Nora's POV
The guards' hands are too tight on my arms as they drag me toward the Council building. My feet barely touch the ground. Behind me, I hear snarling—both alphas fighting against the wolves holding them back.
Let her GO! Kael's voice is pure fury.
You have no right to touch her! Dane adds, his tone deadly calm but somehow more terrifying.
Through the twin bonds pulsing in my chest, I feel their rage like fire burning under my skin. It makes my wolf stir for the first time in years—a creature I thought was too weak and broken to ever wake up.
She's not weak anymore. She's furious.
But the guards don't care. They shove me through heavy wooden doors into a circular room lit by torches. The Werewolf Council sits in a half-circle of tall chairs, looking down at me like I'm something dirty they found on their shoes.
Elder Magda sits in the center, her wrinkled face twisted with disgust.
Bring in the alphas, she commands. Separately.
More guards drag Kael in from one door and Dane from another. They're kept on opposite sides of the room, both straining against the wolves holding them. Their eyes glow—Kael's silver, Dane's gold—and the air crackles with their combined power.
I'm left standing alone in the middle, trembling and lost.
Nora Ashwood, Magda's voice echoes through the chamber. Do you understand what you've done?
I, I didn't do anything, I stammer. The bond just
SILENCE! She slams her hand on the armrest. You do not speak unless given permission. You are unmated property of Silverclaw Pack, and you will show respect to this Council.
Property. The word hits me like a slap.
She's not property, Dane says, his voice tight with controlled anger. She's a person.
She's MY mate, Kael adds, pulling against the guards. And you have no authority over her.
Magda's laugh is cold. Ancient law gives us authority over ALL wolves, Alpha Blackwood. Both of you. Her gaze sweeps between the twins. And ancient law is very clear about twin bonds.
She pulls out a massive old book, its pages yellowed with age. When she opens it, I see words written in the old language—the kind used before modern packs, before the territories were divided.
Twin bonds are abominations, Magda reads aloud. They corrupt the natural order, create jealousy between co-mates, and lead to civil war. Any wolf who forms a twin bond must choose one mate within thirty days. The rejected bond must be severed. The rejected mate will die as the Moon Goddess intended—slowly, painfully, as punishment for the unnatural connection.
The words hang in the air like poison.
Die slowly. Painfully.
I look at Kael, then at Dane. Through the bonds, I feel their emotions—fury, fear, possessiveness. They're both terrified, but they're hiding it behind alpha dominance.
That law is outdated, Dane argues, his strategic mind already working. Ancient twin alphas shared their mates. There's historical precedent
There's historical CHAOS, Magda interrupts. Every twin bond in recorded history ended in bloodshed. Brothers killing each other over a woman. Packs torn apart by jealousy. The law exists to prevent that destruction.
Then we'll be different, Kael growls. Change the law.
The law does not change for individual wolves. Magda closes the book with a heavy thud. Especially not for an abomination.
She's not an abomination! both twins shout at the same time, then glare at each other for the jinx.
Magda ignores them and looks directly at me. You have a choice, girl. Choose one mate and live. Or refuse to choose, and watch both alphas die when we sever the bonds by force.
My throat closes up. I can't breathe.
Choose one. Kill the other.
What if My voice comes out broken and small. What if I reject both bonds? What if I choose neither?
The Council chamber goes silent.
Then you die too, Magda says simply. A rejected mate bond kills both parties. If you reject both twins, all three of you will be dead within weeks.
There's no escape. No way out. No matter what I choose, someone dies.
This is insane, Dane says, his charm cracking to show real desperation underneath. We can make this work. Let us share her as ancient law once allowed
Ancient law FORBIDS twin bonds! Magda's voice rises. I was there thirty years ago when the last twin bond tore apart the Redmoon Pack. Three hundred wolves died in the civil war that followed. Families destroyed. Children orphaned. All because two brothers couldn't share their mate without jealousy and violence consuming them.
She leans forward, her eyes hard. I will NOT allow that destruction to happen again.
We're not them, Kael argues, but his voice lacks its usual confidence.
You're EXACTLY like them, Magda counters. Twin alphas who hate each other, bonded to the same woman. How long before jealousy makes you tear each other apart? How long before you drag your packs into war over her?
I want to speak. Want to defend myself, to argue, to do ANYTHING. But my voice won't work. I'm frozen, terrified, drowning in the weight of this impossible choice.
Through the bonds, I feel Kael's rage building to explosive levels. I feel Dane's mind racing, searching desperately for a solution that doesn't exist.
And I feel something else—something neither alpha is saying out loud.
They're both thinking the same thing: Better him dead than me.
The realization breaks something inside me.
The Council has reached its verdict, Magda announces. Nora Ashwood, you have thirty days from tonight to choose your mate. Choose wisely, choose quickly, and choose FINAL. On the thirtieth day, you will declare your choice before this Council. The rejected bond will be severed, and the rejected mate will die as the law demands.
No, I whisper.
The alternative is death for all three of you, Magda continues as if I haven't spoken. The choice is yours.
Guards move forward to separate us again. Kael explodes into action, throwing off the wolves holding him. Dane moves at the same time, both of them trying to reach me.
Don't touch her! Kael snarls.
She needs protection! Dane adds.
But there are too many guards. They drag the alphas toward separate exits, and I'm left standing alone in the center of the Council chamber.
That's when it happens.
Both alphas throw their heads back and HOWL.
The sound is identical—perfectly synchronized despite years of separation. Two wolves crying out in unison, and the harmony of it shakes the building to its foundation. Windows rattle. Torches flicker. And every wolf in the chamber feels the power of it resonating in their bones.
They're brothers. True twins. Two halves of one whole.
And I have to choose which half dies.
Elder Magda stands, her expression unmoved by the haunting howls. Take her back to her family for one week of preparation. After that, she'll be moved to neutral territory where both alphas can court her properly.
No, I manage to say. Please, not back there
SILENCE. Magda's voice is final. You are dismissed.
Guards grab my arms again, hauling me toward the doors. I look back desperately at Kael and Dane, but they're being dragged in opposite directions, still fighting, still howling.
The bonds stretch between us like golden threads pulled too tight.
Outside, a familiar carriage waits. My stomach drops.
Lyanna sits inside, her smile sharp and venomous as the guards shove me in beside her. My stepsisters are there too, looking at me with pure hatred.
You ruined EVERYTHING, Lyanna hisses as the carriage starts moving. Do you have any idea what you've done? The shame you've brought on this family?
I didn't—
Her hand cracks across my face so hard I taste blood.
Seven days, she says softly, her voice more frightening than her shout. I have you for seven more days before those alphas take you away. And I'm going to make sure you remember exactly what happens to ungrateful wretches who embarrass me.
The carriage stops in front of the house I've always hated. The place where I've suffered for twenty years.
Lyanna grabs my hair and drags me inside. My stepsisters follow, giggling.
The door slams shut behind us.
I hear the lock click.
And through the twin bonds burning in my chest, I feel both alphas roaring with fury—too far away to help, too powerful to ignore, and both absolutely determined to claim me.
Choose one.
Kill the other.
Thirty days.
But first, I have to survive seven days in hell.
Lyanna's smile widens as she pulls a leather belt from the wall.
Let's begin your preparation, shall we?