Page 24

A silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way he almost turned around but didn’t. “It was a chance,” he said finally, his voice barely more than a whisper. “A chance I had to take.”

“For what? To keep me tied to you? To make me think I was the problem?” I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The air was too thick with everything unsaid. “You were willing to sacrifice everything—both packs, innocent lives, even Tristan—just to control my destiny.”

The name hit him like a blow. I saw it in the way he flinched, the way his hands clenched and unclenched over the stones. “You were supposed to be safe,” he said, the old determination cracking, letting something more human seep through.

“Safe? Or miserable?”

His silence told me everything I needed to know.

I felt the full weight of it then, the years of half-truths and lies coming down on me like an avalanche. I’d spent my whole life believing I was cursed, that there was something wrong with me, and here was the man who could have changed it all. The man who should have.

The glow of the stones was a taunt, a reminder that he’d known all along and hadn’t cared what it cost. I could see it in the way his eyes avoided mine, in the way he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

He was caught between the father I wanted him to be and the alpha who’d do anything to win.

Afterall, my curse was nothing more than a burden and embarrassment to him.

“You never intended for me to have a choice,” I said, my voice rough with the weight of what it meant.

“Choices aren’t always what they seem,” he said, the words more desperate than I expected.

“Everything I’ve done has been to free you from this curse…

I watched it kill your mother slowly. Not just her body—her spirit.

She was marked too. I didn’t save her. So I swore I’d do whatever it took to save you.

Even if it made you hate me. I was trying to protect you. ”

“I don’t need your protection.” It came out hard and fast, sharper than any blade. “I needed the truth.”

I didn’t get the apology. I didn’t get the truth.

But I got clarity. My father would never see me as more than something to protect, something to control.

And now, I had to protect myself. Protect all of us.

He’d sworn he was protecting me. But love that cages you isn’t love—it’s fear.

And I wasn’t afraid anymore. Maybe fate carved the path beneath my feet, but choice—my choice—was the only weapon I had left to change where it led.

He looked like he was going to say something, but I didn’t wait. Couldn’t. The room was closing in, all the lies pressing down on me, making it impossible to breathe. I turned, the stones' glow following me like the curse, and ran straight into the hell I knew was waiting.

When I turned down the hall, I saw Tristan as soon as I heard the noise.

It was a brutal symphony, the clash and thud and crack of everything we weren’t ready for.

Ewan’s followers were everywhere, cutting off our escape, ripping apart what was left of me and Tristan’s plans.

He fought like he’d never known what losing was, every punch and snarl a challenge, a dare.

I felt the primal edge of my own wolf instincts and let them take over, let them fuel me with everything they had.

We darted down the hall into the main chamber of the compound where Ewan and ten of his asshole followers were waiting for us.

“Cut the bullshit, Ewan,” Tristan barked out to the opposite side of the room. “We all know who the Alpha of this pack is, and it’ll never be you.”

Ewan's lips curled into a sneer, his hands flexing at his sides. “They didn’t seem to have much trouble turning their backs on you so quickly, now, did they?” he retorted.

“And who knows what lies you told them,” Tristan growled, his voice low and dangerous. “This ends now.”

Ewan's laughter was sharp and biting. “Power is what keeps us alive, Tristan. You've always been too soft to understand that.”

The words stung, but Tristan held his ground, the weight of leadership heavy on his shoulders.

A dozen more angry wolves spilled in from the hallway, and it was clear we weren’t getting this place back without a fight.

I was claws and teeth and fury until the wolfsbane bit deep, burning me from the inside out, dragging me down.

In two seconds, we were surrounded, then trapped, then thrown into the heart of the mountain.

The fight had been a disaster, but not the slaughter Ewan’s wolves wanted.

I’d seen the looks in their eyes, the grudging respect as they pulled us apart, as they half-dragged, half-carried us deeper into the compound.

I’d felt Tristan struggling to get back to me, felt him losing ground as we were pulled in separate directions, lost in the mass of bodies and snarls.

They’d bitten off more than they could chew, and they knew it.

But that didn’t stop them from dragging us through their maze of tunnels, from throwing us into a cave that reeked of iron and old violence.

The cave felt like a tomb. A prison. The walls were rough, the ground cold beneath me as I scrambled to get up, to get to Tristan.

I didn’t make it far before they had him in too, his body hitting the floor with a sickening thud.

Just left us with nothing but the stones.

The stones and the awful truth that we’d failed.

My heart was clenched in a fist. I saw it in the way Tristan worked his jaw, the way he sat up and shook his head like he was trying to clear it of worse than wolfsbane. I reached for him, my hand finding his, the warmth of his touch grounding me for one fragile second.

Then it was gone again, the hope, slipping through us like water.

I couldn’t catch my breath, not with the scent of the cave and our failures clogging up the air.

The restraints seared into me, a vicious reminder of how little time we had, how far we were from stopping any of it.

My skin felt like it was on fire from the wolfsbane laced ropes, but nothing burned as bad as watching Ewan drag us down this path.

He circled us with madness in his eyes, confidence and lunacy entwined in a twisted dance. “How fitting that you'll both witness my ascension,” he said, smugness oozing from every word. “The rightful alpha will finally claim what Tristan was too weak to use.”

Tristan glared at him, the defiance never leaving his face. It was that look that kept me steady, that made the agony more bearable, that made me believe we still had a shot, however impossible it seemed.

The celestial stones were being arranged around us, humming with the energy of a thousand broken promises. Their power was so intense it felt like a living thing, ready to tear through the mountain and everyone in it.

Ewan moved with purpose, his followers right behind him, setting the last pieces of his betrayal into motion. My heart thudded in time with the glowing altar, every beat a taunt, a warning that we were out of options and time.

I turned to Tristan, saw the mix of determination and desperation in his eyes.

He’d known this day would come, but not like this.

Not while we were helpless. He gave me a look that said everything we didn’t have the breath or the words to say.

I felt the same desperation surge in me, raw and unfiltered, the knowledge that we might lose it all, including each other.

The stones pulsed with a relentless rhythm, their light spilling across the chamber in blinding waves. Ewan began to chant, ancient words that cut into the air and set it ablaze.

I fought against the restraints, every movement agony, but I didn’t care.

I had to do something. Anything. Tristan strained beside me, the bonds holding us too tight, too strong.

It felt like the whole mountain was watching, waiting for us to crumble.

The ropes seared like iron brands, but the worst pain was the silence in my father’s eyes.

Ewan's voice grew louder, more insistent, the glow of the stones matching the ferocity of his ambition. He was so sure of himself, so ready to take everything and leave us with nothing. I wouldn’t let him. Couldn’t let him.

The air buzzed with tension and magic and the sickening feeling of defeat. Tristan and I exchanged one last look, full of raw hope and the terrible knowledge of what was coming.

The chamber trembled as the stones flared, their light blistering the walls—and in that final flash, I saw it. The end. Not just of us. Of everything.