The promise.

My blood ran cold. I stood there frozen, the words whispered by the voice echoing in my head.

Kill him?

Kill Ollen?

"We understand that we ask of you is not something easy to do. But it is the only possible way to break the curse." The woman continued. "But if you want to break the curse, set us and all of your people free, then his bloodline needs to end."

"I can't kill him." I whispered.

The wind picked up again.

"You came here asking for help. And this is all we can give you. If you refuse, then you might as well forget trying to help the pack." The voice whispered, this time harsher than before.

Frustration built in my chest. They were asking too much of me, something I couldn't possibly do.

"You are not the only one who has to make hard decisions, Luna Joyce Feathers. Ollen is my own son. I was born and nursed him for the first year of his life. But unless you want to end up like the rest of us and add more women to our collection of sorrow souls, you will do what is best."

My eyes were wide as the wind stopped and the voice disappeared.

I stood there for a long time, looking into space as I tried to process everything that just happened.

The first thing I concluded was that the woman I was speaking to was Ollen's mother, which made her command worse.

The second thing was that death was not the only option. It was just the easy way out.

What the heck was I going to tell Ollen and Laura? How was I going to explain to them that the previous Luna's wan him dead in order to break the curse?

I didn't even realize that I had turned around and started waking away, my heart beating, my head pounding, and my ears hurting.

I stumbled out of the woods and only took notice of my surroundings when someone gasped to my right.

"Luna?" A man's voice rang, and I had to stiffle a hiss when it entered my ears, the drums sensitive to loud noise.

"Are you okay?" Someone else asked.

I was suddenly surrounded by many people.

"I'm fine." I replied, trying to push past them.

They didn't budge, blocking my way and continuing to ask if I was okay.

"Step aside, everyone." The first man who called out to me ordered, and to my relief, the people did step back.

"Are you alright, Luna?" He asked.

I glanced at him, recalling that I knew him from the main pack house, a night patrol man probably coming back from his shift.

"I'm fine. Really." I replied as I walked around his and passed the people.

"I'm going to go see Heaven. I promise I'm fine." I added to bring their minds at ease and walked away.

I did exactly like I said I would do and went to the lack of hospital.

I found Heaven right where I found her the other day, sitting by the front steps and looking into space. She snapped out of it when she heard my footsteps, and her eyes widened when she saw the blood that had run down my neck on both sides under my ears and my hands .

"What the heck happened to you now?" She asked, jumping to her feet and rushing towards me.

"You are not going to believe it." I relied as she led me into the hospital.

"I've honestly treated you more times since you cam here than most of the pack members who had lived here their entire lives." She mumbled, sitting me down on the bed.

She started cleaning the blood off my my ears and neck, shaking her head. I'd obviously stressed her out.

"What happened?" Laura's voice echoed down the hall.

"I'm fine." I replied before she could even open the door.

She wasn't alone. Ollen was right behind her, grabbing the door and carefully stepping in.

"I asked you if you were okay, Joyce. And you said you were fine." He commented, his voice low and evidence of how displeased he was with me.

"I was fine. I am fine." I said.

"No, you're not. You have blood on your clothes." Laura argued.

They crowned Heaven as I as she continued to clean the blood.

"What happened to you?" Ollen asked.

He stood tense next to the bed, his presence oddly confronting.

"The voices happened." I replied.

The room quited for a second.

"What voices?" Heaven, who was not a part of the conversation that took place in Ollen's office, asked as she looked from one person to the next.

Laura took it upon herself to give Heaven the answer, and I took that time to come up with the best way to tell them about the conversation I had with the whispers

"They're real?" Heaven asked, and Laura nodded her head.

"They were silent while we were all there. Why was that?" Ollen asked.

I glanced at him. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings. For some reason, I found myself wanting to protect him as much as I could even if the Lunas did not want me to do that.

"I don't know." I replied, the words spilling from my lips better I could stop them.

That made Ollen smirk.

"Are you trying to spare my feelings?" He asked, and I was surprised at how accurate he was.

It made me chuckle a bit.

"Was I too obvious?" I asked.

"Yes." He deadpanned.

Laura and Heaven watched our exchange before sharing a look. Neither said anything and waited for us to continue.

"They wanted to speak to me alone." I said, and while it was not the whole truth, it was also not a lie.

"Alright then. Now explain to me why my people called put panicking about blood running down your ears." Ollen commented.

"They were very loud at first..." I replied, the memory of my eardrums about to burst, making me shiver.

The room fell in silence once more.

Ollen let out a sigh, reached out to touch the bed, and sat down next to me.

"Are you okay now?" He asked.

Even though I still had a headache, it was nothing to worry about.

"I'm fine. I promise." I replied.

