Sage's POV
The silver wolf speaks with a voice like honey and poison.
Your father sends his regards, little Omega.
Before I can process those words, Kael moves. He shifts midleap human to wolf in a heartbeat and slams into the intruder. They crash through the opposite wall in a explosion of stone and snarls.
Damon and Ryder shift instantly, flanking me as more wolves pour through the broken window. Five. Ten. Too many.
Stay behind us! Ryder growls, his wolf form massive and golden-brown.
But I can't move. Can't breathe. Can't think past those impossible words.
Your father.
I don't have a father. Never had one. The foster system said I was abandoned as a baby, found alone and covered in blood.
But the silver wolf said
A rogue lunge at me. Damon intercepts, jaws closing around its throat. Blood sprays across white snow outside the window.
This is real. This is happening. And I'm completely useless.
The fight is brutal and fast. My three Alphas move like they've fought together forever perfectly coordinated despite supposedly being enemies. Within minutes, the attackers are dead or fleeing.
Kael drags the silver wolf back through the hole in the wall by its throat. He shifts back to human, naked and covered in blood, holding the wolf down with one hand.
Talk, Kael commands. Who sent you?
The silver wolf shifts too becoming a man with silver hair and scarred face. He's laughing even as Kael's hand crushes his windpipe.
Marcus Steel sends his greetings, the man rasps. And a message for the Omega: your father wants you home.
I don't have a father! I shout.
The man's smile is vicious. Oh, but you do, little one. Marcus Steel Alpha of the Bloodstone pack. The wolf who loved your mother before she betrayed him. The wolf whose heart broke when she chose three other Alphas instead of him. The wolf who watched her die and has been searching for you ever since.
Ice floods my veins. You're lying.
Am I? The man coughs blood. Why do you think your mother was killed? She tried to bond with three Alphas something forbidden, something deadly. The ritual failed. Everyone died except you. And Marcus has spent twenty years hunting for his daughter.
Enough, Kael snarls, and snaps the man's neck.
Silence crashes down.
I stare at the body. At the blood. At my three Alphas watching me with expressions I can't read.
Is it true? My voice cracks. Is Marcus Steel my father?
Damon shifts back to human, his dark eyes sad. We don't know. Maybe. Your mother's history is complicated.
Complicated? Hysteria bubbles up. My mother tried to bond with three Alphas and everyone died! And you want me to do the same thing?
We want you to bond with ONE, Kael corrects harshly. That's the prophecy. That's what's safe.
Safe? I laugh wildly. Nothing about this is safe! You kidnapped me, told me I'm some magical creature, said I have to choose between you or millions die, and now I find out my father is some psycho Alpha who's been hunting me for twenty years!
Ryder shifts back, wrapping a blanket around his waist. Sage, breathe
Don't tell me to breathe! I'm shouting now, backing away from all of them. Don't tell me anything! You've been lying to me since the moment we met!
We haven't lied, Damon says carefully. We just didn't tell you everything
That's the same thing! Tears burn my eyes. Get out. All of you. NOW!
Kael opens his mouth to argue. I feel something inside me explode pure rage and terror and power mixing into something unstoppable.
Light erupts from my body. Silver light that sends all three Alphas flying backward. They slam into walls, pinned by invisible force.
I stare at my glowing hands in horror.what did I do?
Omega power, Ryder gasps, struggling against the force holding him. You're manifesting.
The light grows brighter. I can't control it. Can't stop it. It's pouring out of me like a flood, and I'm drowning in it.
Sage, calm down! Kael commands. You'll hurt yourself!
But I can't calm down. Can't stop. The power builds and builds until I'm screaming
A hand touches my face. Gentle. Warm.
The door has opened. An old woman stands there, her silver hair glowing with its own light. She places her palm on my cheek and whispers words in that language from my dreams.
The power drains away instantly. I collapse, and Ryder catches me before I hit the ground.
Who I start.
Nova, the woman says softly. The witch who hid you twenty-five years ago. And we need to talk, child. Because everything you've been told is only part of the truth.
She looks at the three Alphas with disapproval. You didn't tell her about the complete prophecy, did you?
There's more? I whisper.
Nova's smile is sad. Oh, little Omega. There's so much more. And most of it, these three Alphas don't want you to know.
Kael's face goes hard. Nova, don't
She deserves the truth, Nova interrupts. She turns back to me, and her next words shatter my world again.
The prophecy everyone knows says you'll bond with one Alpha. But that's the shortened version the safe version. The complete prophecy, written in the old tongue, gives you two choices.
My breath stops. Two choices?
Yes. You can bond with one Alpha in the traditional way, bringing unity through singular power. Safe but limited. Nova's eyes gleam. Or you can attempt what your mother tried the Trial of Three. Bonding with all three Alphas simultaneously through an ancient ritual.
But my mother died trying that, I say numbly.
She did. And so did the three Alphas she attempted to bond with. Nova's voice gentles. The Trial of Three has never been completed successfully in all of history. Every Omega who tried it died in agony, along with their mates. The power is too much for any one person to control.
Then why are you telling me this? Horror fills me. Why would I even consider
Because, Nova says quietly, if the ritual succeeds if you survive it the power you and your three Alphas would create together could do more than stop a war. It could reshape the entire supernatural world. End centuries of violence. Create peace that lasts forever.
She lets that sink in. One Alpha saves the territories. Three Alphas save the world. But the cost of failure is death for all of you.
I look at Kael, Damon, and Ryder. They're staring at Nova with a mix of fury and fear.
You knew about this? I demand. All of you knew there was another option and didn't tell me?
Because it's suicide, Kael says flatly. We're not letting you die for a prophecy.
That's not your choice! I snap.
It is when we're the ones who'd die with you, Damon argues.
Ryder steps forward, his golden eyes intense. Sage, please. The traditional bond is enough. We don't need
A howl splits the air. Then another. Then dozens a chorus of hunting cries surrounding the fortress.
Nova's face goes pale. Marcus brought his entire army. He's not here to talk. He's here to take you by force.
Kael moves to the window and goes very still. There are hundreds of them.
We can't fight that many, Damon says grimly. Not and protect her.
Ryder turns to me, desperation in his eyes. We need to run. Now. Before
The ceiling explodes.
A massive wolf drops through bigger than any I've seen, with black fur and eyes that glow red like burning coals. When it shifts, the man standing there makes my blood run cold.
He's older, scarred, with silver streaks in his dark hair. And when he smiles at me, I see my own eyes looking back.
Hello, daughter, Marcus Steel says. I've been searching for you for a very long time.
He takes a step toward me. And now that I've found you, I'm never letting you go.
His hand shoots out impossibly fast and wraps around my throat.
The world goes black.