Chapter One.

Aurelia's POV.

"Happy Birthday to my Lia," Dad's voice rang out as he raised his glass of champagne to make a toast and the entire hall fell silent.

"This isn't just about you turning twenty-one, this is to celebrate the mate bond the moon goddess has blessed you with and I am more than happy to have Liam as my son-in-law." He added and a wide smile stretched across my face.

I felt my skin tingle as Liam, the son of my Father's beta, reached out to hold my hand underneath the table as he winked at me.

Everything was perfect. 

My cheeks fanned hot as my eyes dropped shyly to the ground. Liam and I have been friends since childhood so when we discovered our mate bond under the full moon during his first shift, our parents were elated.

My father, Alpha Zane, was the alpha of Blood Moon Pack, the strongest in the entire world and I was his only child, Mom had tried countless times after me but she just couldn't have another and Dad was more than contended with me. 

"To Liam and Aurelia!" Everyone chanted in celebration and music filled the hall.

My eyes instinctively dart towards the empty seats at the high table, right next to my parents, which had specifically been reserved for my foster brothers.

"Where are they?" I mumbled to myself as my brows furrowed lightly.

They were supposed to be here, I had personally sent out their invitation.

I exhaled sharply, Kaelen, Rylan and Torin wouldn't miss this... would they? 

I was looking forward to see their reaction about the news of my mate bond but... maybe they were off on some border patrol or carrying out father's orders, afterall, this wasn't the first time. 

"It's time." Liam's gentle voice filled my ears, sending a shiver down my spine like it always did as he took my arm and pulled me up from my seat.

He had been looking forward to this, his private dance with me since father told him about it and so was I.

I placed my head gently on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around my waist and we began to waltz around the dance floor.

My entire life had finally clicked into place and I was so happy and grateful for it.

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from outside the door just as it burst open to reveal my exiled uncle, Kade, standing at the entrance.

It's been years since I last saw him, not after he had openly challenged my father and ended up with a silver blade buried in his chest, it was a miracle he had survived so father had him exiled. 

"Brother!" He called out unenthusiastically, "no one told me it was my favorite neice birthday." He added with a devilish grin that creeped me out.

I never liked uncle Kade, he always had this murderous look in my eyes that didn't sit well with me. 

"Guards!" Father yelled as he stepped forward angrily, "walk away Kade because I will not spare you again." 

"I should be the one telling you that." He growled as his natural eyes shifted into that of his wolf's and his sharp claws popped into view.

Before Dad could say anything, Kaelen, Rylan and Torin stepped out from behind him and I almost let out a deep sigh of relief.

My foster, triplet brother's were the fiercest warriors in the entire pack, father's own pride and the last Lycans to walk the earth.

Kade would be no match for them. 

"Finally, get him out of here Torin!" Dad commanded but he didn't budge.

Silence fell over the hall as every eyes turned to my brothers who remained behind Kade while a dark smirk crept up Kade's face. 

Kaelen with his stormy grey eyes and dark hair had tattoos peeking out above his neck and around his knuckles, his tall, muscular and imposing frame matched his identical brothers. Rylan with his icy blue eyes and dark hair clenched his jaw tightly with an unreadable expression on his face while Torin with his unruly dark hair and eyes burning like crimson embers had a deadly look on his face.

Something wasn't right.

Why were they dressed in their battle armors? 

With a terrifying growl, Torin charged forward and my heart dipped towards my stomach when he buried his claws deep inside one of the guards, before yanking it out roughly along with his intestines.

A piercing scream from one of the guests tore through the crowd as everyone began to race towards the exit. 

My eyes widened in horror and my breath caught in my throat as I stared at the scene before me. Torin's claws kept dripping with blood and his red eyes shone with rage, the kind I had never seen before.

"Stay behind me." Liam said as he pulled me backwards, before he shifted into his wolf. A large, grey wolf with dark brown eyes.

What the hell was going on? 

"Spare no one." Kade snarled, Kaelen and Rylan charged forward immediately.

