ARIA POV
The howls grew closer. I grabbed the nearest tool I could find—a fire poker—and stood beside the triplets facing the door.
"There’s too many," Kael said, his voice tight. "We can’t fight them all."
"We don’t have to fight," Lucien said. "We have to run. Now."
"How?" I asked. "They’re coming from everywhere!"
Lucien moved to the center of the cabin and stomped his foot three tis. A section of the floor lifted, showing a dark hole. "Underground tunnel. It leads to the river."
"You knew this was here the whole ti?" Jaxon asked, sounding annoyed.
"Of course I did," Lucien answered. "I know all the escape routes."
A loud thud hit the side of the house. Sothing had been thrown against it.
"Everyone in. Now!" Lucien ordered.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I jumped into the hole, falling on dirt about six feet down. The others followed quickly, with Lucien pulling the floor closed above us. We were thrown into darkness.
"I can’t see anything," I whispered.
A soft blue light began to glow from Lucien’s hand. He held so kind of crystal that lit up the tight tunnel ahead of us.
"This way," he said, going forward.
We rushed through the tunnel, which was just tall enough to stand in. The walls were packed dirt, held up by wooden beams every few feet.
"Who built this?" I asked.
"Lyra," Lucien answered. "She built escape tunnels all through these woods."
"Smart woman," Jaxon mumbled.
"She knew what was coming," Kael added softly.
Above us, I heard crashes and growls. They’d broken into the house.
"They’ll find the tunnel entrance soon," Lucien said. "We need to move faster."
We ran now, following the winding road. My lungs burned, but fear kept going. The sounds of pursuit faded behind us.
After what felt like miles, the tube widened into a small cavern. To my shock, soone was waiting there.
"Mira!" I gasped.
My best friend sat on a wooden box, her face bruised but her eyes bright with relief when she saw . She jumped up and hugged so tight I could barely breathe.
"You’re alive!" she cried. "I thought they got you for sure!"
"How are you here?" I asked, pulling back to look at her.
"I rescued her," Lucien said. "Alpha Darius had her locked up for questioning. They thought she knew where you went."
"Did they hurt you?" I asked, examining the bruise on her face.
"Elira did this," Mira said, feeling her face. "She’s gone crazy, Aria. She’s sure you stole her destiny or sothing."
"Alpha Darius has declared you a traitor to the pack," Lucien said grimly. "Anyone helping you will be banished or worse."
My stomach dropped. "I never wanted this. I didn’t ask for any of it."
"It doesn’t matter what you wanted," Kael said. "What matters is what you are."
"And what am I exactly?" I snapped, my anger boiling over. "A Moon Alpha? A power source for you three? Everyone keeps telling what I am, but nobody can explain what it ans!"
"It ans you can control pack bonds," Mira said softly.
We all turned to look at her.
"What did you say?" Jaxon asked.
Mira took a deep breath. "I heard Elira and her father talking. They said a Moon Alpha can control pack bonds—make them, break them, increase them. That’s why they’re so afraid of you."
"How do you know all this?" Kael demanded.
"Because Elira’s planning to use that power against you," Mira explained. "They’re going to perform a ritual during the blood moon to break your ties with Aria. All of them."
"The blood moon?" I repeated. "When is that?"
"Three days from now," Mira said.
The triplets traded worried looks.
"If they break the bonds..." Lucien began.
"We die," Jaxon finished.
My head spun. Three days until my friends might die because of .
"There’s more," Mira continued. "They need your blood for the process. That’s why everyone’s hunting you."
"Great," I grumbled. "So I either give myself up and let them destroy the bonds, or keep running while every wolf in the territory tries to catch ."
"There’s a third option," Lucien said.
"What’s that?" I asked.
"We complete the bonds before they can break them."
"Complete them how?" I asked.
Lucien shared a look with his brothers. "The rite of the Three Moons. It would make the ties permanent, unbreakable."
"And keep you three alive," I said, understanding dawning. "But what would it do to ?"
No one answered right away. That wasn’t a good sign.
"What would it do to ?" I repeated, louder this ti.
"It would bind your power permanently," Kael finally said. "You’d never be able to use it for anything else."
"What else would I use it for?"
"To unite the packs," Jaxon explained. "To take your place as a true Moon Alpha. To change everything."
The weight of choice pressed down on . Save my friends or et so destiny I barely understood?
"We need to keep moving," Lucien interrupted. "They’ll find this place soon."
He led us through another cave that sloped upward. After a few minutes, we exited into the night air. We were on a steep riverbank. A small boat was tied to a tree.
"We can take the river to Silver Creek territory," Lucien said. "Lyra’s contact will be waiting for us there."
"I thought Lyra was your aunt," I said, confused.
"She was," Kael confird. "But there have been many Lyras over the ages. The na passes to whoever keeps the Moon Alpha records."
"And right now, that’s a woman nad Elena at Silver Creek," Lucien added. "She’ll know what to do about the blood moon."
We climbed into the boat. Lucien and Kael each took an oar while Jaxon watched the beach behind us. Mira sat beside , her hand warm in mine.
"I’m scared," I whispered to her.
" too," she revealed. "But you’re stronger than you think, Aria. You always have been."
The boat slid quietly down the river, carried by the current. The night was strangely quiet.
"Do you think we lost them?" I asked hopefully.
Just then, howls arose from both sides of the river. Red eyes glowed in the darkness among the trees.
"They’re herding us," Kael realized with fear. "They want us to go downriver."
"Why?" I asked.
My question was answered by the increasing sound of rushing water ahead.
"Waterfall," Jaxon said sadly.
"How big?" I asked, my heart racing.
"Big enough to kill us," Lucien answered.
"Row for the shore!" Kael ordered.
They tried, but arrows suddenly rained down around us. One hit the boat, barely missing Mira.
"We can’t go to either shore," Jaxon shouted. "They’re waiting for us!"
The sound of the waterfall grew louder. We had seconds to decide.
"We have to jump!" Lucien yelled.
"I can’t swim well!" Mira cried.
I grabbed her hand tighter. "I won’t let go of you. I promise."
The boat picked up speed as the current increased. The sound of falling water filled my ears.
"Now or never!" Kael yelled.
I looked at the triplets—my cousins, my guardians, my duty. Then at Mira, my only true friend. Everyone I cared about was in this boat, going toward disaster because of .
Power rushed through suddenly, bright and hot. My skin started to glow silver, just like in the visions.
"Aria?" Mira gasped. "What’s happening to you?"
"I don’t know," I said, as warmth spread through my entire body.
The boat tipped over the edge of the cliff. As we began to fall, ti seed to slow down. In that mont, I heard a voice in my head—ancient, powerful, and sohow familiar: "The choice isn’t which of them lives or dies, Moon Alpha. The choice is whether you accept what you truly are."
I reached out, grabbing all four of them as we fell. The silver light from my skin surrounded us all.
And then we were falling, falling, falling into the mist below.
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