All Chapters of Triple Temptation: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

He's awake, Rhea. He's awake on your account. Because you shattered the bond. Because you struggled for him." A healer stood beside Rhea, Mira Ebonshade, her eyes hushed with a feeling of pride.Micah Mooncrest, Rhea's brother, sat on a cot in the make-shift infirmary. His tired-sad eyes now sparkled bright, clear, and full of abiding gratitude. Thin, pale, but very much alive."I heard the war. I heard your voice. You are a Queen," Micah whispered, his voice thick from disuse. "You did it. You won.""I didn't do it alone. I had help. The Thornhide Pack. The Blackrock Rogues. Elder Marla. Even Zane's aunt, Archivist Noria Valez, she helped us. She gave Kai the ancient lore. The knowledge that we needed to break the bond. She defected on behalf of her own nephew," Rhea whispered. "She did it for us. She did it for the Omegas."Micah's hand extended for hers, his form a firm, warm touch. "You are the true Luna, Rhea. You are the one who will make it all shift. You are the one who will b

"Step back, Lucien. I am not going with you. I will not betray my packs. I will not betray my mate," Rhea said, her voice dripping with a cold determination she did not feel. The vampire prince was standing before her, his red eyes fixed on hers, his cruel, beautiful smile twisting his lips.Lucien laughed, a low, music-like sound that sent shivers down her spine. "You won't betray them, Luna? You've already betrayed them. You've dissolved the bond. You've issued the declaration of war. You have no pack. You have no mate. You have no one except me.""You're wrong. I have my brother. I have my army. I have my choice," Rhea said, chin held high. "I'm choosing to fight. I'm choosing to win. I'm choosing to be a Queen."Lucien walked forward, his scent of musty books and chilled earth clashing with the scents of familiarity for the Alphas. "Your brother is a Beta. Your army is a broken union. Your choice is a lie. Your destiny is mine.""My own destiny is my fate. I make my own decisions,

"What do you mean, you will not help me?" Ash's voice was a low growl, resonating off the cold stone of Council Hall. "You are a child. He does not deserve this."Elder Theon Vale's smile was narrow, a predator's smile. "He is a rogue's cub. A stray. He is a tool. You know what happens to tools that are no longer useful, Ash. They break.""You are insane," Zane growled, his usual joking personality nowhere to be found. His fists were tight at his sides. "We need to reach Darius's domain. Rhea is there. Lucien is there. Both of them are in danger."Kai's voice was calm, the reverse of everyone else's indignation. "He is bait, Theon. We all see it. You're using Lucien to manipulate Rhea. To get her to leave us and her fated bond."."She is an Omega," Theon sneered. "Her only destiny is to serve her Alphas. She'll return to us when she's drawn by the scent of her fated mate. When she can no longer withstand the pain of separation. The boy is a small price to pay for her loyalty."The kid

"He is not coming back. He never will. He doesn't need to."Rhea's breath was barely audible in the darkness of the Whisperpine Forest. Her trembling hands grasped the twisted bark of a pine. She was alone. The Alpha's presence, a wave of sweet pine and musk, was gone."He is a vampire. He has no soul."A low laugh out of the shadows. "You think that, little Omega? That I do not have a soul?"A man stepped into the thin band of moonlight. Tall, his face ashen, his eyes a deep, red color. Lucien. He was dressed in attire too fine for the woods. His hair was slicked back, a dark wave against his forehead."You do not belong here.""Neither should you. You are Alphas. You are pack.""I belong to no one. I am not something that can be owned.""Are you not? They own you. They own your body, your mind, your heart. They own your future.""They are my destiny mates. They are my destiny.""Destiny is a word for a cage. It is a word to make you glad to be trapped.""I am not trapped. I am free.

Do not run from me, Rhea," Ash's growl was low and vibrating, a power that threatened the chaos of the Luna's Equinox. His hand closed around her wrist, the pull of his alpha bond a weight that made her knees tremble on the verge of collapse. "We need to talk. Now.".Rhea attempted to spin her arm, but his grip was immoveable. Her heart pounded a frenzied beat against her ribs. "Let go, Ash. You're hurting me.""Hurt you?" It was a sneer. "Think this is hurt? Running from your mate, denying the bond we've been working toward?" He pulled her away from the rowdy crowd, his other mates Kai, Zane and Blaze standing there with their faces twisted in agony. They saw the fury on Ash's face. "Do you realize what you did out there, Rhea? That was a claim. A public claim. You chose me.And then tried to escape.""I didn't choose you," she gasped, her voice raw. The words were a deception, a wall she built to protect herself from the suffocating certainty of their connection. "It was a mistake.