Chaos erupted as everyone ran as fast as they could for their lives but my brothers spared no one, they cut through the crowd and guards and within a few seconds, dead bodies littered the ground I had just waltzed on.

"No Rylan, Rylan, it's me, your mother and your Luna." Mom's voice rang out and I glanced to my side to find Mom crawling backwards as Rylan approached her, blood splattered across his amor.

"No! No!" I yelled, my body shook violently but I staggered forward, away from Liam and towards my mom.

"W-What are you doing Rylan, that's Mom," I said, my heart pounding against my chest and my hands trembling.

"Stay away from her!" Dad charged forward and in the blink of an eye, he shifted into his wolf form and attacked Rylan.

"Get her out of here Liam." Mom screamed and I barely got a chance to react before I felt someone grab my arm and pull me towards the door.

"Mom! Dad!" I cried out, confused and shocked by how quickly things had spiraled out of control.

Out of nowhere, Torin jumped in front of us and Liam snarled in a protective manner. In the blink of an eye, Torin had pounced on Liam's wolf and in a single breath, he buried his canine deep inside his neck.

I saw him tremble.... I saw him writhing in pain before his body suddenly went numb. I saw him drop down to the floor, lifeless.

The sight punched the air from my lungs. The shockwave hit me a second later, a wall of force that made my ears pop and my head ring. For a single, disorienting second, there was perfect silence, the kind that follows a car crash. 

My skin went cold and tight. My vision spinning, everything at the edges blurring into nothing.

Then the screaming started. Not from outside. From inside me.

A high, thin, desperate sound I didn't recognize as my own voice was ripped from my throat. 

"Liam!"

I couldn't breathe. My lungs were sealed shut. This wasn't happening. This was a dream, a bad dream.

The pain that shot through my chest was unexplainable, like a part of my soul had just been ripped out of me. Our bond, that beautiful, humming, perfect sensation that had been the most real thing I'd ever felt-was just... gone. 

Brutally ripped out of me.

I crumbled to the floor, the hem of my dress drenched in blood, Liam's blood.

Mom's scream tore through the air, brutally yanking me out of the misery I was slowing sinking into and I spun around to find Rylan overpowering father.

It all happened so fast, Rylan broke Dad's arm with a brutal kick that filled the air with a sickening crunch sound before he forced him on his knees before Kade. Mom was dragged by the hair, her screams and pleas fell on deaf ears as she was shoved down on her knees beside father.

"Please... Spare my Lia, she has nothing to do with this." Father begged, blood pouring down his mouth but the men I once knew as brothers stared at him with an unrecognizable, cold expression.

"Don't worry, I'll keep her safe while you rot in hell." Kade spat as he raised his silver blade high in the air and brought it down heavily on father.

My body went rigid, every muscle screaming inside of me. I tried to move, to run, to help, but my legs felt like rocks underneath me, I couldn't move. 

I was trapped in, forced to watch it happen.

I saw the exact moment it happened. I felt it.

My parents bodies fell to the ground, the smell of their burning flesh filled the air and wrapped itself around my senses.

My throat burned and my pain wasn't the kind that could be located. It was everywhere and nowhere.

The world lost all color... all sound... as the tears began to pour down my face.

The hands that grabbed my chin were rough and covered in blood, my parents blood,

"Don't worry niece," Kade sneered as he brought his face close to mine, "death is a mercy you haven't earned, so until you earn it, your life is mine."

My eyes remained glued to my parents lifeless bodies as Kade's men dragged them out like filth, like they weren't the Alpha and Luna, like they weren't my parents.

"Strip her and toss her in the dungeons." Kade commanded and his men stepped forward with sleazy grins on their faces as they ripped off my blood stained clothes.

Naked, humiliated and with eyes blurred with tears, I stared at them,

The three people I'd trusted my entire life, the brothers I'd loved, the ones that taught me how to slide down the stairs in the hallway, the ones that had carried me on their shoulders whenever I had a bruise.

Rylan's eyes looked straight through mine as if I was a stranger, while Kaelen glanced away from me, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

Why? Why would they do this?

