THE SHOCK

Caelan’s POV

I ran.

Not away from the dining room mess, but toward it. Because while Kieran was yelling at Lucien and Elaria was screaming about treason, all I could think about was her.

Aisla.

The girl whose name tasted like honey when I whispered it in my head.

The girl who was my mate. My brothers’ mate. Our mate.

How was that even possible?

My wolf was roaring inside my chest, demanding I find her and make sure she was okay. The broken dishes, her bleeding finger, the fear in her eyes—it all made my protective instincts go wild.

I pushed through the crowd that had gathered to watch the chaos. Everyone was talking at once, asking what happened and why Elaria looked ready to kill someone. But I ignored them all.

I had to find Aisla.

Her scent trail led back toward the kitchen—that sweet blend of wildflowers and summer rain that made my heart race and my hands shake.

The kitchen door was swinging back and forth, like someone had rushed through in a hurry.

I stepped inside and found her.

She was pressed against the far wall, exactly where we’d first seen her. But now she was crying—silent tears running down her face as she hugged herself, like she was trying to hold her pieces together.

My heart broke into a million shards.

“Hey,” I said softly, not wanting to scare her more than she already was.

She looked up at me with those huge, dark eyes, and I saw pure fear there.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered.

Those words hit me like a punch to the gut. Hurt her? I’d rather cut off my own arm.

“I would never hurt you,” I said, taking a small step closer. “Never, Aisla. I promise.”

She flinched when I said her name—like hearing it from my lips caused her pain.

“You shouldn’t know my name,” she said. “Alphas’ sons don’t know omega names.”

The way she said it made my wolf snarl. Like she thought she wasn’t worth being seen.

“Well, I know it now,” I said gently. “And I’m not going to forget it.”

She shook her head furiously. “This is wrong. All of it is wrong. You’re supposed to mate with Elaria. Everyone knows that.”

“Maybe what everyone knows is wrong,” I said.

She laughed—a broken sound. “You don’t understand. I’m nobody. I’m the lowest omega in the pack. I clean dishes and scrub floors and try not to get in anyone’s way.”

“You’re not nobody to me.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them. Raw, honest, and probably too much too soon—but true.

From the moment I smelled her scent, she became the most important person in my life.

“This can’t be happening,” she said, mostly to herself. “The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes like this.”

“What if it’s not a mistake?”

She stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. Everything I thought I knew about my future had just fallen apart.

“Your brothers hate me,” she said quietly.

“They don’t hate you. They’re confused. We all are.” I took another step closer. “This has never happened before—three brothers sharing one mate. It’s impossible. But it’s happening anyway.”

“I felt it too,” she whispered, so softly I almost didn’t hear. “When I looked at all of you, something just... clicked into place. Like I was finally whole.”

My wolf practically purred at her words. She felt it. She felt the bond too.

“Then why are you crying?” I asked.

“Because this is going to destroy everything,” she said. “Your father will never allow it. The pack will never accept it. And Elaria...” She shuddered. “She looked like she wanted to kill me.”

She wasn’t wrong. This was going to cause chaos. But looking at her tear-streaked face, I realized I didn’t care.

“Let me worry about my father,” I said. “And Elaria. And the pack.”

“You can’t protect me from all of them.”

“Watch me.”

For a second, something like hope flickered in her eyes—but then it died.

“I have to go,” she said, pushing away from the wall. “I have work to finish.”

“Aisla, wait—”

But she was already running past me toward the door. I reached out to stop her, and my fingers brushed her arm.

Lightning shot through me at the touch. The mate bond flared so bright I saw stars.

She gasped and stumbled.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I have to go,” she said again, voice trembling now. “Please. Just... let me go.”

Every instinct screamed to follow her—to never let her out of my sight—but she looked so scared, so overwhelmed, that I forced myself to stay put.

“Okay,” I said. “But this isn’t over, Aisla. We need to talk about this.”

She nodded but didn’t look back as she ran out of the kitchen.

I stood there for a long moment, breathing in the lingering traces of her scent, trying to figure out what to do next.

My phone buzzed. A text from Kieran: Emergency pack meeting. Dad’s office. Now.

Great. Time to face the music.

But as I headed toward Dad’s office, I caught something that made my blood run cold.

Aisla’s scent. But not from the kitchen.

From outside.

She wasn’t going back to work. She was running.

Actually running away from the pack house—toward the woods.

My wolf went wild. Our mate was running, possibly in danger, definitely upset because of us.

I changed direction and sprinted for the back door.

The woods were dark and full of shadows. Perfect for hiding. Perfect for getting lost.

Perfect for getting hurt.

I followed her scent deeper into the trees, my heart pounding harder with every step. She was fast, but I was faster.

Then I heard it.

A scream.

Not just any scream—Aisla’s scream. Full of fear and pain.

I ran harder than I ever had in my life, crashing through branches and leaping over fallen logs.

I burst into a small clearing and found her.

She was on the ground, backing away from something I couldn’t see in the dark.

“Aisla!” I shouted.

She looked at me with wild, frightened eyes.

“Caelan, run!” she screamed. “It’s not what you think! I’m not—”

A growl cut her off.

But it didn’t come from the darkness.

It came from her.

Her eyes flashed gold. Her fingers lengthened into claws. Her teeth sharpened into fangs.

And I realized—with shocking, impossible clarity—that Aisla wasn’t just an omega.

She was something else entirely.

Something dangerous.

Something that probably wasn’t meant to exist.