Chapter 17 THE CURSE
The shift back hurt worse.
Mia learned that at 7:45 AM, on Alex’s bedroom floor, screaming into his shirt.
Bones broke again. Fur became skin. Claws became nails. Snout became mouth. The tail was gone too.
And she was human.
Naked. Shaking. Covered in sweat and blood that was not hers.
“I got you,” Alex said. His voice was wrecked. “I got you. I got you.”
He wrapped her in the sheet from his bed. The one that smelled like him. Like cedar and storm and safe.
Her teeth chattered. “Did I... did I kill him?”
“No.” Alex pulled her into his lap. On the floor. In the mess. He did not care. “You shifted. That is all. You are alive.”
“Is he?”
Alex went still.
Then the door slammed open.
Kane. Blood on his face. Gun in his hand. Panting.
“Boss,” Kane said. “We have a problem.”
Alex did not let go of Mia. “Talk.”
“Ivan’s gone.”
MIA
Gone.
I touched him. I shifted. We ran to the bedroom.
And he ran too.
“How,” Alex said. Flat. Deadly.
“He killed three of ours,” Kane said. “Broke his chains with his hands. Pureblood strength. His men were waiting. Hit us from the tunnels. Smoke. Flash bangs. They took him.”
“How many,” Alex said.
“Three dead. Luka’s in medical. Stabbed. He will live.” Kane looked at Mia. At the sheet. At the blood. “Luna... are you...”
“I am fine,” Mia said. Her voice shook. But her eyes were clear. Gold fading back to brown. “How did he break the chains?”
“Pureblood,” Alex said. “He was playing weak. Waiting. For you.”
For her shift. For her to lose focus. For Alex to leave the pit.
Smart.
Except he did not lose. Not yet.
“Status,” Alex said.
“Council is here,” Kane said. “Viktor. All twelve. Video call. They saw the pit. They saw you torture Ivan. They want a vote.”
“On what,” Mia asked.
“Your title,” Kane said. “And his.”
The great room stank of blood.
Not Ivan’s. Theirs.
Three Betas. Laid out on the stone. Covered with Black Fang flags. Young. Loyal. Dead because Ivan was smarter than chains.
The pack stood around them. Forty wolves. Silent.
Viktor stood on the stairs. Neck brace, wrist bandaged from Mia’s bite. Council members behind him on screen. Twelve old faces. Pureblood. Hungry.
“Three dead,” Viktor said. “Because your Luna wanted to play with the prisoner. Because your Alpha left the pit to chase her.”
Mia stood next to Alex. Dressed now. Black. Simple.
She did not speak.
Because this was his room. His pack.
But she was here.
“Three dead,” Alex agreed. “Because Ivan is pureblood. Because your Council protected him. Because you thought chains hold a king.”
“He is not a king,” Viktor spat. “He is a traitor.”
“He is alive,” Alex said. “And now he is free.Because of you.”
“Because of her,” Viktor said. Pointing at Mia. “She touched him. She triggered her shift. You left. That is dereliction. That is—”
“That is Luna’s right,” Luka said. Walking up. Stabbed, bandaged, pissed. “She is Luna. She decides who lives. She decides who she touches. Pack law. Old law. Older than your Council.”
Viktor’s face went red. “Pack law also says an Alpha who cannot protect his own is feral. Is weak. Is replaceable.”
He looked at the screens.
“The Council calls for a vote. Clause 9. Failure to execute justice. Failure to protect pack. Grounds for challenge.”
ALEX
Clause 9.
I wrote it.
After my mother died. After Marco died. So no Alpha could be as weak as I was then.
And now they use it on me.
Because of her.
No.
Because of me.
I chose to follow her. I chose to leave the pit.
I would choose it again.
He looked at Mia.
She was already looking at him.
No fear. No regret. _Trust_.
“Call it,” Alex said to Viktor.
Pack law was brutal.
One wolf, one vote.
Betas and above only. Forty in the room.
“All in favor of removing Alessandro De Luca as Alpha of Black Fang,” Viktor said, “stand with me.”
Silence.
Then one Beta stood. Then two.
The ones who lost friends. The ones who feared the curse. The ones who wanted pureblood rule.
Five total.
“All in favor of Alessandro De Luca remaining Alpha,” Viktor said.
Luka stood. Then Kane. Then Yelena. Then the rest.
Thirty five.
Viktor’s jaw tightened.
“The vote fails,” Viktor said. “Title remains. For now.”
Because Viktor smiled.
“But Bratva law is different,” Viktor said. “And as of 8:00 AM, all Volkov Holdings accounts are frozen. FBI is at your casino. ATF is at your docks.”
Mia’s hands fisted.
Pakhan war.
“You want to play Alpha,” Viktor said. “Fine. Play broke.”
