyes. Through our bond, I felt his desire to scream, to break something, to finally use words instead of violence. But the words were locked inside him, trapped behind years of being told that silence was strength.
These were my mates. Three broken wolves who broke others to feel whole.
And I was bound to them forever.
"Not forever," Selene corrected. "Bonds can be broken. If we're strong enough."
"Can they be fixed?" I asked desperately. "Can the magic blocking their side be undone?"
"Maybe. But Luna... do you want it to be? If they could suddenly feel you, feel everything they've done to you through the bond... would you want them as mates?"
I watched Kael order an omega to fetch him water. Watched Ryland make a joke that humiliated someone while everyone laughed. Watched Dante's fists clench as he fought whatever demons lived inside his head.
"I don't know," I whispered honestly.
The pack started heading back to the pack house. I waited until they were gone before shifting back to human form. My body ached from the first shift, and I was naked—I hadn't thought to tie clothes to my leg like experienced shifters did.
I wrapped my arms around myself and started the long walk back, three golden bonds burning in my chest, connecting me to wolves who would probably laugh if they knew the pathetic omega was their fated mate.
"Luna," Selene said urgently. "Someone's watching us."
I spun around, heart racing.
A figure stood at the edge of the clearing, face hidden in shadow.
"Who's there?" I called out, trying to sound brave.
The figure stepped forward into the moonlight.
It was Vivienne Blackthorn, the Alpha's daughter. Her ice-blue eyes glowed with something terrible—rage mixed with triumph.
"Well, well," she purred, her voice dripping with poison. "The little omega has a wolf. And such a pretty silver one too."
She circled me like a predator, and every instinct screamed danger.
"It would be such a shame," Vivienne continued softly, "if something happened to you before you could discover what you really are."
"What are you talking about?"
Her smile was razor-sharp. "Oh, Luna. I've been planning this for years. And you just made everything so much more complicated."
She raised her hand, and I saw the syringe too late.
The needle plunged into my neck, and liquid fire spread through my veins.
"Sweet dreams, Lunar Wolf," Vivienne whispered as darkness swallowed me whole. "When you wake up... if you wake up... nothing will ever be the same."