POV: Maya
Cold water hit my face like a slap, pulling me back to consciousness. I gasped and sputtered, my eyes flying open to find Ethan kneeling beside me with a worried look.
"Maya! Thank goodness you're awake," he said, helping me sit up. "You've been unconscious for almost an hour."
I was lying on a cot in the pack clinic, my head pounding and my left wrist aching like crazy. The image of the bloody message came flooding back, making my stomach lurch.
"The threat—" I started to say.
"Is being investigated," Kai's voice interrupted from across the room. I turned to see all three brothers standing near the door, their looks serious. "Right now we need to focus on why you collapsed."
My wrapped wrist pulsed with heat, and I quickly pulled my arm down to cover it better. But Ethan was already reaching for my arm with gentle healer's hands.
"Let me check for injuries," he said kindly. "Sometimes shock can cause—"
"No!" I jerked my arm away too quickly, making everyone stare at me curiously. "I mean, I'm fine. Just got scared by all the blood."
Logan stepped forward, his blue eyes sharp with worry. "Maya, you screamed and grabbed your wrist before you fell. Are you hurt?"
Heat rushed to my cheeks. Of course they'd noticed. I was the worst liar in the pack.
"It's nothing," I mumbled, holding my wrist against my chest.
"Let us see," Kai said, his Alpha voice making it sound like a gentle order rather than a request.
I looked between the three brothers, fear rising in my throat. If they saw my mate mark, everything would change. Sophia would hate me even more. The pack would think I was lying or using magic. And these three perfect boys would know that some nobody omega thought she deserved one of them.
"Please," I whispered. "I just want to go back to work."
"Maya." Ethan sat on the edge of the cot, his green eyes soft with understanding. "Whatever's wrong, we want to help. You don't have to be afraid."
His kindness almost made me cry. When was the last time someone had cared about my feelings?
"Show us," Logan said more softly. "We're not going to hurt you."
I looked at their faces—Ethan's compassion, Logan's protective strength, Kai's steady guidance. Maybe they would understand. Maybe they wouldn't think I was crazy or lying.
With shaking hands, I slowly removed the towel from my wrist.
The Triple Star Mark blazed silver in the clinic's bright lights, beautiful and impossible. The crescent moon seemed to pulse with its own beating, while the three stars sparkled like tiny diamonds around it.
All three brothers stared in complete silence. The only sound was my rapid breathing as I waited for them to start laughing or tell me it was fake.
"Holy moon," Logan breathed. "Is that—?"
"A mate mark," Kai ended, his voice filled with wonder. "Maya, when did this appear?"
"This morning," I whispered. "On my eighteenth birthday."
Ethan leaned closer, his healer's reflexes taking over. "The Triple Star Mark. I've only read about it in old books."
"What does it mean?" I asked, even though Elder Rose had already described it to me.
"It means your mate is one of us," Kai said quietly. "One of the three Alpha sons."
My mark flared brighter at his words, making me gasp. It was like the mark was happy to finally be seen and acknowledged.
"But which one?" Logan asked, staring at the spinning stars around the crescent moon.
"The mark will reveal that when Maya's ready," Ethan said, his voice filled with amazement. "This is incredible. There hasn't been a Triple Star Mark in decades."
I felt tears building in my eyes. "I know you all think I'm lying or using magic or something. I know I'm just an omega and you're supposed to be with someone like Sophia—"
"Stop," Kai interrupted firmly. "Mate marks don't lie, Maya. If the moon chose you for one of us, then that's what was meant to be."
"But people will think—"
"People will think what they want to think," Logan said with a growl. "What matters is the truth."
"And the truth is that you're our pack sister now," Ethan added gently. "Even if we don't know which of us is your mate yet, you're family."
Their acceptance made my chest warm with hope. Maybe this impossible situation could work out after all.
"We need to tell Father," Kai said. "And the pack needs to know."
"No!" I jumped up from the cot, my heart racing. "Please, not yet. I need time to understand this. And Sophia—"
"Sophia will have to accept it," Kai said firmly. "She has no mate mark. She was never meant to be with any of us."
"She'll hate me," I whispered.
"She already hates you," Logan pointed out. "At least now she'll have to respect you."
Before anyone could respond, the clinic door burst open. Alpha David strode in, his face grim and worried.
"How is she?" he asked, then stopped short when he saw my exposed wrist. His eyes widened as he took in the glowing mark. "By the moon goddess."
"Father," Kai started, but the Alpha held up a hand.
"The Triple Star Mark," David said in amazement. "I thought it was just a legend."
"What does this mean for the pack?" Ethan asked quietly.
"It means everything is about to change," the Alpha replied. "Maya, you'll need to move to the family wing of the pack house immediately. You can't stay in the servants' quarters anymore."
My head spun. "I don't understand."
"You're the potential mate of the future Alpha," David explained. "You need protection. Especially after that threat message."
"What threat message?" I asked, though I already knew.
The Alpha's expression darkened. "Someone left a message written in blood. It said 'The omega dies at the full moon.' We think they're talking about you."
Ice filled my veins. "Why would anyone want to kill me?"
"Because you're a threat to their plans," Kai said grimly. "Someone wanted Sophia to be Luna. Your mark ruins that."
"The full moon is in three days," Logan added, his voice tight with worry. "We need to keep you safe until then."
"What happens at the full moon?" I asked, though I was afraid to hear the answer.
"That's when mate bonds are strongest," Ethan explained. "If your true mate is revealed then, the bond will be permanent. Unbreakable."
Alpha David nodded. "Which means someone will try to kill you before that happens."
The room fell silent as the weight of his words sank in. Someone wanted me dead, and they had less than three days to do it.
"I'll assign guards," the Alpha continued. "And Maya, you'll attend the full moon ceremony. The pack needs to witness your mate reveal."
"But what if—" I started.
A loud crash from outside interrupted me. Through the clinic window, I could see smoke rising from the direction of the pack house.
"What now?" Logan growled, moving toward the window.
Alpha David's phone buzzed. He answered it quickly, his face growing pale as he listened.
"There's been an explosion in the omega quarters," he said after hanging up. "Maya's room is completely destroyed."
My blood turned to ice. If I hadn't been in the clinic, I would have been in that room. I would have been killed. "They're not waiting for the full moon," Kai said grimly. "They're trying to kill her now."
As if summoned by his words, the lights in the clinic suddenly went out, plunging us into darkness. Emergency sirens began wailing throughout the pack territory.
"Stay close to Maya," Alpha David ordered his sons. "Don't let her out of your sight."
In the darkness, I felt three strong hands reach for me as my mate mark blazed like a silver beacon. But even surrounded by the Alpha's sons, I couldn't shake the terrifying feeling that whoever wanted me dead was just getting started.