Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 39: Broken Chains

ARIA POV

I gasped awake, breaking the red chains that had bound me. They fell away like broken glass, disappearing before they hit the ground. My body felt strange—like it belonged to me but also to someone else. The fight between Alpha Darius’s binding magic and the Moon Alpha power had nearly torn me apart.

Three days had passed since that night, they told me. Three days of fever and nightmares while my body fought to live.

Now I was alone in the pack gardens, sitting under the old willow tree. Everyone was afraid to come near me since I woke up. Even Mira kept her distance, unsure if I was still the friend she knew.

I wasn’t sure myself.

I touched the spot on my neck where the pendant had been. It was gone, but I could feel its power inside me now, mixed with my own blood.

"You should be resting."

I jumped at the voice and turned to see Kael standing a few feet away. His face was guarded as always, but something was different about his eyes.

"I’ve rested enough," I said, standing up. My legs wobbled, and Kael moved quickly to catch me before I fell.

The moment his hands touched my arms, a jolt of energy passed between us. He yanked his hands away like he’d been burned.

"Sorry," he grumbled.

"It’s fine." But it wasn’t fine. Nothing was good anymore.

"Where’s Alpha Darius?" I asked, looking around nervously.

"Gone," Kael said. "After what happened with the Staff of Binding...when it failed to control you...he ran."

"And Elira?"

"Her too." Kael took a deep breath. "The pack is in chaos. The leaders are fighting about what to do. Some say you’re our savior. Others think you’ll destroy us all."

"What do you think?" I asked quietly.

Kael looked away. For the first time since I’d known him, the cold, measured Alpha seemed unsure of himself.

"I think..." he started, then stopped. "I don’t know what to think anymore."

We stood in awkward silence for a long moment.

"Why are you here, Kael?" I finally asked.

He paced back and forth, running his hands through his dark hair. "I don’t know. I just... I needed to see for myself that you were okay."

This wasn’t like him at all. Kael never showed weakness, never showed he cared.

"What’s really going on?" I pressed.

He stopped pacing and looked at me directly. "I feel it, Aria. The bond. I’ve been feeling it since that night in the clearing."

My heart skipped. "But how? The stranger in the cabin was supposed to be my true mate."

"I don’t know," he revealed. "Maybe because I was your guardian? Maybe because..." He trailed off, looking more fragile than I’d ever seen him.

"Because what?"

"Because I’ve been fighting it," he blurted out. "Since the day we met. I felt something, but I pushed it away. I told myself it wasn’t real."

"Why would you do that?" I asked, hurt and confused.

Kael laughed bitterly. "Look at our family, Aria. We’re cursed. My father tried to kill you. My mother died giving birth to us. One of us is supposed to die for the Alpha power to pass. Why would I want to drag you into that?"

I stared at him in shock. "You were trying to protect me?"

"You deserved better than us. Better than me." His voice cracked slightly. "I’m not a good person, Aria. I’ve done things...terrible things because my father asked me to. I thought power was the only thing that mattered."

"And now?"

"Now I don’t know what matters anymore." His eyes met mine. "Except maybe you."

My heart pounded in my chest. This wasn’t happening. Kael—cold, remote Kael—was opening up to me. Confessing feelings I never thought he had.

"But it’s too late, isn’t it?" he asked. "You’re the Moon Alpha now. Your fate is bigger than any of us."

"I don’t know what I am," I admitted. "The change isn’t complete. When your father used the Staff of Binding, it halted the process."

"So you’re caught between two worlds," Kael said softly. "Just like me."

Without thinking, I reached out and touched his face. The moment my fingers met his skin, pain shot through both of us. Kael gasped and fell to his knees. I cried out, dropping beside him.

But the pain quickly changed into something else—a warm current flowing between us, strengthening with each beating. Images flashed through my mind: Kael as a child, training until his hands bled; Kael standing up to his father to protect his brothers; Kael watching me from afar all these years, drawn to me but fighting it every step of the way.

"What’s happening?" he whispered.

"I think—I think the bond is trying to complete itself," I said, amazed.

"But what about your true mate? The Moon Alpha’s heir?"

"I don’t know," I answered honestly. "Maybe there’s more to this prophecy than we understood."

Kael’s eyes widened suddenly. He grabbed my hands, a look of understanding crossing his face.

"The prophecy said ’when the true mate is chosen,’" he said urgently. "Not assigned or destined—chosen."

"You think I have a choice?" I asked, hope rising in my chest.

"Maybe we all do." He looked at me with new focus. "Maybe fate isn’t as fixed as we thought."

The bond between us pulsed stronger, and I felt a sudden rush of strength flowing into my body. The Moon Alpha power that had been dormant since the binding rite flared to life again.

My eyes began to glow—I could see the golden light reflected on Kael’s face. He didn’t back away this time.

"Something’s happening," I whispered.

"I can feel it too," he said. "It’s like—"

A roar stopped us. We both turned to see Alpha Darius standing at the garden door, his eyes wild with rage. Behind him stood Elira and several soldiers loyal to them.

"So this is where you’ve been hiding, son," Alpha Darius growled. "Conspiring with the enemy."

"She’s not the enemy," Kael said, standing protectively in front of me.

"She’s destroyed everything!" Alpha Darius shouted. "Centuries of bloodline power, our pack’s heritage! And now she’s tainted you too."

"No, father. You did that yourself," Kael said quietly.

Alpha Darius pulled something from his coat—a jagged knife with runes cut into the blade. "If the Staff of Binding couldn’t handle her, then this will end her. The Blade of Severing can cut the bond between a wolf and their power."

Fear shot through me. I knew what that knife would do—strip me of everything I was, leave me helpless and broken.

"Run, Aria," Kael whispered.

"I won’t leave you," I vowed.

"How touching," Elira sneered. "The cold Alpha and the fake Luna."

Alpha Darius stepped forward, the blade gleaming in the sunshine. "Hold them," he told his warriors.

But as they moved toward us, something strange happened. The ground between us cracked open. Roots shot up from the earth, forming a wall between us and Alpha Darius’s group.

I hadn’t done this. I looked at Kael in confusion, but he seemed just as surprised.

Then I felt it—a third presence in our bond. Someone else was there, connected to us both.

"What’s going on?" Elira cried as more roots burst from the ground, wrapping around her legs.

Alpha Darius struck at the roots with his knife, but for each one he cut, two more appeared.

A figure stepped out from behind the willow tree—the stranger from the cabin. My boss. My assumed true mate.

"You cannot fight what has already been decided," they said, their voice echoing weirdly.

"Who are you?" Alpha Darius ordered.

The stranger smiled, looking at me and Kael. "I am the past. They are the future."

They raised their hands, and the ground shook violently. A blast of power knocked everyone off their feet.

In the chaos, the stranger grabbed both my hand and Kael’s, pulling them together. "The circle must be completed," they said urgently. "The three bonds must become one."

"Three bonds?" I repeated, confused.

"You, him, and me," they explained. "Past, present, future. That is the true message of the prophecy."

As our hands touched, a blinding light exploded between us. I screamed as power rushed through my body—too much power, more than anyone could handle.

"What have you done?" Alpha Darius screamed over the roar of magic.

The stranger looked at him with old, knowing eyes. "What was always meant to be."

The light grew until it swallowed everything. The last thing I saw was Kael reaching for me as we were torn apart by the force of the magic.

And then I heard the stranger’s voice in my mind: "To choose your mate is to choose your fate. But remember, Aria—every choice has a price. And yours will cost more than you know."