Chapter Nine: The Witch’s Price

Morgana circled us like prey. Her black dress trailed through the blood-soaked dirt. The bones around us hummed with magic so dark it made my wolf whimper.

“You came,” she said. “How predictable.”

“You knew we would,” Kade said. His voice was steady but I felt his fear through the bond.

“Of course. I saw it months ago. The moment Thomas triggered your curse. The moment Aria saved you from bleeding out in the woods.” She stopped in front of me. “You are bound by fate. By blood. By a love so desperate it rewrote reality itself.”

“You helped Thomas,” I said. “You gave him the binding chain. Told him how to trigger the curse.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Because the Council paid me well. And because I wanted to see what would happen when two cursed souls collided.” She smiled. “You did not disappoint.”

Kade moved between us. Protective. Dangerous. “If you work for the Council, why help us now?”

“I do not work for anyone, boy. I work for myself. Always have.” Morgana waved her hand. The bones rearranged themselves into chairs. “Sit. We have much to discuss.”

“We will stand,” I said.

“Suit yourself. But you came here for answers. For help. For some magical solution to your little Council problem.” She sat. Crossed her legs. “And I am the only one who can give it to you.”

“At what price?”

“Smart girl. Always ask about price.” Her eyes gleamed. “The Council has six cursed bloodlines under their control. Six wolves who transform into monsters just like your mate. But unlike Kade, these wolves are bound completely. No humanity left. Just rage and hunger and whatever the Council commands.”

“How do we stop them?” Kade asked.

“You do not. Not as you are now.” Morgana stood. Walked toward me. “You see, the curse Kade carries is special. Rare. It comes from his mother’s bloodline. From creatures that existed before wolves. Before humans. Before this world settled into what it is now.”

“What creatures?” I asked.

“The First Ones. Beings of pure magic who could shape reality with a thought. Who could become anything they desired.” She touched my face. I flinched but did not pull away. “Kade’s mother was descended from them. And when she mated with an alpha wolf, the bloodlines merged. Created something new. Something powerful.”

“The curse,” Kade said.

“Not a curse. An evolution. But one that requires balance. Requires control. Requires…” She looked at me. “A mate strong enough to handle the power.”

“Aria is strong enough,” Kade said.

“Is she? Because right now, she is borrowing your curse. Sharing it through the mate bond. But that is temporary. Unstable. When the Council’s wolves come, when they attack with everything they have, that borrowed power will not be enough.”

My stomach dropped. “Then what do we do?”

“You take the curse completely. Make it yours. Transform from alpha wolf into something the Council has never seen before.” Morgana walked back to her hut. Pulled out a vial filled with silver liquid that moved like mercury. “This is First Blood. The essence of the creatures Kade’s mother descended from. One drop will rewrite your DNA. Make you into a true cursed alpha. Give you power beyond anything you can imagine.”

“And the price?” I asked.

Morgana’s smile widened. “Your humanity.”

Silence.

“No,” Kade said. “Absolutely not. I will not let her become what I am. Will not let her lose herself to the monster.”

“She will not lose herself. She will become herself. Finally.” Morgana looked at me. “You have spent your life being weak. Being broken. Being everything your father wanted to destroy. This is your chance to be something more. Something unstoppable.”

“By giving up my humanity? By becoming a monster?”

“By becoming an alpha worthy of the title.” She held out the vial. “The Council is coming. Tomorrow night, they will attack your pack with all six cursed wolves. Your people will die. Your territory will fall. Unless you take this. Unless you become strong enough to fight them.”

“There has to be another way,” I said.

“There is. You can run. Hide. Let your pack be slaughtered while you save yourselves.” Morgana’s eyes hardened. “Or you can fight. But fighting requires sacrifice. Requires pain. Requires becoming the thing you fear most.”

I looked at Kade. At my mate. At the man who already carried this burden.

“What do you think?” I asked him.

“I think I do not want you to suffer what I have suffered. Do not want you to wake up covered in blood and not remember whose blood it is. Do not want you to hate yourself for what the curse makes you do.” His voice broke. “I love you too much to let you become me.”

“But what if I do not become you? What if I become something better?” I took the vial from Morgana. “You control the curse now. With my help. What if taking this lets me help you control it even more?”

“Or what if it destroys us both?”

“Then we die together. Fighting. Protecting our pack.” I uncorked the vial. “That is better than running.”

“Aria, wait…”

I drank.

The First Blood hit my system like lightning. Like fire. Like being torn apart from the inside.

I screamed.

My body convulsed. Bones cracked and reformed. My wolf howled inside me, terrified and furious. And something else woke up. Something ancient. Something that recognised the First Blood and welcomed it home.

