The light binds me so thickly and my chest rises and falls in quick, shallow gasps as the entire Velaris Hollow Pack stares at me like I’ve grown two heads.

No--- like I’ve stolen something sacred.

“Iryn Vale,” the High Priestess’s voice among the elders booms across the altar, breaking the unusual quietness of shock among the pack members.

“Step forward.”

My knees shake, my hands tremble at my sides and I can’t feel my toes or think past the rush in my ears.

She called my name, in front of everyone.

I glance around, but no one meets my eyes.

The Omegas look like they’ve seen a ghost, the Betas look confused and the Alphas?

Goddess, they look furious.

I take one shaky step, then another and I feel something thrum in my chest like an invisible thread is pulling me forward.

The High Priestess, dressed in a midnight blue cloak, lifts her hand and narrows her eyes at the moon above.

“The Moon has spoken. The bond glows for all to see.”

A hiss of whispers go through the crowd immediately like they've all just snapped out of a trance.

“She’s just an Omega.”

“No bloodline. No rank!! What is the meaning of this?”

“There must be a mistake—”

“There’s never a mistake during the bond.”

They talk on but I can barely breathe.

My footsteps stop at the edge of the altar circle, where only ranked wolves are allowed, however the light won’t stop pulling me.

It coils around my waist, my shoulders and my chest, then it splits and a second beam drops from the moon, then a third beam.

I blink in shock and at the same time, the crowd erupts into shouts.

“Three bonds?”

“No— that’s not possible.”

The silver threads of moonlight beams around me streak across the courtyard very fast, slamming into three figures who are standing shoulder to shoulder, making them all to glow.

Oh goddess!

My heart stutters; of course it does, why wouldn't it?

Everyone knows the names of the three men the Goddess just bonded me to, even lowly Omegas like me.

Nyall, Fenric and Orien.

And they're not just men, they’re all Alphas, the triplet sons of Lord Alpha Theron, born in the same hour, trained for pack wars.

No one knows which one of them will take the throne but all three are untouchable except now… they’re bound to me.

Me, an Omega!!

I don’t move, infact I can’t move, and then the three of them step forward.

Nyall walks first; he is tall and broad with onyx eyes that look like firelight and his gaze never leaves mine.

Fenric is next, with his hair tousled like he just came from a fight and enjoyed it.

His smirk is dangerous and...

And Orien… Goddess help me, Orien's eyes are as pale as storm clouds, but when they land on me there's confusion and hunger in them.

All three stop just a breath away from me and so the bond flares again, this time so brightly and strongly that I stagger backward.

Nyall catches my wrist, preventing me from falling.

“Mine,” he growls.

Fenric laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Ours, brother. Don’t forget the Moon gave her to all of us.”

“She’s shaking,” Orien murmurs in a quiet but dangerous voice.

“Are you afraid of us, little Omega?”

I try to speak, but nothing comes out.

“What sort of trickery is this?” Lord Alpha Theron roars from the steps above, shoving through the gathered crowd.

His own cloak flares about behind him as Beta Garren and guards march on either sides beside him with their weapons all drawn out of their sheaths.

“There is no trick,” the High Priestess says, not being intimidated at all by the Lord Alpha's anger.

“The Goddess’s light does not lie.”

“She’s a no name,” Beta Garren snaps.

"Born of a washmaid and a drunk who left before her third birthday. She has no claim to anything, much less them.”

“You would challenge the Moon’s will?” the High Priestess replies, turning her gaze on him as her eyes turn into a pure white glow.

Garren flinches at this, “This is an error. A curse. It must be undone.”

“She’s an Omega!” Elayne’s shrill voice breaks through the crowd.

She’s on her bare feet and her face is all red with fury and humiliation.

“She can’t be bonded to one Alpha, let alone three!”

I open my mouth then close it; I feel small and invisible again.

No— not invisible, everyone's looking at me. I feel targeted.

But I've done nothing wrong.

“Say something,” Fenric murmurs, stepping in and bending until his chest brushes against mine.

“Tell them it’s real. Tell them you feel it.”

I stare up at him, feeling the bond pulsing wildly between us.

Yes I do feel it, it’s alive and strong, and it's drawing at me.

“I… I didn’t ask for this,” I whisper.

Nyall’s jaw tightens as he looks at me. “None of us did.”

“Still,” Orien says in a low voice, “here we are.”

Lord Alpha Theron steps forward, towering over the altar.

“Iryn Vale, as Lord Alpha of this Hollow, I demand you reject the bond. Do it now, before it solidifies.”

The entire courtyard holds its breath and I blink in full shock.

Reject?

I hadn’t even known I’d be chosen---- how am I supposed to reject three bonded threads without getting destroyed?

I'm an Omega it will kill me.

“I…” My voice cracks.

“You’re terrified,” Orien murmurs. “I can hear your heart.”

Nyall’s hand wrap around my wrist tightly, but not cruelly, it's almost… protectively.

“I won’t let them force you,” he growls. “The bond is ours, not theirs.”

The High Priestess raises both her hands to the sky and speaks again.

“The bond has been cast. The Moon has chosen. If they reject, they do so together not under threat.”

I see Lord Alpha Theron’s eyes burn with fury, however I am surprised that I don't find myself lowering in submission to him.

“Elayne,” he barks. “Come. You’ll be bonded to Orien instead.”

Orien’s head whips around and he snarls at his father. “I. Am. Bound.”

“To her,” Nyall finishes.

“To us,” Fenric adds.

