Writer's POV*
"Welcome home, child."
Maeve spun around in the shadow throne room, her heart hammering against her ribs. The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Where am I?" she demanded, trying to sound braver than she felt.
"Where you've always belonged," the voice replied. A figure materialized from the darkness—tall, ancient, with eyes like black holes. "I am Morgrim, High Chancellor of the Council of Shadows. And you, dear Maeve, are the key to everything."
"I'm not the key to anything!" Maeve backed away, but there was nowhere to go. "I just want my friends back!"
Morgrim laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Friends? Oh, sweet child. Nothing in your life has been real. Not your friendship with Calla. Not your mate bond with the triplets. Not even your mother's love."
"You're lying."
"Am I?" Morgrim waved his hand, and images appeared in the air around them. "Behold the truth."
Maeve watched in horror as the images showed Alpha Braden meeting with council agents. Her mother receiving mysterious packages in the night. The triplets as children, sitting in a room while someone chanted strange words over them.
"We've been planning your life since before you were born," Morgrim said casually. "Every choice, every relationship, every moment of happiness—all designed to bring you here."
"That's impossible," Maeve whispered.
"Is it? Your grandmother didn't run away from the Shadow Pack, child. We sent her away. We needed her bloodline to grow stronger, to mix with Valoran Pack genes. And then we needed you to believe you were choosing your own destiny."
The images shifted, showing Maeve's 18th birthday. But now she could see what she'd missed before—council agents in the shadows, watching, waiting.
"The mate bond with all three triplets was our greatest achievement," Morgrim continued proudly. "We've been conditioning them since childhood to accept a shared mate. And you, dear girl, we've been preparing to channel enough power to rule both packs."
"For you," Maeve said, understanding flooding through her.
"For us," Morgrim corrected. "But there's a problem. You've grown stronger than we expected. Strong enough to break free from our control." His black eyes narrowed. "That cannot be allowed."
Before Maeve could react, pain exploded through her head. She fell to her knees, clutching her skull as Morgrim's voice echoed inside her mind.
"Submit, child. Accept your place as our weapon, and we'll let your precious mates live."
"Never," Maeve gasped.
"Then they die."
The shadow throne room dissolved around her, and suddenly she was back in the mountain chamber. But everything had changed.
The triplets were on their knees, collars of dark metal around their necks. Council agents held silver chains connected to the collars, and Maeve could see the pain in her mates' eyes.
"Choose," Morgrim said, now standing in the center of the chamber. "Submit to us, or watch them suffer."
"Maeve, don't," Ash said through gritted teeth. "Don't give them what they want."
"We can handle this," Cade added, though his face was pale with pain.
Raiden said nothing, but his ice-blue eyes burned with fury.
"How touching," Morgrim sneered. "But you have no choice, girl. You see, we've spent decades weakening both packs. The Shadow Pack's curse, the Valoran Pack's internal conflicts—all our doing. And now both packs are too weak to fight us."
"Are they?"
Everyone turned. Liam stood in the chamber doorway, but he wasn't alone. Behind him were dozens of wolves—Shadow Pack and Valoran Pack, standing together.
"Impossible," Morgrim snarled. "The binding spell should have kept them trapped!"
"It would have," Calla said, stepping out from behind Liam. Her face was streaked with tears, but her voice was strong. "If I hadn't broken it."
"You foolish child," Morgrim raged. "You've doomed everyone!"
"No," Calla said firmly. "I've set them free."
The battle that followed was unlike anything Maeve had ever seen. Council agents fought against united packs, shadow magic clashed with natural werewolf strength, and through it all, Maeve felt her power growing.
But something was wrong. Every time she tried to help, every time she reached for her Luna abilities, pain shot through her chest.
"The collars," Raiden managed to say. "They're connected to you. If you use your power, it hurts us."
Maeve looked at the metal collars around her mates' necks and understood. It was another trap. She could either fight and hurt the people she loved, or stay powerless and watch everyone die.
"There has to be another way," she whispered.
"There is," Liam said, fighting his way to her side. "But you're not going to like it."
"Tell me."
"The mate bond works both ways," he explained, dodging a council agent's attack. "Instead of you channeling power to them, they can channel power to you. All of it."
"What does that mean?"
Liam's green eyes were sad. "It means they give up their Alpha powers permanently. They become ordinary wolves. But you become strong enough to break every spell the council has ever cast."
Maeve felt her heart shatter. "I can't ask them to do that."
"You don't have to ask," Ash said, his gray eyes meeting hers across the battle. "We choose."
"All of us," Cade added.
"Together," Raiden finished.
"No!" Maeve screamed. "There has to be another way!"
But even as she spoke, she could feel it happening. The triplets were already starting the process, their Alpha strength flowing through the mate bond toward her.
"Stop!" she begged. "I won't let you sacrifice yourselves for me!"
"It's not a sacrifice," Ash said gently. "It's a choice. Our choice."
"We love you," Cade said, his usual smile replaced by something deeper.
"And love means protecting what matters most," Raiden added quietly.
Power flooded through Maeve like a tidal wave. Not just from the triplets, but from every wolf in the chamber. Shadow Pack and Valoran Pack alike were offering their strength to her.
"This is impossible," Morgrim snarled, backing away as Maeve rose to her feet, blazing with silver light.
"No," Maeve said, her voice carrying the authority of two packs. "This is love. Something you'll never understand."
She raised her hands, ready to unleash enough power to destroy the council forever. But as the energy built around her, she realized something horrible.
The power was too much. It was going to kill her.
And if she died, the mate bonds would snap, taking the triplets with her.
But if she didn't use it, everyone in the chamber would die anyway.
Morgrim seemed to realize her dilemma at the same moment. His twisted face broke into a cruel smile.
"Checkmate, little Luna," he said mockingly. "Save yourself and watch everyone die, or save everyone and die yourself. Either way, we win."
Maeve looked around the chamber at all the faces depending on her. Her mother, her former friend Calla, the triplets who had given up everything for her, Liam who had lost his entire pack, Kieran and his sons who were trying to save their people.
They were all looking at her with hope, trust, love.
And she was about to let them all down.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
Then she made her choice.