CHAPTER 5

When my eyes opened, the soft glow of amber crystal lanterns blinded me for a fleeting second.

​I was not in the freezing courtyard. I was not lying in the mud, bleeding out from silver lashes.

​I lay on a massive, silk-draped four-poster bed inside the Alpha’s private infirmary suite. The air was thick with the scent of crushed lavender, healing herbs, and three distinct, suffocating Alpha scents—cedar, ozone, and dark spice.

​"She’s awake," a sharp, quiet voice announced.

​I scrambled backward on the mattress, pulling the silk duvet up to my chin as my heart hammered violently against my ribs.

​Standing at the foot of the bed were the three triplet Alphas—Malakai, Kieran, and Silas. They looked like predators circling cornered prey. None of them wore their official Alpha dress coats; their shirts were unbuttoned at the collar, their eyes dark, intense, and locked onto me with an unyielding, possessive weight.

​Sitting on a stool near the bed was my mother, Helena. Her eyes were swollen red, her hands trembling as she held a damp cloth.

​"Mom..." I rasped, my throat raw.

​"Aria, stay still, sweetie," Helena whispered, her voice shaking. "You're safe."

​"Safe?" I let out a bitter, raspy laugh, looking past her to the three men. "Safe with the Alphas who ordered me whipped to death on the word of a lying Beta's daughter?"

​Silas flinched slightly at my words, a shadow of genuine guilt crossing his dark features before his expression hardened again. He took a step forward, his boots heavy on the stone floor.

​"Sienna has been confined to her quarters, Aria," Silas said, his voice unusually quiet, stripped of its usual mocking arrogance. "Her guards were bribed. We know she planted the key."

​"And you only cared to look for the truth after you let Garrett tear the skin off my back," I spat, my voice laced with venom. "Does it make you feel powerful, Alpha Silas? Watching an innocent omega bleed for your mistress's amusement?"

​Silas’s jaw clenched so hard a vein throbbed on his neck, but he didn't snap back. His dark eyes trailed down to my bare neck, where the golden light had completely erased the blisters from Sienna's scalding tea.

​Kieran stepped between Silas and the bed, his icy blue eyes sharp and calculating. He held an ancient leather-bound tome in his hand.

​"We didn't bring you here to talk about Sienna," Kieran said, his tone clipped and strategic. "We brought you here to discuss what happened in the courtyard. You disintegrated a silver-studded whip mid-air. You threw Guard Commander Garrett thirty feet into a stone wall without touching him. And your wounds healed in three seconds."

​Kieran opened the book, turning it toward me. On the parchment page was an illustration of a golden sun rising over a silver wolf, surrounded by imperial runes.

​"That power isn't werewolf healing, Aria," Kieran whispered, leaning down so his face was level with mine. "That is Solis Royal Aura—the extinct Imperial bloodline that ruled the five continents before the Blood Purge twenty years ago. Only direct royal descendants can manifest golden soul-fire."

​The air in the room temperature plummeted.

​I froze, my breath catching in my chest. I glanced frantically at my mother. Helena’s face was ghost-white, her eyes wide with sheer terror.

​"I... I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, pulling the blanket higher. "My father was Marcus Thorne, your former Gamma. I am a packless omega maid. It was an anomaly... a burst of desperation."

​"Do not lie to us!"

​Malakai’s voice boomed through the sanctuary. He moved so fast he was a blur, stepping up to the side of the bed and towering over me. His broad chest was heaving, his storm-gray eyes flashing dark obsidian.

​"I smelled your blood when you collapsed, Aria," Malakai growled low, his voice dark and possessive. "It didn't smell like a maid's blood. It smelled like royal nectar. It made my inner wolf drop to its knees inside my chest. It made every instinct I have scream at me to tear apart anyone who dares to touch you!"

​He reached out, his large, calloused hand gripping my wrist.

​The moment his skin touched mine, a shockwave of electric heat shot through my veins, bursting right up my arm and straight into my heart. A loud gasp escaped my lips as my wolf stirred, letting out a purr of recognition.

​Malakai froze, his eyes going wide as the same electric shock hit him. His grip on my wrist didn't loosen; it tightened, yanking me an inch closer to his towering body.

​"You feel it too," Malakai whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying blend of hunger and awe. "The bond."

​"No..." I pulled back, but he was like an iron wall. "No! I am not your mate!"

​"You're not just his mate," Silas interrupted softly, stepping up to the opposite side of the bed. He reached down and cupped my cheek with his warm hand.

​The instant Silas touched my skin, a second wave of liquid fire erupted through my veins—identical to Malakai's spark, yet distinct in its wild, intoxicating heat.

​My body traitorously shivered against his palm.

​"A triple bond," Kieran stated, his voice tight as he stared at where Silas's hand rested on my cheek. "The ancient Solis prophecies spoke of a Royal Queen bound not to one Alpha, but to the Triad heirs of the territory. To us."

​"Please... stop..." tears of anger and confusion welled in my eyes. "You whipped me! You treated me like dirt! You let Sienna walk all over my family! I will never accept you!"

​"You won't have a choice if the Imperial Court arrives," Helena suddenly cried out, breaking her silence as she threw herself at Kieran’s feet.

​The three Alphas turned to look down at my mother.

​"Helena," Kieran said, his eyes narrowing. "What are you hiding?"

​Helena wept, clutching Kieran's trousers. "The Continental Summit in thirty-six hours... the Imperial Lycan Envoys arriving aren't just here for a routine inspection! They received an anonymous tip three days ago that a surviving Solis heir was living in the Crimson Moon territory!"

​Malakai let go of my wrist, his head snapping to my mother. "What?!"

​"My husband Marcus didn't commit treason twenty years ago!" Helena sobbed, her secret finally tearing out of her chest. "He died protecting the baby Empress! He smuggled baby Aria out of the burning Solis Palace and brought her here, sealing her aura with blood magic to keep her hidden! The whip broke Marcus's blood seal today!"

​A suffocating silence descended on the room.

​The truth hung between us, heavy and lethal.

​I wasn't just a maid. I wasn't just an omega. I was the last living Solis Empress—and my existence was a death sentence for every soul in this territory if the Imperial Court found me.

​"An anonymous tip..." Kieran muttered, his eyes flaring with realization. "Sienna's father. Beta Valerius."

​"Valerius wants the throne," Silas growled, his fists clenching. "He framed Aria with the heirloom key so he could turn her over to the Imperial Envoys as a bargaining chip for the supreme Beta title."

​Outside the sanctuary, the heavy warning bells of the fortress began to toll.

​CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

​Three deep, echoing tolls—the signal for an unannounced royal arrival at the border gates.

​A guard burst through the infirmary doors, breathless and pale. "Alphas! The Imperial Envoy’s war carriages have just crossed the river gate! They are thirty minutes early! Lord Vane of the High Council demands immediate audience with the entire pack—and he brought blood-sniffing hounds!"

​My heart stopped.

​Thirty minutes. The blood-sniffing hounds would smell my Solis scent the second they crossed the courtyard threshold.

​Malakai turned to me, his dark eyes ablaze with ruthless, unshakeable determination. He leaned down, cupping the back of my neck and pulling my face inches from his.

​"To hide a Royal scent from an Imperial hound, there is only one mark powerful enough to mask it," Malakai growled, his fangs elongating past his lip, pressing against the sensitive pulse point on my neck.

​My eyes went wide with terror as Silas and Kieran moved behind me, pinning my arms to the silk sheets.

​"A temporary Alpha Mating Bite," Malakai whispered against my skin. "Hold still, Empress."