Fated Mate to the Triplet Alpha-Chapter 54: The Brothers’ Stand

The ghost of Selene Moonbright filled the room with silver light. Her transparent form made everyone step back except Elara, who stared at her mother with wide eyes. "Mom?" Elara whispered. "Hello, my brave girl." Selene’s voice sounded like wind through trees. "I’m sorry I couldn’t stay to raise you." Marcus laughed bitterly, still crouched beside Evelyn’s body.

"Perfect. Now we have dead wolves joining the party." "Shut up, Father." Kael’s voice was ice cold. For the first time in his life, he looked at Marcus with pure hate. His mother’s blood was still warm on the floor. The woman who raised him, loved him, protected him—gone because of the monster wearing his father’s face. "You killed her," Ronan growled, his claws extending. "You killed our mother." "She chose to interfere," Marcus snapped back. "I was doing what needed—" "What the Council wanted," Darian interrupted, his usual calm mask totally gone. "You quit being our father years ago. Now you’re just their puppet." Marcus stood up slowly, his improved muscles rippling. "I built this pack from nothing. I made us strong. I gave you everything." "You gave us lies," Kael shot back. "You turned us into guns. You tried to break our mate bond. You killed Mom."

"And now you want us to choose between you and Elara?" Ronan stepped forward, placing himself between Marcus and Elara. "That’s the easiest choice we’ve ever made." Selene watched the brothers with satisfaction. "Your kids have good hearts, Marcus. Despite everything you did to ruin them." "They’re MY sons," Marcus roared. "They belong to ME." "We belong to nobody," Darian said quietly. But his words hit like thunder. "We’re not your soldiers. We’re not the Council’s tools. We’re Elara’s mates. And that’s ALL we’ll ever be." Thorne, who had been fighting Tobias, suddenly broke away and ran toward the exit. But Selene raised her ghostly hand, and silver chains wrapped around him. "Going somewhere?" she asked sweetly. "The Council needs to know—" "The Council already knows," Tobias said, wiping blood from his mouth. "Every pack master in the country felt Elara’s power awaken. They’re surrounding this place. The Council’s little experiment is over." Outside, the howls were getting louder. Hundreds of voices coming together in one massive chorus. "They’re coming for us," Elara said, looking up at the red moon through the broken ceiling. "No," Selene amended. "They’re coming for YOU. The packs remember the old stories.

They know what a Moon Alpha means." "I don’t understand," Elara said. "Why is everyone so afraid? So excited? I’m just—" "You’re the bridge," Selene stated. "Between the old world and the new. Between werewolves and people. Between war and peace." Marcus laughed harshly. "Peace? The humans want us extinct. They’re building weapons meant to kill our kind. War is coming whether you like it or not." "Then we’ll face it together," Kael said strongly. He moved to Elara’s left side. "All of us." Ronan took her right side. "United." Darian stepped behind her, finishing their protective triangle. "Forever." The mate bond between them flared to life, stronger than ever. Silver light linked all four of them in an unbreakable chain. Marcus saw it and his face twisted with rage. "You’re choosing HER over your own blood?" "She IS our blood now," Kael answered. "Our mate. Our Luna. Our choice." "And Mom would be proud," Ronan added, his voice breaking slightly. "She died protecting family," Darian said. "Just like we will."

Marcus’s improved form began to shift again, becoming more monstrous. "Then you’ll die with her." But before he could attack, the room filled with new voices. "I don’t think so." Alpha Derek Stoneheart stepped through the opening, followed by Luna Sarah and twenty other pack leaders. Their eyes glowed with combined power. "The North American Pack Alliance stands with Luna Elara," Derek declared. "Any who threaten her will answer to all of us."

