Alpha Kael Thorne slammed his hand against the stone wall of his chamber, leaving a crater in the rock. Pain shot up his arm, but it was nothing compared to the fire burning through his blood.
The curse was getting worse. He staggered to the tall window of the Crimson Hold and looked out at the moonlight bathing his territory.
Far below, jagged rocks dropped into darkness. His fortress stood undefeated for ages, yet he couldn't fight the enemy within his own body.
"How long will you hide your weakness from the pack?" Kael didn't turn to face Cian Draven, his guard captain. The big wolf had entered quietly, but Kael had smelled him anyway.
"I'm not hiding," Kael growled. "I'm thinking." Cian stepped closer, his green eyes narrowed with worry.
"The pack feels something's wrong. Rumors are growing. They need their Alpha strong." Kael touched the scar on his neckan ugly black line that pulsed with dark power. The curse's mark. It had started as a thin scratch and now stretched from his collar to his mouth.
"Any word from the scouts?" Kael asked, changing the subject. Cian frowned. "Nothing about the Ruby Wolf. But there's Syndicate action in the Ashenwood.
They're hunting something... or someone." The Ruby Wolf. Just the mention made Kael's curse throb. According to the High Oracle Nyra, only the blood tie of the last Ruby Wolf could break his curse.
A family everyone thought had died out years ago. A sudden wave of pain dropped Kael to his knees. His vision blurred as fire raced through his body. His bones cracked and shifted, caught between human and wolf.
The partial change was excruciating. "Alpha!" Cian rushed forward, but stopped short. No one touched an Alpha during a pain episode. It was dangerousfor them. Kael fought for control, clenching his teeth as claws burst from his fingers, then receded.
The curse tore at him from inside, trying to force a change his body refused. After what felt like hours but was only minutes, the pain eased.
Kael stayed on his knees, breathing hard, sweat dripping from his forehead to the stone floor. Cian stood stiff, his face dark with anger.
"This can't continue. The Oracle said you have weeks, not months." "I know what Nyra said," Kael snapped, pushing himself to his feet. His legs shook, but he forced them to steady. No weakness. Never weakness. "Then let me hunt this Ruby Wolf," Cian pushed.
"My team can" "No." Kael's voice was steel. "The Syndicate would stop you. We wait for my scouts." But waiting was killing him.
Each day, the curse spread. Each night, the pain grew worse. Soon, he wouldn't be able to hide it. A howl cut through the nightthe signal from the lookout. Visitors coming. "Perfect timing," Kael muttered, straightening his black shirt to hide the trembling in his hands. "Who comes to Crimson Hold at this hour?" Cian moved to the window.
"Three riders. One carries the Oracle's staff." Kael's heart jumped. The High Oracle Nyra never left her refuge unless something important was happening. Something that might change fates.
"Prepare the great hall," Kael demanded, his voice stronger than he felt. "And tell no one about what you saw here." Cian nodded grimly before going. Alone again, Kael moved to the basin of water in his room and splashed his face. In the rippling image, he hardly recognized himself. Dark rings shadowed his storm-gray eyes.
His skin was pale, making the black curse mark stand out like a death sentence. Which it was. He dressed quickly in his Alpha attireblack pants, boots, and a formal jacket that covered his neck.
The pack must not see how far the curse had spread. By the time he descended the circular staircase to the great hall, the visitors had arrived. Pack members lined the walls, looking curiously as three cloaked figures stood in the center of the room. Kael strode forward, hiding his pain behind a mask of power.
Every step hurt, but he moved like the predator he waspowerful, fearless.
"High Oracle," he greeted the center figure. "Your presence honors Crimson Hold." The old woman pushed back her hood, showing skin covered in moon runes and milky white eyes that saw everything and nothing. Her robes were made from silver wolf fura sign of her place as the voice of the moon goddess. "
"Alpha Thorne," Nyra's voice rasped like dry leaves. "I come with news. The stars have moved. The Ruby Wolf runs with death at her heels." Murmurs rippled through the gathering pack. Everyone knew the tale of the Ruby Wolvesthe most powerful bloodline, blessed by the moon goddess herself. All thought to be slaughtered years ago.
"You told me she was hidden," Kael said softly, keeping his desperate hope from his voice. "Safe from those who hunt her." Nyra's blind eyes seemed to stare through him. "The Syndicate has found her trail. Even now, they chase her through the Ashenwood." The Ashenwood.
Just two days' ride from Crimson Hold. "Why tell me this?" Kael asked, though he knew the answer. "Because your fates are intertwined," Nyra answered, loud enough for all to hear. "The curse that poisons your blood can only be broken by her tie. Without the Ruby Wolf, you will die before the next full moon.
And without you, Alpha Thorne, she will never achieve her destiny." Shocked whispers filled the hall. The pack had thought something was wrong with their Alpha, but now they knew the truth. He was dying.
And his only hope was a hunted wolf girl from a family many hated. Cian stepped forward, his face hard. "You expect us to welcome the last Ruby Wolf? After what her kind did to our ancestors?" "What did her kind do, Commander Draven?" Nyra tested. "Tell me the crime you believe they committed." Cian's jaw stiffened.
"They deserted the wolf packs. Used dark magic. Murdered an Alpha." "History written by the victors," Nyra said dismissively. "The truth lies buried with the dead."
"Enough," Kael cut in. The fight was wasting time he didn't have. "Oracle, what would you have me do?"
"Find her before the Syndicate does," Nyra said simply. "Bond with her. Break the curse." "And if she refuses?" Cian asked. The High Oracle's milky eyes glinted. "Then force her. The Ruby Wolf bears a blood debt to the wolf packs. Her life for your Alpha's seems a fair trade." Kael didn't like the sound of that.
Forcing a bond was old, brutal practice. But the alternative was deathhis death, and potentially the collapse of his pack. "I'll find her myself," Kael decided, ignoring Cian's protests. "The Ashenwood isn't far."
"Alpha, you're in no condition" Cian began. "I'm still Alpha!" Kael roared, his eyes flashing gold with power. The entire hall fell silent. "I will track this Ruby Wolf. I will bring her back. And I will break this curse." Pain lanced through him again, and for a terrifying moment, Kael thought he might fall in front of his entire pack. But he gritted his teeth and pushed through it. "Prepare my hunting gear," he told.
"We leave at dawn." As the pack members hurried to obey, Kael felt Nyra's sightless gaze follow him. "One last warning, Alpha Thorne," the Oracle whispered, her voice for his ears alone.
"The Ruby Wolf runs with a shadow from her pastan killer with golden eyes who once loved her. Their bond was sealed in blood long ago. If it awakens fully, your chance at life may vanish." Kael's blood went cold.
"What do you mean?" "The Ruby Wolf can only bond once," Nyra said. "Choose wisely how you claim her, or lose her forever." As Nyra and her escorts left, Kael stood motionless in the great hall. His pack bustled around him, preparing for the hunt, but his mind raced with the Oracle's words. A wolf girl on the run. A curse slowly killing him.
And now, a foe he hadn't anticipated someone with a blood bond already in place. The pain struck again, doubling him over when no one was looking. This time, as he fought it back, Kael made a quiet vow.
He would find this Ruby Wolf. He would break his curse. And whoever this golden-eyed killer wasthis shadow from her pasthe would eliminate the threat. No matter the cost