I stagger back again, feeling very overwhelmed.

“Enough,” the High Priestess says.

“The ceremony is concluded. The bond cannot be undone here. Take her to the sacred chamber, let the threads stabilize under the moon’s gaze.”

“What?” I gasp out before I can think.

“You will stay with them tonight,” she says looking directly at me and I almost flinch at her moon glowing eyes.

“The three of them. You are now connected in ways that must not be broken by force.”

“Like hell she will!” my mother’s voice screams from somewhere beyond the altar.

“She’s just a girl!”

Guards move to take me away, but in less than a breath, Nyall’s body blocks mine completely and Fenric and Orien stand by either side of me.

“No one touches her,” Nyall growls.

Orien steps forward, “Anyone who tries will answers to me.”

Fenric cracks his knuckles. “Might want to back up before someone gets shredded.”

The guards stop and Lord Alpha Theron’s hands at his sides twitches as his fingers shift into claws, but the High Priestess shakes her head at him.

“Break the bond now, and you will invite the Moon’s wrath. You know the old laws.”

I don't see his reaction to the High Priestess' words because suddenly everything around me feels so loud.

I try to breathe, but the air doesn’t move past my throat, my chest is burning, my skin is in fire from the inside out, and my legs tremble so violently that I'm afraid I can't keep standing for long.

Nyall is bent and about carrying me off from where I stand when suddenly there's a scream.

“She’s cursed them!” Elayne shouts again, in a louder voice than before.

“She bewitched the princes with some twisted spell! Look at her— she’s barely conscious! She can’t even control her own power!”

I clutch at my chest, feeling the bond pulling so tight at me that it feels like chains are coiled around my heart.

I can feel them— all three of them; Nyall. Fenric and Orien.

I can also feel their rage and their need for something.

Their scents fill my nostrils to the brim, not allowing me to perceive the scent of anything or anyone else.

They smell like dark cedar, scorched spice, wild pine.

Elayne’s heeled slippers click loudly as she steps onto the ceremonial stone ring near the alter, ignoring the High Priestess who stands and looks at her with shock.

“She’s tainted!” Elayne yells, pointing at me with shaking fingers.

“The Moon would never bind royalty to an Omega! This isn’t fate— it’s a curse!”

A few pack members gasps and some nod like they want to believe her. .

I want to speak and defend myself, but my tongue is heavy and my lips are right now trembling too much to form any words at all.

“I— I didn’t do anything,” I finally manage to whisper, but no one hears me over the growl that suddenly rents the air.

“Enough,” Fenric says in a low snarl.

He pushes forward, blocking Elayne from me with his broad body.

“Say one more thing about her,” he growls, “and I’ll rip your throat out. I don’t care if you're the Beta’s daughter.”

“Do you think I’m afraid of you?” Elayne spits while her chest heaves. “You’re all under her spell!”

Nyall steps in next, grabbing Fenric’s arm. “Back off,” he snaps. “Let me speak to her. She’s mine.”

“She’s not just yours,” Orien snarls, appearing at my other side to face Nyall. “We all felt the bond, all three of us.”

I sway between them feeling like a thread that's about to snap.

“Stay away from her, both of you,” Nyall hisses suddenly, shoving Orien back. “She chose me—”

“She didn’t choose anyone!” Fenric roars.

“I don’t belong to any of you,” I whisper, but again, no one hears me.

Just then the bond pulls at me tighter than before, so tightly that it feels unbearable and my legs finally give way, allowing my knees to hit the ground.

“Iryn!” Orien’s voice cuts in, alerting the others.

I feel warm, rough hands on me before the blackness rushes up and swallows me whole.

-------------

When I wake, I’m still on the ceremonial stone, feeling the cold slab bite into my skin.

But something feels different because the crowd has become completely quiet and I don't even hear Elayne's voice anymore.

“The bond is real,” I hear Orien say angrily for what feels like the tenth time. “We all felt it.”

“You expect me to believe that my sons—the heirs to Velaris Hallow Pack are all fated to a nameless Omega?”

I gasp as I realise it is the Lord Alpha speaking again and turn my neck to see him still standing at the edge of the ceremonial ring.

He seems to be blocking his sons from moving anywhere, but then I notice that he has half shifted with his fangs, claws and glowing gold wolf eyes out, and I realise my mates stopped him from attacking me while they were distracted due to me having passed out.

Lord Alpha Theron narrows his eyes at me, then at his sons.

“You will not claim her,” he growls.

Fenric steps forward to towards him. “You can’t stop the bond.”

“I am the Lord Alpha!” Thorne roars, letting out his aura and the pack members fall to their knees.

Again, I don't feel the compulsive submissiveness to bow to him.

“I decide who my sons take as mates. And she—” he jabs a finger at me, “—is beneath us!”

My chest clenches painfully at his words. Although they are true, I’ve never felt so much shame like this and I wonder if my mother feels the same way now.

My instincts say that I should run and hide, but the bond won’t even let me move an inche now.

“You heard the High Priestess, you are defying the will of the Moon Goddess,” Nyall says evenly in warning.

“The Moon would never tie you to THIS.”

I flinch.

He just called me an object; obviously I've been called worse but this hits me harder knowing that he's the father of my mates.

Would he ever accept me?

“This girl will bring chaos with her. Imagine three heirs fighting---- the pack would be divided. If she can't reject the bond, you three must reject her.”

“She’s ours,” Orien says. “We’ll never reject her.”

“You will reject her,” Lord Alpha Theron snarls. “Or I will disown you all.”