Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 65: The Exiled One

ARIA POV

The stranger avoided Kael’s attack, moving with shocking speed for someone his age. His silver-streaked hair whipped around as he spun, catching Kael’s arm and flipping him to the ground without even shifting into wolf form.

"STOP!" I shouted, stepping between them before Jaxon could leap in. "Let him speak!"

The pack members who had gathered in the clearing grumbled angrily. This unknown wolf had walked straight into our territory during our emergency meeting about Lucien’s howl and the coming First Wolf.

"My name is Thorne Blackwood," the stranger stated, his voice carrying across the clearing. "And I’ve come for my daughter."

His eyes—amber like mine—fixed directly on me.

"Liar!" Kael growled, climbing to his feet. "Her father is controlling the First Wolf. We all saw him."

The man—Thorne—shook his head. "The man you saw is my brother, Darius. Not her father."

My head spun. The First Wolf’s roar still echoed in the distance. Lucien’s howl had gone quiet. And now this stranger was pretending to be my father?

"Prove it," I ordered, stepping closer.

Thorne pulled up his sleeve, showing a birthmark shaped like a crescent moon—identical to the one on my shoulder that I’d had since birth.

"Twenty years ago, I was banished from this pack," he stated. "Not because I challenged my brother for Alpha, as everyone was told, but because I found what he was doing with human scientists. They were playing with wolf DNA even back then."

"If you’re my father," I said, my voice shaking, "then who is my mother?"

"Luna Selene," Thorne answered softly.

Gasps spread through the pack. Luna Selene had been Alpha Darius’s mate—my mother, or so I’d always thought.

"That’s impossible," I whispered.

"Nothing is impossible with the Moon Goddess," Thorne said. "Selene and I were true mates, but she was promised to Darius. We met in secret. When she became pregnant, Darius learned the truth. He exiled me, threatening to kill you if I ever returned. Selene died giving birth to you."

"I don’t believe you," I said, but doubt crept into my heart. It would explain so much—why Darius had always treated me like I was nothing, why I never felt like I belonged.

"We need to focus on Lucien and the First Wolf," Kael interrupted. "This man could be working with Elder Malin."

"I’ve spent twenty years fighting the Broken Moon cult," Thorne argued. "I came back because the final part of their plan has begun. They’ve woken the First Wolf, and now they need Aria’s blood to open the seven doors."

"We already know this," Jaxon said suspiciously.

"But do you know that the ritual requires the blood of the father, too?" Thorne challenged. "If I am Aria’s father—her true father—then my blood mixed with hers could close the doors forever instead of opening them."

I stared at him, trying to see myself in his features. The same golden eyes. The same marking. Could it be true?

"There’s one way to know for sure," I decided. "A blood test."

"This will only take a few minutes," Dr. Lena said, our pack’s healer and only member with current medical training. She had drawn blood from both me and Thorne.

We waited in her lab, the anxiety thick enough to cut with a knife. Kael paced uncomfortably while Jaxon leaned against the wall, watching Thorne with narrowed eyes.

"If you are my father," I finally asked, "why come back now? After all these years?"

"I tried to return many times," Thorne said softly. "Each time, Darius sent killers. I had to stay away to keep you safe. But when I felt the First Wolf wake... I knew I couldn’t hide anymore."

"Felt it?" I repeated. "How could you feel it?"

"The Blackwood bloodline links us to ancient magic, Aria. My father told me stories about our ancestors who could spirit walk, who could feel when great forces stirred in the world. " Just like I had been doing without realizing it. Another piece that fit.

"And Lucien?" I asked, my heart hurting at the thought of him. "Is he really with them?"

"Lucien was captured three days ago," Thorne admitted. "I saw it happen. He was trying to destroy the sacred book when they caught him. Elder Malin has been planning this for decades. He needed the triplets and you to finish the Blood Moon ritual. That’s why he arranged events to bring you together."

"So Lucien isn’t a traitor," I whispered, relief washing over me.

"No," Thorne stated. "From what I observed, he loves you truly."

My eyes darted to Kael, who looked away quickly. My feelings were still a jumbled mess, but knowing Lucien was innocent changed everything.

"But why would Elder Malin want to open these doors?" Jaxon asked.

"Power," Thorne said simply. "When the seven doors open, the barrier between our world and the spirit world will fall. Those with Blackwood blood could control spirits—force them into bodies, creating an army that’s neither dead nor living. That’s what the human-wolf hybrids really are—spirits pushed into modified bodies."

A chill ran down my spine. "And my—and Darius? What does he get out of this?"

"Immortality," Thorne spat. "Elder Malin promised him the power of the First Wolf. A lie, of course. The ritual will destroy Darius, using his false claim to your family as a sacrifice."

Dr. Lena returned, her face serious as she looked at the results on her tablet.

"Well?" I prompted when she stayed silent.

"It’s... complicated," she said. "You’re definitely related, but..."

"But what?" I asked.

"The match isn’t father-daughter," she added. "It’s more like... siblings."

The room went quiet.

"That’s impossible," Thorne whispered. "Unless..."

A howl tore through the night—not Lucien’s, but something deeper, more primitive. The First Wolf was getting closer.

"We need to go," Kael pushed. "Whatever this means, we can figure it out later."

"No," I said, finally understanding. "This changes everything."

I turned to Thorne. "If we’re siblings, and you’re Darius’s brother, then Darius really is my father."

"No," Thorne shook his head furiously. "I was with Selene. I know—"

"Or," I interrupted, a terrible thought forming, "Selene was never my mother."

The lab door burst open. One of our scouts ran in, bleeding from a gash on his forehead.

"They’re here! The Broken Moon group, with Elder Malin leading them. And they have Lucien!"

As we rushed outside, I saw them at the edge of our territory—at least fifty wolves with the broken moon sign painted on their fur. Elder Malin stood at the front with my father—with Darius—beside him.

And kneeling before them, beaten and chained, was Lucien.

But my eyes were pulled to the woman standing next to Elder Malin—a woman with my exact face, only older, with eyes that glowed an unnatural red.

"Hello, daughter," she called, her voice chillingly familiar. "It’s time you learned the truth about who you really are."

The woman who looked exactly like me smiled, showing fangs that were too long, too sharp.

"Your mother can’t wait to meet you."