"This is pack business," Marcus growled. "This stopped being pack business when you made a deal with the Council," Sarah responded coldly. "When you tried to turn a Moon Alpha into their weapon." More alphas filed into the room. Elara recognized some from the meeting weeks ago. Others were strangers. But they all looked at her with the same expression—hope. "You see?" Selene said to Elara. "You’re not alone. You never were." "But the humans—" "Will be dealt with when the time comes. Right now, we deal with the rebels in our own ranks." Thorne finally broke free from the silver chains and made one last frantic play. He pulled out a strange device that hummed with electric power. "Council tech," he announced. "One button, and every wolf in this room dies." "Except me," Marcus added with a sick smile. "My enhancements make me immune." "You’re bluffing," Tobias said. "Am I?" Thorne’s finger hovered over the button. "The Council prepared for this possibility. They knew some packs might rebel." The device started to glow brighter. "Everybody out!" Derek ordered.

But there was nowhere to run. The room was too deep underground. The device would kill them all before they could leave. Elara felt her power rise again, but Selene shook her head. "Your moonlight can heal, daughter. But it can’t stop technology built specifically to kill us." "Then what do we do?" Elara asked desperately. "We trust," Selene said strangely. "Trust who?" "The bond you’ve built. The love you’ve found. The family you’ve chosen." Kael, Ronan, and Darian looked at each other. Some silent conversation passed between them. "We know what to do," Kael said. "The triple bond gives us strength," Ronan added. "But it also gives us sacrifice," Darian finished. Before Elara could ask what they meant, all three brothers stepped forward as one. "We reject you, Marcus Blackwood," they said in agreement. "As our father, as our Alpha, as our blood." The words hit Marcus like physical blows. In werewolf society, being rejected by your own children was the ultimate shame. "We choose Elara Moon," they continued. "As our mate, our Luna, our pack." "And we choose each other," Kael added. "As brothers not by blood, but by choice." The mate bond between them burst with power. Silver light filled the room, so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes.

When the light faded, something had changed. The triplets were still standing, but they looked different. Stronger. Their eyes glowed with the same silver light as Elara’s. "Impossible," Thorne breathed. "The triple bond," Selene whispered in wonder. "It’s never been finished before. They’ve become something new." "What are they now?" Derek asked. "Moon Guardians," Selene answered. "Protectors of the Moon Alpha. Immune to Council technology. Bonded for life." Marcus stared at his sons—former sons—with shock. "You gave up your rights. Your fortune. Your pack." "We gave up nothing," Kael said quietly.

"We gained everything." "Our real family," Ronan added, looking at Elara with pure love. "Our true purpose," Darian concluded. Thorne’s device suddenly went dead in his hands. The Council technology couldn’t affect them anymore. "Game over," Tobias said with pleasure. But Marcus wasn’t finished. With an inhuman roar, he flung himself at Elara one last time. The three Moon Guardians moved as one, catching him in mid-air. The crash shook the entire underground chamber. When the dust cleared, Marcus was pinned to the ground by silver light. "It’s over, Father," Kael said sadly. "The corruption ends today." "You’ll regret this," Marcus gasped. "The people are coming. The Council knows things you don’t. Without their protection—" "We’ll face whatever comes," Elara said firmly. "Together." She looked around at the gathered pack leaders, at her ghostly mother, at her three mates who had given up everything for her.

"All of us. United." The red moon outside suddenly flared brighter, and Selene’s form began to fade. "My time is ending," she said. "But remember, daughter—this is just the beginning. The real test comes tomorrow." "What happens tomorrow?" Elara asked quickly. But Selene was already disappearing. "The humans make their move," her voice echoed as she vanished totally. "And you’ll discover the truth about why the Council really wanted you." The chamber fell silent except for the faraway howls outside.

Then Derek’s radio crackled to life. "Alpha Stoneheart, we’ve got incoming. Military trucks, about fifty of them. They’re surrounding the entire area." "Humans?" Derek asked. "Armed humans. With tools we’ve never seen before." Elara felt ice in her veins. "They’re here." Through the broken roof, they could all see helicopters circling overhead. Searchlights swept the ground. A voice boomed from loudspeakers outside: "Attention werewolves. You are surrounded by the Human Defense Initiative. Surrender the Moon Alpha, and we’ll make your deaths quick." Elara looked at her three mates, at the pack leaders who had risked everything to stand with her. "So," she said softly.

"Ready for war?"