Alpha Magnus's growl echoed through the stone chamber, shaking loose dust from the high ceiling. The scent of fury clung to him like smoke. Luna Priscilla stood beside him, her icy gaze scanning the room like a blade. Warriors poured in behind them—at least a dozen, their footsteps heavy and tense.
"Leave," the Alpha barked, and without hesitation, the warriors withdrew, shutting the heavy doors behind them.
The moment they were alone, his fury exploded.
"WHAT were you thinking?!" Magnus roared. "This library is forbidden, even to Betas!"
Luna stepped forward, her voice quieter but sharper. "And you let her in, Lukas. Zois. Into our most sacred sanctuary—our ancestral library."
Zois had his head bowed, lips pressed together in restraint. Lukas stood still, but his eyes were calculating every word, every move.
"We had to," Lukas said at last.
"You had to?" Magnus thundered. "Are you children so brainless that you've dragged an outsider into our oldest vault of magic and blood? She's not even your fiancée, not even the Beta's wife!"
"She's Leonard's mate," Priscilla snapped, voice laced with scorn. "That does not give her a right to enter here. Even he is forbidden."
The air thickened with raw power. The Alpha's fury radiated in waves, suffocating. Eila, seated behind a tall stack of books, felt as if the world was collapsing on her shoulders.
She rose slowly, bowed deeply, and said with a shaking voice, "I'm so sorry. I never meant to dishonor the laws of the pack. I was only—"
"Silence," Luna Priscilla said coldly, raising a hand. "Your apologies mean nothing in a space where your very presence is an offense. You've trespassed. This cannot go unpunished. If we let this pass, others will follow."
Eila's heart sank. My parents… my siblings… if word spreads…
But before she could speak again, Lukas and Zois stepped forward in unison, lowering to their knees beside her. The sight of the mighty Baldwin twins bowing was enough to still the storm for a heartbeat.
They looked up—eyes steady, voices in perfect sync.
"She's not just anyone," Lukas began.
"She is both of our fated mate," Zois finished.
A silence fell that felt like thunder waiting to strike.
Magnus reeled back a step, as if the air had been punched from his chest. Priscilla's eyes narrowed, but her breath hitched. "Impossible," she whispered. "One fated mate to two? That hasn't happened since…"
"The Time of Fractures," Zois supplied softly.
"No," Magnus muttered. "This can't be."
"But it is," Lukas said firmly. "We both sensed it—so did she. And Leonard did too. The Moon Goddess has bound her to us."
"Three mates?" Luna whispered in disbelief. Her gaze turned to Eila, suddenly calculating, not just condemning. "Is that why your power is so strange…?"
Eila swallowed hard. "I don't understand it either, but it's real."
Magnus's expression hardened. "Even if this is true, it doesn't change the fact you violated sacred laws. Both you and my sons."
"I take full responsibility," Lukas said at once.
"As do I," Zois added.
"We needed answers," Eila whispered, stepping forward. "It was about the Varium. I found something that might help my parents. They were marked."
That froze Priscilla in place.
"The curse?" she asked, stepping forward now, less Alpha, more mother. "You read of it?"
Eila nodded and held out the ancient book. "The Veil is eating away at them. But the book said… if the summoner is killed before the curse finishes… they might be saved."
Priscilla took the book carefully, flipping through the crumbling pages. Her eyes scanned the lines with a quiet intensity.
Magnus, meanwhile, remained silent, his gaze heavy and unreadable.
"You understand," Priscilla said finally, still not looking up, "that knowledge from here can never leave these walls. Not without consequence."
"But it's life or death—" Eila began, her voice breaking.
"I know what it is," Priscilla cut in, more sharply than before. She lowered the book, her eyes meeting Eila's. "Which is why I'm going to offer you one chance. Only one."
Eila blinked.
"From now on," Luna said slowly, "you work with me. In secret. Not even Leonard must know. If this curse is truly tied to the Veil… we need to uncover what lies beyond it. Together."
Magnus didn't stop her. His silence, for once, was permission.
"But if word of this gets out," the Alpha finally spoke, "especially of this… triple bond… the political ramifications could rip this pack in two. Do you understand what's at stake?"
Eila nodded, as did the twins.
"Good," Priscilla said. "Then listen carefully. There are three paths forward. The first is the blood trail—the summoner must be found. The second is the Archive hidden beneath this very house—far deeper than this library. And the third…"
She hesitated. "The third lies in a forbidden prophecy kept by the Seers. One I've avoided for years."
She looked at Eila directly. "You may have triggered it."