No. 4

HECTOR

The rain was drumming a relentless, irritating beat against the bulletproof windows of the SUV.

"I still don't get it, Alpha," my Beta, Ethan, muttered from the passenger seat, staring out into the dark pines bordering the Red River territory. "Why are we wasting our time going to a minor pack's estate for an adopted daughter’s birthday party? It’s completely beneath you."

"The Red River Alpha has sent five letters this month alone, begging for an audience regarding our medical investment fund," I replied, my voice flat, keeping my eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. "I'm going so I can quickly and thoroughly dispel whatever desperate delusions they have. Their Alpha is a hopeless fool. Even with their naturally rich medicinal resources, a pack run by a man that incompetent is destined to fall apart eventually. I am not in the business of funding sinking ships."

But the moment we arrived and I stepped into that crowded, suffocating ballroom, my calculations shattered.

I was scanning the pathetic, sycophantic crowd when my gaze landed on a girl standing completely alone in a shadowed corner. She was wearing a faded, poorly fitted dress, holding a plate of cake and not caring what was going on around her.

The moment our eyes met, a violent, electrifying shockwave tore through my chest.

Deep inside my mind, my inner wolf—usually silent, lethally disciplined, and locked behind iron walls—suddenly slammed against his cage. He let out a wild, deafening howl, clawing desperately to get to the surface. What was this?

*Calm down,* I growled internally at the beast, clenching my jaw so hard it ached.

Ever since the curse took hold, my wolf had been volatile, acting strange and unpredictable. *It doesn't mean anything,* I fiercely lied to myself.

I had sauntered across the room, driven by a force I couldn't control, and forced her to dance. Up close, she was a revelation. She didn't throw herself at me like the other she-wolves. When I pushed her buttons, she immediately put on a sharp, fiercely defensive persona. She was easily triggered, her posture guarded, her eyes masking a deep, profound exhaustion.

They were all signs of severe emotional maltreatment.

I had laid out the brutal truth of her family's neglect just to see how she'd react. When she wrenched her hand from mine and walked away, a heavy, dark irritation settled in my gut. *This has nothing to do with me,* I told myself as I watched her retreat. I hated messy family politics. I had enough enemies on the council; I needed to stay as far away from the dysfunctional Red River lineage as possible.

But my wolf didn't care about my logic.

Less than twenty minutes later, the pack house erupted into a chaotic panic. Smoke began to pour from the upper floors. While the rest of the fools screamed and ran, my wolf violently surged forward, taking over my instincts, screaming a single command: *Save her.*

I didn't think. I broke away from my guards and moved through the roaring inferno effortlessly, kicking through the heavy smoke until I found the parlor room. The ceiling had collapsed. She was pinned under a massive, burning iron chandelier, her face pale, her breathing shallow, her skin blistering under the heat. She was too weak to even scream.

I easily threw the heavy iron off her crushed legs, lifting her fragile body into my arms.

But as I pulled her into the corridor, a familiar, terrifying coldness washed over my skin. A sickening, weightless sensation crept into my veins.

*The curse.*

When I was seventeen years old, a powerful, dying witch sent by my father's bitterest enemy had laid a visual hex upon my bloodline. Once a month, my physical form would completely vanish from the mortal plane. Each fit lasted for several days, and the truly horrifying part was that over the last few years, the duration of my invisibility was gradually getting longer. If the council ever found out that the most powerful Alpha alive became a helpless, untouchable ghost for days at a time, I would have a target painted on my back.

I felt my body dissolve into thin air. I was still there, physically standing on the floorboards, holding her in my arms, but to the rest of the world, I was completely gone. I gently laid her down on the cool floor of the lawn, out of reach of the flames, knowing I had to retreat into the shadows before the servants arrived.

I stood a few feet away, cloaked in complete invisibility, watching as the pack doctors and maids rushed to her side.

She gasped, pulling out of her unconsciousness. I expected her to cry. I expected her to look for her brother.

But instead, she lifted a trembling, bandaged hand. Her pale face turned slowly, her eyes cutting through the chaotic crowd of doctors, past the equipment, until her gaze landed directly on me.

She looked straight into my eyes.

"He's right there!" she rasped, pointing her finger precisely at my chest. "Look! He's standing right there!"

The doctor immediately dismissed her, pressing a cloth to her head, whispering that she was hallucinating from the trauma.

But my heart slammed against my ribs like a sledgehammer. A profound, paralyzing shock washed over me. *She could see me.* Through the magic, through the curse, through the complete and total erasure of my physical form—she was looking right at me.

My wolf let out a triumphant roar in my mind. *I told you she was special.*

I spent the next four days trapped in my own skin, waiting in a brutal, agonizing silence for the curse to break and for my body to become visible to the world again. The moment the color returned to my hands, I called Ethan into my private study.

"She saw me, Ethan," I said, my voice dangerously low as I paced the floor. "While the curse was fully active. She pointed directly at me."

Ethaan’s eyes widened in shock:“The Red River Alpha’s daughter? But how?”.

“I’ve no idea”, I admitted, the first time admitting that with a light heart “But I’m going to find out.“

Finally, some kind of hope after all these years.

“Prepare for my trip to the Red River Pack now, Ethan. We’re about to have a new researcher.”