"That's good to hear." Laura jumped in. "Now tell me what they said."

"One in particular spoke to me..." I started.

"Like a representative?" Heaven asked, and when I nodded my head, she asked if the representative was a Luna as well.

I didn't have the heart to tell them that the fallen Luna who told me the two ways was Ollen's mother. So I just nodded my head again, keeping the representatives' identity a secret like my very own.

"She said there are ways we can break the curse." I started, my heart drumming as I glanced at Ollen. "But only one will work."

"What are they?" He asked, titling his head to the side to give me his ear, as if he wanted to hear me clearer.

"Only one will work. The other one is not possible." I commented.

"Then tell us what works, Joyce." Laura said, feeling a bit inpatient.

"We'll have to keep doing what we are doing now." I replied.

"Meaning?" Ollen asked

I had my eyes on him the entire time, I replied, forgetting the two women standing on the other side of me.

"I can do my best to learn how to use my Luna powers. I will have to learn how to use it for food. We will give the pack a Luna, and through the both of us as their Alpha and Luna, we will start unting them, introduce normalcy into their lives, and slowly heal the land through the collective aura of every pack member. That is how we're going to break the curse."

"Is that the only thing they told you?" Laura asked.

"No. But it's the only thing I think we should care about." I replied.

"But..." Laura started to argue.

"No, but." Ollen suddenly said. "If our Luna thinks it's what matters, then we'll leave it at that."

His words were clear, and they left no space to argue.

"Fine." Laura mumbled, turning around to leave. She was upset that she didn't know everything said in the woods, but she respected Ollen enough to not cross his words.

Ollen stayed by my side while Heaven cleaned me up, looked into my ears, and thankfully said there were no major damages. If I was lucky, I would walk away with a little ache until my wolf healed me.

Ollen and I didn't linger in the hospital after that. We walked to the main pack house together. He even insisted on walking me to my room.

I thanked him, and just as I was about to walk into my room, I felt his hand on my back

"Joyce?" He called out, his soft tone forcing me to turn around and face me.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me what the Luna's said to you." He said. "I understand that the second option they gave you didn't make you comfortable enough to share with anyone else, but I am not anyone else. I am your mate and your Alpha. I need to know if there is a better way we can go about this, even if we have to hide it from everyone else."

"Ollen..." I started, not knowing how exactly to word the answer.

He slid his hand to my shoulder and down to my hand, closing his fingers around mine.

"I am your partner, Joyce. You will not hold the weight of this curse on your own. So please, tell me." He pleaded.

I looked from left to right.

From what I've seen, I knew his people were loyal to him, but once words are spoken, it would be very naive of me to assume they would not spread in the pack, and someone in other places. If people hear about it, they might take advantage of it.

I looked around and listened closely to any footsteps or breathing around us. Once I was sure we were definitely along, I stepped closer to Ollen, my hand still in his.

"Before I tell you, I need you to promise me one thing." I said. "I need you to promise me that we will be partners in this, and we will never let one person shoulder the weight like you said yourself."

"I promise." Ollen replied, the words falling easily from your lips.

"And you have to promise me that you will never, ever tell another soul." I added.

"What is this, Joyce?"

"Just promise me. Please."

"Okay." Ollen breathed out. "I promise."

"You can't break your promise, okay?"

He nodded his head, now frowning.

"They want me to end your bloodline." I whispered close to him, making sure my voice was just for his ears.

Ollen's frown deepened for a few seconds before he understood.

"They asked you to kill me?" He asked.

"Yes."

Ollen looked disturbed, and maybe he understood why I didn't want to tell anyone .

"I see." He finally mumbled.

He was about to let go of my hand and step away, but I held on to him with both of mine.

"Do you also understand why I don't want anyone else to find out, even if you trust the people around you?" I asked.

He nodded his head.

"You promised me you won't tell anyone, Ollen. Keep your promise. I don't know about your bloodline, but you, your people, need you. You are not going to sacrifice yourself, do you hear me. And no one is going to sacrifice you."

"I understand." He replied.

I stood there holding in to him, refusing to let go as if I was scared he would run off and tell the people he trusted that his death could break the curse.

It only takes ine desperate person for freedom to go after him. And that was the last thing I wanted.

Realizing my fear, Ollen's features softened. He pulled as his hand, surprising me by wrapping his arms around me and holding me to his chest.

His lips were pressed against the top of my head, leaving the most intimate kiss anyone had ever laid upon me.

"I promised, Joyce. And I do not go back on my promise." He whispered. "You have nothing to worry about. This will be our lottle secret."

I felt relief. But most of all, I felt this desperate need to keep the man protected, to keep my eyes on him at all times, to give him peace and joy.

I wrapped my arms around him, returning his hug with full force.