The Triplet Alphas' Curse: Rejected by the Wolfless Luna.

Thank you so much for the golden tickets, Jennifer McKern. You’re the best.

Hey, Jennifer, due to your constant support and uplifting, I’ll contact you on Instagram to discuss Mabel’s ending. The honour is yours. ❤️🌼

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Wolf Realm:

The castle no longer sounded like itself. It remained icy silent and grief filled. Silence had settled into every corridor since Aire disappeared.

No servants whispered, and no guards exchanged quiet jokes while changing shifts.

The castle simply waited.

It had been five days.

Five endless days. The council chamber remained occupied long after sunrise with maps lay scattered across the enormous oak table.

None of them mattered anymore. Every possible route had already been searched, and every forest surrounding the kingdom had been torn apart.

Every imprisoned witch within and outside the territory had exhausted herself trying to locate the Luna.

Nate stood before the enormous windows overlooking the courtyard.

His arms were folded tightly across his chest.

Outside, warriors continued preparing search parties despite everyone knowing they were searching shadows.

Behind him, Xander sat upon the edge of the council table. He spun one of his daggers between his fingers without ever looking at it.

The blade flashed.

He hadn’t spoken in nearly an hour.

Alaric stood near the fireplace.

Unlike his brothers, he refused to remain still. He paced around and with every few steps, he turned and paced again.

The room felt too small.

A knock echoed through the chamber.

None of them answered.

The door opened anyway, and three witches entered together.

The eldest walked first. Her silver hair had almost entirely escaped its braid, and dark circles rested beneath her eyes.

She looked as though she hadn’t slept since Aire disappeared. She stopped several feet from the Alphas.

Her breathing remained steady despite her obvious exhaustion.

"We’ve found..." she began quietly.

All three brothers turned simultaneously.

"...a possibility."

Hope rose so violently inside the room. Nate crossed the distance between them in three strides.

"What kind of possibility?"

The witch hesitated. "Not certainty."

His jaw tightened. "What?" He grunted, jaw tightened. "Speak."

She lowered her eyes toward her own palms. Blue runes slowly awakened across her skin. The other witches mirrored her, and the room got filled with faint silver light.

"We attempted another locating ritual before sunrise."

"And?"

"It failed."

Silence fell into the chamber.

"It failed," she repeated, "because she isn’t merely hidden." Her fingers curled.

Xander’s expression darkened.

Alaric let out a frustrated breath. "So we’re back where we started."

"No." The eldest witch slowly raised her head. "We discovered something unexpected."

She looked directly at Alaric.

"When we searched for traces of Your Grace..." Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Your blood answered."

The room fell silent.

Alaric frowned. "My blood?" She nodded. "It shouldn’t have."

Another witch stepped forward. "Not unless..." Her eyes softened. "...you willingly shared it."

Alaric blinked.

For several long moments he simply stared at her.

Then, his breathing caught. The room disappeared from his sight, as a past memory greeted him.

He remembered Aire unconscious with her back torn open. He remembered holding her upright, and remembered pressing blood from his skin against her lips because he got scared nothing else would keep her alive.

His voice came out almost as a whisper. "That was when she first arrived."

Nate and Xander looked sharply toward him.

Alaric swallowed. "She wasn’t healing." He met their eyes. "I gave her my blood to help her heal."

The eldest witch slowly nodded. "I thought as much." She looked between all three brothers. "Willingly shared Alpha blood does more than heal."

"It remembers."

Xander frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means," another witch answered softly, "that a part of Alpha Alaric’s life still resides within Luna Aire."

Nate stared at her.

The witch continued. "The blood is not enough to control or influence her." She let out a short breath. "But it is enough..." She looked toward Alaric again. "...to recognize her."

The room became impossibly still.

Alaric hadn’t known.

He’d simply wanted to heal her, and nothing more or less.

The eldest witch drew a careful breath.

"We believe," She chose every word carefully. "that blood may accomplish what magic cannot."

Nate’s eyes sharpened. "Explain."

She folded her hands before herself.

"The Dark Fae Realm rejects outside spells. It rejects portals, and it rejects tracking. It rejects nearly everything." She paused. She looked between them before she continued. "But blood..."

Her fingers tightened. "Remember where it has already been. A part of you currently flows in her."

A long silence followed.

The older witch broke the silence. "If the Light Fae agree..."

Nate frowned immediately. He cut her off cautiously. "The Light Fae?"

She nodded. "They alone possess magic capable of reaching what Darkness refuses."

Alaric looked confused. "What would they need to reach her?"

The eldest witch answered without hesitation. "Your blood."

No one spoke immediately. She looked toward Xander.

"Yours as well."

Xander straightened. "My blood?" He asked readily.

She nodded again.

Finally, her eyes settled upon Nate. "And yours." She told him.

The three brothers exchanged glances.

None of them liked where this was heading. Especially with the involvement of the light fae. If the witches brings Aire back home safely, they would be given back their freedom. And now the light faes?

The eldest witch spoke carefully. "The three of you complete the bond."

She stared at Alaric. "You are her Alpha." She turned to Xanden. "You are her guardian." She faced Nate. "You are her heart."

She looked toward the runes glowing across her palms.

"If your blood is offered together, the Light Fae may awaken the mate bond, and help us find her."

The words settled heavily inside the chamber.

Nate was the first to recover. "What would the Light Fae want in return?" He asked.

Every witch became strangely quiet.

The eldest lowered her gaze. The silver runes across her palms brightened. She stared into them for several long seconds.

Her brows slowly drew together. Confusion crossed her face, and another witch leaned closer.

She looked down, and looked again.

Finally, the eldest closed her hand.

She looked directly at Nate. "Nothing."

The single word echoed through the room.

Nate didn’t believe her. "Nothing?"

She shook her head. "They said with you three involved, they already possess what they desire."

None of the brothers understood.

Neither, apparently, did the witches.

The eldest slowly extended both hands. "If you permit us..." Her voice became solemn. "we would begin the ritual immediately."

Nate didn’t move.

He simply stared at her. "No."

The room froze.

The witch lowered her hands.

Nate’s expression never changed. He had no trust for the witches. "Not until you answer every question I ask."

The witches exchanged uneasy glances. However, none of them interrupted.

Nate’s voice became frighteningly calm. "Will this hurt my mate?"

The eldest answered immediately. "No."

"Will she know you’re doing it?"

This time, the eldest paused before answering. "We don’t know."

Nate flexed his fingers. He looked back at Xanden then to the witches before him again. "Will it force her body against her will?"

The eldest witch looked into her palms once more.

The runes flickered, and another witch leaned in, whispering something too quietly to hear.

They finally looked up. "We do not believe so."

Nate’s eyes hardened. "’Believe isn’t certainty."

Nate jaw tightened, and then, he asked the question plainly, to let the witches know how urgent he needs their certainty.

"If her bond suddenly awakens..." His jaw tightened. "could it force her into heat?"

Even the room seemed to stop breathing when he asked that.

The eldest witch looked down at her glowing hands.

She searched, waited, and searched again. When she finally spoke, her honesty made every Alpha’s blood run cold.

"I cannot promise it won’t." Her eyes drifted to the witches around her. "It has never been attempted before."

Her voice remained steady. "We know it cannot kill her. It cannot sever the bond, and it cannot harm her soul."

She swallowed. "But whether her body..." She hesitated. "remembers her mates before her mind understands why..." The witches looked at one another. "we simply do not know."

The chamber fell into absolute silence.

Outside, a wolf howled, and none of the three brothers knew whether they were about to save their mate, or awaken something they could no longer protect her from.

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