CHAPTER 4 - The Price of the Blood

Maya’s POV

Then, she let out a dark, sharp laugh. "Ah, the Alpha. The boy with the fever. Do you think it’s a coincidence that your blood heals him, Maya? Do you think it's just luck?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. My stomach felt like it was full of lead.

"Never mind," Morgana said. She smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen. "Just know that his father, the old Alpha, burned my village. He killed my sisters. So, a rot was put in his bloodline. The 'Killer’s Fever'... Mmm."

I stepped back, horrified. "A rot? What are you talking about? Did you do something to him?"

"I sent you to own him," she hissed, ignoring my question but stepping closer. "I knew that once he tasted your hybrid blood, he would be addicted. He wouldn't just love you, Maya. He would need you to stay alive. The strongest Alpha in the north is becoming a puppet. You have the power to change everything from the inside."

"I don't want to destroy them!" I shouted. "I want to help him! Sela is my family! This pack is my home!"

"Love is a weakness for a hybrid," Morgana said, her voice turning cold as ice. "The Blood Moon rises in less than thirty days. You have to make your choice. But there is a secret the Elders never told you."

She leaned in close. Her breath smelled like old herbs and earth.

"If you choose the wolf, Kael will live, but you will be his prisoner forever. You will be the cage that keeps the beast quiet. If you choose the vampire, you will be powerful, but Kael will die the moment your choice is made. His madness will return ten times stronger, and his heart will explode."

I felt like I couldn't breathe. "No... there has to be another way. I can heal him properly. I can use my magic…"

"There is no healing a soul that has been sold," Morgana laughed. "But there is a choice. Prince Victor is coming. He doesn't want to marry you; he wants to drain you to see how a hybrid is made. If you go with him, you die, but Kael goes fully mad and destroys the pack. If you stay with Kael, you become the heartbeat of a monster."

"I am not a slave maker!" I shouted. "I was trying to save him!"

"And in saving him, you trapped him," Morgana said. She grabbed my wrist, her grip like cold iron. "The Blood Moon is in twenty-nine days, Maya. If you choose to mate with him, the curse will become permanent. He will never be sane without you. You will be his Luna, but he will be your prisoner. Is that the love you wanted? Every time he kisses you, he is just thirsty. He doesn't love you. He loves the drug."

Suddenly, the bushes behind me crashed open.

"Get away from her!" Kael’s roar shook the trees.

He shifted mid-air, a massive black wolf landing between me and my mother. He snarled, his gold eyes glowing with fury. He looked like a god of death standing in the white moss.

Morgana didn't look scared. She just looked bored. "The dog has found his bone," she mocked. She looked at me one last time, her purple eyes flashing. "One dies, or one serves. That is the price of your blood. Choose wisely, daughter. The Prince is coming back, and he isn't coming for a bride… he's coming to kill the witch who started this."

With a flick of her wrist, a cloud of purple smoke exploded. When it cleared, she was gone.

Kael shifted back into his human form, his chest heaving. He was naked in the cold air, but his skin was steaming. He grabbed me, checking my face and arms for injuries. His hands were shaking.

"Did she hurt you? Who was that?" he demanded.

I looked at him—at the man who had protected me, who had said I wasn't a demon in front of everyone. I saw the desperation in his eyes, the way he hovered over me as if he couldn't get enough of my air.

Was it love? Or was it just the curse? Was I his mate, or was I just his medicine?

"She was nobody," I lied, my voice trembling. I couldn't tell him that my own mother had helped create his pain. I couldn't tell him that staying with me would make him a slave. "Just a rogue."

Kael pulled me into a hard hug. He held me so tight I could hear his heartbeat. It was fast and jagged. He was terrified of losing me, but was he terrified of losing me, or losing the peace I gave him?

"Don't ever run away again," he whispered into my hair. "The vampires are at the border. Victor is building an army. I can't protect you if I can't find you."

He pulled back and looked at my neck. He leaned in, his nose brushing against my pulse point. He took a deep, shaky breath, and I felt his fangs graze my skin for a second. It wasn't an attack. It was a craving. He licked his lips, and I saw his gold eyes darken for a moment.

My heart broke. I pushed him away gently, seeing the confusion in his eyes.

"Kael," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "If I didn't have the blood... if I was just a normal runt... would you still want me?"

Kael froze. He looked at me, and for a moment, the Alpha mask slipped. He looked lonely. He looked like a boy lost in a storm.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I just know that when I’m near you, the screaming in my head stops. You are the only quiet place I have ever found, Maya. Without you, I am nothing but a beast."

He took my hand and led me back toward the pack house. Behind us, the moon sat heavy in the sky, turning a shade darker.

One day was gone. Twenty-nine left. I realized that my mother had told me a half-truth. She said I had the power to destroy the pack, but I felt like I was the one being destroyed. If I stayed, I was a cage. If I left, I was a murderer.

As we reached the gates of the pack house, Elias was waiting. He looked terrified.

"Alpha," Elias said, his voice shaking. "Victor is here. He’s at the front gate. And he has Sela."

I stopped breathing. My sister.

"He says if Maya doesn't come out in five minutes," Elias swallowed hard, "he will start sending her back to us... piece by piece."

Kael’s growl was low and terrifying, but I was already running toward the gate.