All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S CURSE (Shadows Of Vaelderen I): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The walk to Dante's study felt both longer and shorter than it had last night. Each step brought a new resolution- would demand answers, I would stay professional, I would not let his presence distract me from my purpose. All my determination shattered the moment I entered the room. He stood at the window, a dark silhouette against the aurora's glow. Moonlight caught the silver streaks in his black hair, which fell loose past his shoulders tonight. He wore only black pants that rode low on his hips, leaving his powerful torso bare. The ritual scars across his chest seemed to writhe in the ethereal light, black veins of corruption threading beneath his skin. Everything about him radiated barely leashed power--from the predatory grace of his stance to the tension I could see in every sculpted muscle. When he turned his head slightly, the aurora caught his profile, highlighting those sharp cheekbones, the strong line of his jaw dark with stubble. His gold eyes seemed to glow in the

Dawn painted the snow in shades of crimson and gold, a brief respite from the curse's eternal aurora. I moved through my territory on silent paws, checking boundaries that had protected these lands for generations. Ancient magic hummed beneath the frozen ground-older than the curse, older than my pack, as old as the Beast Lord's blood that ran in my veins. Kael's scent marked a tree near the northern border. Deliberate. A challenge. I snarled at the familiar scent, at years of rivalry turned to open threat. Three of his wolves had crossed our boundaries in the night, their tracks clear in the fresh snow. Testing our weakness. Looking for gaps in defenses that had stood for centuries. The beast wanted to hunt them down. To remind Kael why he'd always stood in my shadow, curse or no curse. But that was probably exactly what he wanted-to prove to the other packs that we'd become nothing more than the monsters they whispered about. A howl rose from the direction of the castle--Ash, ca

I couldn't move from the archway. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't feel him through our bond. Why? The wolves who couldn't shift pressed close around me, their twisted forms a mirror of my own helplessness. We all stared into the distance where the fight had disappeared, where Dante had gone to clean up my mistake. My stupid, reckless mistake. If il'd just stayed in the gardens. If i'd just listened. If I hadn't been so sure I knew better... A howl cut through the silence-not of battle this time, but of summoning. Of return. They emerged from the tree line like a dark tide. Ash in the lead, then others all moving slowly, carefully. Between them, barely staying on his feet, was Dante's massive black form. Blood matted his fur in thick patches, and deep gashes ran across his flanks, his throat.. I stumbled forward, my magic already reaching, but Ash snarled a warning. Right. The wards. They needed to get him inside first. The moment they crossed the archway, Dante pulled aw

Kira's pain radiated through the pack bonds as we entered the healing chamber. The young wolf lay curled in her usual corner, her corupted form a stark reminder of my failure to protect them all. But when Lily approached, something shifted in the curse's familiar patterns. The beast noticed it first-how the curse's darkness seemed to reach for the lingering traces of my magic in Lily's power. Where usually the curse fought against any attempt at healing, now it almost... yielded, responding to that blend of her light and my power that still lingered from last night. "Her pain is worse today," Lily murmured, kneeling beside Kira. Her skirts, still stiff with my dried blood, rustled against the stone floor. Even exhausted, her magic rose to meet Kira's need, though I could see how it flickered unsteadily. "The attack must have aggravated the curse through the pack bonds." Through our own bond, I felt Kira's acknowledgment. The young wolf's golden eyes fixed on me, carrying a silent a

Pinned against the wall, with Dante's body caging mine and the air around us charged with his power, I struggled to form coherent thoughts. His magic pulsed around us, different now, wilder since l'd healed him. His gold eyes blazed with an ancient power I didn't understand. "What did you do to me?" "I don't.." I broke off as the air between us grew heavier, making it even harder to think. "I only tried to heal you. I didn't mean to "To what?" He leaned closer, nose skimming my throat. Scenting me as his primal magic manifested in the crackling energy surrounding us, the ancient stones humming beneath my back. "To make my power break free after so long bound? To unleash the beast the curse has been chaining?" "I can help." I turned my head, baring my throat further in subconscious submission. "Let me continue to heal you. Maybe I can free more of your power from-" "No." His teeth-sharper now as the beast rose closer to the surface-grazed my pulse point. The contact sent