Whispers of the Curse

The fortress never truly slept.

Even in the deep hours of night, I could hear it, the scrape of boots, the clink of weapons, the restless howls from wolves outside the walls. Bloodveil thrummed with life, but it wasn’t the kind of life that comforted. It was sharp and jagged, always threatening to cut.

I pressed my ear against the cold stone wall of my chamber, listening. Every sound mattered. Every scrap of gossip or whispered conversation could mean survival.

That was when I heard it.

Two guards, speaking just outside my door. Their voices low, but not low enough.

“…it happened again last night,” one muttered, nervous.

“Keep your mouth shut,” the other hissed. “If the Alpha hears you.”

“I don’t care. I saw him. You didn’t hear the screams? He tore through the training yard like, like he wasn’t even himself. The healers are still stitching up the men who tried to stop him.”

My breath caught.

Cain.

The bond in my chest stirred, uneasy.

The other guard growled softly. “He keeps it under control most days. That’s all that matters. Don’t forget who feeds us, who protects us. Without him, we’d all be ash.”

Ash. Like my pack.

The first guard lowered his voice, but I could still catch the words. “It’s getting worse. He can’t fight it forever. You know what they say… it’s the curse.”

The curse.

I pressed harder against the wall, straining to catch every syllable.

“The Bloodveil curse,” the guard whispered. “Passed down from his father, from his bloodline. Every Alpha rots from the inside, their wolf devouring them alive. That’s why he doesn’t take a Luna. That’s why he doesn’t.”

The other guard cut him off with a growl. “Shut up before I cut your tongue out. Do you want to die here and now?”

Silence.

I pulled back from the wall, my pulse thundering in my ears.

A curse.

Something inside Cain was eating him alive.

I wanted to feel satisfaction. Wanted to smile at the thought of him losing control, of his power crumbling from within. But the bond twisted cruelly in my chest, tugging at me like claws hooked into my ribs.

Because part of me, the part I despised, ached at the idea of him suffering.

I shoved that feeling down so hard it almost broke me.

Cain was not a man to pity. He was the Alpha who had destroyed everything. Whatever curse haunted him, whatever bloodline rot festered in his soul, he deserved it.

Still, my mind wouldn’t let go.

If the guards were right… if his wolf was slipping free… then Cain wasn’t invincible.

He could bleed. He could break.

And maybe, just maybe, that was the crack I needed.

The next morning came too soon.

The door to my chamber creaked open, and a guard shoved a bundle of clothes inside.

“Put these on. Training yard in ten minutes,” he barked.

I caught the bundle before it hit the floor. Rough black trousers, a tunic, boots that smelled faintly of leather and iron. The uniform of Bloodveil’s soldiers.

So this was it.

Cain’s test.

I dressed quickly, ignoring the sting of my raw wrists as I tugged the sleeves down to cover them. The boots were too tight, the fabric coarse, but I welcomed the discomfort. Pain kept me sharp. Pain reminded me why I was here.

When the guard returned, he didn’t speak. Just grabbed my arm and dragged me through the corridors, past other warriors who stared openly at me. Some sneered. Others whispered.

Rogue.

Outsider.

She won’t last a day.

Their voices scraped at me like knives, but I didn’t flinch. Let them doubt me. Let them think I was weak. The more they underestimated me, the better.

The air shifted as we stepped into the training yard.

It was wide, open to the gray morning sky, the ground packed hard from countless battles fought upon it. Weapons lined the walls, swords, axes, spears. Wolves in human form moved across the yard in brutal sparring matches, their growls echoing as fists met flesh, as bodies slammed against dirt.

And at the far end of the yard, watching it all like a shadow carved from stone, Cain.

His gaze found me instantly, sharp and unrelenting. The bond flared, hot and consuming, and my wolf whimpered deep inside me.

I forced my face blank, even as my chest tightened under the weight of his stare.

The guard shoved me forward. “Alpha. The rogue.”

Cain’s expression didn’t change. His eyes lingered on me for a heartbeat too long before he spoke.

“Put her with them.”

The guard dragged me to a circle where three other warriors waited. Their smiles were cruel, eager.

A test.

I was the prey.

The bond throbbed painfully as Cain folded his arms, watching from a distance.

One of the warriors cracked his knuckles. “Don’t go easy on her. If she’s too weak to stand, she doesn’t belong here.”

Belong. That word again.

I bared my teeth in a smile that wasn’t a smile. “Try me.”

They lunged all at once.

The first blow caught my ribs, hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. I stumbled, but instinct took over before I hit the ground. I ducked the next strike, driving my elbow into the attacker’s stomach. He grunted and staggered back, surprised.

The other two came at me together. A fist clipped my jaw, stars flashing in my vision. Pain flared, sharp and bright, but I welcomed it. Pain meant I was still alive.

I twisted, grabbed one by the throat, and slammed his head into the dirt. The other tried to grab my arm, but I shifted my weight, using his momentum to throw him off balance.

For a moment, I stood tall, chest heaving, blood warm in my mouth.

The yard had gone quiet.

Cain’s eyes burned across the distance, unreadable.

Then the first warrior lunged again, rage twisting his features. His fist slammed into my stomach, and I doubled over, coughing blood. He raised his arm for another strike.

Something inside me snapped.

I surged up, catching his wrist, twisting until bone cracked. His scream tore through the yard. I didn’t stop. I drove my fist into his face, once, twice, until his blood splattered the dirt.

Silence fell again.

My chest heaved. My hands shook.

And then, applause. Slow. Deliberate.

Cain.

He clapped once, twice, before lowering his hand. His eyes never left me, dark and gleaming with something I couldn’t name.

The broken warrior groaned in the dirt, and Cain spoke, his voice carrying across the yard.

“Enough.”

The others froze instantly.

Cain stepped forward, his presence swallowing the space between us. He stopped just a few feet away, close enough that I could see the faint shadow of stubble on his jaw, the sharp lines of his face.

“You fight like someone who’s lost everything,” he said softly, almost to himself.

My throat tightened. The words sliced deeper than any blade.

I forced steel into my voice. “Maybe I have.”

His gaze lingered, heavy, searching. For a terrifying moment, I thought he saw me, really saw me, past the mask, past the lie.

But then he stepped back.

“Good,” he said, his tone colder now. “Bloodveil has no use for those who fight for anything less.”

The warriors parted as he turned away, his command absolute.

“Clean her up. She trains again tomorrow.”

The crowd dispersed. The broken warrior was dragged away, still groaning.

And I stood in the center of the yard, blood dripping from my knuckles, the bond in my chest a wildfire I couldn’t control.

Cain had looked at me today. Not like prey. Not like nothing.

Like something more.

And that terrified me more than any curse ever could.

That night, back in my chamber, I sat in the dark with blood still under my nails.

The guards’ whispers echoed in my mind. The curse. His wolf losing control.

I thought of the roar I’d heard on my first night here, the one that had shaken the walls.

The cracks were real.

Cain wasn’t untouchable.

But as I pressed my trembling hands to my scar, the bond thrumming hot beneath my skin, a more dangerous thought took hold.

If the curse destroyed him…

Would it destroy me too?