POV: Vivienne
I smashed my mirror with my bare hand.
Glass spread across my bedroom floor, each piece reflecting my tear-streaked face. Blood dripped from my fingers, but I didn't care. The pain in my hand was nothing compared to the agony tearing through my heart.
Everything was ruined. Everything I'd worked for, dreamed of, planned for twenty years - gone because of some nobody servant girl.
"This can't be happening," I whispered to my image in the broken shards. "I was going to be Luna. I was going to marry one of them."
But the magical light flowing through my window told a different story. Silver, gold, and purple threads of fate joined all three Stormwind princes to that pathetic omega in the forest. I could see the links even from here, glowing like stars against the dark sky.
My wolf was howling with rage and sadness inside my mind. She'd been so sure that one of the princes would be our mate. We'd prepared for it our whole lives, learning to be the perfect Luna, the perfect match for a future Alpha.
And for what? So we could watch our fate get handed to a girl who probably couldn't even read?
A knock on my door stopped my breakdown. "Vivienne? Are you all right, dear?"
Mother's voice. I quickly wiped my tears and tried to look calm. "Come in."
Beta Catherine Ravencrest entered, her face pale with worry. She took one look at my bleeding hand and the broken mirror and understood immediately.
"You felt it too," she said softly. "The mate bonds."
"How is this possible?" I asked. "One girl can't be mated to three guys. It goes against everything we know about pack law."
"Ancient magic doesn't follow pack law," Mother said, sitting on my bed. "Sometimes the Moon Goddess has bigger plans than we can understand."
"I don't care about her plans!" I screamed, throwing a pillow across the room. "This was going to be my life! I was going to be Luna! I was going to have everything!"
Mother's face hardened. "And you still can."
I stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"The Trinity Bond is powerful, but it's not unbreakable," she said quietly. "If something happened to the girl..."
Ice filled my blood as I understood what she was suggesting. "You want me to kill her?"
"I want you to take back what's rightfully yours," Mother corrected. "That omega has no business being mated to royalty. She'll destroy everything the Stormwind family has built."
Part of me recoiled at the thought of murder. But a bigger part - the part that had spent twenty years dreaming of wearing a Luna crown - whispered that Mother was right.
"How?" I asked.
Mother smiled, and for the first time, I saw the ruthless politician beneath her gentle appearance. "The Trinity Bond only works if all four of them are living and connected. Remove one piece, and the whole thing falls apart."
"But which piece?" I wondered aloud.
"The weakest link," Mother said. "The omega girl who doesn't even understand her own power yet." Through my window, another burst of silver light lit up the forest. Whatever was happening out there was getting worse, and I could feel the pack's fear building with each magical blast.
"There's something else," Mother continued. "The magical signals coming from the forest aren't just from the Trinity Bond. There's something much older and more dangerous involved."
"What do you mean?"
"Moon Wolf magic," she whispered. "The kind that hasn't been seen for ages. If that girl really is what I think she is..."
"What is she?" I asked.
"Royalty," Mother said. "Not pack royalty - magical royalty. The kind that could command every monster in existence if she wanted to."
Terror and jealousy warred in my chest. It wasn't bad enough that Scarlett had stolen my friends. Now I was supposed to believe she was some kind of magical princess too?
"It's not fair," I whispered, fresh tears running down my face.
"Life rarely is," Mother agreed. "But we can make our own fairness."
She reached into her bag and pulled out a small vial filled with silver liquid. The liquid glowed slightly, and just looking at it made my skin crawl.
"What is that?"
"Liquid silver infused with wolfsbane and null magic," Mother explained. "One drop in her food or drink, and her powers will be totally suppressed. She'll be exposed to any kind of attack."
I took the vial with shaking hands. It was warm to the touch and seemed to pulse with its own beating.
"Where did you get this?"
"From someone who has as much interest in seeing that girl dead as we do," Mother said strangely. "Someone who's been planning this for much longer than we have."
