BOUND TO THREE ALPHAS
Chapter 49: THE SHAPESHIFTER

Chapter 49: THE SHAPESHIFTER

Chapter 49: The Shapeshifter

The great hall buzzed with fear after the fake Alpha Diana vanished. Six pack leaders stared at each other like dogs circling fresh meat. "Someone else here is a liar," Alpha Garrett snarled, his eyes moving between faces. "Who is it?" "Could be anyone," Alpha Chen mumbled, backing toward the wall. "Even you." "This is exactly what Celeste wants," Liana said strongly. "Us fighting each other instead of her." But her words couldn’t stop the rising suspicion. Alpha Marcus pointed at Alpha Brett. "You’ve been quiet all morning. Suspicious." "I’m always quiet!" Brett snapped back. "Unlike some people who can’t stop talking." Kael wheeled his chair between them. "Stop! This paranoia helps nobody." "Easy for you to say," Alpha Sarah shot back. "Your pack isn’t the one being threatened." Talia suddenly grabbed Liana’s arm, her seer eyes wide with fear. "I’m seeing blood. Lots of blood.

Someone in this room dies within the hour." That stopped everyone cold. "Who?" Jace demanded. "Who dies?" "I can’t tell. The vision keeps changing." Talia’s voice shook. "But it happens during the testing." "What testing?" Rowan asked. Liana stepped forward, silver light flashing around her fingers. "We need to find the shapeshifters. All of them." "How?" Alpha Garrett laughed. "They look exactly like us." Elder Mira cleared her throat from the corner. "There might be a way. Shapeshifters can copy appearance, but they can’t recreate blood magic." "Blood magic?" Alpha Chen looked uncomfortable. "That sounds dangerous." "Not dangerous," Liana said, understanding instantly. "Just revealing." She walked to the middle of the room, pulling a silver knife from her belt. "My Moonshadow bloodline can sense magical corruption. If someone’s blood has been twisted by dark magic, I’ll know." "You want us to bleed for you?" Alpha Marcus asked warily. "I want us to live," Liana answered sharply. "Unless you’d prefer to keep wondering who’s reporting back to Celeste." One by one, the pack leaders agreed. The option was worse than the risk. Liana started with Alpha Garrett. She pricked his finger with the silver blade and let one drop of blood fall onto her hand. Her Moonshadow magic replied instantly. Pure silver light surrounded the blood drop, then faded to normal. "Clean," she announced. "You’re really you." Alpha Chen went next. Same result. Then Alpha Sarah, Alpha Brett, and Alpha Marcus. All clean. "My turn," Kael said, spinning forward. Liana paused. Testing her own mate felt wrong somehow. But she had to be sure. Kael’s blood glowed pure silver too. "Now the triplets," Alpha Garrett demanded.

"All three of them." Jace rolled his eyes but held out his finger. "This is ridiculous." His blood tested clean. So did Rowan’s. "What about the others?" Alpha Marcus pointed at Elder Mira, Dr. Rivera, and Talia. "I’ll test anyone," Liana said definitely. Elder Mira’s blood glowed pure silver. Dr. Rivera’s did too. Then came Talia’s turn. Liana pricked her best friend’s finger, expecting the same silver glow. Instead, the blood drop went black as midnight. "No," Liana whispered, tripping backward. "No, this can’t be right." Talia’s face crumpled with real confusion. "What’s wrong? What does that mean?" "It means you’re not Talia," Jace growled, lunging toward her. But Talia dodged with impossible speed, her moves suddenly fluid and predatory. "Wait!" she cried, her voice still sounding exactly like Liana’s best friend. "I am Talia! Something’s wrong with the test!" "Shapeshifters lie," Alpha Garrett growled, gaining on her. "I’m not lying!" Tears streamed down Talia’s face. "Liana, please! You know me!" And that was the worst part. She still looked, sounded, and acted exactly like Talia. Even her memories seemed undamaged. "Where’s the real Talia?" Rowan demanded. "I AM the real Talia!" she screamed.

"Something happened to me, but I’m still me!" Elder Mira stepped forward carefully. "Child, when did you start having visions?" "Three days ago," Talia sobbed. "Right after... after I went to get herbs from the old temple ruins." The room went deadly quiet. "The temple ruins," Mira repeated slowly. "Where the Shadow Devourer is imprisoned." "Yes, but I only went to the upper floors! I never went down into the sealed parts!" Dr. Rivera moved closer, studying Talia with scientific interest. "Show me your neck." "What?" "Your neck. Behind your ear." Reluctantly, Talia turned her head. Dr. Rivera gasped. There, barely visible beneath her hair, was a small black mark shaped like a twisted moon. "What is that?" Liana whispered. "A corruption mark," Mira said sadly. "The Shadow Devourer’s power is leaking through its prison. Anyone who gets too close becomes... changed." "Changed how?" Kael demanded. "They’re still themselves, but they’re also linked to the creature. It can see through their eyes, hear through their ears." Talia looked scared. "You mean I’m a spy? Against my will?" "Worse," Mira continued. "If the Shadow Devourer breaks free, everyone with a corruption mark becomes its puppet." "How many people have these marks?" Alpha Sarah asked fearfully. Dr. Rivera was already moving around the room, checking necks. "I need to examine everyone. Now." The examination was tight and quick. Most people were clean. But not all. "Marcus has one," Dr. Rivera revealed, pointing to Alpha Marcus’s neck. Marcus spun around, his eyes wide with fear. "That’s impossible! I’ve never been near your temple!" "When did you arrive here?" Mira asked sharply. "Yesterday afternoon. I came early to prepare for the meeting." "And where did you sleep?" "The guest rooms. The ones in the east wing." Mira’s face went pale. "The east wing was built over part of the old temple foundation." "So sleeping there exposed him," Dr. Rivera decided. "Who else slept in the east wing?" Liana asked quickly. Three other pack members raised their hands reluctantly. Dr. Rivera checked them quickly. Two more crime marks. "Five total," she revealed. "Talia, Alpha Marcus, Beta Jordan from Moonridge Pack, and Gamma Stevens from Northern Peaks."

The corrupted wolves looked at each other with growing terror. "What happens to them?" Alpha Brett asked. "I don’t know," Mira revealed. "This has never happened before." "Can we cure them?" Liana asked desperately. "Maybe. If we can sever their link to the Shadow Devourer before it fully awakens." "How long do we have?" Rowan asked. Mira checked her ancient figures. "Seventeen hours until the moon eclipse. If Celeste completes her process..." "They become her army," Kael finished grimly. Suddenly, Talia’s eyes rolled back in her head. When they focused again, they were completely black. "Hello, little Luna," she said in a voice that wasn’t hers anymore. "Did you miss me?" It was Celeste, speaking through Talia’s corrupted link. "I can see everything through their eyes now," Celeste’s voice continued from Talia’s mouth. "Every plan you make, every move you consider. You cannot surprise me."

The corrupted wolves started moving in perfect synchronization, their eyes all turning black. "But I can surprise you," Celeste laughed through five different mouths at once. "Guards! Now!" The great hall doors burst inward. Twenty armed rogues poured in, led by Darius himself. "Nobody move," Darius ordered, his scarred face twisted in a cruel smile. "Or the corrupted ones die first." The alliance was stuck. Half their leaders were compromised, enemy forces circled them, and Celeste could see their every move. But as Liana looked at her best friend’s black eyes, she realized something even worse. If corruption could spread through proximity to the Shadow Devourer’s prison, and that prison was right beneath their feet... How many others in the house were already marked? And how long before everyone she loved became Celeste’s puppet?

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