The dark entity.

Damien's POV

After she retired to our bedroom, I retreated to my study because paperwork never stopped and I preferred working at night when the house was quiet.

That's when everything went to hell.

The first sign was the headache, sharp and sudden, like someone driving railroad spikes into my skull. I gripped the edge of my desk and breathed through it, waiting for it to pass.

It didn't pass like it always did. Instead, I felt like i was being wacked in the head repeatedly.

Then came the voice, dark and ancient and completely wrong.

Kill her.

I froze, every muscle in my body going rigid. The voice was inside my head but it wasn't mine, it wasn't me, it was something else entirely.

She doesn't belong, she's making you weak, kill her before she destroys you.

"No," I said out loud, my voice hoarse. "That's not, she's not—" I let out a guttural noise as pain exploded through my body like I was being torn apart from the inside.

My bones felt like they were breaking and reforming, my wolf trying to force its way out even though there was no moon calling to us. This wasn't a normal shift, this was something darker, something wrong.

The curse. The dark magic I'd used to save my pack five years ago. It was taking control and I was powerless to stop it.

Kill the human, protect the pack, she's an outsider, she's dangerous, she's poison.

"She's my wife," I growled, fighting the compulsion with everything I had. "I won't, I can't kill her."

But my body was moving without my permission. I stood up and started waalking toward the door. Every step felt like wading through concrete but I couldn't stop myself, couldn't make my legs obey my commands.

"Weak, you're weak because of her, end it, end her, free yourself from her grip." The voice echoed in my head. I could hear my wolf being suppressed.

I was in the hallway now and servants scattered when they saw me, probably sensing that something was very wrong. My eyes had gone full wolf, I could feel it, and my fangs were descending even though I was fighting it with every ounce of willpower I possessed.

I tried to call for help but my voice wouldn't work, the dark entity had control of everything now.

I reached our bedroom door and started pounding on it, my fists hitting the wood with enough force to crack it, splinters flying.

"Damien?" Lyra's confused voice came from inside. "What are you doing? You could have just opened it, why are you—"

She opened the door and that's when I struck.

My hand wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing. Her eyes went wide with shock and fear and confusion.

"Damien, what—" She couldn't finish, couldn't breathe, her hands clawing at my fingers.

"You have to die," I heard myself say but it wasn't my voice, it was something darker and colder and inhuman. "You're making him weak, you're destroying him, you have to die."

"Damien!" She was clawing at my hand, trying to pry my fingers away, kicking and struggling. "Stop! What's wrong with you? Damien, please!"

Inside my own head I was screaming and fighting and throwing everything I had against the entity's control. But it was stronger, so much stronger, it had been dormant for five years just building its strength and waiting for this exact moment.

I watched in absolute horror from behind my own eyes as I squeezed tighter. Lyra's face turned red, then purple, and her struggles were weakening.

No, no, no, not her, anyone but her, please God not her.

She has to die, the pack requires it, she's an outsider, she's dangerous, she'll destroy everything.

I fought harder, throwing every ounce of strength I had against the entity's grip on my mind. My hand trembled and my grip loosened just slightly.

It was enough for Lyra to suck in a desperate breath and scream, "Help! Someone help me!"

We struggled and she tried to fight me off, kicking and clawing and doing everything she could. But I was so much stronger and she didn't stand a chance against my cursed wolf.

I could see her starting to fade, consciousness slipping away, and some distant part of me that was still human wanted to die.

Then something hard crashed into the back of my skull.

Pain exploded through my head and everything went blank.