Aria was crying into her pillow when someone knocked on her door.
"Go away," she mumbled, not wanting to face another day of Kael's coldness and the brothers' hate for each other.
"Aria? It's me, Cora!"
Aria bolted straight. Cora Matthews had been her best friend since childhood, but she'd moved to the nearby pack two years ago when her father got a new job.
"Cora?" Aria ran to open the door. "What are you doing here?"
Her friend stood in the hallway with a bright smile that seemed almost too perfect. Cora's blonde hair was styled beautifully, her clothes were expensive, and she nearly glowed with happiness.
"I heard about your big news," Cora said, pulling Aria into a hug. "The tri-bonds! Can you believe it?"
Aria stiffened. "How did you hear about that?"
"Oh, you know how pack gossip travels," Cora waved dismissively. "Everyone's talking about the omega who linked with three Alphas. You're famous!"
Something cold settled in Aria's stomach. News of the tri-bonds was meant to be kept within their pack for security reasons.
"Come in," Aria said slowly, stepping back.
Cora swept into the small room, her eyes taking in everything. "Still living simply, I see. Don't worry, that'll change now that you're practically Luna."
"I'm not Luna," Aria said quietly. "Nothing's been decided."
"But you will be," Cora urged.
"I mean, three mates?
You've hit the jackpot!" The careless way she said it made Aria's skin crawl. "It's not about winning prizes, Cora. It's complicated."
"Everything's complicated until you make it simple,"
Cora sat on Aria's bed, touching the space beside her.
"So tell me everything. Which brother is your favorite?"
"I don't have favorites."
"Come on," Cora's laugh tinkled like broken glass. "You can tell me. Is it Kael? He's the strong, watchful type. Or maybe Kieran? I heard he's really smart and driven."
"How do you know so much about them?"
"I told you, everyone's talking," Cora's smile never wavered.
"Personally, I think Kade sounds the most fun. Wild boys are always exciting." Aria moved to sit in her chair instead of the bed. Something felt wrong about this whole exchange.
"Why are you really here, Cora?" "Can't a friend visit?" Cora's eyes flashed with hurt. "I missed you, Aria. When I heard what happened, I had to come see you." "Your pack Alpha just let you leave?"
"Of course," Cora said quickly. "We're friends with your pack now. Lots of cooperation between regions." Another warning bell rang in Aria's mind. Their packs had been rivals for decades, not friends.
"Since when?" "Oh, recently," Cora waved her hand vaguely. "Politics are so boring. Let's talk about your love life instead." She leaned forward eagerly.
"Have you kissed any of them yet? What's it like having three beautiful boys fighting over you?" "They're not fighting over me," Aria said sadly. "They're barely speaking to each other."
"That's too bad," Cora said, but she didn't sound sorry at all. "Maybe you need to make a choice. Pick one and let the others go."
"I can't do that."
"Why not?" Cora's words took on a wheedling tone. "Keeping all three is just greedy, don't you think?" Aria stood up suddenly. "You need to leave."
"What?" Cora's perfect smile faltered.
"Why?"
"Because you're not my friend," Aria said, her heart breaking as the words left her mouth.
"My friend would understand how hard this is. She wouldn't call me greedy or treat this like some game."
"You're being paranoid," Cora argued, but her voice had changed. It was sharper now, less sweet.
"Am I? Then tell me something only the real Cora would know." Cora's smile spread wider, becoming unnatural.
"Like what?" "Like the scar on my shoulder from when we fell out of the oak tree when we were ten." "Oh, that little thing," Cora laughed.
"Everyone has scars."
"I don't have a scar," Aria whispered, backing toward the door.
"We never fell out of any tree." Cora's look began to shimmer like heat waves.
Her blonde hair darkened, her features changed, and her too-perfect smile became something hungry and cruel. "Clever girl," the thing wearing Cora's face said in a voice like silk and poison.
"Too clever for your own good." "What are you?" Aria demanded. "I'm exactly what you need," the thing said, standing elegantly.
"A friend who wants to help you make the right choice."
"What choice?" "The choice between saving your precious mates or saving yourself," the thing circled closer. "Because you can't do both." "You're lying." "Am I?" The fake Cora tilted her head.
"The curse that plagues the Thorn brothers feeds on strong feeling. Love, hate, jealousy, hopelessness. And what stronger feeling is there than the tri-bond you share?" Aria's blood turned to ice.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that every time you use the bonds to help them, you make the curse stronger," the creature smiled. "Every moment of connection feeds the magic that will destroy them."
"That's not true!" "Isn't it?" The thing laughed.
"Haven't you noticed how much worse things have gotten since the ties formed? How much more the brothers fight? How much more they suffer?"
Aria thought of Kael's coldness, Kieran's secret plans, Kade's wild desperation.
Everything had gotten worse since her eighteenth birthday.
"The only way to save them," the creature continued, "is to break the bonds totally. Walk away. Let them go."
"I won't abandon them."
"Then you'll destroy them," the fake Cora said simply.
"Your choice." The thing began to fade, becoming translucent.
"Think about it, Aria Vale. You have until tomorrow night's full moon to decide. Save yourself and let them die as heroes, or doom them all with your selfish love."
"Wait!"
Aria reached out, but her hand passed through empty air. The creature's laughter rang in the suddenly empty room.
Aria sank to her knees, the creature's words echoing in her mind. Was it true? Were the bonds actually making everything worse? Outside her window, storm clouds gathered as if reacting to her despair.
Tomorrow night, the full moon would rise. Tomorrow night, she would have to choose between love and suffering.
And somewhere in the shadows, old enemies smiled as their plan fell perfectly into place.