Alex did not move. Did not blink.
Then he pulled out his phone.
Tapped once.
And Viktor’s phone rang.
Viktor answered. Listened. Went white.
“Impossible,” Viktor whispered.
“What is impossible,” Alex said, “is that you thought I did not see this coming.”
He turned the phone. Screen to the room.
Bank transfer.
All Volkov accounts: unfrozen.
All Viktor accounts: frozen.
“Clause 12,” Alex said. “Bratva law. Any Pakhan who uses outside law enforcement against family forfeits assets to the Obshchak. The treasury.”
He looked at Viktor.
“I am the treasury.”
Viktor stumbled. “You... you cannot—”
“I bought the bank,” Alex said. “Six months ago. When I scented her.” He nodded at Mia. “I knew you would come. So I bought the ground you stand on.”
Viktor’s screen went black. Council logged off.
For now.
“Get out,” Alex said to Viktor.
Viktor ran.
Luka was in medical. Being stitched.
“Three good men,” Luka said. Grinding his teeth. “Because I was slow. Because Ivan—”
“Ivan is pureblood,” Alex cut in. “Older. Stronger. He fooled us all. That is not on you.”
“It is on me,” Mia said.
Both men looked at her.
She stood in the doorway. Hair wet from the shower. Wearing Alex’s shirt. It hit her mid thigh.
“I touched him,” Mia said. “I triggered. You left. He ran. They died. That is cause and effect.”
“No,” Alex said. “Ivan killed them. Ivan ran. Ivan is the cause. You are the reason I am still standing.”
She walked in. Sat on the edge of the med bed.
Luka looked between them. Then grinned, bloody and tired. “You two are gonna be the death of me. Literally.”
“Not today,” Alex said.
Mia looked at her hands. No claws. No blood.
“Yelena,” Alex said.
The doctor appeared. Tablet in hand.
“Scan her,” Alex said. “Full. Blood. Hormones. Curse markers.”
Mia’s head snapped up. “Why?”
“Because you shifted full,” Yelena said. Gentle. “First time. No bite. No bond. That should be impossible. Unless...”
“Unless what,” Mia said.
Yelena did not answer. She just ran the scanner.
It beeped.
Yelena stared at the screen.
“Well,” Yelena said. “Shit.”
“What,” Alex said.
Yelena looked up. At him. Then at Mia.
“The curse,” Yelena said. “It is not counting down.”
Mia frowned. “What do you mean? We have 28 days—”
“No,” Yelena said. “You do not. The markers... they are gone.”
Silence.
“Gone how,” Alex said. Voice deadly quiet.
“As in not there,” Yelena said. “As in the hybrid curse is not active. As in something broke it.”
She looked at Mia’s shoulder. At the tattoo. At the blood in the ink.
“Or paused it. In a way I have never seen.”
She looked at Alex.
He was staring at her. Like she was a bomb. Like she was a miracle.
“Yelena,” Alex said. “Leave us.”
The room cleared.
Just him. Just her.
Alex knelt. In front of her. Again. Not submission. _Devotion_.
“Mia,” he said.
“Alex,” she said back.
“If the curse is gone...”
“Then you are safe,” she finished.
“No.” He took her hands. His were warm. Hers were cold. “Then you are mine. No countdown. No Council. No excuse.”
Her breath hitched.
“Alex,” she said. “If the curse is gone, we do not have to...”
“Bite you?” He finished. His thumb brushed her pulse. Where a mark would go. “No. We do not have to.”
Relief. Sharp. Fast.
“Unless,” he said.
She looked up.
“Unless you want me to,” he said.
The door burst open.
Kane. Face pale.
“Boss,” Kane said. “It is Ivan.”
Alex stood. Instant. Blocking Mia. “Where.”
“Online,” Kane said. Holding up a phone.
Video.
Ivan. Beat to hell. Arm in a sling. Leg in a brace. But alive. And smiling.
Standing in front of a camera. In a warehouse.
Surrounded by men. Guns. C4.
“Hello, nephew,” Ivan said to the camera. To Alex. “You win the pit. You win the bank. But you did not win _her_.”
He held up a photo.
Mia’s dad. Marco.
Next to a girl.
17\. Red hair. Gold eyes.
Alessia.
“Clause 7,” Ivan said. “Pureblood heir challenges hybrid. I name my champion. She is of De Luca blood. She is pure. And she wants your title.”
He looked at the camera. Gold eyes mad.
“And if you do not present your Luna, marked, in 72 hours... the Council takes her. And I take you.”
Video ended.
Silence.
Mia looked at Alex.
Alex looked at Mia.
72 hours.
To bite.
To bond.
To trigger whatever Yelena saw.
Or lose everything.