The unbinding rite exploded around them like a silver hurricane. Aria felt power tearing through her veins as Seraphina's ancient chanting got louder.
But something was wrong—the magic felt hungry, desperate, angry.
"Stop!" Caleb screamed, his golden light flashing wildly. "You don't understand what you're unleashing!"
Before anyone could react, the tower door crashed open. Cyrus burst in, his green eyes wild with fear.
"The castle's falling!" he yelled. "Rogues everywhere, people dying—"
He stopped short, looking at the swirling magical energy. "What is this?"
"Salvation," Aria gasped, trying to control the power ripping through her body.
"Destruction," Caleb replied, still clutching his head. "The ancient sounds are screaming. Something's coming. Something worse than rogues."
Cyrus's gaze darted between his brothers and Aria. "I don't care about sounds or magic. Father sent me to find you."
"Father can wait," Caden snapped. "We're trying to save everyone."
"By doing what? Playing with forces you don't understand?" Cyrus grabbed Caden's arm. "Brother, this is madness."
"This is hope," Caden jerked free. "More hope than Father's ritual would bring."
"Father's ritual?" Cyrus looked confused. "What ritual?"
The unbinding magic suddenly stuttered. Aria felt the power waver, then surge back twice as strong. Pain shot through her brain like lightning.
"The ritual to multiply Moon Wolf power," Seraphina explained quickly. "Magnus plans to create an army of supernatural soldiers."
"That's impossible." But doubt flickered in Cyrus's eyes.
"Is it?" Caleb laughed bitterly. "Father's been lying to all of us. About Aria, about the pack, about everything."
Another explosion echoed from below. The tower shook, dust raining from the ceiling.
"We're running out of time," Aria said through tight teeth. The unbinding was getting stronger, pulling at something deep in her genes. "Whatever we're going to do, we need to decide now."
"I've decided," Cyrus declared. "I'm taking Aria to Father. He'll protect her."
"Like he protected those omega women he captured for experiments?" Caden snarled.
"What omega women?"
"The ones he's using to test his routine. The ones who will die if his magic goes wrong."
Cyrus went pale. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Caden stepped closer to his brother. "When's the last time Father told you the truth about anything?"
"He's our Alpha. Our father. We owe him loyalty."
"We owe him nothing!" Caden's voice cracked with years of hidden pain. "He's controlled us our whole lives. Made us compete for his praise like trained dogs."
"That's what brothers do," Cyrus objected. "We fight. We prove ourselves."
"For what? His love? His respect?" Caden laughed bitterly. "He doesn't love any of us. We're just tools to him."
Caleb raised his head, golden light pulsing softly around him. "Caden's right. Father sees us as tools, not sons."
"Then why are you still listening to him?" Cyrus demanded.
"I'm not listening to Father." Caleb's face twisted with pain. "I'm listening to the ancient words. And they want Aria dead."
The unbinding magic flared again. This time, Aria screamed as power ripped through every nerve in her body. Her violet eyes blazed so bright they lit up the entire room.
"Something's fighting the ritual," Seraphina gasped. "Something in her bloodline doesn't want to be unbound."
"Because it knows what will happen if we succeed," Caleb said grimly. "The parasites feeding on supernatural strife will starve. But first, they'll try to kill us all."
"Parasites?" Cyrus looked lost. "What are you talking about?"
"The ancient wolves in our dreams," Aria managed to say between waves of pain. "They're not guides. They're animals that feed on war and chaos."
"That's crazy."
"Is it crazier than a Moon Wolf connected to three brothers? Crazier than rogues with bright red eyes attacking our home?"
Caden grabbed Cyrus's shoulders. "Brother, open your eyes. Nothing about this situation is normal."
A new sound joined the chaos below—Magnus's voice, multiplied by magic, booming through the castle.
"BRING ME THE MOON WOLF! BRING ME MY SONS! THE RITUAL BEGINS NOW!"
"He knows we're here," Seraphina whispered.
"Of course he knows." Caleb struggled to his feet, his golden glow getting stronger. "The ancient voices told him. They want us all in one place for the final fight."
