Aria's sobs echoed through the moonlit forest as she collapsed against an old oak tree.
Her chest burned where the tri-bonds pulled at her heart, each thread demanding she return to a different brother.
The pain was unbearable, like being torn in three ways at once. "Foolish child." Aria spun around, tears blurring her vision. Elder Thalia appeared from the shadows, her weathered staff glowing softly in the darkness.
"Elder?" Aria wiped her face quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" "To run from your destiny?"
Thalia's old eyes held no judgment, only sadness. "Or to break three hearts in the process?" "I didn't break anything," Aria whispered. "They broke themselves fighting over me."
"Did they?" Thalia settled beside her on a fallen log.
"Or were they fighting something much darker?" The old woman's words sent chills down Aria's spine. "What do you mean?" "Tell me, child, have you noticed anything strange about the brothers during full moons?"
Aria thought back to the last few months. "They... disappear. Lock themselves away in the caves beneath the mountain."
"And you never wondered why?" "Everyone said it was for training. Private Alpha lessons." Thalia's laugh was bitter.
"Training. Yes, I suppose that's one way to describe fighting for your life against your own dog." The forest seemed to hold its breath. Even the night sounds faded to silence.
"What are you talking about?" Aria asked.
"The Thorn curse," Thalia said heavily. "A burden carried by every generation of Alpha sons for the past three centuries."
"Curse?" "Magic born from betrayal and blood," Thalia's voice grew distant with memory. "Long ago, the first Alpha Thorn loved a witch. She gave him three boys, powerful and strong. But when the pack found her true nature, they demanded he choose: his mate or his leadership."
Aria's heart clenched. The story felt horribly familiar. "He chose the pack," Thalia continued. "Banished the witch, kept the boys. But a mother's love scorned becomes a mother's vengeance released." The staff's glow brightened, casting moving shadows on the trees.
"She cursed her own children?" Aria gasped. "She cursed their bloodline," Thalia amended. "Every generation of Thorn triplets would be born with wolves too powerful for their human forms to control. During full moons, the beast takes over fully, driving them to madness and violence."
"That's horrible." "It gets worse," Thalia's voice dropped to a whisper.
"The curse gets stronger with each generation. Calder's father barely survived his changes. Calder himself lost two brothers to the madness before learning to control it through isolation and pain." Aria's blood turned cold.
"And Kael, Kieran, and Kade?" "Are the strongest yet," Thalia said grimly.
"Which means they're also the most dangerous. Last full moon, Kade nearly killed himself trying to break free from the prison caves. Kieran has been secretly studying ways to end the curse, even if it means ending his own life. And Kael..."
"What about Kael?" "Kael has been planning to take his brothers' place. To face the evil alone so they won't have to suffer." Tears flowed down Aria's face.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" "Because knowledge of the curse makes you a target," Thalia said quickly. "There are those who would use it against the pack, against the brothers themselves." "The red eyes in the forest?"
"Among others," Thalia nodded. "But you, child, might be their salvation." "Me?" Aria laughed brokenly.
"I can't even handle three boys fighting. How could I break a centuries-old curse?"
"The witch's curse was specific," Thalia leaned closer. "It could only be broken by a mate bond strong enough to support all three brothers simultaneously. A tri-bond." The words hit Aria like fire.
"That's why the Moon Goddess..."
"Created the impossible bond," Thalia finished.
"Not to torture you with choice, but to give you the power to save them." "But they hate each other now because of me!"
"They fear each other," Thalia corrected. "Fear that their curse will hurt you. Fear that their brothers will succeed where they fail. Fear that they're not worthy of the gift you represent."
Aria hid her face in her hands. "It's too much. I'm just an omega. I don't have any special skills."
"Don't you?"
Thalia's staff buzzed brighter. "When the bonds flared tonight, what happened to Mara's curse?"
"It... broke?" "It shattered against your power," Thalia said firmly. "Power you don't even know you possess yet." "What power?" "Your bloodline isn't as ordinary as you believe," Thalia stood slowly.
"Your parents died guarding a secret, child. A secret about who you really are." "I don't understand."
"The witch who cursed the Thorns had a sister," Thalia explained. "A sister who disagreed with the curse and tried to stop it. She was killed for her audacity, but not before hiding her own daughter among the pack." Aria's world twisted.
"You're saying I'm..." "Descended from the witch's sister," Thalia revealed. "The very bloodline that fought the original curse. That's why you can bond with all three boys. That's why your power can break what was broken long ago."
"But how?" "The curse feeds on separation, jealousy, isolation," Thalia explained. "It drove the first Alpha to leave his mate, and it's driving his descendants to abandon each other. But if you can unite the men, if you can make them choose love over fear..."
"The curse breaks," Aria whispered. "The curse breaks," Thalia agreed. "But only if you're strong enough to claim all three bonds fully. No choice, no abandoning one for another. All or nothing." Aria stood on shaking legs.
"And if I fail?" "Then the next full moon will be their last," Thalia said softly.
"The curse has grown too strong. Without your support, they'll lose themselves to the beast forever." The weight of three lives settled on Aria's shoulders. Three boys who'd fought over her not from arrogance, but from terror. Terror that they weren't good enough, strong enough, worthy enough to save.
"How much time do I have?" "Three days," Thalia said sadly.
"The full moon rises on the fourth night." A howl echoed through the trees, closer than before. The red eyes were still hunting.
"We need to get back," Thalia urged. "It's not safe out here." But as they turned toward the town, a figure stepped out from behind a massive pine tree.
Darius smiled, his teeth gleaming white in the moonlight. "Such an interesting conversation," he said pleasantly. "I learned so much." Thalia raised her staff defensively. "How long have you been listening?"
"Long enough," Darius's smile widened. "Long enough to know exactly what information certain interested parties would pay handsomely to possess." "You wouldn't," Aria breathed.
"Wouldn't I?" Darius tilted his head. "A tri-bond omega with witch blood, the key to breaking an ancient curse, three Alpha heirs vulnerable during full moons... that's quite a valuable package."
"The pack will never" "The pack doesn't need to know," Darius interrupted. "At least, not until it's too late to matter."
He stepped backward into the dark, still smiling.
"Thank you for the teaching, Elder. It's been most educational." He disappeared into the darkness, leaving Aria and Thalia alone with the terrible knowledge that their enemies now knew exactly how to destroy everything they loved.