Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 75: The Scholar’s Secret

ARIA POV

The old book burst into blue flames the moment I touched it. I jerked my hand back with a yelp.

"Don’t move!" Elder Malin snapped, running to my side. He muttered strange words and passed his hand over the burning book. The flames died quickly, leaving the leather cover unmarked.

"What just happened?" I asked, my heart racing.

"The book tested you," Elder Malin said, eyeing me with new interest. "And you passed."

Three days had passed since the scary events at Moonfall Spring. Lucien had pulled me from the water just as the cave fell, both of us escaping with only minutes to spare. We’d returned with precious vials of the healing water—enough to save Jaxon and boost our defenses against the coming war.

But what I’d seen beneath those seas haunted me. A picture of female Alphas throughout history, their faces twisted in pain and betrayal. I needed answers.

That’s why I now sat in Elder Malin’s secret library—the man who’d tried to kill us now reluctantly working as our friend after Kael had forced a blood oath from him.

"These texts date back thousands of years," Elder Malin explained, setting the book carefully in front of me. "They tell the true history of our kind—not the version taught to pups."

"Why didn’t the book burn?"

"Because you have Alpha blood—female Alpha blood." His eyes narrowed. "Which should be impossible."

My hand went to my growing belly. At five months pregnant, the twins were growing faster than normal human babies.

"Is that why you tried to kill me?" I asked, my voice steadier than I felt. "Because I’m a female Alpha?"

Elder Malin turned away. "I tried to kill you because of what you represent."

"Which is?"

"The end of the old order." He pulled more books from shelves hidden behind sliding walls. "These contain the records of every female Alpha born in the last three thousand years."

I opened the book that had flamed at my touch. Inside were names, dates, and hand-drawn pictures of women. Some looked fierce and proud, others young and scared. All had the same strange mark behind their ear—a half moon inside a star.

Unconsciously, my fingers went to the same spot behind my own ear where the mark had appeared after drinking from the healing spring.

"There have been others like me?"

"Fifty-three documented cases," Elder Malin confirmed. "All tracked by the Scholar’s Guild—my ancestors—throughout history."

I flipped through more pages, hunger for information overriding my caution. "What happened to them?"

"What do you think happened?" His voice was bitter. "They were eliminated."

Cold dread washed over me. "All of them?"

"Most before they even knew what they were." He pointed to a picture of a young woman who couldn’t have been more than sixteen. "Alina of the Northern Packs, poisoned at her mating ceremony. Talia of the Desert Clans, ’accidentally’ shot during a hunt." He turned more pages. "Sera of the Island Pack, drowned in a ’storm.’"

My hands shook as I read entry after entry. Each woman had died young, their promise crushed before they could claim their power.

"Who killed them?" I whispered, though I already knew.

"The same ones who’ve always controlled our world—male Alphas who couldn’t bear the thought of sharing power." Elder Malin sat heavily in the chair opposite me. "For centuries, the Scholar’s Guild recorded these murders while doing nothing to stop them."

"Including you," I accused.

"Including me," he revealed. "Until I met the last female Alpha fifty years ago."

He opened another book, showing the portrait of a woman with fierce eyes and a determined jaw. She looked familiar, though I couldn’t place her.

"Selene’s grandmother," Elder Malin said softly. "She made me promise to protect the next one. To break the cycle."

I stared at him in disbelief. "By trying to kill me?"

"By testing you." He pushed another old text toward me. "Only a true female Alpha can read the Prophet’s Scroll. If you couldn’t, you would have been just another Luna with unusual abilities—not worth dying to protect."

My anger flared. "So the attack at the spring—" "Was your final test." He didn’t look ashamed. "Now I know the truth. You’re not just carrying the next crop of Alphas. You are one."

I wanted to scream at him, but interest won out. I pulled the Prophet’s Scroll closer. The strange symbols seemed to change and move as I looked at them.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"You tell me," Elder Malin challenged. "If you’re truly a female Alpha, the words will reveal themselves to you."

I focused on the old writing. At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the symbols began to glow and change, becoming words I could understand.

"When the blood moon rises for the seventh time," I read aloud, "she who carries the mark of the star and moon shall awaken the sleeping queens."

Elder Malin’s face paled. "It’s true then. The promise is coming to pass."

"What does it mean? Who are the sleeping queens?"

Before he could answer, the library door burst open. Lucien rushed in, his face strained.

"Aria, we need you. It’s Jaxon—something’s wrong with the healing water. He’s getting worse, not better."

I jumped to my feet, but Elder Malin caught my arm.

"Wait," he said quickly. "There’s something else you need to know. The reason all those female Alphas were killed—"

"It can wait," I said, pulling away. "My mate needs me."

"No, it can’t wait! The blood moon rises tonight," Elder Malin insisted. "And when it does, every female with Alpha blood in her veins will feel the call. Including Elira."

"Elira?" I froze. "She’s not an Alpha."

"No, but she carries the bloodline, same as you." His eyes were grave. "That’s why she hated you so much. Somehow, she knew what you both were."

"What happens tonight?" Lucien demanded.

"The awakening," Elder Malin said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "When the blood moon reaches its peak, the sleeping queens will rise from their eternal slumber."

"And who exactly are these queens?" I asked, dread rising in my chest.

"The first seven female Alphas," he answered. "The most powerful of our kind, preserved through old magic for thousands of years. Their tombs lie beneath this very territory—placed here long before your pack claimed these lands."

"And they’re just going to... wake up?" Lucien sounded shocked.

"Only if called by one of their blood," Elder Malin said, looking directly at me. "That’s what the male Alphas have feared for centuries—the return of the original rulers."

I felt dizzy with the consequences. "I need to talk to Kael."

"There’s no time," Elder Malin said. "The other Elders have thought this might happen. They won’t just be coming for you now—they’ll bring an army to destroy the tombs before nightfall."

A howl of pain echoed through the pack house—Jaxon.

I made my choice. "Help Jaxon," I told Lucien. "I’ll deal with the Elders."

"You can’t face them alone," Lucien argued.

I put my hand on my belly, feeling the twins kick beneath my palm. "I won’t be alone."

As I rushed from the library, Elder Malin called after me: "There’s one more thing you should know, Aria!"

I paused at the opening.

"The scrolls say that when the queens awaken, only one can stay to lead. The others..." His voice broke. "The others must die by the chosen one’s hand."

My blood turned to ice as I realized what he meant. If I woke these ancient female Alphas tonight, I would also have to kill six of them—or die myself.