Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 66: Truth and Lies

ARIA POV

I lunged forward, breaking free from Kael’s controlling grip. My wolf clawed just beneath my skin, begging to be freed, but I kept my human form as I charged toward the woman with my face.

"WHO ARE YOU?" I screamed, stopping just short of the imaginary territory line that separated us from the Broken Moon cult.

The woman’s smile didn’t shift. "My name is Lyra. And unlike that fake behind you," she nodded toward Thorne, "I actually am your mother."

"Impossible," Thorne growled, stepping up beside me. "Selene died giving birth to Aria."

Lyra laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Selene wasn’t her mother. I am. And Darius isn’t her father." She pointed at Darius, who stood quietly beside Elder Malin. "Though he did raise her, thinking she was his. Another of Elder Malin’s clever lies. "

My head spun. Nothing made sense anymore. If neither Darius nor Thorne was my father, and Selene wasn’t my mother, then who was I?

"Enough games," Kael ordered. "Release Lucien!"

Lucien knelt on the ground, bruised and bloody but still aware. His eyes met mine, filled with pain but also purpose.

"He’ll be freed," Elder Malin said smoothly, "when Aria agrees to hear the full truth. Alone."

"Not happening," Jaxon snapped.

I raised my hand, stopping him. "If I come with you, you’ll let him go?"

"Aria, no!" Lucien fought against his chains.

Elder Malin smiled. "You have my word. You and your mother need to talk."

"She’s not my mother," I said, but doubt crept into my voice.

"One hour," I replied. "And you release Lucien the moment I cross the line."

"Deal," Elder Malin agreed too quickly.

"Don’t do this," Thorne begged. "Whatever she tells you will be lies."

I turned back to him. "Like yours weren’t? You claimed to be my father."

Pain flashed across his face. "I truly believed I was."

With a deep breath, I stepped across the territory line. True to their word, they freed Lucien’s chains. He stumbled forward, instantly caught by Kael and Jaxon.

"Don’t trust anything they say," Lucien called to me weakly.

Two cult members grabbed my arms, taking me toward a small clearing where a fire burned. The woman—Lyra—followed, her moves eerily similar to my own.

"Eighteen years ago," Lyra began once we were sat by the fire, "I was the Luna of the Shadow Pack. Our Alpha was strong, but Elder Malin came to us with warnings of a great threat—human scientists making wolf-human hybrids. He convinced us that the only defense was ancient magic."

Elder Malin nodded sagely. "The ritual required the sacrifice of a Luna carrying a female child."

My stomach turned. "You sacrificed a pregnant woman?"

"No," Lyra amended. "I was that Luna, pregnant with you. The ritual didn’t call for death, but for change. My consciousness was split—part of me stayed in my original body, and part was transferred into my unborn child."

"That’s... that’s sick," I whispered.

"It’s survival," Elder Malin maintained. "The human danger was real. But the ritual had an unexpected result. Instead of simply protecting you, it made a unique being—a child with two spirits."

"I don’t believe you," I said, but my voice shook. The strange dreams, the spirit walking, the feeling of being torn between two worlds—it all suddenly made terrible sense.

"Why should I believe anything you say?" I asked. "You’ve been trying to kill me and my pack!"

"No," Lyra shook her head. "We’ve been trying to finish what was started. Don’t you see? You’re special, Aria. You’re the bridge between worlds because you already exist in both."

"What does that even mean?"

Elder Malin leaned forward. "It means that half of your mother’s spirit lives inside you. The other half stayed in her original body, which has been kept alive all these years, waiting for reunification."

"After the ritual," Lyra continued, "you were put with Darius’s pack. Selene had just lost her baby—a stillborn girl. Elder Malin told Darius the baby was his, that Selene had survived. They raised you as their own, never knowing the truth."

"And Thorne?" I asked. "Where does he fit in?"

"Thorne was always the complication," Elder Malin revealed. "He was Selene’s true mate, not Darius. He felt something was wrong with the child, that you weren’t truly theirs. That’s why Darius expelled him—on my advice."

My hands balled into fists. "So my entire life has been a lie? A trick by you?"

"For the greater good," Elder Malin insisted. "The First Wolf is waking because the time has come for worlds to merge. And only you can decide how it happens."

"The seven doors," I remembered. "You need my blood to open them."

"We need both halves of your mother’s spirit to reunite," Elder Malin amended. "When that happens, the doors will open naturally, safely."

"And if I refuse?" I challenged.

Lyra’s eyes darkened. "Then the First Wolf will tear open the barriers fiercely. Thousands will die, including your friends. Your... mates."

I thought of Lucien, hurt but alive. Of Kael, whose touch made my heart race despite my bond with Lucien. Of Jaxon, who had become a true friend and partner.

"What would I have to do?" I asked reluctantly.

"Join hands with me," Lyra said, stretching hers toward me. "Our spirits will know each other. They will rejoin, and you will finally be whole."

"And then what happens to me?" I asked, not reaching out.

Lyra and Elder Malin exchanged looks.

"You will evolve," Malin said carefully. "Become something greater."

"You mean I’ll disappear," I realized. "My consciousness will be absorbed into hers."

"You’ll be part of something magnificent," Lyra insisted. "Isn’t that better than watching everyone you love die?"

I stood up quickly. "My hour isn’t up. I need time to think."

"Of course," Elder Malin said easily. "But don’t wait too long. The First Wolf grows stronger by the hour."

As if called by his words, a distant roar shook the trees around us.

I found Lucien being treated by Dr. Lena when I returned to our area. Kael and Jaxon stood guard nearby with Thorne.

"What did they tell you?" Lucien asked the moment he saw me.

I repeated everything, watching their expressions change from shock to horror.

"They’re lying," Thorne declared. "They must be."

"About which part?" I asked angrily. "Everything makes sense now—why I can spirit walk, why I connected with all three triplets during the Blood Moon ritual, why I’ve always felt... different."

"Even if part of it is true," Kael said slowly, "trusting them is dangerous."

"What choice do we have?" I asked. "The First Wolf is coming. They say if I don’t reconnect with... with my mother, it will destroy everything."

"There’s always another way," Jaxon countered.

A noise outside drew our attention. Pack members were screaming, pointing at the sky.

We rushed outside to see the moon—full and blood red—directly overhead. It wasn’t the time for a Blood Moon. This was something else.

As we watched in horror, a dark shadow started to cross the moon’s surface. Not a natural eclipse, but something that looked almost like a huge paw print.

"It’s starting," Thorne whispered. "The First Wolf is reaching through the barrier."

Dr. Lena appeared at my side, her face grave. "Aria, I found something strange in your blood work. Something impossible."

"What now?" I asked wearily.

"Your DNA..." she paused. "It’s changing. Rewriting itself by the hour."

"What does that mean?" Lucien demanded.

Before she could answer, I fell to my knees, a searing pain tearing through my body. My vision blurred, and when it cleared, I could see ghostly outlines of doors appearing around me—seven of them, each having a symbol I somehow recognized.

"Aria!" Kael caught me as I fell backward.

"It’s too late," I gasped through the pain. "She’s already inside me. She’s been here all along."

My voice changed, becoming deeper, older. Words I didn’t control spilled from my lips: "The doors are opening, children of the moon. Your Alpha Luna holds the key."

I fought against the presence taking over my mind, long enough to meet Lucien’s horrified look.

"Help me," I begged in my own voice. "Something’s waking up inside me. Something that’s been sleeping for eighteen years."