POV: Gamma Rose
SLAM!
I threw my entire body weight against the kitchen door just as Sophia's knife crashed into the wood where my head had been a second before. My old heart hammered against my chest as I turned the heavy lock with shaking fingers.
"Get away from that door, you old fool!" Sophia screamed from the other side, pounding with her hands. "I know she's in there!"
Behind me, Maya cowered against the counter while the three Blackwood brothers made a protective wall around her. The poor child looked ready to faint, her mate mark shining so bright it lit up the whole kitchen even through the towel wrapped around her wrist.
"Rose, what's happening?" Ethan ordered, his Alpha voice cutting through the chaos. "Why does Sophia have a knife?"
I pressed my back harder against the door as Sophia's beating got more violent. In my fifty-five years, I'd never seen such jealous rage. The girl had completely lost her mind.
"Because she knows what Maya's mark means," I said, trying to catch my breath. "And she'll do anything to stop it."
"What mark?" Ryan stepped forward, his warrior reflexes on high alert. "What are you talking about?"
Maya whimpered and clutched her covered wrist tighter. The poor thing was frightened, and I didn't blame her. Everything she'd known about her life was about to change forever.
But there was no time to be gentle. Not with Sophia trying to break down the door.
"Show them, child," I said sternly. "They need to see."
"I can't," Maya whispered, tears running down her face. "What if they hate me? What if they think I'm lying?"
"Maya." Logan's voice was soft and kind. "We could never hate you. Please, just show us."
CRACK!
The door frame broke as Sophia threw something heavy against it. We didn't have much time before she broke through.
"Now, Maya!" I ordered, using the same voice I'd used to boss around omega children for decades. "Show them right now!"
With trembling hands, Maya removed the towel from her wrist. The moment the Triple Mark was revealed, the entire kitchen filled with silver light. But that wasn't the shocking part.
The frightening part was watching all three Blackwood brothers drop to their knees like someone had hit them with lightning.
"Impossible," Ethan gasped, gripping his chest.
"The legends," Ryan breathed, staring at Maya's mark in wonder.
"She's the one," Logan whispered, his blue eyes wide with awe.
I felt my own knees go weak. In all my years, I'd hoped but never truly believed I'd see this day. The Triple Mark wasn't just any mate mark. It was the sign of something much more powerful and much more dangerous.
"You boys know what this means?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"The Trinity Bond," Ethan said, still on his knees. "But those are just old stories. Fairy tales."
"Not fairy tales," I said sadly. "History. And very dangerous past."
CRASH!
The door exploded inward, and Sophia burst through with death in her eyes. She'd found an axe somewhere, and she was swinging it madly.
"I'll kill her before I let her steal my destiny!" she screamed.
Ryan moved faster than I'd ever seen anyone move. He grabbed Sophia's wrist and turned until she dropped the axe, then pinned her against the wall.
"You just attacked the future Luna of our pack," he growled. "That's treason."
"She's not Luna!" Sophia shrieked, fighting against Ryan's grip. "She's just a poor omega! I'm supposed to be Luna! Me!"
"The moon goddess decides who becomes Luna," I said, stepping forward. "Not you, not me, not even the Alpha. And she's picked Maya."
"You don't understand!" Sophia's eyes were wild and frantic. "My mother made a deal! We paid for this! The Blackwood sons were promised to me!"
The temperature in the kitchen dropped ten degrees. Even Maya stopped crying and stared at Sophia in shock.
"What deal?" Ethan's voice was deadly quiet.
Sophia's face went white as she realized what she'd just admitted. "I... I didn't mean..."
"What deal, Sophia?" Logan stepped forward, his gentle nature replaced by something fierce and protective.
"Tell us now," Ryan added, stiffening his grip on her wrist. "Or I'll drag you to my father and let him get the truth out of you."
Sophia looked around the kitchen like a trapped animal. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper.
"The witch. My mother went to the witch in the dead woods. She said... she said she could make sure one of you would be my mate. But it took a sacrifice."
My blood turned to ice. "What kind of sacrifice?"
"The life of the true mate," Sophia whispered. "The witch said if the real mate died, the bond would transfer to me instead."
Maya made a sound like a hurt animal. The poor child finally knew how much danger she was really in.
"How long?" I asked. "How long have you been planning to murder Maya?"
"Since we were children," Sophia admitted, tears running down her face. "The witch said the Trinity Omega would appear on her eighteenth birthday. She said I had to kill her before the mark fully formed, or the bond would be too strong to break."
The three brothers looked at each other with a mixture of fear and rage. Their own childhood friend had been planning to kill their mate for years.
"But I'm too late," Sophia continued, her voice getting more desperate. "The mark has already appeared. The bond is already formed. The witch said... she said if I couldn't kill Maya before the mark appeared, then..."
"Then what?" Ethan's voice was barely managed.
Sophia's smile was the most frightening thing I'd ever seen. "Then I had to kill all four of you. Maya and the three boys. The witch said that much death would cause enough dark magic to break any bond."
Before anyone could respond, Sophia bit down hard on something hidden in her mouth. Black foam poured from her lips as her body started convulsing.
"Poison tooth," I gasped. "She's been carrying poison this whole time!"
"Why?" Maya cried, rushing forward despite the risk. "Why would you do this?"
Sophia's eyes found Maya's face as the poison worked through her system. "Because," she muttered with her last breath, "the witch is coming. And she's bringing an army."
Her body went limp in Ryan's arms just as the kitchen windows exploded inward. Dark shapes spilled through the broken glass, and the air filled with the sound of inhuman howling.
The witch's army had arrived.
And we were stuck.