Lyra's POV
Vivienne Ashford looked like she belonged on a magazine cover, not standing in a blood-soaked forest surrounded by shifters who wanted to kill her.
"Vivienne," Finn said, and his voice went cold in a way I'd never heard before. "What are you doing here?"
"Cleaning up loose ends, darling." She smiled at him like they were at a cocktail party instead of a murder scene. "You always were too soft. That's why I left you."
"You left me because I wouldn't help you steal from the Fox Clan treasury," Finn shot back.
Vivienne laughed. "Details. The point is, you're in my way again. And this time, you brought a shiny new Beastcaller for me to play with."
Kael shifted in front of me, protective and furious. "You're working with the Collectors."
"Working for them," Vivienne corrected. "Important distinction. They pay very well for information about Beastcallers. When I heard rumors that Seraphine had a daughter hidden in the human world, I sold that information to them. They sent Marcus. I arranged for the dragon fire spell to be blamed on Riven. Everything went exactly as planned."
"Except I'm still alive," I said, surprised by how steady my voice was. My hands were shaking, but my voice was strong.
Vivienne's ice-blue eyes focused on me. "For now. But that's easily fixed."
She raised her hand, and suddenly there were foxes everywhere. Dozens of them, appearing from the shadows, surrounding us. All in their animal forms, all with teeth bared.
"My personal guard," Vivienne said proudly. "All bonded to me through blood magic. They'll do whatever I command, including tearing apart one little human Beastcaller."
"Blood bonds are illegal," Riven growled. "They're slavery."
"They're effective." Vivienne shrugged. "Now, here's what's going to happen. You're all going to step aside, I'm going to take Lyra through a portal back to the Collectors, and everyone gets to live. Fight me, and my foxes kill you all. Simple."
"You can't open a portal," Finn said. "You're not strong enough."
"I'm not. But he is." Vivienne gestured behind us.
We all turned.
Thorne Ironhide stood there, and he looked different. His eyes were glowing with purple light—the same color as my bond marks. "Sorry, Beastcaller," he rumbled. "Nothing personal. But Vivienne offered me something better than a bond with you."
"What could possibly be better?" Zara snarled.
"Power over all the Bear Clans," Thorne said. "She has artifacts stolen from the ancient Beastcallers. Items that can amplify a shifter's strength a hundredfold. With those, I won't need a bond. I'll be unstoppable."
My heart sank. Thorne had betrayed us before the competition even started.
"You're an idiot," Kael said flatly. "Those artifacts are cursed. They'll burn you from the inside out."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Thorne's massive hands started glowing with purple energy. The air in front of him shimmered, forming into a portal. "Step through, Vivienne. I'll hold them off."
Vivienne walked toward me with confidence. "Come along, Beastcaller. Time to meet your buyers."
I backed up, but there was nowhere to go. Foxes behind me. Portal in front. Thorne blocking the side.
Then Kael did something I didn't expect.
He grabbed my hand and pressed it against his chest, right over his heart. "Bond with me," he said urgently. "Really bond with me. Not the accidental touch from before. Choose me. Give me your power willingly."
"What? How—"
"Beastcaller bonds are strongest when both parties consent," Finn cut in, understanding Kael's plan. "If you bond with him properly right now, the power surge might be enough to fight them off."
"Or it might kill us both," Kael said honestly. "The legends say the first true bonding is like lightning. It could burn us both to ashes. But it's our only chance."
I looked at this man who'd saved me twice. Who'd chosen me over his pack. Who'd torn off Marcus's arm to keep me safe. I barely knew him. But I trusted him more than anyone in my entire life.
"What do I do?" I asked.
"Say you accept the bond. Mean it. And don't let go no matter what happens."
Vivienne was ten feet away now. "How touching. Too bad it won't work. True bonds take hours to form. You have seconds."
"Lyra," Kael said, his ice-blue eyes locked on mine. "Do you accept my bond? Do you choose me as your mate?"
Every instinct screamed this was too fast. Too soon. Too dangerous.
But my heart knew the truth.
"Yes," I said. "I choose you."
The world exploded.
Purple light erupted from both our marks, so bright I couldn't see. Power slammed through me like getting hit by lightning and jumping into fire at the same time. My bones felt like they were breaking and reforming. My blood burned in my veins.
Kael screamed. I screamed.
The bond tore through both of us, connecting us in ways I didn't understand. I felt his pain. His fear. His desperate love for his pack. His guilt over his parents' deaths. His growing feelings for me that he didn't know what to do with.
And he felt me. My heartbreak over Marcus. My terror of this new world. My loneliness from growing up without my mother. My determination to survive no matter what.
We were becoming one person in two bodies.
The light grew brighter, hotter, more intense.
"It's going to kill them!" Zara shouted from somewhere far away.
"Let it," Vivienne said. "Saves me the trouble."
But I wasn't dying. I was transforming.
The power settled into my bones, my blood, my soul. When the light finally faded, I felt different. Stronger. More alive than I'd ever been.
Kael looked at me with wonder. "You did it. We did it."
Our bond marks were no longer just glowing. They were permanent tattoos now—intricate patterns of wolves and vines wrapping around our wrists. Beautiful and unbreakable.
"Impossible," Vivienne breathed. "True bonds don't form that fast."
