Kaia's POV
You're not staying with him.
Darius's voice cuts through the chamber like a blade. He's glaring at Theron with barely contained violence, muscles coiled tight enough to snap.
And why not? Theron counters smoothly, leaning against the wall with infuriating casualness. My territory has the best security, the most resources, and actual civilization instead of frozen wasteland.
Your territory has vipers in every corner waiting to stab you in the back, Darius snarls. She needs protection, not politics.
She needs both, you brute.
I rub my temples, exhausted. We've been arguing for twenty minutes about where I'll stay during the thirty-day deadline. Each Alpha insists his territory is the only safe option. Each one refuses to let me go with the others.
The mate bond thrums with their competing emotions—possessiveness, jealousy, and underneath, genuine concern for my safety.
What about the West? I suggest. Caelan's territory has magic. Maybe—
The West is too isolated, Theron interrupts. If the Council moves against us, you'd be trapped.
The North is a fortress, Darius argues. My warriors are the best in existence. Nobody gets through my borders.
Your borders are also three days' travel from anywhere civilized, Theron counters. She needs access to information, allies, political leverage—
She needs to stay alive, not play court games!
ENOUGH! My Omega power cracks out, silencing them both. The marks on their skin flare in response, and I feel their wolves submit reluctantly. I'm not a prize you're fighting over. I'm a person. And I'll decide where I stay.
All three Alphas stare at me—Darius with grudging respect, Theron with intrigued assessment, Caelan with that knowing smile that says he saw this coming.
So decide, Darius challenges. Where will you go?
The question feels like a trap. Choose one territory and the other two Alphas will feel rejected. The bond is too new, too fragile. I can't afford to damage it before we figure out how to survive this.
Neutral territory, I say firmly. Somewhere that doesn't belong to any of you. Somewhere safe where we can all
The chamber doors burst open.
Sienna stumbles in, wild-eyed and breathing hard. Her clothes are torn, blood on her hands.
Kaia! She gasps. Thank the Goddess, I've been looking everywhere
I'm across the room in seconds. What happened? Are you hurt?
Not my blood. She grabs my shoulders, face pale. It's your stepmother. Moira. She's at the Council headquarters right now, filing formal accusations against you.
My stomach drops. What kind of accusations?
Everything. She's claiming you used dark magic to force the triple marking. That you're not really an Omega but some kind of demon pretending to be one. That you murdered your father years ago and she has proof. Sienna's hands shake. She's calling for your immediate execution, Kaia. She wants you dead before the thirty days are up.
The room spins.
That's insane, Theron says sharply. The Council already acknowledged the marks are legitimate
She has witnesses, Sienna interrupts. Wolves from your old pack willing to testify that you were always 'strange and dangerous.' That you threatened Moira and Lyanna multiple times. She's building a case that you're too unstable to live.
Rage burns through me, hot and vicious. She's lying. About all of it.
I know. But she's convincing. Half the Council is already listening. Sienna's voice drops. And there's more. She's offered a bounty—fifty thousand gold to any wolf who brings you to her alive. A hundred thousand if you're delivered before the Council can rule on your fate.
Mercenaries, Darius growls. She's hiring mercenaries.
Worse. She's hiring hunters. Sienna meets my eyes. The kind who specialize in killing supernatural creatures. The kind who don't care about pack law or Council authority.
Horror floods through me. She really wants me dead that badly?
She's terrified of what you've become, Caelan says quietly. An Omega is dangerous enough. But one bonded to three Alphas? You could destroy everything she's built.
Good, I snap. Let me destroy her first.
Not if she kills you, Theron points out coldly. Right now, you're vulnerable. The awakening drained you. You don't know how to use your powers properly. And every wolf with a debt to pay or a greedy heart will be hunting you.
He's right, and I hate it.
So what do we do? I ask, hating how small my voice sounds.
We take you somewhere safe, Darius says immediately. My territory. My warriors. Nobody gets through
They don't need to get through if they're already inside, Theron counters. Moira will send assassins, not armies. They'll slip past your borders and strike when you're sleeping.
Then the East
Is full of nobles who'd sell her out for political favor. Don't pretend otherwise.
They start arguing again, voices rising, testosterone and Alpha dominance filling the chamber with dangerous tension.
Through the bond, I feel their fear. Real, bone-deep fear—not for themselves, but for me. They just found their mate and now someone's trying to kill her.
The realization steadies me somehow.
Caelan, I say quietly. You've seen futures. What happens if I go North? East? West?
His purple eyes glow as visions flicker across them. North, assassins breach the walls on day twelve. You survive but Darius nearly dies protecting you. East, poison in your wine on day eight. Theron stops it but makes enemies who strike later. West, magical attack on day fifteen. I stop it but it alerts the Council to our location.
