3. Cursed Memories

Even with the door closed between me and the little healer, her scent lingered, clinging to me, filling my nostrils with the smell of wild herbs and summer sunlight-things that had no place in this cursed darkness. Things that made the beast in me stir with dangerous hunger.

I forced myself to walk away from her door, from the pull of her presence.

Through our newly forged blood bond, I could sense her emotions: fear warring with determination, exhaustion edged with curiosity. And underneath it all, a humming awareness of me that made the curse twist through my blood.

Her presence buzzed at the edges of my consciousness like lightning before a storm-bright, wild, impossible to ignore. The bond let me feel every flutter of her pulse, every catch in her breath.

It was... distracting. Troubling. No one should have this much awareness of another being. Especially not an alpha of his potential prey.

The memory of her magic stirring in response to my pain lingered like a burn under my skin. Even that slight reaction to my curse had been too pure, too potent. Too dangerous. The way her power had reached out instinctively, trying to heal... it called to mind another healer's touch, from what felt like a lifetime ago

No. I wouldn't think of Helena. Of her betrayal. Of what came after.

But the curse seized on the memory like a wolf with prey. Pain lanced through my bones, the first warning of an impending transformation. Where

a natural shift should feel like flowing water, this was all broken glass and burning ice. I made it to my study before my knees buckled, bracing myself against the stone wall as my body tried to tear itself apart.

"Let yourprotection become prison..."The witch's voice echoed in my mind, as it always did when the curse attacked. "Let your pack suffer.."

I fought back the change, focusing on the cold stone against my palms, on my duty to the pack. On anything but the healer sleeping below my

chambers. The one whose magic called to both man and beast.

"Who is the woman?" Ash's voice cut through my struggle. "You brought back a human. Want to explain that?"

I straightened, forcing back the curse's pull. My beta stood in the doorway his massive frame filling it completely. The corruption had worked deeper into him than most-his right eye turned milky white, black veins spreading across that side of his face like cracks in marble. His left eye still burned with accusation. Even half-destroyed by the curse, he carried himself with the power and authority of a beta, second only to me in strength. Which made his obvious disapproval all the more dangerous.

"A healer," I said. "She'll be staying with us for a year."

"A healer?" Ash's remaining eye widened before narrowing dangerously.

"Have you lost what's left of your mind? After what happened with Helena--

The reminder hit like a physical blow. Helena. The healer who'd gained our trust, learned our weaknesses, only to-I forced the memory back.

"This is different."

"Is it?" Ash's laugh was bitter. "Another healer appearing just when we're most desperate. Another woman claiming she can help." His voice turned mocking. "Just like Helena did before she let them in. Before she"

"Enough." My curse stirred at the surge of anger, claws threatening to emerge. "Helena was sent by the covens. This girl." I remembered Lily's genuine reaction to the pack's pain, the way her magic had reached out instinctively. "This one's different.

"You thought Helena was different too. Right up until the night she opened our wards. Right up until she betrayed us to the covens," Ash's voice was bitter. "And we all know what that led to."

"I said enough!" The curse won for a moment, my voice turning to a growl.

"Yes, Helena's betrayal started all of this. I know the cost of trust better than anyone.

Ash moved closer, lowering his voice. "Then why risk it? Why bring another healer into our midst?"

"Because we're running out of time." I met his gaze. "You know it. I know it.

The pack grows weaker. The curse stronger. We need help."

"And what's to stop this one from betraying us too?"

"A blood oath." That made him step back in surprise. "She's bound to us now.

To the territory. To me."

Ash was quiet for a long moment, his scarred face unreadable. Then he lowered his head slightly-not quite a bow, but a clear show of submission.

"As my Alpha commands. But the pack needs to meet her properly. To know who they're entrusting their lives to."

"At dawn," l agreed, acknowledging his concession with a slight nod. "For now, let them rest. Both the pack and... the healer."

"Yes, Alpha." He turned to leave, then paused. "I hope you're right about this one. For all of our sake"

Movement at the door drew our attention. Maven's aged wolf form limped into the study, her grey fur nearly white with age. She'd been our pack healer long before I became Alpha, long before the curse. Now the corruption had advanced too far, making transformation to human form too painful, but her mind remained the sharpest among us. She'd taught Helena once-a fact that haunted her still-but her loyalty to the pack had never wavered.

Even cursed, there was something regal in the way she carried herself.

