CURSED FOR LOVE

The night the curse was cast, the moon burned red. It hung low in the sky, swollen and furious, watching as two great packs clashed against a common enemy in the Valley of Thorns. The air smelled of blood and iron,wolves howled in pain and victory alike, their roars echoing through the mountains. Alpha Luca of the Nightfang Pack fought back-to-back with Alpha Ronan of the Silvercrest Pack. They had been brothers long before the war. Bound not by blood, but by loyalty. By laughter shared over fire pits and scars earned in the same battles. They ruled neighboring territories, strong, respected, feared. And when the enemy rose—an alliance of rogue wolves protected by dark magic—they rose together. They won. By dawn, the battlefield was silent except for the dying groans of the defeated. The witches hidden within the enemy ranks were dragged out, killed, their bodies falling lifeless into the mud. All except one. She crawled from beneath the corpses, her black hair tangle

Night settled gently over Ravencrest University, soft enough to hush the corridors but not so deep that it swallowed the world entirely.In the dormitory, Mara slept, sprawled across her bed, the low hum of her phone charging the only sound beside the occasional creak of the old building.Liora lay in the quiet of her own bed, staring at the moonlight spilling through the window. Something in the academy felt… heavy tonight, like the air itself was charged. Her body ached with exhaustion from her first day—getting lost in the hallways, dodging the bustling students, trying to memorize faces and rules—but her mind refused to rest.Eventually, sleep came, pulling her under.And then the dream arrived.She was in a forest that stretched endlessly, mist curling around her ankles. The air was sharp and cold, pressing against her skin. Moonlight barely touched the twisted branches overhead, leaving the ground beneath her feet in shadow. The silence was absolute—so deep it seemed to hum insi

Adrian had been trained to feel nothing. Every word from his father, Alpha Luca, had hammered the same lesson into him: pain was weakness, love was destruction, attachment was failure. From the moment he could walk, every mistake, every lapse in control, was met with harsh correction—brutal training meant to forge him into a leader capable of surviving—and dominating—anything. “You must endure everything, Adrian,” his father had said one morning in the office, pacing in the cold light streaming through the windows. “The pack survives because its Alpha feels no pain. You will feel nothing. You will let nothing distract you. You will lead, or the pack dies.” Adrian had obeyed. He had learned to endure, to dominate, to shut down any trace of weakness. By seventeen, his mind and body obeyed him like soldiers in line. Feelings were irrelevant. Attachments were fatal. Distractions were punishable. It was around that time his father summoned him while Adrian managed the pack’s daily af

The hallway outside the locker room felt too quiet.Adrian walked without seeing where he was going. His boots struck the polished floor in slow, heavy steps, but his mind wasn’t on the corridor, the academy, or the pack.It was on Darius’s words.Adrian clenched his jaw.Darius had been many things in at the time they'd trained together, defiant, observant, occasionally insufferable but rarely wrong. That was the problem.And today… the boy had seen too much.Adrian pushed open the side door that led to the training wing. Cold evening air rushed in, carrying the faint scent of pine and damp earth from the forest that bordered the academy grounds.He welcomed it.Anything to clear his head.He walked toward the edge of the field . The grass rustled under his boots as the distant noise of students slowly dissolved into silence.Only then did he stop.His hands slid into his pockets as he stared across the quiet fieldWas he right? Was l reckless?The questions settled in his chest like

Three days later. Adrian had buried himself in training. It was the only thing that kept his mind quiet—if only for a little while. The constant burn in his muscles, the sharp sting in his knuckles, the sweat running down his back… it drowned out everything else. His father’s words. The pressure of the pack. And the strange, irritating memory of a girl he had only glimpsed from across the cafeteria. The punching bag swung violently as Adrian drove another fist into it. Thud. The chains rattled from the force. His knuckles were already raw, but he barely felt it. Thud. Kel leaned against the wall nearby, arms folded. “You’re going to break it,” he said casually. Adrian didn’t stop. “Good.” Kel watched him for another moment before shaking his head. “You know beating up equipment doesn’t solve anything.” Adrian delivered one final punch before stepping back, chest rising and falling heavily. “I’m not trying to solve anything.” Before Kel could answer, t