A CURSED KING

Aziel's POV

I'd walked in the name  Cursed King longer than I'd walked past my own name  which was my father's name, also.

Aziel. The sound of it was akin to the nip of winter wind on bare skin.

My pack took that curse with me.

Hated. Feared.

Wherever we walked, whispers followed. We were wolves who darkened the earth with our blood, wolves who devoured peace.

And my people starved while I sat on a throne of bones and legacy.

We could not trade. Could not move. No pack would do business with us.

And hunger was a more cruel enemy than war, it crept, one by one picking off my people.

So I made a decision.

If I must bow to another Alpha, so be it.

If I had to defend a weaker pack on the cost of mine, I would.

If I had to sign peace in blood, I would do that too.

For them. Forever for them.

My search for a mate was long over years ago — not due to hopelessness, but because I knew the goddess had cursed me for my father's sins.

My father had burned villages and called it glory.

I carried his shadow.

And the goddess, I believed, would never smile on me with affection as long as that blood still flowed through my veins.

So I walked down the corridor that morning, considering treaties and territory — not fate.

And yet there was destiny waiting for me around the corner.

I didn't even notice her  before it happened.

A shoulder brushed against mine, softly as a breath, and I turned in a whirl.

"Watch where—"

The sentence hung in the air.

She gazed up.

Green. No, not green in itself. Gold specks flashed across them, like sunlight which had been trapped in forest dew.

The world stopped.

My heart skipped a beat.

My wolf, quiet for all those years, shattered its cage and howled inside me — Mate.

All sound in the hall faded away until only her scent remained — warm, fresh, earthy like sunlight on leather. She smelled like everything else my soul had been starved of.

She flinched too, though her eyes quickly dropped in submission. Her head was bowed, her posture stiff. She was a servant — simple clothes, shaking hand clutching a tray.

But she didn't stink like servants.

No hint of soap, no stench of sweat or fish oil.

She smelled alive. Feral.

"Who are you?" My voice came out lower than I'd intended — rough, drawn out by something wild.

Her lips quivered  as she swallowed. "I'm… a new servant, Alpha."

A new servant, I didn't care. My fingers were itching to touch her face, to draw my fingers through her hair, to feel the heat pouring beneath her skin.

Did she feel it too?

The pull?

The way the air between us trembled, invisible but alight?

But his eyes,those sweet, trembling eyes held no recognition.

Only fear. Possibly confusion.

My wolf growled with pain. She doesn't know.

My ribcage tightened. My curse-breaking miracle, my mate, was looking at me like I was the monster everyone told me I was.

I took a slow breath, fighting the temptation to reach for  her. My claws throbbed under my skin, craving freedom.

Before I could say another thing, a voice broke through the spell.

"Alpha!"

Orlan. My Beta.

Always so boisterous when I needed silence.

He thundered down the hall, documents in hand. "The council awaits. You promised we'd—"

He stopped, his gaze flicking between me and him. "Everything okay?"

No. Everything was not okay.

The world was turned upside down. My blood had changed. My soul had found its match and he was there pretending like I meant nothing to him.

I looked at my Beta but did not drop my stare from the beautiful woman who was now mine. "We're going to be late," Orlan prompted. "You assured them at noon."

"I remember," I answered through my clenched teeth.

Orlan hesitated. "Then shall we—"

"Go on ahead," I interrupted. "I'll follow."

He blinked clearly confused but did not argue. "Yes, Alpha."

As his footsteps faded, I turned to the woman once more.

"Your name is?"

She hesitated. "Lyra."

The echo of it vibrated somewhere in my chest — like it belonged there.

"Lyra," I said, wrapping the word around my tongue. "You're new here."

"Yes, Alpha."

My wolf stirred inside me, restless. Touch her.

No.

Speak to her longer.

No, I couldn't — not here, now. My people relied on me to be sane.

And yet… the prospect of leaving her made my throat close.

"I must be go," I said finally, each word a struggle. "You are excused all duty today. Have someone take you to my chambers. I wish to see you when I return."

Her  head snapped up a fraction of an inch. Surprise flashed in those eyes — surprise, not warmth. She bowed his head, bowing once more. "Yes, Alpha."

And with that, she was gone — footsteps light, already disappearing down the corridor.

I stayed there long after she disappeared.

Why was she so cold?

Why were my partner's eyes devoid of any spark of recognition, any glimmer of the bond that tore me in half from the inside out?

Was she also afraid of me?

Did she already hate me, due to the curse that stuck to my name?

I placed a hand on my chest, sensing the thudding underneath my palm. My wolf whined.

"Foolish," I growled under my breath. "You've killed kings. You've fought wars. And one look from her destroys you."

No amount of mockery stilled the hurt.

Every breath I took still carried the fragrance of her. Every beat of my heart still spoke mate.

If only the goddess had finally smiled upon me. why did it feel like it was a punishment?

In the distance, I heard Orlan shout again, a dash of urgency in his voice. I tensed, inserting steel into my tone.

"I'm coming," I told him, but my thoughts weren't on the council.

They were on her.

On the servant whose eyes were forest gold and whose tongue harbored a lie.

And the fatal truth coiled at my chest—

That I'd do anything to keep her close.

Even if it killed me.