CLAIMED BY THE FIVE ALPHAS'

Chapter 3: The First Temple

We didn't take a car. We didn't walk either.

One moment I stood in my destroyed apartment with five werewolf Alphas surrounding me, and the next moment the world dissolved into shadows and starlight. My stomach lurched like I was falling from a great height, though my feet never left the ground. The sensation lasted maybe three seconds, but those three seconds felt like tumbling through the universe itself.

When reality snapped back into place, I stumbled forward and would have fallen if Atlas hadn't caught my arm. His hand was warm and steady, grounding me as I struggled to catch my breath.

"What," I gasped, "was that?"

"Shadow walking," Phoenix said cheerfully, looking completely unaffected. "Fastest way to travel between realms. You'll get used to it."

"I seriously doubt that." I straightened up and looked around, my breath catching for an entirely different reason.

We stood in the ruins of something that must have been magnificent once. Massive stone columns rose toward a night sky filled with more stars than I'd ever seen, some of them colors that didn't exist in the human world. The columns formed a circle around a raised platform, where intricate symbols had been carved into marble that glowed with faint silver light. Vines covered everything, but they seemed intentional, like nature and architecture had made peace with each other centuries ago.

"The First Temple," Dante said quietly, standing beside me. "This is where the first Catalyst united the five territories three thousand years ago."

"It's beautiful," I whispered.

"It's a ruin," Raven corrected from somewhere behind me. "Like everything else our kind touches."

Kieran ignored him. "The council is already gathering. They felt your awakening just like we did. They'll want to see you immediately."

"To verify I'm really this Catalyst thing?" I hugged myself against a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. The air here felt different, charged with energy that made my skin tingle.

"To verify and to begin explaining the bonding process," Atlas confirmed.

That warmth in my chest pulsed again, stronger this time. I pressed my hand over my heart, confused by the sensation. It felt like recognition, like my soul knew these five men even though my mind had just met them.

"You feel it, don't you?" Phoenix moved closer, his brown eyes intense. "The pull. The connection is starting to form."

"I feel something," I admitted. "But that doesn't mean I'm going through with any bonding ritual. You can't just expect me to tie my soul to five strangers because some ancient law says so."

"We don't expect anything," Dante said, his voice rough. "But your power won't give you a choice. It's already reaching for us, trying to stabilize itself. Fighting it will only make things worse."

Before I could respond, figures began emerging from the darkness beyond the temple ruins. Men and women in flowing robes, their eyes gleaming with inhuman light. They moved with that same predatory grace all the Alphas possessed, confirming they were werewolves too. Or maybe other supernatural creatures. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if vampires and dragons showed up.

An elderly woman led the group, her silver hair braided with what looked like moonbeams. Actual moonbeams. She walked with a staff carved from white wood, and when her gaze fell on me, I felt like she could see straight through to my soul.

"The Catalyst has awakened," she announced, her voice carrying across the ruins. "After fifty years of waiting, she has finally come."

"Elder Marius sends his regards," said a tall man beside her, his expression cold. "He looks forward to meeting the Catalyst personally."

Something about the way he said it made my skin crawl. Kieran must have sensed my discomfort because he moved slightly in front of me, a protective gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the council members.

"Already the bond forms," the elderly woman observed with a slight smile. "Good. The territories need stability." She looked at me directly. "Come forward, child. Let us see what destiny has brought us."

I glanced at the five Alphas around me. Despite their earlier arguments and obvious tension with each other, they all wore similar expressions of wariness as they watched the council. That unified suspicion told me more than words could.

"It's alright," Atlas murmured. "We won't let them hurt you."

"We can't let them hurt her," Raven corrected. "Bond's already too strong. We'd all feel it if something happened to her now."

That should have scared me more than it did. Instead, some part of me felt oddly comforted knowing these five dangerous men were now invested in keeping me alive. I took a deep breath and stepped forward onto the raised platform.

The moment my foot touched the carved symbols, they blazed to life. Silver light erupted from the stone, surrounding me in a column of pure energy. I gasped but couldn't move, couldn't step back. The light wrapped around me like living things, warm and curious, examining every part of me.

"She is genuine," the elderly woman declared. "The power of the Lunar Catalyst flows through her veins. Untrained, unstable, but undeniably authentic."

The light faded and I stumbled backward off the platform, right into Dante's chest. His hands caught my shoulders, steadying me, and that warmth in my chest exploded into heat. For a second, I felt his emotions as clearly as my own. Pain, hope, desperation, and something that felt dangerously close to longing.

"Sorry," I mumbled, pulling away quickly. The connection broke but the echo of it remained.

"The bonding must begin immediately," said the cold man from the council. "The longer she remains unbound, the more danger she poses to herself and the territories."

"Aria needs time to adjust," Kieran argued. "She only learned of her nature an hour ago."

"Time is a luxury we cannot afford," the cold man countered. "Already her power fluctuates dangerously. Can't you feel it?"

I could feel it. Like a storm building inside my chest, pressure increases with every breath. The silver light wanted to burst out again, and I wasn't sure I could hold it back much longer.

Phoenix stepped up beside me. "Then we take her somewhere safe and begin the bonding process at our own pace. Not rushed by council demands."

"The bonding requires all five of you to set aside your rivalries," the elderly woman said. "Something you have failed to do for decades. What makes you think you can manage it now?"

"Because the alternative is losing her," Atlas said simply. "And none of us will let that happen."

The five Alphas moved closer together, forming a protective circle around me. Despite their differences, despite the tension I could feel crackling between them, they were unified in this.