Silver fire burns through my veins like molten moonlight.

I pace the temple’s hidden chamber, trying to work off the excess energy that threatens to tear me apart. Ever since the battle, the power has been growing stronger, harder to control. It responds to my emotions like a living thing, coiling around me in wreaths of silver flame that make the ancient stones hum with recognition.

Through our mate bonds, I feel the Kings watching me. Their wolves stir restlessly, responding to my agitation. Alaric maintains his careful guard at the chamber’s entrance, but his calculating gaze follows my movements. Kian prowls the perimeter, his massive frame tense with protective instinct. And Lucas...

Lucas hasn’t left Chloe’s side since her last prophecy.

I turn my attention to where he kneels beside my sister, adjusting the blankets as Sarah tries yet another medicine. This time, her fingers move with gentle urgency as she works. Even without my Alpha senses, I can tell Chloe doesn’t have long.

She can handle it, I assure myself. She has to.

“You need to rest,” Sarah says quietly, measuring herbs with practiced efficiency. “The power drain—”

“I’m fine.” The words come out sharper than intended. Silver energy flares around me, making the healer take an involuntary step back.

Despite everything—her treachery, her manipulations, her tendency to hide the truth—I can’t bring myself to trust the healer fully. Not yet.

“Clearly,” she says dryly. “That’s why you’re wearing a groove in thousand-year-old stone.”

I force myself to stop pacing, pressing my hands against the cool wall. The stone thrums beneath my touch, responding to the power that flows through me. It’s everywhere now—in my blood, in my breath, in the very marrow of my bones.

The power is changing me.

To what end, I don't know.

Or maybe I do know, and I'm not strong enough to accept the price.

“Tell me about the last one,” I say suddenly. “The female Alpha you mentioned before. The one who lost control.”

Sarah’s hands still in their work. “Linda. Her name was Linda.”

“What happened to her?” I ask quietly.

Silence stretches for a long moment.

“The same thing that’s happening to you.” The healer’s ancient eyes meet mine. “The silver power grew stronger. Harder to contain. She thought she could control it alone...”

“And?” I press.

“And she burned.” Sarah’s voice holds centuries of collected grief. “The power consumed her from within, turning her into something else. Something that destroyed everything she loved before we could stop her.”

Ice settles in my stomach. Through our bonds, I feel the Kings’ immediate reaction to my fear. Their power reaches for me instinctively, offering strength, support, protection. As if sensing their influence, the silver fire coils tighter around my skin.

I push it away and swallow past the growing dread.

Wolves lie. Humans manipulate. Magic... magic always comes with a price.

What makes me think anything will be different this time?

“I won’t let that happen to me.” I say instead, determined to ignore my fear.

“No?” Sarah resumes grinding herbs. “Then why can I see silver fire in your eyes? Why does your power reach for anything it can touch? The signs are there, Lara. Just like they were with Linda.”

Before I can respond, Chloe stirs restlessly. “The darkness comes,” she mumbles. “Silver breaks and shadow burns...”

Lucas murmurs something soothing, his hand on her forehead glowing faintly as he lends her his strength. The sight sends an unexpected pang through my chest. My mate, protecting my sister. It should feel wrong. Instead...

It feels... right.

I try to shake off the thought.

“You’re fighting the wrong battle,” Sarah says quietly. “The mate bonds aren’t chains to bind you. They’re anchors to keep you whole.”

“I never wanted this power,” I whisper. “Never wanted them.”

“The goddess doesn’t give us what we want. She gives us what we need.”

Silver energy surges through me again, stronger this time. I gasp as it tears through my defenses, making the very air crackle with power. Ancient symbols carved into the temple walls begin to glow in response.

“Lara?” Alaric’s voice holds an edge of concern.

“I’m fine,” I grit out. But I’m not. The power burns hotter, wilder, fighting my attempts to contain it. My vision blurs as silver fire races through my blood like lightning. With every breath, the fire consumes more of my control, surging hungrily for anything it can devour.

And it wants to devour me.

I feel myself beginning to fall apart, my body and the power fighting a war I can no longer control.

Until suddenly, it eases.

Anchored by three different forces, the silver fire coils around me.

Strong hands catch me as my knees buckle. Kian’s massive frame supports my weight easily, his touch sending jolts of awareness through my overwrought system.

“Enough,” he growls. “Stop fighting us.”

“I can handle it,” I insist, even as another wave of power threatens to overwhelm me.

