CHAPTER 8

ARIA’S POV

Sleep wouldn’t come.

I lay in the luxurious guest room Kael had given me—silk sheets, down pillows, a mattress so comfortable it felt like sleeping on clouds—and stared at the ceiling.

A year. Maybe two.

That’s all I had left.

The curse was killing me slowly, and breaking it might kill me instantly. Either way, death was waiting.

I’d escaped Derek only to discover I was dying anyway.

The cruelty of it made me want to scream.

Instead, I threw back the covers and padded to the window. The moon was full tonight, casting silver light across Kael’s territory. Beautiful and peaceful—everything Crescent Moon had never been.

Movement on the balcony below caught my eye.

Kael stood alone, hands braced on the railing, staring up at the moon. Even from here, I could see the tension in his shoulders, the weight he carried.

The mate bond tugged at me, urging me toward him.

I pulled on a robe and slipped out of my room. The mansion was quiet—most pack members asleep at this late hour. My bare feet made no sound on the plush carpet as I descended the stairs and found the door leading to Kael’s private balcony.

He didn’t turn when I stepped outside, but I knew he’d heard me. Lycans had exceptional senses.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, voice low.

“Can’t stop thinking.” I moved to stand beside him at the railing. “You?”

“Same.”

We stood in silence for a moment, shoulder to shoulder, staring at the moon. The night air was cool but not cold, carrying the scent of pine and earth.

“Tell me about her,” I said softly. “About Sera.”

Kael’s hands tightened on the railing. For a long moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer.

Then he spoke.

“She was gentle. Kind. The type of person who saw good in everyone, even when they didn’t deserve it.” A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “She volunteered at the pack hospital, spent her free time helping Omegas learn to read, rescued injured animals and nursed them back to health.”

I heard the love in his voice and felt a pang of something—not jealousy exactly, but awareness that I was walking in a dead woman’s shadow.

“How did you meet?”

“After I became Lycan King.” Kael’s expression darkened. “The previous king was a tyrant. Cruel, power-hungry, unstable. He ruled through fear and violence. When I challenged him for the crown, half the pack thought I’d die.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No. I killed him in ritual combat. Became Lycan King at twenty-four.” He shook his head. “Too young, too inexperienced. But the pack needed change.”

“And Sera?”

“She was there the day of my coronation. I was wounded from the battle—the old king had been vicious—and she patched me up afterward. Told me I was an idiot for fighting with a dislocated shoulder.” His smile was bittersweet. “The mate bond snapped right there in the medical wing, while she was lecturing me about proper combat form.”

I tried to imagine it—a young Kael, bloody and victorious, finding his fated mate in the aftermath of battle.

“What happened next?”

“We mated within the week. I was obsessed with her—couldn’t stand to be apart. She moved into the mansion, became my Luna, and for six months…” Kael’s voice grew rough. “For six months, we were blissfully happy. I thought I’d found forever.”

The past tense hurt to hear.

“When did things change?”

“Gradually.” Kael’s knuckles went white on the railing. “She started gaining weight. Not much at first—a few pounds here and there. She joked about it, said married life made her soft. But then it kept happening. Ten pounds became twenty, became forty.”

My chest tightened. I knew this story. I’d lived it.

“Sera was athletic before we mated,” Kael continued. “Strong, active. But the weight gain came with exhaustion. She’d sleep twelve hours and wake up tired. Simple tasks left her breathless. Her wolf went silent—she couldn’t shift anymore, couldn’t even feel her wolf’s presence.”

“What did the healers say?”

“That there was nothing wrong with her.” Bitter anger filled his voice. “I brought in every healer in the territory. Consulted with neighboring packs. Even hired witches to check for curses—but they used basic detection spells that couldn’t see dark magic this sophisticated.”

“They all said the same thing?”

“Every single one. ‘There’s nothing wrong. She’s just gaining weight. Tell her to eat less and exercise more.’” Kael’s voice cracked. “As if she wasn’t trying. As if I couldn’t see her crying in the bathroom when she thought I wasn’t looking, hating her body, hating herself.”

Tears burned my eyes. I knew that pain intimately.

“I tried everything,” Kael said. “Special diets, training regimens, magical treatments. Nothing worked. She kept gaining weight, kept getting weaker. After a year, she could barely leave our bed.”

“How long did she survive?”

