Chapter Eight: The Council’s Warning

The video played again. And again. Each time, those six cursed wolves looked more dangerous. More impossible to defeat.

“Turn it off,” I said.

Sera did. But the damage was done. Every wolf in the clearing had seen it. I saw what was coming for us.

“We need to leave,” Kade said. “Now. Before they send their cursed wolves to finish what Thomas started.”

“No.” I looked at my father’s body. At the alpha who died protecting me. “I will not run. Not anymore.”

“Aria, be reasonable. Six cursed bloodlines against two? We cannot win that fight.”

“Then we find a way to win.” I turned to the gathered wolves. “My father is dead. Thomas Crane is dead. And according to pack law, I am your alpha now. Anyone who disagrees can challenge me. Anyone who wants to run can leave. But I am staying. This is my territory. My pack. And I will defend it.”

Silence.

Then Beta Richards stepped forward. He was bleeding from where I bit him. His throat was torn. But he still moved with authority.

“You are not alpha yet,” he said.

My wolf bristled. “Excuse me?”

“Pack law requires a challenge to be witnessed by the council. Requires three days of mourning before succession. Requires…”

“I do not care what it requires. My father is dead. I killed the wolf who murdered him. That makes me alpha.”

“That makes you a challenger. Nothing more.” He looked at the other wolves. “We need stability. We need tradition. We cannot just throw away centuries of pack law because a girl got lucky.”

“Lucky?” Power rolled off me. Made the wolves nearest me whimper. “You think what I did was luck?”

“I think you are young. Inexperienced. And bonded to a rogue who destroyed his entire pack.” Richards looked at Kade with disgust. “You want us to follow you? To accept him as your mate? To pretend everything is fine while the Council comes to destroy us?”

“What would you have me do?”

“Reject him. Publicly. Prove your loyalty is to this pack, not to a cursed rogue.”

My blood went cold. “Reject my mate?”

“Yes. It is the only way to unite the pack. The only way to prove you are strong enough to lead.”

Kade’s hand found mine. Squeezed. “If that is what your pack needs, I will leave. I will not let them destroy you for choosing me.”

“No.” I pulled him closer. “I am not rejecting you. I am not abandoning the one good thing fate ever gave me.”

“Then you are not fit to be alpha,” Richards said.

The other wolves murmured. Some agreed. Some stayed silent. But none spoke in my defence.

“Is that what you all think?” I looked at each of them. “That I am too weak? Too young? Too damaged to lead?”

More silence.

Lila pushed forward again. “Aria, maybe Richards is right. Maybe you need time. We can have a council rule until you are ready. Until—”

“Until what? Until I become the alpha you want? The one who follows every rule and tradition even when they are wrong?” I shook my head. “My father ruled with fear. With cruelty. With absolute power. And where did that get him? Dead on the ground while his pack stands here debating whether his daughter deserves the position he spent years preparing her for.”

“He prepared you to be an heir,” Richards said. “Not an alpha. There is a difference.”

“You are right. There is.” I released Kade’s hand. Stepped forward. “An heir follows. An alpha leads. And I am done following.”

I shifted.

But not into my wolf. Into the new form. The one that merged curse and wolf and something ancient I did not fully understand yet.

Silver fur. Glowing eyes. Power that made the air crackle.

Every wolf dropped to their knees. Even Richards. Even the ones who doubted me.

The alpha power was undeniable now.

“I am Aria Steele,” I said through the pack bond. My voice echoed in every mind. “Daughter of Marcus Steele. Mate of Kade Blackwood. And I am your alpha. Anyone who disagrees can challenge me. Right here. Right now.”

Nobody moved.

“Good.” I shifted back. “Then we have work to do. The Council is coming. And we need to be ready.”

Sera stepped forward. “What do you need?”

“Information. Everything you know about the Old Blood Council. Every cursed bloodline they control. Every weakness we can exploit.”

“I know someone who can help,” she said. “A witch. Not the one Thomas worked with, but an old one. She deals in ancient magic. Forbidden knowledge.”

“Can we trust her?”

“No. But she hates the Council more than she hates rogues. That gives us common ground.”

“Where is she?”

“The Bone Lands. Three days north. In territory claimed by no pack.”

I looked at Kade. “Can you travel?”

“Yes. But we should not both go. If the Council attacks while we are gone”

“They will find a pack ready to fight.” I turned to Richards. “You said I am not alpha yet. Fine. Then you lead until I return. Keep the pack safe. Keep them ready. And if anyone challenges my claim while I am gone, you deal with them.”

