Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 33: The Truth Revealed

ARIA POV

I gasped for air as we crashed into the churning water below. The silver light from my skin wrapped around us like a protection bubble, slowing our fall just enough. We hit the water hard, but we were alive.

"Swim!" Lucien shouted as we surfaced.

I clung to Mira, pulling her toward the shore while the triplets fought against the current. Arrows splashed around us. Wolves howled from both riverbanks. We were stuck.

Suddenly, a bright flash of fire erupted on the shoreline, sending our pursuers fleeing. A woman stood there, her hands glowing with flames.

"This way!" she called. "Quickly!"

We swam toward her. As we reached the shore, she threw something that exploded in a cloud of purple smoke, hiding us from the dogs on the other side.

"Follow me," she ordered, already running into the forest.

We stumbled after her, soaking wet and tired. She led us to a secret cave behind a waterfall, gesturing us inside.

Once we were safe, I got my first good look at her. She was older, maybe in her forties, with streaks of silver in her dark hair. But what stopped my heart were her eyes—exactly like Lucien’s.

"Lyra," Lucien said, bowing his head slightly.

The woman—Lyra—ignored him. She walked straight to me, her eyes searching my face.

"You have your mother’s face," she said softly, "but your father’s eyes."

I froze. "You knew my parents?"

"Of course I knew them," Lyra said. "Your mother was my best friend."

"My mother was an Omega," I said, confused.

Lyra laughed, a sharp sound that echoed in the cave. "Is that what they told you? No, child. Your mother was one of the most powerful Alpha females our world has ever known."

My legs went weak. Mira caught me before I fell.

"That’s impossible," I whispered.

"It’s the truth," Lyra said. "They lied to keep you safe."

Kael stepped forward. "Our father lied? About what exactly?"

"About everything," Lyra snapped. "About who Aria is, about the prophecy, about why he killed her parents."

The world turned. "Alpha Darius killed my parents?"

"He ordered the attack," Lyra confirmed. "Your mother managed to hide you first. I found you and put you with a family who would keep your true nature hidden."

"Why?" I demanded, anger rising. "Why would he do that?"

"Because of the prophecy," Jaxon said quietly. "The one about the Moon Alpha."

Lyra nodded. "A child born under the triple moon who would unite the packs and end the rule of corrupt Alphas. Darius couldn’t let that happen."

I remembered the silver light that had protected us during the fall. "That’s what’s happening to me, isn’t it? I’m becoming whatever this Moon Alpha thing is."

"You always were," Lyra said. "It was just dormant until you met these three." She pointed to the triplets.

"Why them?" Mira asked. "What makes them special?"

Lyra walked to a small fire pit in the middle of the cave and lit it with a snap of her fingers. Magic.

"The triplets are guardians," she stated. "Born to protect and increase the Moon Alpha’s power. That’s why you feel linked to all three. It’s not a mate bond—it’s much older and more powerful than that."

"So none of them is my true mate?" I asked, my heart sinking for reasons I couldn’t explain.

"I didn’t say that," Lyra answered with a small smile. "The guardian bond doesn’t prevent a mate link. It just complicates things."

I looked at the boys. Kael stood stiff, processing everything. Jaxon paced like a caged animal. Lucien watched me carefully, his eyes full of something I couldn’t name.

"This changes nothing," Kael stated. "We still need to perform the Three Moons ceremony before the blood moon."

"It changes everything," Lyra replied. "The ceremony would limit Aria’s power forever. She would never meet her destiny."

"Better that than all of us dying!" Jaxon argued.

"There’s another way," Lyra said. "A ritual that would complete the guardian bonds without sacrificing Aria’s power."

"What ritual?" Lucien asked, speaking for the first time since we’d entered the cave.

"The Awakening," Lyra said. "It would fully activate Aria’s abilities and strengthen your bonds, making them impossible to break."

"What’s the catch?" I asked, knowing there had to be one.

Lyra’s face turned grave. "It takes blood from all four of you, performed at the exact moment of the blood moon. And... it’s dangerous. If it fails, you all die."

"Great options," I muttered. "Die or possibly die."

"You’re forgetting the third option," Mira said. "We could run. Leave the land completely."

"They would hunt us forever," Kael said.

"And the bonds would still be at risk," Lucien added.

I stood up, suddenly angry. "So my choices are: give up my fate, risk all our lives in some ancient ritual, or spend my life running? What kind of choices are those?"

"The kind faced by every Moon Alpha before you," Lyra said quietly. "Power comes with sacrifice, Aria."

I turned away, needing space to think. As I moved deeper into the cave, I noticed drawings on the walls—ancient symbols and pictures of wolves surrounded by silver light.

"These are Moon Alphas, aren’t they?" I asked.

Lyra nodded. "The ones who came before you. Some succeeded in combining the packs. Others failed."

"What happened to the ones who failed?"

Lyra’s silence was answer enough.

A howl suddenly echoed outside the cave—too close for comfort.

"They’ve found us," Lucien warned.

"That’s not possible," Lyra said, frightened. "This place is protected by magic."

Another scream, even closer. Then more joining in.

"We need to go," Kael ordered. "Now."

Lyra ran to the back of the cave and pressed her hand against the wall. A piece of stone slid away, revealing another tunnel.

"This leads to the Sacred Grove," she said. "It’s where we’ll perform the ritual."

"We haven’t decided to do the ritual yet!" I protested.

"We’re out of time for decisions," Lyra snapped. "Your enemies are here, and the blood moon rises tonight."

"Tonight?" we all shouted.

"Yes," Lyra agreed. "I tricked you earlier, in case we were being watched. The blood moon is not in three days—it’s in three hours."

The cave opening exploded in a shower of rocks. Alpha Darius stood there, his huge wolf form silhouetted against the waterfall. Behind him were at least twenty pack warriors—and Elira in her human form, smiling wickedly.

"Found you," she purred.

Lyra shoved us toward the open tunnel. "Go! I’ll hold them off!"

"We can’t leave you!" I cried.

"This is my purpose, Moon Alpha," Lyra said, her hands already glowing with fire. "Now fulfill yours."

As we ran into the cave, I heard Alpha Darius’s deep growl and Lyra’s defiant shout. The stone door began to close behind us.

The last thing I saw was Elira stepping forward with a silver knife, her eyes locked on mine as she whispered: "Run all you want, Aria. Your mother ran too. We both know how that ended."