Chapter 18 - The Curse

I stared at the black blood on the pillow.

My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking. The symbols carved into the headboard seemed to pulse in the dim morning light, glowing faintly like embers beneath ash.

The bond is sealed.

But what did that mean?

I touched the blood again. It was cold now. Thick. It didn't smear like normal blood—it clung to my finger like oil, like tar, like something wrong.

"Ela?"

I spun around.

Kai was standing in the doorway, his brown eyes wide, his hand still on the splintered frame where Nikolai had broken through last night.

"Kai—"

"I heard you scream." He stepped into the room. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't—I woke up and Nikolai was gone and there's—"

He saw the pillow.

Saw the black blood.

Saw the glowing symbols on the headboard.

His face went pale.

"Kai?" My voice cracked. "Kai, what is it?"

He walked to the bed. Touched the blood with his fingertip. Lifted it to his nose. Smelled it.

Then he closed his eyes.

"God," he whispered. "No."

"What?"

"Ela, when did you and Nikolai—" He stopped. Swallowed. "When did you seal the bond?"

"Last night. After you left." My face burned. "Why? What's wrong?"

Kai opened his eyes.

They were wet.

"It's a curse," he said. "An old one. One I thought was just a legend."

---

He sat me down on the edge of the bed.

Pulled the furs up around my shoulders, covering my nakedness. His hands were gentle, but his face was grim.

"The Shadow Bond," he said. "It's a curse that awakens when a fated mate bond is consummated under a blood moon."

"A blood moon?"

"Last night." Kai looked at the window. At the gray sky beyond. "The moon was red. I didn't think—I didn't realize—"

"Nikolai knew."

Kai's jaw tightened.

"Maybe. Maybe not." He looked at me. "The curse only affects humans who carry wolf blood. When they give themselves to a wolf—when they're taken by a wolf—the blood turns against itself."

"Turns against itself how?"

"The wolf blood starts attacking the human blood. Slowly at first. Then faster." His voice dropped. "It's called the Black Death among wolves. Because the victim's blood turns black. And then—"

"And then what?"

Kai didn't answer.

But he didn't have to.

I looked at the pillow. At the black stain spreading across the white fabric.

I'm dying.

Nikolai made me his, and now I'm dying.

---

I didn't cry.

Couldn't.

The tears were there, somewhere behind my eyes, but they wouldn't fall. Everything felt numb. Distant. Like I was watching myself from far away.

"Kai," I said. "Is there a cure?"

He was quiet for a long moment.

"There's a way to stop it," he said finally. "But you won't like it."

"Tell me."

"The bond has to be severed. Completely. As if it never existed."

"Severed how?"

Kai looked at me.

His brown eyes were full of pain.

"The wolf who sealed the bond has to die," he said. "The curse feeds on the bond. If the bond is broken—if the wolf is gone—the curse has nothing to feed on. It dies."

"So Nikolai has to—"

"Yes."

---

The room spun.

I grabbed the edge of the bed, my knuckles white, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

"Ela." Kai knelt in front of me, his hands on my knees. "Breathe."

"Nikolai has to die?"

"Or the bond has to be transferred."

"Transferred?"

"To another wolf." His voice was careful. Controlled. "If another wolf claims you—if the bond is overwritten—the curse might transfer to the new bond. It's never been done before. No one knows if it would work."

"Who would—"

"I would." Kai's eyes met mine. "If you asked me to. I would claim you. I would take the curse. I would—"

"Kai, no."

"Ela—"

"You can't die for me."

"I would." His voice cracked. "In a heartbeat. Without hesitation."

I looked at him.

At his kind eyes, his gentle face, his broken heart.

He meant it.

He would die for me.

And that was exactly why I couldn't let him.

---

I stood up.

Pulled on my clothes—jeans, shirt, hoodie. My hands were steadier now. My voice was steadier.

"Where's Nikolai?"

"I don't know."

"Find him."

"Ela—"

"Find him." I turned to face Kai. "I need to look him in the eye. I need to ask him if he knew. I need to—"

I stopped.

Because the door was open.

And Lukas was standing in the hallway.

---

He was smiling.

Of course he was smiling.

His green eyes swept over me—my wrinkled clothes, my messy hair, the dark circles under my eyes—and his smile widened.

"Ela," he said. "You look terrible."

"Go away, Lukas."

"I don't think I will." He stepped into the room. "Not when there's so much to discuss."

"Lukas—" Kai moved to stand between us.

"Relax, Wilder." Lukas held up his hands. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help."

"Help?" I laughed—a hollow, bitter sound. "You've never helped anyone but yourself."

"That's not true." His eyes met mine. "I've been trying to help you since the beginning. You just wouldn't let me."

"Because your help comes with chains attached."

"All help comes with chains." He stepped around Kai, walking toward me. "The question is which chains you're willing to wear."

---

He stopped in front of me.

