Bound to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 60: The Council of Alphas

ARIA POV

"The female should not be here," growled Alpha Damon, slamming his fist on the old oak table. "This council has been male-only for five hundred years."

I stood my ground as seven pairs of eyes glared at me. We had barely fled the Silvercrest ambush three days ago, and here I was, standing in the sacred meeting cave of the Alpha Council with nothing but Lucien at my side.

"I am Alpha of Moonclaw Pack," I said, keeping my voice steady. "And I have as much right to be here as any of you."

Alpha Damon snorted. His huge shoulders made him look like he could snap me in half with one hand. "A true Alpha leads with strength, not tricks and magic."

"Is that why your pack is losing territory to humans every year?" I shot back before I could stop myself. The words hung in the air like a physical blow.

The meeting room went silent. I felt Lucien tense beside me, ready to defend me if required.

Alpha Thorne, shockingly, was the one who broke the silence with a rough laugh. "She’s got you there, Damon." He pointed to the empty chair. "Sit, Alpha Aria. You’ve earned your place."

I took the seat, trying not to show my relief. Getting to this meeting had cost us dearly. After finding Elder Malin’s betrayal, we had barely escaped the Silvercrest team. My father stayed a prisoner, and half our pack was in hiding.

Alpha Marcus, the oldest wolf present, leaned forward. "Let’s get to business. Three packs have reported strikes from Silvercrest in the past month. They are no longer hiding in the darkness." freewёbnoνel.com

"They took my best fighters for their experiments," said Alpha Rey, a lean wolf with sharp eyes. "Cut them open while they were still alive."

My stomach turned at his words. I thought of my father, wondering if he was suffering the same fate.

"They attacked my pack two days ago," I said. "They’re working with a splinter group from Shadow Fang, led by my mother."

"The point is," interrupted Alpha Damon, "these people are becoming bolder. We should hit back, destroy their facilities."

"And expose ourselves to the world?" asked Alpha Rey. "That’s exactly what they want."

The debate went back and forth, getting heated. I listened, noticing how each Alpha approached the problem. Some wanted war, others hiding. None seemed to see what I was seeing.

"Have any of you noticed the pattern?" I finally asked.

They turned to me, some interested, others annoyed at the interruption.

"What pattern?" Alpha Marcus asked.

"Silvercrest isn’t just taking random wolves. They’re targeting specific families." I pulled out the map Lucien and I had made, showing it on the table. "Every attack has been against packs with ties to the original five packs."

The room went quiet as they studied the map. Red marks showed each Silvercrest attack over the past year.

"That can’t be coincidence," murmured Alpha Thorne.

"It’s not," I confirmed. "They’re looking for something in our blood. Something connected to the original Great Alpha gene."

Alpha Marcus’s face paled. "The scripture speaks of this. When the secret blood rises, the enemy will seek to harness its power."

"What exactly are they looking for?" Alpha Rey asked.

I took a deep breath. "The ability to shift at will, without the moon’s pull."

Shocked whispers filled the room. Every werewolf knew changing was bound to the moon’s cycle. Only during full moons could we fully transform without great pain. Some stronger Alphas could partly shift at other times, but it was limited and draining.

"That’s impossible," Alpha Damon scoffed.

"Is it?" I asked quietly. Then, without notice, I let my shift flow through me.

Right there, in the middle of the meeting, my bones cracked and reformed. Fur grew across my skin. In seconds, a silver wolf stood where I had been sitting.

The Alphas leapt to their feet, looks shocked. No one could shift this smoothly, this easily, away from the full moon.

I shifted back just as quickly, fighting to keep my face calm despite the energy it had cost me.

"How?" Alpha Marcus whispered.

"I don’t fully understand it," I admitted. "It’s tied to my family. To who my father is."

"The Great Alpha’s daughter," Alpha Thorne whispered. "The legends were true."

"This is why Silvercrest is hunting us," I continued. "They want to remove whatever makes this possible. To weaponize it."

"All the more reason to destroy them before they succeed," growled Alpha Damon.

"No," I said strongly. "That’s not the answer. We need to join the packs. All of them, not just those portrayed here."

Alpha Rey smiled bitterly. "Unite the packs? Some have been enemies for generations."

"So were Moonclaw and Shadow Fang," I pointed out. "Yet here we sit as allies."

Alpha Thorne nodded. "The girl is right. This threat is bigger than our old feuds."

"And what would you have us do?" asked Alpha Marcus, his ancient eyes watching me carefully.

"First, we rescue the wolves they’ve captured," I said. "Including my father. He may be the key to understanding what they’re truly after."

"A rescue mission against armed humans with silver weapons?" Alpha Damon shook his head. "Suicide."

"Not if we work together," I maintained. "Each of our bags has different strengths. Together, we’d be unstoppable."

The discussion raged for hours. Slowly, reluctantly, even Alpha Damon began to see the sense in unity. By nightfall, a tentative alliance had formed—the first time in werewolf history that seven large packs had agreed to fight together.

As the meeting drew to a close, Alpha Marcus approached me quietly.

"You’ve achieved something remarkable today," he said. "But there’s something you should know about your father."

My heart raced. "What about him?"

"If he truly is who you believe—the last Great Alpha—then Silvercrest isn’t just holding him prisoner. They’re using him."

"Using him how?"

"The Great Alpha bloodline holds more than just shifting power. It carries the ability to command—to force submission from any wolf." His eyes were grave. "In the wrong hands, such power could enslave every werewolf on earth."

Before I could reply, the cave entrance darkened. A young wolf messenger burst in, blood pouring from a wound on his shoulder.

"Alphas!" he gasped. "Silvercrest—they’ve released something—a wolf, but not a wolf—"

"Slow down," Alpha Thorne ordered. "What happened?"

"They created something," the messenger choked out. "It killed three packs already. It can’t be stopped—can’t be reasoned with. It’s coming this way."

"What is it?" I asked.

"They call it Subject Zero," he whispered. "It looks like us, but its eyes—" he shuddered. "Its eyes are human. And it knows all our names."

The messenger pulled out a blood-stained photograph and put it on the table. My blood froze as I recognized the wolf in the picture.

It had my father’s face, but where his kind eyes should have been were cold, calculating human eyes I recognized instantly.

Dr. Reid’s eyes, staring out from my father’s dog body.

"They didn’t just take his power," I whispered in fear. "They found a way to transfer human consciousness into wolf form."

"It gets worse," the mailman said, his voice breaking. "He’s not alone. They made more. And they’re hunting Alphas."

As if on cue, a howl broke the night silence—unnatural, wrong, like a human scream twisted into wolf form. It was close. Too close.

Alpha Marcus met my eyes. "The prophecy never mentioned this part," he said grimly. "The part where humans become wolves."

Another howl answered the first. Then another. And another.

"They’re here," the messenger whispered.