Nicholas watched Victoria’s face carefully as he answered. "Lilith can surrender her magic instead of her life. Burn out every drop of Morvaine power in her blood and offer it to the Moon Goddess as payment for breaking the curse."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Then Victoria laughed...high and bitter and furious.
"No," she said. "Absolutely not."
"It would save her life..." Sebastian started.
"It would DESTROY her!" Victoria’s power exploded outward, making the ground shake. Several wolves yelped and backed away. "You’re asking her to give up her birthright. Her heritage. Her connection to every Morvaine witch who came before her. She is the LAST of our bloodline. The last witch who carries our ancestral power. And you want her to burn it out of herself to save YOU?"
"It’s her choice," Nicholas said carefully.
"It’s NOT a choice!" Victoria screamed. "It’s coercion! You’ve bonded her. Made her love you. Twisted her emotions until she can’t think clearly. And now you’re presenting her with the option to sacrifice everything she is to save you. That’s not a choice. That’s manipulation."
"We’re not manipulating her," Lucian growled.
"Aren’t you?" Victoria challenged. "The bonds are designed to make her want to please you. To make her prioritize your wellbeing over her own. Every instinct she has is screaming at her to save her mates even if it costs her everything. How is that a fair choice?"
Nicholas opened his mouth to argue but stopped. Because Victoria was right. The mate bonds did make Lilith prioritize them. Did make her want to save them even at her own expense. It was biological. Instinctual. Impossible to fight.
"So what do you suggest?" Nicholas asked quietly.
"I suggest you let her go," Victoria said. "Sever the bonds. Let her choose her own path without the biological imperative to sacrifice herself for you clouding her judgment."
"Severing the bonds would kill her," Sebastian said.
"Not if it’s done properly," Victoria said. "Henrik has tools. Rituals. Ways to cut the connections without causing fatal trauma."
"And then what?" Lucian demanded. "She lives the rest of her life alone? Human and powerless because she gave up her magic? Or still magical but traumatized by severed bonds? Either way she loses."
"But she LIVES," Victoria said. "Don’t you understand? Alive and alone is better than dead. Alive and human is better than dead. Any version of her surviving is better than what you’re offering her now."
"ENOUGH!"
Lilith’s voice cracked across the grounds and everyone went silent.
She stood between Victoria and the Alphas, shaking with rage and fear and absolute exhaustion, and she was done.
Done with everyone talking about her like she was not standing right there.
Done with people making plans for her future without asking what she wanted.
Done with being pulled in a dozen different directions by people who claimed to love her.
"Everyone keeps telling me what I should do," Lilith said, and her voice was shaking but steady. "But no one is actually LISTENING to what I’m saying."
"Lilith...." Victoria started.
"No," Lilith interrupted. "You had your turn to talk. Now it’s mine."
She turned to face her aunt fully. "You want me to run. To let Henrik sever my bonds and hide somewhere safe while you and the Alphas fight over who gets to make decisions for me. But Aunt Victoria....I don’t want to run. I’m tired of hiding. Tired of being afraid."
"Being afraid keeps you alive," Victoria said.
"Does it?" Lilith challenged. "Because I’ve been afraid my whole life. Afraid of my father dying. Afraid of my mother never waking up. Afraid of my magic. Afraid of the bonds. Afraid of the curse. And where has that gotten me? I’m still dying. I’m still trapped. I’m still watching everyone I love tear each other apart trying to save me."
She turned to the Alphas. "And you. You want me to give up my magic to break your curse. To become human. To sever the bonds and live a normal life. But you’re not asking me if that’s what I want. You’re just assuming that any version of me alive is better than me dead."
"It is," Nicholas said immediately.
"For you maybe," Lilith said. "But what about for me? What about what I want my life to look like?"
"Then tell us," Sebastian said quietly. "What do you want?"
"I don’t know what I want," Lilith said, and her voice broke. "Everyone keeps telling me what I should do but no one is listening to what I’m saying."
"Then tell me," Victoria said, softening her voice. "Tell me what you want and I will make it happen."
Lilith looked at her aunt. At the Alphas. At the assembled witches and wolves all waiting for her decision.
"I want more time," she said finally. "Time to think. Time to figure out which choice I can actually live with. Time before I have to decide between dying, giving up my magic, or watching the people I love go feral."
"We don’t have time," Victoria said gently. "The curse is growing stronger every day. Thalia knows where you are now. And the longer you stay bonded to these wolves, the harder it will be to leave them."
"Then what do you suggest?" Lilith asked.
Victoria took a breath and made a decision.
"I suggest a truce," she said, looking at the Alphas. "Temporary. Until we deal with Thalia. Because she’s the immediate threat. Once she’s handled, we can discuss the curse and the bonds and all the impossible choices. But right now, we need to work together to protect Lilith from someone who wants to turn her into a weapon."
Nicholas’s eyes narrowed. "You want to ally with us?"
"I want to keep my niece alive," Victoria corrected. "If that means temporarily allying with the wolves who bonded her against my wishes, then yes. I’ll ally with you."
She could see Nicholas calculating. Weighing the options. Trying to decide if this was genuine or a trap.
"What are your terms?" he asked finally.
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