The sunrise painted the sky blood red through the broken windows.
I sat beside Marcus as Tobias tried to heal his silver wound. My hands shook as I held a wet cloth to his forehead. The poison was spreading fast.
"How much time do we have left?" I asked.
"Twenty minutes," Dorian said, walking back and forth like a caged wolf. "Maybe less."
Twenty minutes to decide if I would sacrifice myself to save Dad. Twenty minutes before the blood magic would kill him if I refused.
"There has to be another way," I whispered.
"Blood magic doesn't give second chances," Rowan Vale said sadly. "Your father made his choice eighteen years ago. Now you must make yours."
"But why would Dad do this?" My voice shaking. "He loves me. I know he does."
"Love makes people do terrible things sometimes," the old seer replied. "Even good people."
Through our bond, I felt the princes' feelings mixing with mine. Dorian's anger at feeling powerless, Tobias's desperate search for solutions and Marcus's pain from the silver, but also his fear for me.
"I won't let you go," Dorian said suddenly. "I don't care about the contract."
"Neither will I," Tobias added, looking up from his books. "We'll find another way."
Marcus tried to sit up, wincing from the pain. "We fight. All of us. Together."
My heart broke a little more. They were ready to die for me, but I couldn't let that happen.
"You don't understand," I said. "If I break the blood pact, it won't just kill Dad. It will kill everyone who shares his blood."
"What do you mean?" Dorian asked.
"I mean it will kill me too. We're family."
The room went silent.
"That's why blood magic is so evil," Rowan Vale explained. "It binds families together in death. Sebastian knew this when he signed."
"So he didn't just sell me," I said, the truth hitting me still. "He made sure I couldn't refuse."
"Your father is smarter than people think," the seer nodded. "And more desperate."
Before anyone could ask what he meant, heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Someone was coming.
"Hide," Dorian whispered, but there was nowhere to go.
The door opened, and Dad walked in.
But he wasn't alone. Behind him came a woman I had never seen before. She was tall and beautiful, with silver hair and eyes shining.
"Hello, daughter," the woman said to me.
My blood turned to cold. "Who are you?"
"I'm your mother."
"That's impossible. My mother is dead."
"No," Dad said quietly. "Your mother is very much alive. And she's here to claim her debt."
The woman stepped closer, and I could see the family resemblance now. The same golden eyes. The same stubborn chin.
"My name is Luna Morgana," she said. "And I am the true leader of the Ruby Wolf clan."
"Ruby Wolves don't have clans," Tobias said. "They died out."
"We let everyone believe that," Luna Morgana replied. "It was safer to hide than to fight. But now it's time to reclaim what was stolen from us."
"What was stolen?" I asked.
"This territory. This pack. This throne." Her eyes glowed red in the dim light. "The Blackwoods took it all from us fifty years ago. But you, my dear daughter, are going to help us take it back."
"I won't help you hurt innocent people."
"Innocent?" Luna Morgana laughed. "Tell me, how innocent do you think the Blackwoods are? Ask them about the Ruby Wolf attack. Ask them about the children they killed."
I looked at the princes through our bond. I felt their shock and confusion. They didn't know what she was talking about.
"That's ancient history," Rowan Vale said. "Those crimes were not committed by these boys."
"No, but they benefit from them every day." Luna Morgana's voice turned cold. "Living in our ancestral home. Ruling our people. Using our sacred places for their ceremonies."
"What do you want?" I asked.
"I want you to come home, daughter. To learn your true heritage. To take your rightful place as Ruby Wolf Queen."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then your father dies. And so do you. And so do these three princes you've bonded with."
My heart stopped. "The blood pact affects them too?"
"Oh yes. The moment you finished the Triarch Bond, their lives became tied to yours. Clever, isn't it?"
Dad wouldn't look at me. He was ashamed.
"You knew," I said to him. "You knew this would happen."
"I had no choice," he whispered. "She threatened to kill you as a baby if I didn't agree."
"So you made a deal with her instead."
"I thought I could protect you. I thought I had eighteen years to find another way."
"But you didn't find another way, did you?"
Dad shook his head. "I tried everything. But blood magic is too strong."
Luna Morgana smiled. "Sebastian has been my spy in this pack for eighteen years. Every secret, every plan, every weakness, I know it all."
"You're the one who told the Syndicate where to find us," Dorian realized.
"Of course. I needed to test my daughter's powers. To see if she was ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To destroy the Blackwood line once and for all."
The temperature in the room dropped.
"That's right," Luna Morgana continued. "Ruby Wolves don't just bond with their mates. We take their power. And when the bond is strong enough..." She smiled. "We can drain them completely."
"No," I said. "I won't hurt them."
"You won't have a choice. The bond will do it automatically once I start the final spell."
"What final spell?"
Instead of answering, Luna Morgana pulled out a crystal that looked exactly like my necklace. But this one was black instead of red.
"The Death Stone," Rowan Vale gasped. "Where did you get that?"
"I made it from the blood of every Ruby Wolf the Blackwoods killed. It contains fifty years of rage, pain and thirst for revenge."
She held up the crystal, and it started to glow.
"When I combine this with your Life Stone, the bonded princes will have one hour to live. Their power will flow into you, making you strong enough to challenge Alpha Raphael."
"And then what?"
"Then you kill him. And take the throne that should have been ours all along."
"I said no!"
"And I said you don't have a choice." Luna Morgana raised the Death Stone higher. "The spell is already beginning."
I felt something cold creeping through the bond. The princes gasped in pain.
"Stop it!" I begged.
"Only one way to stop it, daughter. Accept your destiny. Become the Ruby Wolf Queen. Let the past finally have its revenge."
Through the bond, I felt the princes getting weaker. Their powers was being pulled toward me against my will.
"Please," I whispered. "Don't make me choose between saving them and becoming a monster."
"Sometimes," Luna Morgana said, "we don't get to choose who we become. Sometimes, we just become what we must."
The Death Stone shined brighter and the princes fell to their knees.
And I realized I had seconds to decide: let the boys I loved die to keep my hands clean, or become a killer to save them.
But what if saving them meant destroying everything else I cared about?
What if my mother was right, and some ch
oices don't get to be good or bad?
What if some choices just get to be necessary?