Bound By Fate

Alpha Thorne's POV

I threw my whiskey glass against the wall.

The crystal broke into a thousand pieces, just like my carefully planned future. Just like everything I'd worked for thirty years to build.

"Say that again," I growled at Beta Marcus, who was standing in my office looking like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world.

"All three of your sons, Alpha," he repeated, his voice shaking. "The omega girl... she's mated to all three of them."

I wanted to hit something. Preferably him for bringing me this impossible news.

"That's not possible," I said through hard teeth. "Mate ties don't work that way. One dog, one mate. It's been that way since the beginning of time."

"I know, sir. But I saw it myself. Their eyes were all sparkling. They were all acting like... like wolves who'd found their mates."

My kids. My carefully raised, perfectly trained boys. The future of our pack.

Mated to some nobody omega.

All three of them.

This was a disaster.

I started walking behind my desk, my mind racing through all the problems this would cause. The pack rules were clear. Alphas mated with strong females who could create strong heirs. Not weak omegas who spent their days cleaning floors.

And certainly not one omega shared between three brothers.

"What's the girl's name?" I asked.

"Aisla, sir. She's... she's been with the pack since she was a baby. Her mother vanished when she was young. No one talks about it much."

Aisla. The name meant nothing to me. She was so tiny I didn't even know she existed.

And now she was threatening to destroy everything.

"Where are my sons now?"

"They followed her into the woods, sir. That was twenty minutes ago."

Of course they did. When the mate bond hit, reasoning went out the window. I remembered what it felt like when I first met my mate, their mother. The urgent need to be close to her. The way nothing else mattered.

But this was different. This was three times worse.

"Sir?" Marcus cleared his throat nervously. "What do we do? The pack is starting to ask questions. Elaria is... upset."

Upset was probably putting it lightly. Elaria had been raised to be Kieran's mate since she was old enough to walk. Her father and I had arranged it years ago. It was supposed to strengthen our alliance, protect our bloodlines.

Now that was ruined too.

"No one can know about this," I said firmly. "Not yet. We need to figure out what we're dealing with before word spreads."

"Yes, sir. But sir... what if it's real? What if the Moon Goddess really did mate all three of them to the same girl?"

I stopped moving and stared at him. "The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes like that."

But even as I said it, doubt came into my mind. What if this wasn't a mistake? What if this was something else entirely?

Something that could kill us all.

I grabbed my phone and rang a number I hadn't called in years.

"Elder Mora," I said when she answered. "I need you here. Now."

"Alpha Thorne?" Her ancient voice was sharp with worry. "What's wrong?"

"Something that shouldn't be possible. Something that could tear the pack apart."

There was a long pause. Then she said something that made my blood run cold.

"The prophecy."

"What prophecy?"

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

She hung up before I could ask what she meant.

I turned back to Marcus, who was watching me with worried eyes.

"Get everyone out of the pack house," I ordered. "Make up some reason. Training practice, emergency drill, I don't care. I want this place empty except for critical personnel."

"What about Elaria? She's wanting answers."

"Handle her. Tell her whatever you have to tell her, but keep her quiet."

Marcus nodded and rushed out of my office.

I slumped into my chair and put my head in my hands.

Thirty years. Thirty years I'd been Alpha of this pack. I'd kept us safe, kept us strong, kept us united. I'd raised three sons who were meant to be the future of our kind.

And now this.

A knock on my door stopped my spiraling thoughts.

"Come in," I called.

Elder Mora entered, moving faster than I'd seen her move in decades. She was ancient, older than anyone in the pack, and she knew things the rest of us had forgotten.

"Where are they?" she asked without introduction.

"In the woods. Mora, what prophecy were you talking about?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, they looked haunted.

"The Luna of Three Souls," she said softly. "I thought it was just an old story. A legend to scare young wolves into following custom."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sit down, Thorne. This is bigger than you think."

I was already sitting, but I gripped the arms of my chair harder.

"There's an old prophecy," she started. "Older than our pack, older than most packs. It speaks of a time when the natural order would be tested. When one Luna would be mated to three Alphas, joining their souls together."

"That's impossible."

"So I thought. But the prophecy says she won't be a regular wolf. She'll be something more. Something strong enough to either save our kind or destroy us all."

My mouth went dry. "What do you mean, something more?"

"I don't know exactly. The prophecy is written in the old language, and parts of it are hazy. But Thorne..." She leaned forward, her eyes intense. "If this girl is who I think she is, if she's the one from the prophecy, then your sons aren't just mated to an omega."

"Then what is she?"

"She's the key to either our salvation or our extinction."

Before I could ask what that meant, my phone rang.

I looked at the caller ID and felt my heart stop.

It was Kieran.

I answered instantly. "Kieran? Where are you?" "Dad." His voice was strained, frightened. "We need help. Aisla collapsed, and there are wolves circling us. Not pack dogs. Rogues."

"How many?"

"At least a dozen. Maybe more. Dad, they're not here by accident. They knew exactly where to find us."

The phone line crackled with static, then Lucien's voice came through, screaming over what sounded like snarling.

"Dad! They're not trying to kill us! They're trying to take her!"

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone in my hand, my mind spinning.

Elder Mora was watching me with knowing eyes.

"It's starting," she said quietly.

"What's starting?"

"The forecast. And Thorne?" She stood up, suddenly looking every one of her old years. "Those rogues aren't random attacks. Someone sent them."

"Who would send rogues after my sons?"

"Someone who knows what that girl really is," she said sadly. "Someone who either wants to use her power or destroy her before she can use it herself."

"What power? She's just an omega!"

"No," Elder Mora said, headed for the door. "She's not just anything. And if we don't get to her first, everything we know about our world is about to change."

"Where are you going?"

"To gather the ancient books. We're going to need them."

She paused at the door and looked back at me.

"Thorne? Pray that your kids can protect her long enough for us to figure out what she is. Because if the wrong people get their hands on her..."

"What?"

"The war that's coming will make our worst nightmares look like bedtime stories."