So everywhere is dangerous, I summarize.
Yes. But there's one place I don't see clearly. He focuses on me. A place warded so heavily even my visions can't penetrate. The safe house Theron mentioned earlier. Neutral territory, protected by ancient magic, unknown to most of the wolf world.
Theron straightens. You want to use the Haven?
What's the Haven? I ask.
A fortress hidden in neutral territory, Theron explains. Built a thousand years ago by the last triple-marked Omega. It's warded against scrying, tracking, and magical assault. Only those with Omega blood can find it.
My heart skips. The last Omega lived there?
Before the war, yes. The wards are still active, maintained by ancient magic. Theron's silver eyes gleam. If you can access it, we'd have a defensible position.
And we'd all be together, Caelan adds. Under one roof. Learning to work as a unit.
That's a terrible idea, Darius growls. Three rival Alphas in close quarters? We'll kill each other.
Or we'll learn to cooperate, I snap. Because right now, cooperation is the only thing keeping us alive. Moira wants me dead. The Council wants me to choose. And apparently half the supernatural world wants to collect a bounty on my head. We're stronger together than apart.
Silence.
Darius looks like he wants to argue, but through the bond I feel his wolf's reluctant agreement. His mate is right. He hates it, but she's right.
Fine, he finally grinds out. The Haven. But I'm bringing my Beta and a security team.
I'm bringing advisors and information networks, Theron adds.
And I'm bringing Isolde, Caelan says. My seer-cousin. She can help train Kaia's Omega abilities.
Sienna comes too, I insist. She's my friend. I need someone who isn't an Alpha male with control issues.
Fair, Theron allows, lips twitching.
Sienna grins despite everything. Does this mean I get to watch three Alphas fight over you for thirty days? Because that sounds entertaining.
It sounds like a nightmare, I mutter.
Agreed, all three Alphas say simultaneously, then glare at each other for agreeing.
This is going to be the longest thirty days of my life.
How do we get to the Haven? I ask Theron.
I'll arrange transport. We leave in two hours—before Moira's hunters can mobilize. He's already moving, pulling out his phone, snapping orders. Pack light. Bring weapons. And someone find Priestess Selene—I need those wards explained before we—
A howl splits the night.
Then another. And another.
Dozens of howls, surrounding the temple.
They're here, Caelan says quietly, his eyes glowing with vision-sight. The hunters. They moved faster than expected.
Darius is already shifting, his black wolf emerging with a snarl of rage. Through the windows, I see torches in the forest. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
How many? Theron demands.
Too many, Sienna whispers, face pale. Kaia, I'm sorry, I thought we had more time
It's not your fault. I move to the window, my heart pounding. The hunters are closing in, a ring of fire and steel and wolves eager for gold.
We fight our way out, Darius growls in his wolf form.
We'll be slaughtered, Theron counters. There are hundreds
Then we surrender, Caelan interrupts quietly.
Everyone turns to stare at him.
Surrender? Darius snarls. Have you lost your mind?
Not surrender to them. Surrender to her. Caelan's purple eyes fix on me. You're an Omega, Kaia. You can command wolves. All wolves. Even hunters who are just following orders for gold.
I can't control that many at once, I protest. Earlier I barely managed seventy
Earlier you were newly awakened and untrained. Now you have three Alpha bonds feeding you power. He steps closer. We can amplify you. Channel our strength through the mate bond. Together, we're strong enough.
You want to use me as a weapon, I say slowly.
I want to use you as what you are—the most powerful Omega in a thousand years. His smile is fierce. Show them why triple-marked mates are legendary.
Through the bond, I feel Darius's savage approval and Theron's calculating agreement. They're ready. Willing to pour their power into me.
The hunters are at the temple gates now. I hear shouting, smell smoke.
If this doesn't work— I begin.
It will, all three Alphas say together.
And through the bond, I feel their absolute certainty. Their faith in me. Their willingness to trust a mate they've known for less than a day.
Okay. I take a deep breath, reaching for the Omega power sleeping in my bones. Let's show them what happens when you hunt the wrong wolf.
I close my eyes and open the bonds wide, pulling power from all three Alphas at once.
Darius's brutal strength floods into me like a tidal wave.
Theron's sharp intelligence sharpens my focus to a razor's edge.
Caelan's ancient magic wraps around everything, amplifying it beyond mortal limits.
The power builds and builds until my skin glows silver-white, until the very air crackles with energy, until I'm not just Kaia anymore—I'm something ancient and terrible and divine.
I open my eyes, and they're glowing pure silver.
Come on then, I whisper, voice echoing with Omega authority. Let's see who's really the hunter here.
The temple doors explode inward.
And two hundred wolves with weapons and greed in their hearts pour inside, ready to claim their bounty.
They have no idea what's waiting for them.