Something of the powerful healer she'd once been. The pack's mother,

teacher, protector. Now she could barely hold her wolf form together, the curse twisting her bones more with each passing day.

Her thoughts reached me through our pack bond, clear despite the curses corruption. Even her mental voice carried the weight of wisdom earned through decades of service to our pack.

The woman in the tower. She carries old magic, Alpha. I sense it even from a distance.'

"What do you mean old magic?" I frowned.

'Different from Helena's magic. Deeper. Like the ancient bloodines.'Maven's golden eyes, rheumy with age, fixed on me. 'But I'll need to work with her to be certain.'

Hesitant hope flared in my chest. "You think she could actually help?"

think..'Maven's thoughts became cautious. I think we must be careful. I

knew Helena too, remember? Trusted her healing. Never sensed her deception until it was too late.

The reminder stung. Maven had been the one to first welcome Helena into our pack. Had trained her, trusted her. Had blamed herself when it all went wrong.

'Let me work with her tomorrow. Test her abilities. See what she's truly capable of' A pause. And watch for any sign she might follow her predecessor's path."

Through the blood oath bond, I felt a sudden spike of fear from Lily.

Nightmares, maybe. Her magic flared in response to her distress, flooding the bond with pure power that made my curse writhe beneath my skin.

Even from here I could sense her power reaching unconsciously toward the pack's pain. Toward my pain. The contact was like cool water on a burn,

soothing yet somehow sharp with awareness. Each brush of her magic through the bond felt intimate in a way that made the wolf in me want to hunt, to claim, to

Not like Helena's calculated healing, doled out to gain trust. No, Lily's magic was raw, instinctive-reaching out even in her sleep, trying to ease suffering she wasn't fully aware of. Pure in a way Helena's had never been. And all the

more dangerous for it.

The curse seized on my distraction, on my moment of weakness. This time there would be no fighting it back. Black veins spread beneath my skin like poison as my body betrayed me, trying to force the change. Unlike the swift, fluid motions of a natural transformation, the curse twisted everything into torture.

My spine arched as vertebrae cracked and reformed, caught between shapes.

Claws burst from my fingertips, drawing blood, while my jaw elongated then snapped back with sickening crunches. The beast within, once in perfect harmony with my human form, now fought against its cage of cursed flesh.

I barely registered Ash and Maven leaving as I fell to my knees. The curses magic felt like acid in my blood, burning through every nerve. My vision

blurred, colors bleeding into darkness as the beast fought for control. Each breath came as a growl, tasting of copper and corruption.

This time the memory took me completely. The night Helena betrayed us.

Our wards, maintained for generations, crumbling as she spoke the words to break them. The covens flooding our territory, their dark magic seeking what we'd protected for centuries-the ancient primal bones that gave werewolves our power to shift.

"Did you really think I came to heal?" Helena's laughter was cruel, so different from the gentle healer's voice we'd known. "The covens have

waited generations for this chance. To think you let me walk right in."

The fight that followed was brutal. My pack, caught off guard, fighting against magic users we'd trusted. Helena's healing magic, once used to mend, now turned vicious--tearing at pack bonds, shredding the very connections she'd helped strengthen. All to get to our sacred relics.

The look in her eyes when my claws found her throat-a mix of hatred and triumph even as she died. Necessary, unavoidable, but it damned us all.

Then her sister's arrival. The witch materialized from the shadows, power crackling around her like black lightning. Her scream of rage when she saw Helena's body echoed through the castle. Magic darker than anything I'd ever felt gathered around her as she cast the curse that would doom us all:

"Let yourprotection become prison, your strength become suffering. Let love destroy all you hold dear, as you destroyed what I loved. Until the end of days, or until true love breaks your curse-but mark them before love is true, and theyll share your fate forever. Let your sacred bonds become poison, as my sister's betrayal poisoned you all."

Through the blood oath bond, I sensed Lily stirring again. Her magic reached out unconsciously, soothing my pain even in her sleep.

Another healer. Another chance at salvation. Another risk of destruction.

The beast in me wanted to claim her. The curse wanted to corrupt her. The man...the man wanted things he couldn't afford to name.

Ihad brought her here to heal my pack. But as I felt her magic twist with mine through the bond, I wondered if I had doomed her instead.

Dawn broke over the cursed castle, and somewhere below me, Lily Breighton would soon wake to her first morning as part of my pack.

Gods help us all