"Dad, no!" Isla screamed as Rowan struck at her with claws that weren't his own.She rolled sideways just in time, feeling the wind from his swipe brush her cheek. This wasn't her father—the red glow in his eyes proved that. Someone or something was controlling him."Fight it, Dad!" Isla begged, scrambling to her feet. "I know you're still in there!"But Rowan's face was blank, like a puppet with someone else pulling the ropes. He attacked again, faster this time. Isla's silver energy flared up around her like a shield, but she didn't want to hurt him.Behind them, Alina was still crying on the ground, her world destroyed by the truth about Marcus. She looked up with tear-filled eyes."Isla, his mind—someone's inside his head!"Before Isla could ask what she meant, her connection to the triplets exploded with fear. Through their shared bond, she felt all three of them rushing toward the mine. They'd felt her fear and were coming to save her."No!" she whispered. "It's a trap!"But they were already too close. She heard their voices booming through the tunnels, calling her name.
Rowan's red eyes suddenly cleared for just a moment."Run, Isla," he gasped in his own voice. "The Moon Goddess... she's not what you think... the curse..."Then the red glow returned, and he wasn't her father anymore.The triplets burst into the room just as Rowan made another attack. Thorne tackled him away from Isla, while Caspian and Dorian helped her up."What happened to Uncle Rowan?" Dorian asked, his green eyes wide with shock."Someone's controlling his mind," Alina said weakly. She pointed deeper into the mine. "Marcus isn't working alone. There's someone else—someone much more powerful."Isla felt sick. Her father was being used like a tool against her, and she didn't know how to save him without hurting him. Thorne was struggling to hold Rowan down without using his full power."We need to get out of here and figure out how to help him!""I can break the control," Isla said suddenly. "My silver blood—it can heal minds too, not just bodies."She knelt beside her father, putting her hands on his forehead. Silver light flowed from her fingers, but instead of the warm feeling she normally got, this felt like touching ice."There's something blocking me," she gasped. "It's like a wall in his mind."Caspian grabbed her shoulder. "Don't force it. You'll hurt yourself."But Isla pushed harder, putting more of her power into breaking whatever held her father prisoner. The silver light grew brighter and brighter until—*CRACK!*The mental wall shattered like glass. Rowan's eyes rolled back, and he went limp in Thorne's arms."Dad!" Isla shook him gently. "Dad, wake up!"His eyes opened, brown and normal again. "Isla? What... where are we?"
Before she could answer, footsteps echoed from various tunnels around them. Not just one person—a whole group, moving fast."We're surrounded," Dorian said quietly, his psychic skills picking up the approaching minds.Thorne helped Rowan sit up. "Can you walk, Uncle?""I think so." Rowan looked confused and scared. "The last thing I remember is someone calling my name in the trees. Then everything went black."Alina struggled to her feet. "We have to get back to the house. There are things you don't know—things about your pack that Roderick has been hiding."They made it out of the mine just as dark shapes started moving through the trees around them. Red eyes glowed in the shadows—more controlled wolves, just like Rowan had been."Run!" Thorne shouted.They sped through the forest, Isla's silver light keeping the controlled wolves at bay. But she was getting tired from healing her father and fighting earlier. Her power was disappearing.By the time they reached the castle, Isla could barely stand. The triplets were bleeding from cuts and scratches, and Rowan looked like he might collapse at any time."Get them to the healing room," said a voice from the doorway.Isla looked up to see a woman with long red hair and green eyes. She'd never seen her before, but something about her felt familiar."Who are you?" Caspian ordered, stepping protectively in front of Isla."My name is Lyra," the woman said gently. "I knew your mother, Isla. I've been waiting a long time to meet you."Inside the healing room, Isla sat beside each triplet in turn, using her silver blood to close their wounds. When she touched Thorne's injured arm, the cut sealed itself quickly. The same thing happened with Caspian's scratched face and Dorian's bruised ribs."How is this possible?" Thorne asked, looking at his perfectly healed arm."Silver blood doesn't just have power," Lyra explained from the doorway. "It has life itself. Isla can heal any hurt, cure any sickness, even bring someone back from the edge of death."Dorian looked thoughtful. "Is that why everyone wants her blood? Not just for power, but for healing?""Partly," Lyra said. "But there's more. Much more."
As Isla healed the last of Dorian's bruises, she felt their mate bond getting stronger. Each touch, each moment of healing, linked them deeper than before. She could feel their thoughts, their feelings, even their dreams."There's something else you need to know," Lyra continued. "About your mother, Isla. About why she really died."Alpha Roderick picked that moment to storm into the room, his face dark with anger. But when he saw Lyra, he stopped dead."Impossible," he whispered. "You're supposed to be dead."Lyra smiled coldly. "Hello, brother. Surprised to see me?""Brother?" Isla gasped."Oh yes," Lyra said, her green eyes now sparkling with power. "Roderick and I are twins. And he killed our parents to become Alpha—just like he killed your mother to steal her silver blood."The room went totally silent. Then Roderick laughed, a sound with no humor in it."You always were too smart for your own good, sister," he said. "But you're too late. The ritual is almost complete.""What ritual?" Thorne demanded.Roderick's eyes began to glow—not red like the controlled wolves, but silver like Isla's."The one that will make me immortal. I've been collecting silver blood for twenty years, and tonight, I finally have enough."He raised his hand, and Isla felt her power being pulled out of her body like water through a drain."The Moon Goddess offered me eternal life," Roderick said as Isla fell to her knees, "if I could gather the blood of a hundred Silver Wolves. Your mother was number ninety-nine, Isla."His smile was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen."congratulations you're number one hundred.