Kade caught me as I fell. “Aria! Aria, stay with me!”

But I was drowning. Drowning in power that rewrote everything I was. That burned away weakness and fear and pain and replaced it with something primal. Something perfect. Something terrifying.

When I opened my eyes, the world looked different.

Colours were sharper. Scents were overwhelming. I could hear Kade’s heartbeat. Could feel every living thing in the forest. Could sense the dark magic pulsing through the bones around us.

“Aria?” Kade’s voice was careful. Scared. “Are you still you?”

I looked at him. At my mate. At the man I loved more than my own life.

And I felt nothing.

No love. No fear. No warmth. Just cold, calculating power that whispered I did not need him anymore. Did not need anyone. I was strong enough now. Strong enough to take everything I wanted.

“Aria, please. Say something.”

The curse inside me wanted to hurt him. Wanted to prove dominance. Wanted to make him submit.

But somewhere, buried deep beneath the power, a small part of me remembered.

Remembered his silver eyes. His gentle touch. His willingness to die protecting me.

I forced the words out. “I am… here.”

Relief flooded his face. “Thank the Moon.”

But I felt the lie in my words. Felt the humanity slipping away with every heartbeat. Felt the monster taking root.

Morgana laughed. “Oh, this is better than I hoped. Look at her, Kade. Look at what she has become.”

I stood. My body moved differently now. Predator smooth. Perfectly balanced. Every sense was heightened. Every instinct screamed hunt, kill, dominate.

“How do you feel?” Morgana asked.

“Powerful.”

“And your mate?”

I looked at Kade. He was still on his knees. Still watching me with those silver eyes full of worry and love and fear.

The curse whispered he was weak. That I should leave him behind. Take my power and claim the pack alone.

But the tiny piece of humanity I still had whispered something else.

“Mine,” I said. The word came out possessive. Wrong. But true. “He is mine.”

“Good. You have not lost yourself completely yet.” Morgana walked to her hut. “The transformation will finish during the full moon. Tomorrow night. The same night the Council attacks. You will either master the curse or it will master you. Either way, it will be quite the show.”

“How do I control it?” I asked.

“You do not. You become it. Let it consume you. Let it reshape you. And when you emerge on the other side, you will be something even the Council fears.”

“And if I do not emerge?”

“Then Kade gets to watch his mate become the monster that killed his pack. Poetic, really.” She disappeared into the hut. “Now leave. I have preparations to make. Tomorrow will be memorable.”

The door slammed shut.

Kade grabbed my hand. “We need to go. Now.”

But when his skin touched mine, the curse surged. I yanked my hand away before I could hurt him.

“Do not touch me,” I said. “Not until I have control.”

“Aria”

“I mean it, Kade. The curse wants to hurt you. Wants to prove I am stronger. I need distance.”

Pain flashed across his face. But he nodded. “Okay. We will keep a distance. But we stay together.”

We started walking back through the Bone Lands. Every step was agony. The curse fought me. Demanded I run. Hunt. Kill. Prove my dominance.

And the worst part?

Part of me wanted to.

We were halfway back when Sera’s voice crackled through the radio.

“Aria! Kade! Can you hear me?”

I grabbed the device. “We hear you. What is wrong?”

“The Council. They are not waiting until tomorrow.” Her voice was panicked. “They are attacking now. All six cursed wolves. The pack is surrounded. We cannot hold them off. You need to get back here now!”

My blood went cold. “How long can you hold?”

“Maybe an hour. Maybe less. These things are not like regular wolves. They are coordinated. Smart. And they do not stop.”

I looked at Kade. “It is a three-hour run back.”

“Then we will never make it in time.”

The curse whispered a solution. A terrible, beautiful solution.

I could shift into my new form. Run faster than any wolf alive. Reach the pack in time to fight.

But I would be alone. And uncontrolled. And there was no guarantee I would recognise a pack from an enemy once the bloodlust took over.

“Aria, what are we going to do?” Kade asked.

I looked at him. At my mate. At the only thing keeping me human.

“You are going to run as fast as you can back to the pack,” I said. “And I am going to give you a head start.”

“What? No. We stay together. We”

“If we stay together, we all die. But if I shift now, if I let the curse out, I can reach them in time. Can fight the Council’s wolves. Can save our pack.”

“You will lose control. You will kill everyone.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I will be strong enough to hold on.” I stepped back. “But either way, this is our only chance.”

“Aria, please”

“Run, Kade. Now. Before I change my mind.”

He ran.

And I shifted.

The curse took me completely. Silver fur. Glowing eyes. Power that made the earth crack beneath my feet.

And I ran toward the battle, praying I would arrive as their saviour.

Not their executioner.