The summons comes at dawn—a formal request from the Snow Wolf elders for a private meeting. Nathan and Luca exchange concerned glances when the messenger delivers it, but I've been expecting this since Magnus revealed my identity.
The council chamber feels ancient, heavy with centuries of weight. Five elders sit in a semicircle, Magnus presiding from the center, his blue eyes softer when they find mine.
"Coralina Snowborn," he begins formally, my true name still sending shivers through me. "We must speak of the curse that binds our pack. You know how Selena's rejection doomed us, how our heir cannot recognize his fated mate."
"Ryder," I say quietly. The broken king who traced my scar with reverence, dying because the curse won't let him find what could save him.
"Indeed." Elder Mira leans forward, silver braids catching firelight. "But there's a detail we haven't shared, a caveat that changes everything. The curse's wording is specific—no heir can recognize their mate until Selena's descendant is formally returned to Snow Wolf lands."
My heart skips. "But I'm here. I've been here for days."
"Visiting isn't enough," Magnus explains, voice heavy. "The curse requires a true return. You must be released from all other pack bonds and formally accepted back through the ancient ceremony."
The implications crash over me. "You want me to sever my ties to the Mountain Pack."
"We're asking for more," Elder Tomas interjects. "The return ceremony will bind you to us, make you truly Snow Wolf again. Only then will the curse's conditions be satisfied."
"And Ryder will be able to recognize his mate," I finish. "Whoever and wherever she is, he'll finally find her."
Magnus watches carefully. "We know what we're asking is momentous. You've only just discovered your heritage, and now we're asking you to pledge yourself to a pack you barely know. But without this—"
"Ryder dies." The words taste like ash. I think of his haunted silver eyes, how he'd stared at me like salvation itself. "I'll do it. When?"
The elders exchange surprised glances. Magnus's eyes glisten. "You would do this? So readily?"
"I owe nothing to Marcus's pack," I say, truth burning bright. "They bought me from a witch, lied for twenty years, tried trading me to the king's harem when I became inconvenient. That's not family." I stand straighter. "If pledging myself here gives Ryder a chance at life, then yes."
"The ceremony must be performed on the full moon," Tomas says. "Three nights from now."
"Then we have three nights to prepare." I pause at the door. "My mates—Nathan and Luca. They'll need to know."
I find them in the training grounds, shirtless and gleaming with sweat. When they see my expression, they immediately break from their sparring partners.
"What did the elders want?" Nathan asks, his green eyes scanning me for distress.
"They need me to perform a ceremony," I explain as we walk toward privacy. "A return ceremony that will formally bind me to the Snow Wolf pack."
Luca's jaw tightens. "Bind you how?"
I explain everything—the curse's specific wording, what it means for Ryder, what I've agreed to. Their expressions shift from concern to fear.
"You'll have to pledge yourself to them," Nathan says slowly. "Become part of this pack permanently."
"What if the old magic decides you have to stay here?" Luca's usual lightness is absent. "These ancient ceremonies sometimes have unexpected consequences. What if returning you means we lose you?"
The thought hits like a physical blow. "You won't lose me. The mate bonds—"
"Are stronger than pack bonds, usually," Nathan interrupts. "But this involves bloodline magic, ancient curses. We don't know how it will interact with our bonds."
"I already agreed," I say quietly. "I can't let Ryder die because there might be complications."
"Even if it means being trapped here?" Luca steps closer, hand finding my waist. "Even if the ceremony overrides everything else?"
"The elders admitted they don't know what will happen," Nathan says, voice edged. "They're asking you to take a leap of faith that could separate us forever."
"Or not," I counter, though doubt creeps in. "We don't know anything for certain."
"Exactly," Luca says. "We don't know. And that terrifies me, Coralina. We just found you. The thought of losing you to some ancient magic..."
Nathan pulls me against him suddenly, arms wrapping with desperate strength. "I won't let you go," he growls against my hair. "Not to magic, not to curses, not to anything."
"You might not have a choice," I whisper, feeling him shudder.
The next three nights, we barely leave each other's sides. Nathan and Luca cling with intensity bordering on desperation, as if proximity alone can anchor me. But something else is happening—the mate bonds burn hotter, stronger, more demanding each hour.
On the second night, Nathan pulls me aside. We walk along the frozen lake, moonlight turning ice to silver glass.
"Can you feel it?" he asks directly. "The bonds between us—they're getting stronger."
"Yes." There's no denying it. Every touch is lightning. Every glance from Luca sets my blood on fire. "It's almost overwhelming."
"There's something else too," he says, stopping to face me. "Another pull. Fainter, but growing."
My breath catches. "You feel it?"
"We both do. Luca and I discussed it. There's a third bond trying to form, hitting some barrier." His green eyes search mine. "It's pulling south. Toward the capital."
Toward Ryder.
Luca finds us there, drawn by the bonds singing between us. He takes my other hand, and we stand connected, bonds humming with power.
"Could it be possible?" Luca asks quietly. "Could Ryder be your mate too? Could the bond have been there all along, just hidden by the curse?"
"Waiting for me to come home," I finish, truth settling into my bones. "Three mates. Three bonds. Three faces in my dreams."
"The ceremony might free more than just Ryder's ability to recognize his mate," Nathan says. "It might reveal bonds that were always meant to exist."
"Or it might not," I say, trying to temper rising hope. "We won't know until—"
"Until the full moon," Luca finishes. "Tomorrow night."
We stand in silver moonlight, connected by blazing bonds and haunted by one struggling to break free. Tomorrow, everything changes. Tomorrow, I return to my birthright and pray the magic doesn't tear us apart.
But tonight, I hold my mates and try not to think about all the ways this could go wrong. The curse needs breaking. Ryder needs his chance at life.
And maybe, just maybe, fate has been playing a longer game than any of us imagined.
The third pull tugs at my heart, insistent and growing stronger.
Almost like destiny trying to correct itself.
Almost like a mate bond waiting twenty years to finally come home.