Close enough that I could smell him—pine and snow, just like Nikolai, but wrong. Artificial. Like a perfume trying too hard.

"I know about the curse," he said.

"How?"

"I know everything that happens in this academy." His smile flickered. "Every secret. Every whisper. Every black drop of blood."

"Then you know Nikolai did this to me."

"I know Nikolai sealed the bond with you under a blood moon." He tilted his head. "Whether he did it on purpose—"

"He didn't know."

"Are you sure?"

The question hit me like a blade.

Was I sure?

Nikolai had known about the bond. He'd known about the tournament. He'd known about the blood moon—he had to have known. Every wolf knew about the blood moon.

But had he known about the curse?

Had he known what would happen to me?

He left.

He sealed the bond, and then he left.

Without a word.

Without a note.

Without anything.

"I see you're not sure," Lukas said softly.

"Shut up."

"Ela—"

"I said shut up."

---

Lukas didn't shut up.

He never did.

"Nikolai Volkov has wanted power his whole life," he said. "His father was the most powerful wolf in the academy. His grandfather was the most powerful wolf in Siberia. And Nikolai—" He smiled. "Nikolai has always been in their shadow."

"That doesn't mean—"

"It means he would do anything to step out of it." Lukas stepped closer. "Including claiming a human with dormant wolf blood. Including sealing a bond that would give him unlimited power. Including letting you die if it meant he could keep that power."

"Nikolai wouldn't—"

"Wouldn't he?" Lukas's voice was soft. "Then where is he, Ela? Why did he leave? Why hasn't he come back?"

I had no answer.

Because I didn't know.

Why did you leave, Nikolai?

Why aren't you here?

Why did you let me wake up alone?

---

Lukas reached out.

Touched my face.

I flinched—but I didn't pull away.

"I'm not going to pretend to be a good man," he said. "I'm not going to pretend I've never done terrible things. But I've never lied to you, Ela. Not once."

"You've manipulated me."

"I've protected you."

"You blackmailed me."

"To keep you away from him." His thumb traced my cheekbone. "Because I knew he would hurt you. Because I knew—"

"You knew about the curse?"

Lukas was silent.

"You knew." My voice rose. "You knew what would happen if he claimed me under a blood moon, and you didn't tell me. You didn't warn me. You just—"

"I tried to warn you." His jaw tightened. "I told you not to trust him. I told you he would use you. I told you—"

"You told me to mate with you."

"Yes."

"To save myself?"

"To save you from him." Lukas's hand dropped. "But you wouldn't listen. You never listen. You're so desperate to believe that someone in this place actually loves you that you'll believe anyone who says the right words."

"That's not—"

"It is." His voice was hard. "Nikolai says he loves you, and you spread your legs for him. Kai says he loves you, and you let him kiss you. I say I love you, and you call me a monster."

"Because you are a monster."

"Yes." He didn't deny it. "But I'm a monster who would never let you die."

---

The room was silent.

Kai stood by the door, his hands clenched, his jaw tight. He wanted to intervene—I could see it in his eyes. But he was waiting. Letting me handle this.

Lukas was still watching me.

Those green eyes. That beautiful, terrible face.

"Ela," he said softly. "Let me help you."

"How?"

"Transfer the bond to me."

"What?"

"You heard me." He stepped closer. "Transfer the bond to me. Let me claim you. The curse will follow the bond—it will become my curse, not yours."

"And you'd just... let it kill you?"

"I'm not going to die." He smiled. "I've been preparing for this my whole life. My bloodline carries immunity to the Shadow Bond. It's why my family has survived for centuries while others have fallen."

"You're lying."

"I'm not." He pulled out his phone. Scrolled to a page—old text, ancient symbols, a family tree. "The Brandt line was cursed in the fourteenth century. We learned to fight it. To use it."

He held the phone out to me.

I didn't take it.

"Let me save you, Ela." His voice dropped. "Let me be the one who protects you. Who loves you."

"Lukas—"

"I know you don't love me." His smile flickered. "Not yet. But you will. I can make you happy. I can give you everything Nikolai promised and more."

"Everything except choice."

"Choice is overrated." He reached out again, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Survival isn't."

---

I looked at Kai.

He shook his head.

Don't trust him, his eyes said. Don't do it.

But what choice did I have?

The curse was killing me. Nikolai was gone. Lukas was offering a way out.

Was he lying?

Probably.

Was he manipulating me?

Definitely.

But he was also here.

And Nikolai wasn't.

"Ela." Lukas's voice was gentle. "I know you're scared. I know you don't trust me. But I need you to understand something."

"What?"

His green eyes met mine.

For a moment—just a moment—the mask slipped. I saw something underneath. Something raw. Something almost real.

"Nikolai used you for power," he said. "He used your body, your blood, your bond. But me—" He swallowed. "I would love you. Truly. Deeply. Desperately. If you let me."