CHAPTER 115: CHAPTER 115: DIVIDED HEARTS

ARIA POV

From the trees came another sound – not the triplets calling, but something else. Something that made Luna Raven’s eyes go wide with terror.

"That’s impossible," she whispered

The howl that split the night wasn’t from any regular wolf.

It was the sound of Elder Malin’s Enforcers.

And they’d found us all.

The silver cage slammed shut around me.

I threw myself against the bars, but they held strong. Magic hummed through the metal, making my skin burn where I touched it.

"Let me out!" I screamed.

Luna Raven stood outside the cage with her arms crossed. "You’ll thank me later, child. This is for your own protection."

"Protection from what?" I asked. "The Enforcers are coming! We need to fight together!"

"We need to break your false bonds first," Luna Storm said coldly. "Before they destroy you completely."

Through the cage bars, I could see the triplets fighting furiously at the valley’s edge. Kael’s sword flashed in the moonlight as he cut down an Enforcer. Jaxon moved like lightning, his knives finding their marks. Lucien was healing injured Sister Pack members even while dodging attacks.

They were risking their lives to protect the women who had just wronged me.

"They’re going to die out there!" I yelled, shaking the cage bars harder.

"If the bonds are real, they’ll survive," Luna Sage said quietly. "If they’re fake Council magic, they’ll weaken without you nearby."

My heart felt like it was being ripped apart. Half of me wanted to believe the triplets loved me truly. The other half couldn’t stop thinking about my mother’s letter.

"Please," I begged. "Just let me help them fight."

"No," Luna Raven said firmly. "The separation rite has already begun. You must choose between your old life and your true fate."

She held up a bright crystal that pulsed with silver light. "This will sever all artificial ties. If your connection to those guys is real love, it will survive. If it’s Council trickery..."

"It will disappear forever," Luna Storm finished with satisfaction.

Terror flooded through me. What if they were right? What if everything I felt for Kael, Jaxon, and Lucien was just magical manipulation?

But what if they were wrong?

"I won’t let you do this," I said desperately.

"The choice isn’t yours anymore," Luna Raven responded. She began singing in the old language, and the crystal blazed brighter.

Pain shot through my chest as something inside me started to unravel. The bond! I could feel it stretching and weakening.

Outside the cage, Lucien suddenly stumbled. An Enforcer’s claw raked across his back, and he cried out in pain.

"Lucien!" I screamed.

He looked toward me, his face pale with shock. "The bond," he gasped. "It’s breaking."

Kael spun around, nearly getting his head taken off by an Enforcer’s blade. "What are you doing to her?" he yelled at Luna Raven.

"Setting her free," Luna Raven called back, never stopping her chant.

Jaxon emerged beside the cage in a blur of motion. His eyes were wild with fear. "Aria, you have to stop this. Without the link, we can’t—"

"Can’t what?" I asked quickly.

He paused, and in that moment of silence, I saw the truth in his eyes.

"You can’t control me without it," I whispered.

Jaxon’s face crumpled. "That’s not... it’s not like that."

"Isn’t it?" Luna Storm stepped closer to the cage. "Tell her the truth, Council dog. Tell her why you were really at Elder Malin’s home."

"We were sent to retrieve you," Kael admitted, his sword still cutting down Enforcers. "But not to control you!"

"Then why?" I asked.

Lucien limped closer, blood running down his back. "Because we were told you were risky. That you’d kill innocent people if you weren’t guided right."

My world turned sideways. "You thought I was a monster?"

"At first," Jaxon said desperately. "But then we met you, and everything changed. We fell in love with who you really are."

"After the artificial bond made you feel that way," Luna Sage pointed out coldly.

"No!" Lucien shouted. "The bond came after. We loved her before any magic touched us."

Luna Raven’s singing grew louder. The pain in my chest became unbearable as unseen chains snapped inside me.

But something strange happened. Instead of feeling free, I felt... empty. Like part of my soul had been torn away.

"It’s working," Luna Storm said happily. "The false bonds are breaking!"

I looked at the triplets, expecting to feel nothing. Instead, the ache in my heart grew worse. If anything, I loved them more now that I might lose them forever.

"Stop," I whispered.

Luna Raven didn’t hear me over her singing.

"Stop!" I screamed, and power burst out of me.

The silver cage shattered like glass. The crystal in Luna Raven’s hands cracked and went dark. Every Enforcer in the valley was thrown backward by an unseen force.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

I stood in the ruins of the cage, silver light pouring from my skin. But this wasn’t the same power I’d felt before. This was something new. Something that belonged to me alone.

"Impossible," Luna Raven breathed. "The bonds were supposed to be your only source of strength."

"Maybe they never were," I said quietly.

I walked toward the triplets, and they stepped back in shock. Not from fear, but from awe.

"Aria," Kael whispered. "Your eyes..."

I looked at my reflection in his sword blade. My eyes were pure silver now, shining like stars. And I could feel every wolf in the valley – not just the triplets, but all of them. The Sister Pack, the remaining Enforcers, even the little girls hiding in the houses.

"I don’t need to choose between you," I said, looking from the triplets to Luna Raven. "The real choice is between fear and love."

"What do you mean?" Luna Sage asked nervously.

"You’re both afraid," I realized. "The Sister Pack is afraid of men taking away their power. The Council is afraid of females being too strong. But fear only creates more enemies."

I held out my hands. Silver light flowed from my hands, washing over everyone in the valley. Where it touched, wounds healed and tiredness faded.

"My mother tried to hide me from the world," I continued. "But hiding doesn’t fix anything. It’s time to build something new."

Luna Raven shook her head furiously. "You don’t understand. Males will always try to control us. It’s their nature."

"Some will," I agreed. "But not all. Just like some females will betray their sisters, but not all."

I thought about Frost’s deception, and pain flickered through me.

"I’m not choosing between male and female," I stated. "I’m picking between right and wrong. Between love and hate. Between building bridges and burning them down."

The triplets moved closer to me, hope shining in their eyes.

"Does this mean..." Lucien started.

"It means our bond is real," I said softly. "But it doesn’t define me. I define it."

Luna Storm snarled in frustration. "You’re making a terrible mistake. When those guys betray you—"

"Then I’ll deal with it," I interrupted. "But I won’t let fear make my choices for me anymore."

I turned to face the entire valley. "Anyone who wants to stay and help build a new kind of pack – one where strength means more than gender – you’re welcome. Anyone who can’t accept that can leave."

For a moment, nobody moved. Then Maya stepped out from behind one of the houses where she’d been hidden.

"I want to stay," she said in her small voice. "I want to learn to be strong like you."

One by one, other women began nodding. Even some of the Sister Pack members looked interested.

But Luna Raven’s face twisted with rage.

"You foolish child," she hissed. "You have no idea what you’ve just unleashed."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Luna Raven smiled coldly. "Did you really think we were the only ones watching you? The Council isn’t the only enemy you should fear."