"They do when the mates are meant to be," Elder Moira said, appearing from the forest with a dozen wolf warriors. "I felt the power surge from the village. A true bond hasn't been formed in fifty years." She looked at Vivienne with cold eyes. "You made a mistake coming here, fox."
Vivienne's confidence cracked. "Thorne, we're leaving. Now."
But Thorne was staring at his hands in horror. The purple energy was spreading up his arms like poison, burning his skin. "What's happening to me?"
"The artifacts," Finn said with grim satisfaction. "I told you they were cursed. Blood magic always demands payment."
Thorne's scream shook the forest. The portal he'd opened collapsed. The purple energy consumed him from the inside, burning brighter and brighter until—
He exploded into ash.
Just... gone. Reduced to nothing in seconds.
Vivienne's face went white. "No. No, that's not how it's supposed to work—"
"Blood magic always takes more than you're willing to give," Moira said. "You should have learned that lesson, child."
Vivienne's fox guards started backing away, sensing the trap their mistress had walked into. Even blood bonds couldn't overcome self-preservation.
"Kill them all," Vivienne ordered desperately.
Her guards didn't move.
"I said KILL THEM!"
One fox shifted into a young man with amber eyes. "The blood bond is broken," he said quietly. "Thorne's death severed the magic. We're free." He looked at Vivienne with hatred. "And you're alone."
Vivienne ran.
She was fast—fox shifters always were—but she wasn't fast enough.
Riven shifted mid-stride, his dragon form blocking her escape. "You blamed me for attacking the wolves. You made me look like a traitor. Give me one reason I shouldn't burn you alive right now."
"Because I have information!" Vivienne screamed. "About the Collectors! About their plans! I'll tell you everything, just don't kill me!"
Riven's crimson eyes studied her. "Talk."
"There are twelve Collectors," Vivienne said quickly. "Twelve humans with enough magic to open portals. They've been hunting Beastcallers for thirty years, draining their blood to make themselves immortal. They've already killed six. Lyra's mother was number seven."
My chest tightened. "Where are they?"
"Everywhere. They have bases in the human world and agents in Feralys. They're planning something big—a final harvest. They want to capture every remaining Beastcaller and drain them all at once. Some kind of ritual."
"How many Beastcallers are left?" Finn asked.
Vivienne looked at me. "After today? Just one."
The weight of her words crashed over me. I was the last Beastcaller. The only one left alive. If the Collectors caught me, my entire bloodline would end.
"Where are the Collectors now?" Kael demanded.
"I don't know," Vivienne admitted. "They move constantly. But I know they're planning to attack Feralys soon. Within days. And when they come, they're bringing an army."
Moira's face was grave. "How many?"
"Two hundred human hunters. All armed with silver weapons. All trained to kill shifters." Vivienne laughed bitterly. "You can't fight them. You can't hide from them. They'll burn the Beastworld to ash to get what they want."
"Then we prepare for war," Riven said grimly.
"War?" Zara looked around at our group. "We barely survived one dragon attack. How are we supposed to fight two hundred trained hunters?"
"We can't," Kael said. "Not alone."
"Then we don't fight alone," Finn said slowly. "We unite the territories. All of them. Every clan, every pack, every pride. We've been divided for decades. But a common enemy changes everything."
"You're suggesting an alliance?" Moira looked skeptical. "The territories haven't united since—"
"Since the last Beastcaller died," Finn finished. "Which is exactly why we need to do it now. Lyra is the last one. If she falls, we all fall. The Collectors won't stop with her. They'll hunt every shifter until we're extinct."
He was right. I could see it in everyone's faces.
"So what do we do?" I asked.
Finn's amber eyes met mine. "We call a Summit. Gather every alpha from every territory. Present you to them not as a prize to fight over, but as the symbol of our survival. Unite them under one cause: protecting the last Beastcaller."
"And if they refuse?" Riven asked.
"Then we're all dead anyway," Finn said simply. "But if they agree..." He smiled. "You'll have an army."
Before anyone could respond, the freed fox shifter stepped forward. "The Summit grounds are sacred neutral territory. No violence is allowed there by ancient law. If you can make it there and call the gathering, the alphas have to come. They have to listen."
"How far is it?" I asked.
"Three days' journey through hostile territory," the fox said. "And the Collectors will be hunting you the entire time. You won't make it."
Kael's hand found mine, our new bond marks warm against each other. "Yes, we will. Because now she's not traveling with one shifter. She's traveling with all of us."
He looked at Riven. At Finn. At Zara. At Elder Moira.
"Anyone who wants to protect her, come with us. Anyone who wants to watch the Beastworld burn, stay here."
No one moved to leave.
"Then it's settled," Kael said. "We leave at dawn. Three days to reach the Summit. Three days to unite the territories." He looked at me. "Three days to save the world."
I wanted to say something brave. Something inspiring.
But all I could think was: three days to survive.
A raven cawed from the treeline. Not a normal raven. This one had purple eyes.
Finn's face went pale. "That's a Collector spy bird. They know where we are."
The raven opened its beak, and a voice came out—cold and human and wrong.
"We're coming for you, Beastcaller. Run as fast as you want. We'll find you. We always do."
The raven exploded into purple smoke.
And in the distance, I heard them coming.
Dogs barking. Engines roaring. Voices shouting in English.
The Collectors' army had arrived.