Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 36: Three Gifts

ARIA POV freewёbnoνel.com

I slammed my hands against the ground, and silver light burst outward like a shock wave. The dark spirit shrieked and fled to the edge of the clearing.

"How did you do that?" Mira gasped.

I shook my head, just as surprised as she was. "I don’t know. I just... felt it."

Luna Elena helped me to my feet. "Your power is getting stronger. But it won’t hold the spirit back for long."

The shadowy figure paced at the tree line, its eyes glowing red in the darkness. Other shapes moved behind it—more ghosts, waiting.

"We need to get back to the pack," Alpha Darius said. His face looked older now, worn with the weight of his secrets. "There are protections there that can hold these spirits at bay."

"You want us to trust you now?" I asked, my voice shaking. "After everything you’ve done?"

"He’s right," Lyra said grudgingly. "The pack grounds have old wards. We’ll be safer there than anywhere else."

I looked at the triplets—my half-brothers. The shock of that truth still hadn’t fully sunk in. How could I have felt a mate bond with Lucien if we shared blood? "It wasn’t a true mate bond," Luna Elena answered, as if reading my thoughts. "The guardian bond can feel similar, especially when you don’t know what you’re feeling."

"Then who is my true mate?" I asked again.

No one answered. The dark spirit laughed, the sound like breaking glass.

"We need to move," Kael said strongly. "Now. Before dawn."

We quickly gathered what little we had. The stone circle was totally broken now, and I could feel my power flickering like a candle in the wind.

"Stay close to me," Lucien said as we prepared to leave.

"I don’t understand anything anymore," I admitted. "Everything I thought I knew was a lie."

"Not everything," he said softly. "We still care about you, Aria. That hasn’t changed."

Before we could head out, Kael approached me with something wrapped in leather.

"Take this," he said, unwrapping a silver dagger with strange symbols on the blade. "It belonged to our grandma. It can hurt both wolves and ghosts."

I took the dagger, shocked by his gift. "Thank you, Kael."

Jaxon stepped forward next. "I have something too." He gave me a small leather pouch on a cord. "It’s a charm that hides your smell. I’ve been working on it for months."

"You knew we might need to run?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I like to be prepared for trouble."

"Because you usually cause it," Lucien said with a small smile.

Lucien reached into his pocket and pulled out a smooth blue stone. "This is a healing stone. It warms when danger is near and can help heal small cuts if you hold it against them."

I took all three gifts, touched by their gestures. "I don’t know what to say."

"Say you’ll stay alive," Kael said simply.

The dark spirit howled, making us all jump. More shadows joined it at the edge of the area.

"Time to go," Alpha Darius growled. He changed into his massive black wolf form.

Luna Elena gestured for us to follow her through a narrow path between the trees—away from the ghosts. Lyra took the lead with a ball of fire in her hand to light the way.

"Stay close," she warned. "The forest is dangerous at night, even without dark spirits."

As we rushed through the trees, I clutched the three gifts from the triplets. The dagger felt warm in my hand, and the charm seemed to pulse against my chest. The healing stone glowed softly blue in my pocket.

Suddenly, all three items started to heat up at once.

"Wait," I called, stopping in my tracks. "Something’s happening."

I pulled out all three things. They were glowing—the knife silver, the charm gold, and the stone blue. As I held them together, the lights began to swirl and merge.

"What’s going on?" Mira asked nervously.

"The guardian gifts," Luna Elena whispered. "They’re connecting."

A beam of light shot from the combined items, forming a path through the forest—a path different from the one we were taking.

"It’s showing us the way," Lucien said in awe.

"The way where?" Jaxon asked.

Alpha Darius growled, clearly not trusting this new development.

"I think..." I paused, feeling a confidence I couldn’t explain. "I think it’s showing us the way to my true mate."

Everyone fell silent.

"That’s impossible," Lyra said finally. "The items couldn’t know that."

"Unless they were meant to," Luna Elena said carefully. "My mother gave Kael that dagger before she died. She was a seer."

The light path pulsed, becoming brighter.

"We should follow it," I decided.

"That’s not the way back to the pack," Alpha Darius growled, changing back to human form. "It’s too dangerous."

"Everything is dangerous right now," I replied. "And I’m tired of running from what I am."

Behind us, the dark spirits’ howls grew closer.

"We don’t have time to argue," Kael said. "We need to decide now."

"I say we follow Aria’s path," Mira voted.

The triplets nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Alpha Darius growled. "But when we’re all dead, remember this was your choice."

We followed the glowing road deeper into the forest. The trees got thicker, older. This part of the woods felt old and alive in a way that made my skin tingle.

"This is the Old Forest," Lyra muttered. "No one comes here anymore."

"For good reason," Alpha Darius added grimly.

The road led us to a clearing with a small cabin. It looked abandoned, with vines growing up the walls and part of the roof caved in. But a faint light glowed from inside.

"Someone’s here," I whispered.

The things in my hands grew almost too hot to hold. The combined light shot forward, hitting the cabin door, which slowly creaked open.

"Aria, wait," Lucien called as I stepped toward the door.

But I couldn’t wait. Something was pulling me forward—a feeling stronger than any I’d felt before.

I walked up to the door and peered inside. A person sat by a small fire, face hidden by shadows. As I stepped over the doorway, the figure looked up.

My breath caught in my throat. Those eyes—I knew those eyes. I’d seen them in my dreams.

"I’ve been waiting for you, Moon Alpha," the stranger said, voice soft but strong.

"Who are you?" I asked, though part of me already knew.

The person stood, stepping into the light. Not much older than me, with features that seemed to shift between male and female, strong and soft.

"I am what remains of the last Moon Alpha," they said. "Your boss. Your guide."

Behind me, I heard the others gasp.

"And," the stranger added with a small smile, "I am your true mate."

The combined light from the gifts burst, filling the cabin with blinding brightness. When it faded, the three things had merged into a single pendant—a silver moon with a golden star and blue stone at its center.

The stranger held out their hand. "Take it. It belongs to you now."

As my fingers closed around the pendant, images flashed through my mind—of power beyond imagining, of packs united, of darkness defeated.

But also of terrible loss.

"I don’t understand," I whispered. "What does this mean?"

"It means you have a choice to make," the stranger said, eyes locked with mine. "Save your family—" they pointed toward the triplets and the others outside, "—or save your kind."

A thunderous howl shook the cabin. The dark spirits had found us.

"Choose now, Aria," the stranger pushed. "They’re coming."