“Clearly.” Lucas’s voice holds no humor as he joins us. “That’s why you’re about to burn out like a star going supernova.”

Through our bonds, I feel their growing concern. Feel how their wolves strain toward mine, desperate to help. To protect. To anchor.

“Let us help,” Alaric commands, moving to complete the circle around me. “Before you destroy yourself and everyone in this temple.”

I want to refuse. Want to prove I can control this alone. But the power is growing stronger, wilder, responding to emotions I can barely understand. Silver fire dances around us all now, making the very air shimmer with ancient magic.

Fierce protectiveness swells in my chest. Not just for Chloe, or my pack. For them. My mates.

Mine.

Another pulse of power tears through me, burning hotter, brighter, wilder than anything I've ever felt. My bones vibrate with it, the sheer intensity beyond anything the world has seen in millennia. Beyond anything that should be possible for one person to control.

“Please,” Sarah’s voice cuts through my pride. “For your sister’s sake, if nothing else. She needs you whole.”

Something inside me breaks at those words. With a sound that’s half sob, half snarl, I finally stop fighting. Stop resisting the mate bonds that have haunted me since the marking.

The effect is immediate and overwhelming.

Power flows between us like a river finding its natural course. Their strength pours into me through our bonds, not to control or dominate, but to support. To steady. To anchor.

The silver fire that threatened to consume me slowly begins to stabilize. Their energy wraps around mine like armor, helping me contain what I couldn’t handle alone. What no single person ever could.

Mixed emotions battle within me—both terror and relief, understanding and rage. These men stole my will, bound me against my will, turned me into a pawn in a game of power I never asked to play.

But deep in my wolf soul, I know they are right.

“That’s it,” Lucas murmurs. “Let us in.”

“Trust us,” Kian adds, his massive hands gentle on my shoulders.

I bite my lip, using the sharp pain to pull myself back from the edge. They're right. Without their strength, the power would tear me apart from within. Without the mate bonds, I would be nothing but an anchorless vessel, consumed by the power within.

Alaric says nothing, but through our bond, I feel his fierce satisfaction. His wolf recognizes this moment for what it is—not surrender, but synthesis. The beginning of something new.

When the power finally settles, I slump against Kian’s chest. My body trembles with exhaustion, but the wild energy that threatened to tear me apart has calmed to manageable levels.

“Better?” Sarah asks quietly.

I nod, not trusting my voice. The Kings maintain their positions around me, their power still flowing freely through our bonds. Ready to help if I need it again.

“The mate bonds were designed for this,” Sarah continues. “Three Alpha Kings to anchor one silver wolf. Balance in all things.”

“But why?” I manage. “Why three?”

“Because one would not be enough.” The healer’s eyes go distant. “The silver power is too strong for any single wolf to help contain. It requires perfect balance—strength, strategy, and subtlety working in harmony.”

As if to emphasize her point, another wave of power rolls through me. But this time, I don’t fight it. Let their strength flow into me, each King’s energy complementing mine in a different way. Alaric’s tactical precision helps me focus the power. Kian’s raw strength helps me channel it. Lucas’s subtle control helps me direct it.

Through our bonds, I feel their satisfaction at my acceptance. Feel how right this feels to their wolves. To mine. How strongly they already care for the reluctant little Alpha they stole.

The mate bonds work. But to what end?

“Just because we’re meant to help contain your power doesn’t make us your masters,” Lucas says quietly. “Think of us as partners instead.”

“Equals,” Kian adds.

Alaric says nothing, but his power pulses through our bond with clear meaning: Protection. Support. Strength freely given.

Before I can respond, horns sound in the distance. Jackson’s forces regrouping for another attack.

“They’re coming,” Chloe whispers from her bed. “An army gathers under moonless skies...”

I straighten slowly, noting how the Kings maintain their positions around me. Their power remains readily available through our bonds, waiting to be used.

“What now?” Kian asks.

I look at each of them in turn, measuring their reactions. “Now we find out what ritual Jackson’s planning. What he really wants with a female Alpha’s power.”

“And then?” Alaric’s voice holds dangerous promise.

Silver fire dances around my fingers as I smile. Not my old power, wild and uncontrolled, but something new. Something balanced.

Something deadly.

“And then we show him exactly what happens when you challenge four Alphas working as one.”

An unexpected rush of anticipation flows through me.

Through our bonds, I feel their wolves’ fierce approval. Feel how right this new balance feels.

The hunt is changing.

We’re all hunting together.

And this time, we won’t just protect those we love.

This time, we fight to win.