Before I could ask more questions, the door burst open. Father rushed in, his face grim with haste.
"We need to evacuate," he said quickly. "The forest fight is spreading toward the pack house. There are forces out there that could level our entire region."
"What kind of forces?" Mother asked.
"Necromancers. Ancient witches. And something else that even Alpha Magnus is afraid of," Father answered. "We're moving all non-combatants to the underground shelters."
"I'm not hiding," I said firmly, holding the vial tighter. "I'm going to help."
"Absolutely not," Father ordered. "You're too valuable to risk in battle."
But I was already moving toward the door. "That omega is out there, probably scared and confused. She'll need someone to help her understand what's happening."
Father looked proud of my apparent kindness. If only he knew what I was really planning.
"Be careful," Mother said, giving me a serious look. "And remember - sometimes the greatest service we can provide is knowing when to act decisively."
I nodded and slipped the deadly vial into my pocket. One way or another, this nightmare was going to end tonight.
I made it halfway to the trees before I realized I wasn't alone.
Footsteps echoed behind me, too light to be fighters, too purposeful to be refugees. I turned around, expecting to see Mother or another pack member.
Instead, I came face to face with a woman I'd never seen before. She was beautiful in a cold, frightening way, with silver hair and eyes like black holes. Power radiated from her that made my wolf shrink in submission.
"Hello, Vivienne," she said with a smile that promised pain. "My name is Morgana, and I have a proposition for you."
"I don't know who you are," I said, backing away slowly.
"I'm someone who can give you everything you've ever wanted," she responded. "The crown, the power, the princes - all of it can be yours."
"In exchange for what?"
"Help me capture the Moon Wolf princess," Morgana said. "She's more powerful than you know, and she's the key to everything I've been working toward for centuries."
"You want Scarlett too?" I asked.
"I want her blood," Morgana clarified. "Her power. Her energy. And once I have it, I'll have no more need for her actual form."
The promise of revenge sang through my blood like wine. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get close to her," Morgana commanded. "Use that poison your mother gave you, but don't kill her. Just weaken her enough for my magic to take hold."
Ice filled my stomach. "You know about the poison?"
"I'm the one who gave it to your mother," Morgana laughed. "Did you think you were the only one planning the little omega's downfall?"
My world turned sideways. Mother had been working with this creature? How long had they been planning this?
"Once the girl is weakened, bring her to the old cemetery at the edge of your territory," Morgana continued. "I'll be waiting there with the ritual circle already prepared."
"What ritual?"
"The one that will transfer all of her power into you," Morgana said with a predatory smile. "You'll become the most powerful Luna who ever lived, and those princes will have no choice but to worship you."
The offer was everything I'd ever dreamed of and more. Ultimate power, guaranteed love, justice against the girl who'd stolen my future.
But as I looked into Morgana's black eyes, a small voice in my head whispered that this woman was far more dangerous than she appeared.
"Why do you need me?" I asked suspiciously. "If you're so powerful, why not just take her yourself?"
"Because the Trinity Bond protects her," Morgana admitted. "But it doesn't protect her from someone she trusts. Someone who appears to be helping."
Understanding crashed over me like cold water. "You want me to betray her trust."
"I want you to take what should have been yours from the beginning," Morgana clarified. "The choice is yours, Vivienne. You can help me, and become everything you were meant to be. Or you can watch that servant girl live the life that was promised to you."
In the distance, silver light burst again, and I heard the sound of my future slipping away with each magical pulse.
"I'll do it," I whispered.
Morgana's smile grew wider and more frightening. "Excellent. But remember, dear - if you cross me, you'll discover that there are fates much worse than death."
She vanished into the shadows, leaving me alone with my decisions and the poison burning in my pocket.
As I walked toward the forest and my fate, one terrible thought echoed through my mind: What if helping Morgana was the biggest mistake I'd ever make?