<h4>Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Alpha’s Ultimatum</h4>


    freēwēbηovel.c?m


    The burst of light and darkness threw everyone to the ground. When the blinding sh faded, ra stood in the middle of the temple ruins, the Moon Crown glowing on her head. But something was wrong. Her skin was turning ck where the void poison had touched her neck. The deadly liquid was spreading like ink through water, racing toward her heart. "ra!" all three triplets yelled at once. But she was changing.


    The crown’s silver light fought against the poison’s darkness. Her eyes flickered between silver and ck, power and death fighting inside her body. "Fascinating," Marcus said, pulling himself up from the rubble. Blood trickled from a cut on his scalp, but he was smiling. "The crown is keeping you alive, but barely." The enhanced rogues had been knocked asleep by the st. Celestey crushed against a broken pir, her neck bent at an odd angle. The void poison vial had broken beside her. "Help her!" Ronan begged, rushing to ra’s side. "The poison is too strong," Aldric said sadly. "Even royal blood can’t fight it alone." Kael broke free from the altar’s remains. "There has to be something we can do!" "Actually, there is," Marcus said easily. "But it requires a sacrifice I doubt any of you are willing to make." Everyone turned to stare at him. Despite losing his magical army and ritual, he looked strangely optimistic. "What kind of sacrifice?" Darian ordered, struggling to his feet. Marcus pointed to the ancient symbols carved into the temple walls. "This ce holds old magic. Older than the crown, older than the silver dogs. It can clear any poison... for a price." "Name it," ra gasped, trying to stay conscious as the darkness crept up her throat. "Simple," Marcus smiled coldly. "Renounce your im to the crown. Return to being just an omega. ept that you’ll never be Luna, and the temple will cleanse the poison." "No!" Kael snarled. "She’s already proven she’s meant to lead!" "Has she?" Marcus asked. "Look around you. The pack is split. Wolves have died tonight. Your mate bond stays iplete. What kind of boss brings such chaos?" ra looked at the damage surrounding them. Pack membersy wounded among the rubble. Families were still taking sides. The cost of her awakening had been huge. "Don’t listen to him," Luna Evelyn said quickly. "He’s manipting you." But Marcus wasn’t finished. "I’ll make you a deal, little omega. A real choice, not the fake promises others have given you." He stepped closer, ignoring the silver light still radiating from the crown. "ept the mate bond with all three of my kids. Be their Luna, but never their equal. Submit to packw, to my authority, and to their supremacy. Do this, and I’ll use the temple’s power to save your life." "That’s not a choice," Ronan snapped. "That’s very." "Is it?" Marcus asked. "She gets to live. She gets love. She gets a ce in the pack.


    All she has to give up is this foolish dream of being a queen." The poison reached ra’s jaw. Speaking was bing tough. "And if I refuse?" she whispered. "Then you leave," Marcus said simply. "Take your crown, take your power, but leave my pack forever. Go find somewhere else to rule. But you’ll do it alone, because my boys stay here." The decision hit like a physical blow. ra felt the mate bonds stretching, pulling tight. The thought of leaving the triplets behind made her chest ache worse than the poison. "That’s not fair!" Darian protested. "You can’t force us to choose between her and our family!" "Can’t I?" Marcus’s voice hardened. "I’m still Alpha here. You’re still my kids. If she stays, she follows pack rule. If she leaves, she goes alone." Elder Morven stepped forward, his ancient face worried. "Alpha Marcus, the crown has picked her. To deny a true queen—" "The crown chose wrong," Marcus snapped. "Look what it’s brought us. Violence, separation, death. This pack was peaceful before she arrived." Murmurs of agreement came from some pack members. Others looked uncertain. The gap was real, and growing. "Three days," Marcus stated, his voice carrying across the ruins. "I give you three days to decide, ra Moon. Stay and submit, or leave and rule somewhere else. But choose quickly—the poison won’t wait much longer." Aldric stepped protectively in front of his daughter. "She needs medical attention now, not ultimatums." "Then she needs to choose now," Marcus answered. "The temple’s healing requires eptance of the rules. No eptance, no healing." ra felt the world spinning. The crown’s power was keeping her alive, but barely. Every heartbeat sent more poison through her blood. "Can I think about it?" she managed to ask. "Three days," Marcus repeated. "But remember—each hour you wait, the poison grows stronger. Even royal power has limits." Kael moved to her side, his face desperate. "ra, just say yes. We’ll find out the restter." "Don’t," Ronan warned. "Once you submit to him, he’ll never let you be free." Darian said nothing, but his face was anguished. He understood the impossible situation she was in. Luna Evelyn approached carefully. "There might be another way to slow the poison. Old herbs, ancient medicines. They won’t fix it, but they could buy time." "Time for what?" Marcus asked. "The choice remains the same." "Time to find a third option," Aldric said firmly. "My daughter isn’t limited to your false choices." Marcusughed. "Really? Then tell me, silver wolf king, what other chance exists? She can stay and be a real Luna, or leave and be a queen elsewhere. Those are the only choices." "Maybe," Tobias said quietly. "But there’s something none of you are considering." Everyone turned to look at him. "The mate bonds," he continued. "They’re not just magical links.


    They’re legal ones. In old packw, if a Luna is bonded to multiple Alphas, she can challenge for control through the Bond Trial." Marcus’s faith flickered for the first time. "The Bond Trial hasn’t been used in centuries." "Because it hasn’t been needed," Elder Morven said, understanding dawning in his ancient eyes. "But if rapletes the mate bonds with all three sons..." "She could challenge me directly," Marcus finished, his voice tight. "Winner takes control of the pack." "Exactly," Tobias smiled grimly. "She wouldn’t have to choose between love and power. She could fight for both." The possibility hung in the air like electricity. ra felt hope stirring, but also fear. The Bond Trial was legendary for its brutality. "There’s just one problem," Darian said quietly. "The trial has to be epted by both parties. Father has to agree to it." All eyes turned to Marcus. His face was unreadable, but his hands were clenched into fists. "You want to challenge me?" he asked ra. "A dying omega wants to fight the Alpha of the strongest pack in the territory?" Despite the poison burning through her blood, ra straightened. The crown’s light pulsed brighter. "If that’s what it takes," she said, her voice getting stronger. "I challenge you, Alpha Marcus ckwood, for control of this pack." Silence fell over the ruins. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Marcus stared at her for a long moment. Then, slowly, he began to smile. "Interesting," he said. "Very well. I ept your dare. But know this—the Bond Trial isn’t just about strength. It tries everything. Mind, body, spirit, and the bonds themselves." He leaned closer, his voice falling to a whisper only she could hear. "And I’ve been preparing for this possibility for longer than you know. The trial will break you, little omega. It will shatter your ties and leave you with nothing." Marcus straightened, addressing the crowd again. "Three days to finish your mate bonds and prepare.


    Then we face each other in the old circle. Winner rules the pack. Loser..." He smiled coldly. "Loser dies." As the pack began to scatter, ra copsed. The poison and the crown’s power were tearing her apart from the inside. But as the triplets caught her, she heard something that chilled her blood. Marcus was talking quietly to someone in the shadows—someone who shouldn’t have been there. "Phase one isplete," he was saying. "She took the bait. Now we move to phase two." The figure stepped into the moonlight, and ra’s heart stopped. It was Tobias. Her trusted ally, the one who had suggested the Bond Trial. He was working with Marcus all along.