I didn't fight as they shoved me down to the dungeons, there was nothing left to fight with, I was empty and wounded.

I could still hear the laughter and music from the party ringing in my ears as my naked and shivering body hit the cold concrete, I could still picture Liam's and my parents lifeless body like it had been burnt into my memory but I could only feel the crushing weight of one question on my chest,

Why? 

Chapter Two.

Aurelia's POV.

Has it been days? Weeks? It didn't matter.

I couldn't see anything in the thick darkness that engulfed me. I could only feel the hunger gnawing at my stomach. My throat burned with thirst and I could barely breathe properly as I laid on the dusty floor smeared with my own urine.

The chains weighed down heavily on my wrists, digging deeper into my flesh with every single movement from me.

I laid there motionless, ignoring the chill seeping into my bones from the cold floor, the grime coating my skin because all I could think of was their screams.

Their horrified, blank faces as life drained from their bodies... my mate... my parents... the blood... the sickening crunch of my father's bones.

It was buried deep inside of me and all I could do was writhe in my misery and pain, too exhausted to cry or maybe... there wasn't anymore tears left in me. 

The sound of heavy boots against the ground and the jangle of keys shattered the silence and my heart skipped a beat.

Food! Maybe they finally brought food... or maybe water!

I struggled to move but my body was too weak, even my head had to remain rooted to its spot to calm the splitting headache threatening to rip it in two. 

Dim light flooded my cell and I heard the door unlock before it screeched open. Heavy footsteps surrounded me, Just as strong hands grabbed my arms and dragged me up. My bare skin scraped against the rough floor but they didn't care. 

"She stinks." One of the guards remarked as he scrunched up his nose, glaring at me.

"It isn't everyday we see a princess become a nobody." The second mocked.

The first guard aggressively grabbed my chin and pulled me closer to him until I was staring into his leering eyes as his sharp nails dug into my flesh. His breath reeked of cheap ale and meat. 

"What's wrong Princess?" He sneered, "think you're too good for me?" His free hand rough and slimy, slid down my side, over the curve of my hip with a slow gesture that made my stomach heave.

My eyes squeezed shut against the nauseating feeling of his erection poking at my thighs.

This was it. This was the fate of a "nobody". To become a lowly person that a guard could grope in the dark. 

I had never shifted before so I had no wolf to help me. 

He grabbed my hair and yanked it back, I yelped in pain but couldn't even resist as his lips inched closer,

"You can play with her later, we can't keep the Alpha waiting." The second guard pulled him off me.

I could barely say a word or lift a finger as they unlocked the chains, it felt like a heavy weight had just been taken off me as the chains fell to the ground before a dress was pulled down my body to cover me up.

I wouldn't call it a dress... it was a rag. Thin, torn, stained and filthy, it reeked of sweat and things I didn't even want to name. Even a maid in the pack house wouldn't wear something this degrading. 

Unable to resist, all I could do was flinch in pain as I was shoved and half dragged out of the dungeon.

The moment the blinding light of day hit me, I squinted my eyes, unable to take it all in at once but the guards didn't even have the patience, they forcefully pushed me forward and I almost fell face flat on the floor.

The once familiar corridors of the place I grew up in, now felt alien and hostile. New guards flanked the walls all over the place, some snarled at me while other simply stared in amusement at my humiliation.

I could recognize a handful of them as my father's men but they couldn't look me in the eyes, they simply glanced away in guilt.

My family's crest had been pulled down and in its place was a huge banner of Kade's wolf hanging over the walls in front of the grand hall.

This was no longer my home and that reality crushed me.

The doors opened and I was shoved inside. The memories from my birthday party flooded my mind immediately my eyes rested on the familiar hall that was drenched with the blood of everyone I held dear. 

My aching body began to tremble and I could barely stand on my feet.

"Ahhh... she finally decides to join us." Kade's loud voice echoed through the hall and I glanced up slowly to find him seated at the head of the table.

My father's seat! 

Tears sprang to the corner of my eyes instantly and I could barely stop them from rolling down my cheeks as I struggled to swallow, anything at all to wet my burning throat.

