DAX POV
"Don't do it!" I shouted, running full speed toward the burning Alpha house. "Thessaly, don't go with him!"
But I was too late.
Through the shattered window, I watched Thessaly take Thaddeus's hand. White light exploded around them—ancient magic that made my eyes water—and they vanished.
Gone. Our mate was GONE.
And she'd taken the only chance of saving Senna with her.
"NO!" Caspian's roar shook the entire courtyard. He shifted mid-run, his massive gray wolf charging toward where Rowena stood with Senna's unconscious body.
Rowena smiled and slit Senna's throat.
Just like that. Casual. Like she was cutting a piece of fruit.
Blood poured down Senna's neck as Rowena dropped her body and ran.
Everything inside me SHATTERED.
I reached Senna in seconds, my hands pressing against her throat, trying to stop the bleeding. "No, no, no. Stay with me. HEALER! WE NEED THE HEALER!"
But there was so much blood. Too much blood.
Senna's eyes fluttered open. She tried to say something, but only bubbles of blood came out.
"Don't talk," I begged. "Just hold on. Please."
Kieran dropped beside me, his face white with horror. He ripped off his shirt and pressed it against Senna's throat. "Where's the damn healer?"
"The west wing is on fire!" someone shouted. "The healer's rooms are—"
An explosion rocked the Alpha house. The entire west wing collapsed in a shower of flames and debris.
The healer had been inside.
Senna was dying, and the only person who could save her was dead.
"No," I whispered. "This can't— We can't—"
Caspian came racing back in human form, dragging a struggling Rowena by her hair. His eyes were wild with rage. "WHERE DID THEY GO? Where did Thaddeus take Thessaly?"
Rowena laughed, even with Caspian's claws at her throat. "Gone. Forever. Your precious White Wolf chose the REAL royal over you pathetic mutts. She's probably already spreading her legs for him, letting him—"
Caspian punched her so hard I heard bones crack.
Rowena collapsed, unconscious.
"We have to find Thessaly," Lucien said, his voice shaking. "She could be in danger. He could be—"
"Senna's DYING!" I screamed. "We need to save her FIRST!"
Everyone went silent, looking at the girl bleeding out in my arms.
She was Thessaly's best friend. The only person who'd ever been kind to our mate. And we were losing her.
"The mate bond," Kieran said suddenly. "Thessaly can heal through the mate bond. If we call her back—"
"She won't come," Lucien said bitterly. "She hates us. Why would she come back to save anyone for our sake?"
"Not for OUR sake," I said, staring down at Senna's pale face. "For Senna's. Thessaly loves her."
It was our only shot.
All four of us opened the mate bond at once—something we'd been carefully keeping closed because it HURT to feel Thessaly's hatred through it. We threw it wide open and SCREAMED for her.
THESSALY! SENNA'S DYING! PLEASE! WE NEED YOU!
For a horrible moment, nothing happened.
Then white light exploded in the courtyard.
Thessaly appeared out of nowhere, Thaddeus right beside her. She took one look at Senna and dropped to her knees with a sound like her heart was breaking.
"No. No, no, no. SENNA!"
"She slit her throat," I said, my voice cracking. "Rowena killed her. We can't— The healer's dead, and I don't know how to—"
"Move." Thessaly shoved me aside and pressed her hands against Senna's throat.
Her eyes blazed pure white. Power poured out of her in waves that made the air shimmer.
"You don't get to die," Thessaly said, tears streaming down her face. "You're my SISTER, Senna. The only person who ever loved me. You don't get to leave me. DO YOU HEAR ME? I won't let you!"
White light flowed from Thessaly's hands into Senna's wound.
The bleeding slowed. Then stopped. The torn flesh started knitting back together, healing impossibly fast.
Senna gasped, her eyes flying open.
"There you are," Thessaly sobbed. "There's my girl. Stay with me. Just stay with me."
Within minutes, Senna's throat was completely healed. Not even a scar.
Thessaly collapsed forward, exhausted. Thaddeus caught her before she hit the ground.
"Easy, my queen," he murmured. "That kind of healing takes enormous power. You need to rest."
"I'm fine." Thessaly pushed him away weakly. She looked at Senna, who was crying and touching her healed throat in wonder. "You're okay?"
"You saved me," Senna whispered. "You came back and you saved me."
"Always," Thessaly said fiercely. "I'll always come back for you."
Then she looked at us—me, Caspian, Lucien, and Kieran. The hatred in her eyes made my wolf whimper.
"Where's Rowena?"
