Chapter 40: Silver Blood
"My father?" Liana's voice shook. "But he died before I was born." Uncle Thorne's face clouded as he led them deeper into the forest. "That's what your mother wanted everyone to believe." The group moved quickly through the trees, following a secret path.
Rowan stumbled, the red lines now spreading across his face like cracks in glass. Jace caught him before he fell. "We need to rest," Kael said, watching his suffering brother. Thorne nodded toward a clearing ahead. "My house is just beyond those pines. We'll be safe there." The cabin was small but strong, hidden under branches and leaves. Inside, herbs hung from the ceiling, and strange symbols were carved into the wooden walls. "Lay him there," Thorne directed, pointing to a cot in the corner. Rowan fell onto it, his breathing ragged. "The curse... it's getting worse." Thorne studied the angry red lines crawling across Rowan's skin. "The merger is making it stronger. Without Celeste's gem, it's feeding on your life force." "Can you help him?" Liana asked, her golden eyes pleading. "I can buy him time." Thorne mixed herbs in a wooden bowl, crushing them with skilled hands. "But only you three can truly save him." "How?" Kael demanded. "The triplet bond." Thorne's eyes gleamed in the dim light. "It's stronger than any curse." Jace scoffed. "That's what started all this trouble." "No," Thorne amended. "Fear of the triplet link is what started this. What your enemies don't understand is that the bond itself is holy." He pressed the herb mixture to Rowan's face. Almost instantly, the youngest brother's breathing eased, though the red lines remained. "I should still leave," Rowan whispered, his eyes finding Liana's. "I'm a danger to all of you." "No." Kael's voice was firm as he knelt beside the cot. "We stick together." "After everything I did?" Rowan asked. "You made a mistake," Jace said, joining them. "We all do." Liana felt tears prick her eyes at the brothers' loyalty. "The three of you need to decide," Thorne said, stepping back. "Either break the bond as tradition demands—one to lead, one to serve, one to die—or strengthen it against all tradition." Kael looked at his brothers, then at Liana.
Without delay, he pulled a knife from his belt. "I choose strength," he said, slicing his hand. Blood welled up, dark against his skin. Jace grinned, taking the knife. "I choose brotherhood." He cut his palm too. They both looked at Rowan, who struggled to sit up. With shaking hands, he took the knife and cut his own palm. "I choose to fight," he whispered. The three brothers pressed their injured hands together. Liana watched, heart pounding, as Thorne began to chant in an old language. "Add your blood, Luna," Thorne pressed, offering her the knife. Liana paused only a moment before cutting her palm and placing her hand atop the brothers'. The moment their blood mixed, magic flooded the room. Not the purple darkness of Celeste's power or the blue glow of water magic, but pure silver light that pulsed like a heartbeat. "What's happening?" Jace gasped as the light surrounded them. The cabin faded away. Suddenly, Liana stood in a moonlit clearing from long ago. Three tiny wolf pups played at her feet—one black, one brown, one silver-gray. A woman appears, bathed in moonlight. Her beauty was extraordinary, her eyes like stars. "The Moon Goddess," Liana breathed. The goddess knelt, touching each pup gently. "Once every thousand years," she said, her voice like music, "three brothers shall be born as one.
Their bond will cross all packs, all ranks, all bloodlines." The pups glowed under her touch, their fur sparkling with silver light. "But beware," the goddess continued, her eyes finding Liana's across the ages. "Such power draws those who would destroy rather than join. The Dark One will always hunt the three." The vision changed. The pups grew into mighty wolves, standing together against a shadow that seemed to swallow everything in its path. "Only when joined with the water queen will their power be complete," the goddess said. "Only then can they face the darkness." The vision disappeared, and Liana found herself back in the cabin, still holding hands with the triplets. The red veins had disappeared from Rowan's skin, replaced by faint silver lines that shimmered and faded. "I saw her," Liana breathed. "The Moon Goddess." "We all did," Kael said, his voice filled with awe. Rowan flexed his fingers, surprise crossing his face. "The pain... it's gone." "Not gone," Thorne amended. "Transformed. The evil is still there, but your bond has changed its nature." Jace studied the silver lines fading on his brother's skin. "So he's cured?" "As long as you three remain united," Thorne said, "the curse cannot control him." A noise outside made them all freeze.
Thorne moved to the window, looking through a gap in the shutters. "We have company," he said sadly. "Elder Mira." The door swung open before anyone could move. Elder Mira stood there, Talia at her side, both looking tired but determined. "How did you find us?" Kael asked, rising to his feet. "I followed the magic," Mira said simply. Her eyes opened when she saw Thorne. "You're alive." "No thanks to Darius," Thorne answered coldly. Mira's gaze moved to the triplets and Liana, noticing their clasped hands and the lingering silver glow. "You performed the Blood Oath," she said, her voice hushed. "I felt the power from miles away." "Did it work?" Talia asked, going to Rowan's side. "Is he okay?" Rowan nodded, still amazed at his curse-free skin. "Better than okay." "It's more than a Blood Oath," Mira said, circling them slowly. "It's the Prophecy of Three. I never thought I'd live to see it completed." "What prophecy?" Liana asked. Mira's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Once every thousand years, three brothers share one soul, one heart, one goal. When they join with a queen of old blood, their combined power can change the world." "That's what the Moon Goddess said in my vision," Liana shouted. "The last triplet bond occurred during the Great Division," Mira explained, "when werewolves split into separate packs and created the rank system." "And now?" Kael pushed. "Now the world will change again." Mira's voice dropped to a whisper. "The third confluence will decide everything.
Either you unite all werewolves once more—" "Or my father destroys us all," Liana ended. Mira's head snapped up. "Your father? No, he died before—" "He's alive," Thorne interrupted. "And he's coming for the final convergence." Talia gasped suddenly, her eyes rolling back. Her body went rigid as another image took hold. "The father returns on wings of shadow," she intoned, her voice not her own. "His daughter's power he seeks to steal. Three become one, or all is lost, when moon and sun together cross." She fell into Jace's arms, blinking in confusion. "What does that mean?" Liana asked, fear squeezing around her heart. "It means we have until tomorrow's eclipse," Thorne said sadly. "The third convergence happens when the moon covers the sun." "But who is Liana's father?" Rowan asked. "What does he want?" Thorne and Mira traded a heavy look. "His name is Astor," Thorne finally said. "And he wants what he's always wanted—to become a god." Mira shook her head, her face pale. "If it's truly Astor returning, then the legends are true." "What legends?" Kael demanded.
"The darkest of our history," Mira whispered. "The tale of the wolf who drank the blood of the Moon Goddess herself." The cabin fell silent as her words sank in. "How do we stop him?" Liana asked. Thorne put the water key on the table beside the fire key they'd secured earlier. "We need the third key," he said. "The air key. Without it, Astor can still open the merger path." "Where is it?" Jace asked. "Celeste has it," Rowan replied, remembering something she'd said. "She mentioned three keys when she offered me the crystal." "Then we take it from her," Kael said, resolve hardening his voice. "It won't be easy," Thorne warned. "She'll be with Darius... and they'll be expecting you." Liana looked at the triplets—her mates, her guards, her future—and felt a strange calm settle over her. "They won't be expecting all of us," she said. "Not united like this." She held out her hand. One by one, the brothers put their hands over hers. Where their skin touched, silver light glowed once more. No one noticed Elder Mira stepping back into the darkness, her eyes flashing with something that looked suspiciously like fear.