*Writer's POV*
Maeve grabbed the kitchen knife from the counter and pointed it at the red eyes glowing outside. Her hands shook, but her voice didn't. "Get away from my house!"
A dark laugh came from the woods. "Put the knife down, little princess. You can't fight what you are."
"I'm not a princess!" Maeve shouted back. "And I'm not going anywhere with you!"
Ash moved to stand beside her. "She's right. You want her, you go through us."
"All of us," Cade added, his usual smile replaced by a dangerous look.
Raiden said nothing, but his ice-blue eyes promised violence to anyone who tried to hurt Maeve.
The voice from the darkness laughed again. "Brave boys. But this isn't your fight. The girl belongs to the Shadow Pack. She always has."
"Like hell she does," Maeve snapped. Something was happening inside her chest—a burning feeling that made her want to fight instead of hide. "My mom better be safe, or I'll make you sorry."
"Your mother is comfortable. For now. But midnight is coming, little princess. And if you're not at the old oak tree by then..." The voice trailed off, leaving the threat hanging in the air.
The red eyes disappeared into the darkness, but Maeve knew they were still watching.
Liam stepped forward. "We can't wait for midnight. We need to move now."
"Absolutely not," Alpha Braden's voice boomed from behind them. He'd arrived with a group of warriors. "Maeve stays here where it's safe."
Maeve spun around to face him. "My mother is out there because of me. I won't let her die."
"You're not thinking clearly," Alpha Braden said. "This is exactly what they want."
"Then they can have it!" Maeve's voice cracked. "I can't lose her. She's all I have left."
"You have us," Raiden said quietly. His words made something warm spread through her chest.
Maeve looked at the three brothers—Ash with his serious gray eyes, Cade with his worried expression, and Raiden with his fierce protectiveness. They were willing to risk everything for her.
"Then let's go get my mom back," she said.
---
The old oak tree stood alone at the very edge of pack territory. It was massive and ancient, with twisted branches that looked like reaching arms in the moonlight. But as they got closer, Maeve realized something was wrong.
The air around the tree shimmered like heat waves on a hot day. And her bracelet was getting hotter and hotter, until it felt like it might burn her skin.
"Something's not right," Ash said, studying the tree.
"It's a portal," Liam said grimly. "The old oak isn't just a meeting place. It's a doorway."
"A doorway to where?" Maeve asked.
Before anyone could answer, her bracelet flared with blinding blue light. The light shot toward the tree, making the shimmering air glow brighter.
"Maeve!" Cade reached for her, but she couldn't stop what was happening.
Pictures flooded her mind again—not memories this time, but knowledge. The tree was ancient magic, a bridge between pack territories. Her grandmother had used it to escape. And now...
"Now you're going to use it to come home."
They all spun around. A man stepped out from behind the tree—tall and powerful, with silver-streaked hair and a jagged scar across his left cheek. His eyes were the same ice-blue as the wolves from the forest.
"Kieran," Liam breathed.
"Hello, old friend," the scarred man said with a cold smile. "Still playing guard dog, I see."
More shapes emerged from the shadows—at least twenty Shadow Pack wolves, all with those unnatural red eyes when they shifted.
"Where's my mother?" Maeve demanded, stepping forward despite the triplets' protective stance.
Kieran's scarred face softened slightly when he looked at her. "Safe. Unharmed. Just as I promised." His voice got gentler. "You look just like her, you know. Just like Lyanna when she was your age."
"Don't talk about my grandmother," Maeve snapped.
"Your grandmother was my mate," Kieran said quietly.
The words hit Maeve like a physical blow. "That's impossible. My grandmother was mated to my grandfather."
Kieran's laugh was bitter. "Is that the story she told? Lyanna was promised to me from birth, little princess. We were to rule the Shadow Pack together. But when the great war came, she got scared. She ran away, pregnant with my child."
Maeve's world spun. "You're lying."
"Your mother is my daughter," Kieran continued. "Which makes you my granddaughter. You carry Shadow Pack royal blood, not just Blackthorne."
"No," Maeve whispered.
Ash stepped protectively in front of her. "Even if that's true, she belongs to the Valoran Pack now. She's our mate."
Kieran's eyes turned dangerous. "Your mate?" He looked between the three brothers and started laughing. "Oh, this is rich. The Valoran Alpha's sons, mated to the rightful heir of their greatest enemy."
"We don't care about pack politics," Cade said firmly. "We care about Maeve."
"How touching," Kieran said. "But pack politics care about you." He turned back to Maeve. "Do you know what this means, little princess? You're not just some omega who got lucky. You're the rightful Alpha of the Shadow Pack. My heir."
Maeve felt like she couldn't breathe. "I don't want to be anyone's heir."
"What you want doesn't matter," Kieran said. "Blood is blood. Destiny is destiny." His voice got harder. "Your grandmother stole my family from me. She ran away with my daughter and hid her from me for twenty years. But I found her eventually."
"What did you do to my mother?" Maeve's voice was deadly quiet.
"Nothing yet," Kieran assured her. "She's alive and well, waiting for you to come home where you belong."
"The Valoran Pack is her home," Raiden said, speaking for the first time.
Kieran smiled coldly. "Not anymore. You see, boys, your little mate has a choice to make. She can come with me willingly, claim her birthright as the Shadow Pack Alpha, and I'll return her mother safely. We'll even consider a peace treaty between our packs."
"Or?" Ash asked, though his voice suggested he already knew.
"Or she refuses, and we go to war. The Shadow Pack against the Valoran Pack. Blood will run in these woods until one pack destroys the other completely." Kieran's eyes gleamed with malice. "And either way, I get what's mine. Either the princess comes home, or I take the Valoran territory after I kill everyone in it."
Maeve felt the mate bond pulsing between her and the triplets—their fear, their anger, their desperate love for her. But she also felt something else. The weight of responsibility. The lives of everyone she cared about hanging in the balance.
"How long do I have to decide?" she asked quietly.
"No," all three triplets said at once.
"Until dawn," Kieran said. "When the sun rises, I want your answer. Come home and save everyone you love. Or stay, and watch them all die."
He stepped backward toward the portal, his wolves following. "Choose wisely, little princess. Some choices can't be undone."
As they disappeared through the shimmering air around the oak tree, Maeve sank to her knees. She was the heir to an enemy pack. Her mates were now technically her enemies. And she had until dawn to choose between saving her mother or saving everyone else she loved.
The worst part? She already knew what choice she had to make.