“Eighteen months after the symptoms started.” Kael’s hands were shaking now. “By the end, she weighed maybe twice what she had when we met. She couldn’t walk without help. Couldn’t stay awake for more than a few hours. Her body was shutting down piece by piece.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“The worst part was watching her give up.” Kael’s voice broke. “She stopped fighting. Stopped hoping. She looked at me one night and said, ‘I’m sorry I’m not the mate you deserve. You should have gotten someone better.’”

A sob escaped my throat. Those words—I’d thought them about Derek a thousand times.

“I held her while she died,” Kael continued, tears streaming down his face now. “Told her she was perfect. Told her I loved her. Apologized for failing to save her. And she… she smiled. Said it wasn’t my fault. Said she’d loved every moment we had together. Then she just… stopped breathing.”

Kael turned away from the railing, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. I’d never seen him like this—the fierce Lycan King completely broken.

I wrapped my arms around him, and he buried his face in my shoulder.

“I’ve carried that guilt for five years,” he said against my neck. “I was the most powerful Lycan alive, and I couldn’t save my own mate. I replayed every moment a thousand times. What did I miss? What could I have done differently? If I’d just looked harder, pushed the healers more, found the right witch—”

“You couldn’t have known,” I said, holding him tighter. “The curse was designed to be undetectable. Witches hide their magic well.”

“I should have known.” He pulled back, silver eyes meeting mine—haunted, desperate. “And now history is repeating itself. You have the same curse. The same symptoms. The same death sentence. What if I fail you too, Aria? What if I watch you waste away like I watched Sera die?”

I cupped his face, feeling the dampness of his tears. “You won’t fail me.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Yes, I can.” I held his gaze steadily. “Because this time, you know what you’re fighting. You know it’s a curse. You know who’s behind it. You’re not stumbling in the dark like you were with Sera.”

“But we still don’t know how to break it,” Kael said. “We’d need a witch we can trust, and witches are our enemies.”

“Then we’ll find one who’s not our enemy. Or we’ll find another way.” I pressed my forehead to his. “I won’t give up, Kael. And I won’t let you give up either. We’ll break this curse together.”

“Together,” he repeated, voice steadier now.

“Together.”

He pulled me closer, and the mate bond flared between us—warm, electric, undeniable. It had been growing stronger every day since we met, and now it felt like golden fire in my chest.

“I’m falling for you,” Kael whispered. “I know it’s fast. I know we barely know each other. But Aria, when I look at you, I see strength. Courage. Everything Vivian’s curse tried to hide. I’m falling for you, and it terrifies me because I can’t lose another mate.”

“You won’t lose me,” I promised, even though I had no idea if I could keep that promise. “I’m a fighter, Kael. I’ve survived Derek, Vivian, Celeste, six months of torture. I’ll survive this too.”

He kissed me then—gentle at first, then deeper. The mate bond surged, wrapping us in golden warmth.

When we finally pulled apart, both breathless, Kael rested his forehead against mine.

“We’ll break this curse,” he said. “Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” I agreed.

We stood like that for a long moment, wrapped in each other’s arms, the mate bond humming between us.

Neither of us noticed the shadow moving in the forest below.

(UNKNOWN TO THEM)

In the darkness beneath the trees, a figure raised a phone. The camera clicked softly, capturing an image of Aria and Kael embracing on the balcony, bathed in moonlight.

Fingers typed rapidly across the screen:

“Curse breaking has begun. The Royal Wolf is growing stronger. Mate bond with Lycan King accelerating her awakening. Recommend immediate action before she reaches full power. - Agent V”

The message sent with a soft whoosh.

In a ritual room hundreds of miles away, Vivian’s phone buzzed. She picked it up, read the message, and smiled coldly.

“So the Lycan thinks he can save her,” she murmured to the darkness. “How touching. Let’s see how he handles what I send next.”

She moved to her altar, where thirteen black candles burned. Blood stained the stone surface—fresh blood, still warm.

Vivian began to chant in an ancient language, her voice rising and falling in terrible rhythm. The candles flared brighter. The blood began to move, forming symbols that glowed with dark purple light.

“I call upon the shadows,” Vivian intoned. “I summon the darkness. Send forth my hunters. Find the Royal Wolf. Break her. Break him. Leave nothing but ashes and grief.”

The blood symbols pulsed once, twice, then exploded into smoke that shot upward through the ceiling and disappeared into the night sky.

Far away, in the deepest parts of the forest surrounding Lycan territory, red eyes began to open.

One pair. Then ten. Then fifty.

Shadow wolves—creatures of pure dark magic, bound to Vivian’s will—rose from their slumber.