Richards stared at me. “You trust me? After I questioned you?”

“I trust you to protect this pack. That is all that matters.”

He bowed his head. “Yes, Alpha.”

The title sounded strange coming from him. But right.

“Sera, Kade, we leave in an hour. The rest of you, prepare defences. The Council knows where we are. They will come. And when they do, we will be ready.”

The wolves scattered. All except Lila, who lingered at the edge of the clearing.

“Aria, wait. Please.”

I stopped. “What do you want, Lila?”

“To come with you. To help. To make up for what I did.”

“No.”

“But I can fight. I can”

“You can stay here and help Richards. Prove your loyalty to the pack you betrayed. Maybe then I will trust you again.”

Her face crumpled. But she nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

She left.

Kade pulled me aside. Away from the others. “Are you sure about this? Going to see a witch who deals in forbidden magic?”

“No. But we need answers. Need to know what we are facing.”

“What if the witch wants payment we cannot afford?”

“Then we find another way.” I touched his face. The face of my mate. My anchor. “But we do it together.”

He kissed me. Hard. Desperate. Like he was afraid to let go.

When we pulled apart, his silver eyes were dark with worry.

“I am afraid,” he said. “Afraid of what is coming. Afraid I will lose control again. Afraid I will hurt you.”

“You will not.”

“You do not know that.”

“Yes, I do. Because the curse does not control you anymore. We control it. Together.” I pressed my forehead against his. “Whatever comes next, we face it as one.”

“As one,” he repeated.

An hour later, we stood at the northern border. Sera had a pack ready. Supplies. Weapons. Everything we needed for three days in the wilderness.

“The Bone Lands are dangerous,” she said. “No pack claims them because nothing lives there. Nothing except the witch and whatever she keeps as pets.”

“Comforting,” I said.

“I am serious, Aria. This witch, Morgana, is not like other magic users. She is old. Older than any wolf alive. And she does not help out of kindness.”

“What does she want?”

“Nobody knows. But every deal she makes costs something. And the price is always higher than you expect.”

Kade checked his weapons. Silver blades. Enough to kill cursed wolves if necessary. “How did Thomas find her?”

“He did not. She found him. Offered him the binding chain. Told him exactly how to trigger your curse during the full moon.” Sera’s amber eyes were hard. “She knew what would happen. Knew your pack would die. And she let it happen anyway.”

“Then why would she help us?” I asked.

“Because the Council wants her dead. They have been hunting her for decades. She made a deal with them once and broke it. Now they want revenge.” Sera handed me a map. “The witch’s hut is here. At the centre of the Bone Lands. Follow the dead trees. When you smell rot and blood, you are close.”

“And if the Council finds us first?”

“Run. Fight. Survive.” She looked at both of us. “Do not die. This pack needs you. Both of you.”

We started walking.

The forest grew darker. Colder. The trees became twisted. Wrong. Like they were frozen mid-scream.

After two hours, Kade stopped.

“We are being followed,” he said.

I smelled it too. Wolf. But not a normal one. This scent was tainted. Cursed.

“One of the Council’s wolves?” I asked.

“Maybe. Or something worse.”

We kept walking. Faster now. The presence behind us grew closer. More aggressive.

Then I heard it. A howl. Long. Mournful. Hungry.

“Run,” Kade said.

We ran.

The forest blurred around us. Trees became walls. Roots became traps. And behind us, the cursed wolf gained ground.

It was fast. Faster than any wolf I had ever seen.

We broke through into a clearing.

And stopped.

The clearing was full of bones. Thousands of them. All arranged in circles. In patterns. In symbols that pulsed with dark magic.

The Bone Lands.

At the centre stood a hut. Small. Crooked. Wrong.

And in front of the hut stood a woman.

She was young. Beautiful. With long black hair and eyes that gleamed with ancient power.

Morgana.

“Well, well,” she said. Her voice was silk and poison. “The alpha daughter and the cursed prince. How delightful.”

The cursed wolf burst from the trees behind us.

Morgana raised one hand.

The wolf exploded. Just… exploded. Blood and bone and fur scattered across the clearing.

“Sorry about that,” Morgana said. “Council pets are so poorly trained these days.”

She smiled.

And I realised we had walked straight into a trap far worse than any cursed wolf.

The witch was not our ally.

She was something infinitely more dangerous.