Selene woke to sunlight flowing through the tall windows.
For a moment, she forgot where she was. Then reality rushed backthe Crimson Hold, Alpha Kael, the curse. And that shadow watching her last night.
A knock at the door made her jump. "The Alpha requests your presence in the north tower," a servant girl said, not quite meeting Selene's eyes.
"Now." Selene dressed quickly in the clothes Elara had leftdark pants, a simple blouse, and boots that fit perfectly. Too perfectly. As if someone had been planning her coming for some time.
The fortress buzzed with activity as she followed the servant through winding halls. Whispers followed her like bees, stinging with each word. "Ruby Wolf." "Witch." "Alpha's doom." The north tower stood apart from the main building, linked by a narrow stone bridge.
Wind whipped Selene's hair as she crossed, the valley dropping away hundreds of feet below. Inside the tower, a circular room awaited. Maps covered the walls, and a big table dominated the center.
Kael stood with his back to her, looking out a window. "Leave us," he told the helper without turning around. When they were alone, Kael finally faced her. The curse mark on his neck had spread overnight, angry red lines moving toward his jaw. "It's worse," Selene said. "Your presence speeds it up," Kael answered, his voice tight with pain. "Ironic, isn't it? The fix makes the poison work faster."
"You haven't explained how I'm supposed to be your cure." Kael gestured to the table where an ancient book lay open. "This tells the story of the curse. It was cast fifteen years ago, the same night"
"The same night my family was slaughtered," Selene finished.
"Yes." Kael's eyes darkened. "The curse and the massacre are connected." Selene approached the book carefully. The pages showed a picture of a wolf with glowing red eyesa Ruby Wolf.
Next to it was a shadowy person with tendrils of darkness stretching toward the wolf. "What am I looking at?" "The binding of fates," Kael said.
"When your pack was attacked, a powerful magic was released. Some say it was a desperation spell cast by your mother to save you. Others say it was a trap set by your enemies." "And this curse affects you because...?" "My father led the attack on your pack."
The words hit Selene like a physical blow. She stumbled back, her silver eyes flashing with anger. "Your father killed my family? And now you expect me to save you?" "My father paid for his crimes," Kael said bluntly. "The curse took him first, then spread to his family.
I'm the last one left." "Seems fair to me," Selene snapped. Kael moved faster than she expected, suddenly standing inches from her. "Is it fair that I was a child when it happened? That I had no choice in my father's actions?"
Their eyes locked in silent war. "The curse is spreading to my pack now," Kael continued, his voice softer. "Innocent wolves who had nothing to do with the massacre." Selene looked away first.
"What exactly do you want from me?" Kael returned to the book, turning pages until he found what he sought. "According to the prophecy, the blood of ruin must become the blood of healing. Ruby Wolf magic made this curseonly Ruby Wolf magic can break it."
"Through a bond," Selene guessed. "That's why you brought me here." "Yes." "What kind of bond?" Kael's expression stayed neutral, but something flickered in his storm-gray eyes. "A blood link, at minimum.
We share blood under the full moon, and your magic fights the curse from within." "And at maximum?" A heavy silence filled the room before Kael replied. "A mate bond." Heat rushed to Selene's face. "You can't be serious." "I'm dying," Kael said frankly.
"My pack is beginning to suffer. I'm deadly serious." Selene turned away, trying to understand what he was asking. A blood bond was one thingtemporary, though strong. But a mate bond? Unbreakable. Forever.
"And if I refuse?" "Then the council will judge you for the murder of an Alpha. The proof against you is strong." "Evidence you know is false," she challenged. "What I believe doesn't matter.
What I can prove does." Kael stepped closer. "I'm offering you safety, Selene. And a chance to clear your name." "By chaining myself to you?" "By saving lives," he corrected. "Including your own."
A commotion arose outsideshouting, the sound of running feet. Kael tensed, moving reflexively between Selene and the door. Cian burst in without knocking, his face red with anger. "Alpha, they found someone at the eastern border. An intruder." "Who?" Kael demanded.
"An assassin from the Syndicate." Cian's eyes slid to Selene with open mistrust. "One who claims to know her." Selene's heart stopped. Only one person from her past could have found her here. "Lysander," she whispered. Kael's head snapped toward her.
"You know this assassin?" Before she could answer, more guards arrived, dragging a struggling guy between them. His auburn hair was matted with blood, but his golden-hazel eyes found Selene instantly.
"Selene," Lysander breathed, as if seeing a ghost. Memories flashed through her mindfragments of a childhood friend, a boy with laughing eyes who used to chase her through forest fields. But this was not that boy.
This man wore the marks of the Syndicate, the very group that had hunted her for years. "Lock him up," Kael demanded. "I'll deal with him after the council meeting."
As the guards dragged Lysander away, his eyes never left Selene's face. "They lied to you!" he yelled. "Everything you believe is wrong!"
The door slammed shut behind them. Kael turned to Selene, his face dangerous.
"Care to explain how you know a Syndicate assassin?" "I don't," Selene said, confused by her own response to seeing Lysander.
"At least, I don't think I do." "He clearly knows you." "There are gaps in my memory," she admitted. "From before the slaughter. He seems familiar, but..." Kael studied her face, looking for lies.
"The council meets in one hour. They'll demand answers about both your presence here and his. What should I tell them?" Selene felt trapped between impossible options. The group that wanted her dead. Kael with his offer of safety through a bond she feared.
And now Lysander, a link to her past she couldn't fully remember. "Tell them I'll break your curse," she said finally. "But only a blood tie. Nothing more."
"And the assassin?" Selene met Kael's eyes steadily. "I need to speak with him. He might know things about my pastabout why my family was really killed." "You believe him over me?" "I don't trust either of you," she said honestly.
"But between the two of you, maybe I can find the truth." A muscle twitched in Kael's jaw as he considered her words. "One hour," he said finally.
"Then we face the council together. Your fate will be decided there, one way or another." As he turned to leave, Selene called after him.
"What happens if the blood bond fails?" Kael stopped at the door, the curse mark pulsing visibly on his neck. "Then we both lose everything." The door closed behind him, leaving Selene alone with an old book of curses and the echo of Lysander's desperate words.
"They lied to you. Everything you believe is wrong."
What if breaking Kael's curse was exactly what someone wanted her to do?
What if the true trick wasn't the council's justice, but Kael's offer?