KILL EDWARD

MAYA

"His legs just moved," I whispered, my voice trembling violently as I pointed down at Edward's feet.

The doctor froze. He quickly bent back down, pressing two firm fingers against the side of Edward’s neck while watching his chest with sharp, desperate focus. After several agonizing seconds, the physician let out a long, ragged breath and looked up at the silent room.

"He is not dead," the doctor announced, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "But he is in an extremely critical condition. His mind is trapped, and his body is entirely paralyzed—he cannot move, he cannot speak, and he can only stare blankly into the air."

Within hours, the devastating news broke across the entire pack, The Alpha is gravely sick.

Chaos erupted throughout the territory. Before the sun could even set, the pack elders summoned me to the center of the grand hall. They stood in a stern semicircle on the raised marble dais, their faces cold, shadowed, and completely unyielding.

"Maya, you are a dark curse upon this royal house," the lead elder declared, his heavy voice echoing off the high stone walls. "From the very moment you stepped into this palace, misfortune has followed in your wake. First, the Alpha lost his sight. Then, your child died violently in your womb. And now, Alpha Edward lies frozen like a living corpse. You must leave this pack immediately. You are sentenced to absolute exile."

Panic seized my chest, squeezing the air right out of my lungs.

"Please!" I pleaded, dropping to my knees as tears streamed down my cheeks. "I need to stay and attend to him until he comes back to life! He needs me by his side! I am his mate!"

"We will not hear another word from your tongue!" the elder barked, slamming his wooden staff against the floor with a deafening crack. "You are evil, and your dark presence is slowly killing our leader. You have until tonight to pack your few belongings and leave these lands forever. The servants and Maria will attend to the Alpha."

Defeated, humiliated, and utterly heartbroken, I dragged my feet back to my quarters and began putting my things together in a small cloth bag. My tears fell steadily onto the few simple dresses I folded. This truly felt like the end of the road for me. Just like the Black Magic Seer had warned us in that dimly lit shrine, Maria had defeated us in our fourth life, and now she had successfully won against us in this fifth life. I had failed Edward, I had failed my unborn baby, and I had failed the ancient spirit living inside me.

Late that night, with my small bundle slung tightly over my shoulder, I crept through the dark, silent courtyard toward the outer palace gates. The guards stood aside in icy silence as the heavy iron bars creaked open. I took one last, painful look back at the towering stone fortress, stepping toward the cold, unforgiving wilderness outside.

I had already opened the gate to leave when I heard a sharp, familiar voice call out through the freezing night air.

"Maya!"

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around. Maria was standing under the warm, flickering glow of the archway torch, wrapped in a sweeping dark velvet cloak. A slow, wicked, and triumphant smile rested on her lips.

I gripped the strap of my bag tightly against my chest, my knuckles turning white. "What do you want from me, Maria? I'm leaving, just like the elders ordered."

Maria walked slowly toward me, the steady click of her heels against the cobblestones sounding like a executioner's drum. She stopped just inches away from where I stood, her dark eyes glittering with unrestrained ambition and lust.

"I am giving you one final condition to stay back," Maria whispered softly, leaning in so close I could smell the sweet rose perfume on her skin.

I frowned, staring at her with deep suspicion. "What condition?"

"You will stay in my quarters as my personal, private servant," Maria said, her slender fingers lightly trailing down my arm, sending a cold shiver straight through my body. "Every single night, you will satisfy me sexually, exactly as I desire. And in return for being allowed to stay near Edward, you will use those strange, dark powers of yours to slowly kill Alpha Edward once and for all."