"Unconscious," Caspian said, pointing to the Luna's crumpled form. "But alive. I wanted you to decide what to do with her."
Thessaly stood slowly. She walked over to Rowena and stared down at the woman who'd tormented her for seventeen years. Who'd just tried to murder her best friend.
"Wake her up," Thessaly said quietly.
Lucien threw water on Rowena's face. She sputtered awake, her eyes going wide when she saw Thessaly standing over her.
"You tried to poison me," Thessaly said, her voice eerily calm. "You burned down the Alpha house. You murdered the healer. And you slit my best friend's throat."
Rowena spat blood. "You're a FREAK. An abomination. You don't deserve to live."
"Maybe," Thessaly agreed. "But I'm alive anyway. And you're not."
She raised one hand. White light gathered around her fingers.
"Thessaly, wait—" I started.
"She has the right," Thaddeus interrupted, his silver eyes cold. "Royal law. Anyone who attempts to murder a Lunaris heir faces execution. No trial. No mercy."
Thessaly looked at him. "I know."
Then she looked back at Rowena. For a long moment, I thought she'd actually do it. Kill Rowena right there in front of everyone.
Instead, she lowered her hand.
"Death is too easy for you," Thessaly said. "You're going to live. You're going to watch me take everything you ever had. The pack's respect. The Luna title. Your stepsons' loyalty. Everything. And you're going to know that you did this to yourself."
She turned to Alpha Thorne, who'd been standing silently in the shadows. "She's YOUR mate. You deal with her. But if she comes near me or Senna again, I won't be merciful twice."
The Alpha nodded, his face carved from stone. "She'll be exiled. Permanently."
"Good." Thessaly swayed, clearly exhausted from healing Senna.
Thaddeus steadied her. "Come. You need rest. I'll take you somewhere safe."
"No." Thessaly pulled away from him too. "I'm staying here. Senna needs me."
"Senna is healed," Thaddeus argued. "You're in danger. Rowena wasn't the only threat. There are others who want you dead."
"Then they can come for me." Thessaly's eyes blazed. "I'm done running. I'm done hiding. This is MY pack now. And anyone who has a problem with that can face me directly."
She started walking toward what was left of the Alpha house.
All four of us followed like pathetic puppies.
She stopped and turned, glaring at us. "What do you want?"
"To protect you," Caspian said quietly.
"I don't need your protection."
"We know," I said. "But we need to give it anyway. Please, Thessaly. Let us help."
She laughed bitterly. "Now you want to help. Where were you when I was five years old and terrified? When I was ten and being beaten by pack members? When I was fifteen and wanted to die because I couldn't take the bullying anymore?"
Each word was a knife in my heart.
"We weren't there," Lucien said, his voice breaking. "We SHOULD have been. We should have protected you. Instead, we made everything worse."
"Yes," Thessaly agreed. "You did."
"Let us make it right," Kieran pleaded.
"You can't MAKE it right!" Thessaly shouted. "You can't erase seventeen years of torture! You can't—"
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes going wide.
"Thessaly?" Senna asked nervously. "What's wrong?"
Thessaly pressed a hand to her stomach. Her face went pale.
"No," she whispered. "That's impossible. I can't be—"
Thaddeus inhaled sharply. "You ARE. I can scent it. The change in your body chemistry."
"What?" I demanded. "What's happening?"
Thessaly looked at us, at all four of us, with absolute horror on her face.
"I'm pregnant," she said.
The world stopped.
"With who?" Caspian asked hoarsely.
Thessaly's voice was barely a whisper. "I don't know. It could be any of you. Or..." She looked at Thaddeus. "The White Wolf bond is... different. Stronger. If we—"
"Wait," Lucien interrupted. "You slept with him? Already?"
"NO!" Thessaly said quickly. "I haven't slept with ANYONE! That's why this doesn't make sense!"
Thaddeus smiled slowly. "It makes perfect sense. Mate bonds for royal wolves work differently. The pregnancy manifests from the bond itself. From the soul connection. Not from physical—"
"I'm pregnant from a BOND?" Thessaly looked like she might throw up. "That's insane!"
"That's Lunaris magic," Thaddeus corrected. "And the baby's father..." He inhaled again, his smile widening. "Is one of your five mates. But the bond is too tangled to tell which one."
Thessaly sat down hard on the ground.
She was pregnant. With a mystery baby. From one of five possible fathers.
And she'd known all of us for less than twenty-four hours.
"This can't be happening," she whispered.
But it was.
And from the possessive way all five of us were looking at her—even Thaddeus—it was about to get a whole lot more complicated.