And then, my eyes rested on them seated beside Kade... my fos-

No! My skin crawled at the mere thought of calling them that, those murderers were not my brothers, they could never be my brothers.

Rylan sat unmoving, his eyes cold as they scanned over me. Torin on the other hand stared straight into my eyes, daring me to hold his gaze longer than a second but I could never, not when I could see the beast that killed my mate lurking behind them.

While Kaelen looked indifferent, like he didn't even want to be there. 

They all looked good, clean, well fed and well rested, like they had not lost an ounce of sleep after the atrocity they had committed.

How could they sleep at night after murdering the people that raised them in cold blood? How could they eat after killing the man that saved their lives?!

How could they celebrate after ruining my life?!

I could feel the blood rushing past my ears as my fists clenched tightly by my side;

"Gentlemen..." Kade began, gesturing towards me with a dismissive wave of his hand as if he was merely presenting a cut of meat, "a small token of my appreciation for your... loyalty." 

"Consider her a tribute, she's yours to do with as you please. A little pet to keep you entertained or see to your private needs. Maybe a toy?" He added with a grin as the triplets turned towards me.

What?!

Their gaze made my skin burn and crawl with hatred. 

Rylan's cold eyes swept over me like he was assessing a tool, Kaelen posture stiffened but he never looked at me while Torin... the maniac eyes glowed with intrigue.

He actually smirked! A slow, dark curve of his lips that made my heart skip a beat. 

I saw him kill Liam in cold blood and he still had the...

"Take her away and get her ready." Kade's orders cut through my thoughts and snapped me back to reality.

As the maids approached me, reality sank in. 

There was no way I was going to let that happen.

I could feel the rage boiling underneath my skin as my fingers dug into my palm. 

Without a second thought, I spat on the floor between them, the sound of my heart pounding filled my ears,

"I would let the roaches in that dungeon feast on my corpse before I ever let any of you murderers touch me." My voice was hoarse but firm as the words rolled out of me, laced with venom. 

Kade's sick laughter rang across the hall, a cruel, mocking sound while the triplets remained silent.

"Just take her away." Kade waved me off as the guards from earlier suddenly appeared beside me and grabbed my arms.

"No! No!" I screamed out loud, thrashing wildly with all the strength I had left but it was of no use. 

I was roughly dragged out of the hall but to my horror, I wasn't taken back to the dungeon but towards the guest wing in the pack house, the triplets chambers.

I was locked in there for what felt like a few hours before the door opened and the three men who destroyed my life, stepped inside.

My heart skipped a beat as the door slammed shut, the realization of how powerless I was knocked the air right out of my lungs,

I was completely at their mercy.

Chapter Three.

Aurelia's POV.

Rylan simply strolled over to the window where a liquor bottle had been placed on the table and poured himself a shot, gulping it all down in one go, he turned his attention out the window as if I wasn't even in the room.

But Kaelen and Torin on the other hand, stepped closer to me, I could feel the heat from their bodies on my skin as they circled me like predators. My entire body trembled in fear but I refused to give in.

"Go on then... finish the job or isn't that what your master sent you to do?"

"Master?" Torin scoffed out loud, his eyes glittering with mischief, "Kade is not our master."

"I doubt that because you all looked like dogs begging for scraps at his table a few hours ago." I shot back, unsure of where my new found confidence was coming from.

Kaelen burst out laughing, a dry laugh that didn't light up his eyes but darkened his irises instead,

"You haven't changed one bit Aurelia, still running that mouth of yours like always, but for your own safety, I suggest you learn to control it because daddy isn't here to save you anymore." He mocked and my jaw clenched tightly as I fought back the tears that pooled at the bottom of my eyes.

"Don't you dare talk about my father, you monster!" A raw sound of anguish escaped from my throat as I brought my fists down heavily on his chest with the little strength I had left but it was useless, like I was hitting a mountain.

That didn't stop me though, I continued until Torin seized my hand and twisted it sharply behind my back.