"What final battle?" Cyrus asked.
"The one where I kill Aria, or she kills me." Caleb's eyes burned with alien light. "The prophecy demands it."
"No." Caden stepped between them. "I won't let you hurt her."
"And I won't let her destroy everything." Cyrus moved to flank Caleb. "If one of us has to die to save the pack, so be it."
Aria stared at the three brothers—the three young men who were meant to be her mates, her partners, her future. Instead, they were picking sides for a war that could tear apart everything she cared about.
"You're all idiots," she said quietly.
They turned to stare at her.
"You think this is about picking sides? About who dies and who lives?" Aria stood up, power whirling around her like a silver storm. "This is about family. This is about love. This is about refusing to let old parasites turn us into their entertainment."
"The prophecy—" Caleb began.
"The prophecy was written by creatures that want us to fight!" Aria's voice rose. "Don't you see? Every age, they whisper the same lies. 'Two Moon Wolves must battle.' 'Only one can live.' 'War is inevitable.'"
"But what if it's true?" Cyrus asked desperately. "What if avoiding the fight makes everything worse?"
"Then we change the rules." Aria looked at each brother in turn. "Caleb, you say duty comes first. What if your job is to protect love instead of destroying it?"
Caleb flinched as if she'd hit him.
"Cyrus, you claim you like me most. But do you like me, or do you like the idea of winning me?"
Cyrus's face went red. "That's not—I mean—"
" And Caden." Aria's face softened. "You're the only one who sees me as more than a gift to be won or a problem to be solved. You see me as a person."
"Because that's what you are," Caden said simply. "You're Aria. You're brave and kind and stubborn and amazing. You're not some mystical Moon Wolf fate. You're just... you."
"Exactly." Aria reached for his hand. "I'm me. You're you. And we get to choose what that means."
The unbinding magic pulsed stronger, responding to her inner truth. But now it felt different—less hungry, more hopeful.
"The parasites are losing their hold," Seraphina breathed. "Child, you're actually doing it. You're breaking their power."
"No," Caleb snarled, his golden light flaring furiously. "I won't let you destroy the natural order!"
He lunged at Aria, claws extended. Caden threw himself between them, taking Caleb's blow across his chest. Blood splattered the old stones as Caden fell.
"CADEN!" Aria screamed.
Cyrus looked in horror at his wounded brother. "Caleb, what have you done?"
"What I had to do." But Caleb's voice broke as he looked at Caden's bleeding form. "What the voices demanded."
"The voices are wrong," Caden whispered, putting his hand to the gashes. "They've always been wrong."
"But the prophecy—"
"Make a new prophecy," Aria said furiously.
She knelt beside Caden, her healing power flowing into his wounds. "Make a prophecy about brothers who chose love over war. About a pack that picked unity over destruction."
The unbinding process reached its peak. Silver light burst outward, washing over all of them.
Aria felt power rushing back to Seraphina, felt the old binding finally breaking apart. But she also felt something else awakening—something vast and ancient that had been sleeping in the magical currents around their land.
"Oh no," Seraphina gasped, her newly returning power showing her the truth. "We didn't just break Lyra's bond. We woke up what she was trying to keep asleep."
"What?" Aria asked.
The castle walls began to crack. Not from rogue strikes or explosions, but from something enormous moving beneath the ground.
"The First Alpha," Seraphina whispered. "The original werewolf that all packs descended from. Lyra didn't just bind Moon Wolf power—she bound him in magical sleep."
A roar echoed from deep underground, so strong it shattered every window in the tower.
"And now he's awake," Caleb said, his golden glow fading as fear replaced anger in his eyes. "And he's hungry."
The floor cracked open. Something huge and terrible started clawing its way up from the depths below.
Magnus's magically boosted voice screamed across the castle: "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT HAVE YOU UNLEASHED?"
As the ancient monster broke free from its thousand-year prison, Aria understood they faced something far worse than pack wars or parasitic voices. They had woken the creature that could devour the supernatural world itself.