Writer's POV*
"You're not seriously considering his offer!" Ash slammed his fist on the kitchen table so hard that the salt shaker jumped.
Maeve flinched but didn't back down. "My mother's life is on the line."
"So are hundreds of other lives," Ash shot back. "The whole pack could die because of this."
"Because of me, you mean." Maeve's voice was barely a whisper, but everyone heard it.
The kitchen fell silent. Alpha Braden sat at the head of the table, his face like stone. The triplets stood around Maeve like bodyguards, but even they couldn't protect her from the truth.
She was the reason everything was falling apart.
"The pack meeting starts in ten minutes," Alpha Braden said finally. "Everyone needs to know what we're dealing with."
---
Maeve had never seen the pack hall so full. Every single member was there, from the youngest teenagers to the oldest elders. The air buzzed with angry whispers and fearful glances in her direction.
Alpha Braden stood at the front. "By now, you've all heard rumors. Let me give you facts." His voice carried across the room. "Maeve is the biological heir to the Shadow Pack. Her grandfather is Kieran, their Alpha."
Gasps and angry shouts erupted from the crowd.
"She's been spying on us!"
"How long has she known?"
"We should have banished her years ago!"
Maeve shrank back, but Raiden moved closer to her side. His presence was the only thing keeping her from running.
"That's enough!" Alpha Braden roared. The room went quiet. "Maeve had no knowledge of her heritage. She is as much a victim here as anyone."
"Victim?" Beta Thomas stood up, his face red with anger. "My daughter Calla has been pushed aside for this... this enemy!"
Calla rose beside her father, tears streaming down her face. "I tried to warn everyone," she said, her voice shaking. "I saw her sneaking around at night. Meeting with strangers in the woods."
Maeve's blood went cold. "That's not true!"
"Isn't it?" Calla's eyes were wild. "You disappeared for hours at a time. You knew things you shouldn't know. Face it, Maeve—you've been working with them all along!"
"Stop." Ash's voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "Calla, you know that's not true."
But the damage was done. Maeve could see it in the faces around her—doubt, fear, suspicion. These people who had known her all her life were looking at her like she was a stranger.
Like she was the enemy.
"The Shadow Pack wants her back," an elder called out. "Maybe we should let them have her!"
"And start a war over one girl?" another voice added.
"She's not just any girl," Cade said firmly. "She's our Luna."
"Is she?" Beta Thomas's voice was like ice. "Or is she a spy sent to destroy us from within?"
Maeve couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, her whole body shaking. "I never asked for any of this!" Her voice cracked. "I didn't know about my grandfather. I didn't know about the Shadow Pack. All I wanted was to live a normal life!"
"But you can't," a quiet voice said from the back of the room.
Everyone turned. Elder Margaret, the oldest member of the pack, was standing with the help of her walking stick. Her ancient eyes were fixed on Maeve.
"Child, some of us are born for ordinary lives. Others are born for destiny. You can't fight what's in your blood."
"My blood doesn't define me," Maeve said desperately.
"Doesn't it?" Elder Margaret asked gently. "Your grandmother ran from her destiny. Look where it got us—a granddaughter caught between two worlds, two packs ready to tear each other apart."
The room erupted in arguments again. Some people wanted to hand Maeve over to prevent a war. Others wanted to fight to keep her. A few suggested hiding her somewhere far away.
Through it all, Maeve felt the mate bond pulsing with the triplets' emotions. Ash's burning anger at anyone who wanted to hurt her. Cade's desperate need to find a solution that would save everyone. Raiden's quiet, fierce protectiveness.
But underneath their support, she could feel something else. Fear. Not fear of dying—fear of losing her.
"Enough!" Alpha Braden's voice boomed. "This decision isn't yours to make. It's Maeve's."
All eyes turned to her. The weight of their stares felt like stones on her chest.
"I need time to think," she whispered.
"You have until dawn," Ash reminded her grimly. "After that..."
"After that, people start dying," Maeve finished.
---
Later that night, Maeve found herself alone in Alpha Braden's study. She'd snuck out of her room after the triplets finally agreed to let her have some space. They were probably patrolling nearby, but at least they weren't hovering.
The study was full of old books and papers. Pack records going back generations. Maybe there was something here that could help her understand what was happening.
She pulled book after book from the shelves, looking for anything about the Shadow Pack. Most of it was boring pack business—hunting territories, birth records, trade agreements.
Then her hand touched something strange. A book that felt different from the others. When she pulled it, instead of coming off the shelf, it tilted forward like a lever.
Behind her, a section of the wall swung open with a soft click.
Maeve stared at the hidden room beyond. Her bracelet began to glow, casting blue light into the darkness.
The room was small, filled with dusty boxes and old photographs. On the walls hung maps of territories she didn't recognize. And in the center of it all was a desk covered with papers.
Maeve approached the desk with shaking hands. The papers were old, yellowed with age. But she could still read them clearly.
*Shadow Pack Alliance Agreement*
*Signed this day by Alpha Marcus Blackthorne and Alpha Kieran Ravencrest*
*To seal the bond between our packs, Marcus Blackthorne's daughter Lyanna shall be mated to Kieran's son...*
Maeve's hands shook as she read. There were more papers. Letters between the two Alphas. Plans for joining their territories. And at the bottom of the pile...
A birth certificate. Her grandmother's real birth certificate.
*Lyanna Ravencrest. Born to Alpha Kieran Ravencrest and Luna Maria Ravencrest.*
Lyanna wasn't just promised to the Shadow Pack. She WAS the Shadow Pack. Kieran's own daughter.
Which meant Kieran wasn't Maeve's step-grandfather.
He was her great-grandfather.
Maeve sank into the dusty chair, her mind reeling. If Lyanna was Kieran's daughter, then Maeve's mother was his granddaughter. And Maeve...
Maeve was the rightful heir to both packs.
"Find something interesting?"
Maeve spun around. Liam stood in the doorway, his face grim.
"How long have you known?" she whispered.
"About the hidden room? Since I was assigned to protect you." He stepped into the room. "About what's in it? I was hoping you'd never have to find out."
"You knew who I really was."
"I knew you were special. I knew you were in danger. That's why I was sent to watch over you." Liam's voice was gentle. "But I never knew the full truth until tonight."
Maeve held up the birth certificate with shaking hands. "Do you know what this means?"
Liam nodded grimly. "It means you don't just have to choose between saving your mother or saving the Valoran Pack."
"Then what—"
"It means you have the power to unite both packs under your rule," he said quietly. "You're not just the heir to one throne, Maeve. You're the heir to two."
Before Maeve could respond, footsteps pounded down the hallway. Ash, Cade, and Raiden burst into the study.
"Maeve, thank god," Cade gasped. "We need to go. Now."
"What happened?" she asked, jumping to her feet.
"It's your mother," Raiden said, his face white. "Kieran just sent a message."
Ash's voice was barely controlled. "She's dying."