I hissed in pain but my body was now pressed against his and I could feel his breath fan hot against my bare neck,

"Don't push us Lia." He whispered softly, my father's favorite name for me rolling off his tongue with such ease that it took me by surprise.

My body stiffened against his and his touch sent a weird sensation through every inch of me but I quickly shook it off. 

"How much did he give you? How much money could he have possibly offered you that would be worth the lives of the people that put a roof over your heads when you needed it?" I cried out, my body shivering as rage and pain washed through me, colliding violently inside of me. 

"How could you kill them." I sobbed, my legs suddenly went numb underneath me and I collapsed totally against Torin who held me firmly to himself.

They all fell silent, none said a single word while Rylan kept his eyes glued to whatever was so important outside the window. 

"Just kill me..." I whispered weakly, "kill me now or else..." my voice cracked as sobs violently shook my fragile frame, my tone turned cold and deadly, "I'll kill you, all of you, I'll peel the flesh back from your skin and keep you alive for as long as it will take to make you feel my pain, before I end your miserable lives."

The words rolled out of me with such hatred and rage, something I wasn't even aware I was capable of until that moment.

The sound of Rylan's dark chuckle sliced through the suffocating silence as he spun around for the first time since he walked into the room,

"You think death is a threat?" He began to walk towards me, his eyes held mine with such intensity that I didn't notice how close he was until his presence had taken up all the air around me and I couldn't breathe properly.

"I dare you to kill us Aurelia, I look forward to it, afterall, you're his daughter so it's only right that you finish what your father started. 

"But let me warn you, it won't be easy because your father made sure that there is nothing left inside of us to kill." He added, his voice icy cold and his deep blue eyes burned with so much hatred as he glared down at me.

Before I could say a word, his fingers snaked around my neck and in an heartbeat, he yanked me away from Torin who immediately released my twisted arm and Rylan pulled me closer to him. His broad chest brushed against my body and my eyes widened in horror and fear as his grip tightened around my neck.

Panicking, my fingers scratched against his hand, punching and slapping at whatever part of him I could reach but it was useless against a man like him.

And that was when it happened.

The tip of his fingers where his skin met mine suddenly became charged with what felt like electricity. My breath hitched and I felt something stir inside of me, not out of fear but a confused yearning that sparked deep within me. 

Ache... pleasure... recognition... all fused into one unexplainable sensation that shot through my entire body and I barely got the chance to recover from it before I felt something awaken inside of me.

"MATE!" A deep growl erupted from deep inside my mind, an unfamiliar yet familiar sound that I had never heard before.

My entire body froze. 

For the first time since I was born, I felt my wolf awaken.

Rylan's eyes widened. He jerked his hand back sharply from my neck, and his own gaze dropped down to his fingers with a stunned expression on his face and that made me wonder if he had felt it too. 

His eyes searched mine as I gasped for air but the feeling growing inside of me didn't stop there.

I could feel something strong, an invisible thread pulling me towards Rylan but... it wasn't just him...

I could feel that same pull towards Kaelen, and a more wilder one towards Torin. All three of them?!

"We're leaving. Now." I overheard Rylan say with an authoritative voice .

What the hell was going on? 

The pull was overwhelming, too intense for my already weak body to handle.

The entire room began to spin right before me as my chest heaved heavily, I was practically gasping for air and staggering around, frantically reaching out to grab onto something.

But before my hands could grab onto anything, my vision turned blurry and everything went dark just as I collapsed against something or... someone.

****

My eyes fluttered open slowly but the blinding lights hit me so hard that I was forced to shut them back immediately. My head was pounding and the smell of soap filled my nostrils.

I could hear voices... I could feel something against my skin but I was too disoriented to think. My vision was blurry and I couldn't see past the whitish thing in the air that looked like... steam.

"Poor thing. She has no idea what's in store for her tonight." A feminine voice filled my ears.

"Hush! It's not our place to say such things. But you're right. No woman has ever survived a night with one of them... let alone all three. I feel bad for her." Another one said. 

My lips parted and I forced myself to speak, to ask where I was and what was going on but nothing made it out before I slipped back into the darkness, unconscious.