Chapter 51: Rise of the Wolf

Chapter 51: Rise of the Wolf
Ronan POV

The world swam as I pushed off the stone, even though every bone in me screamed to stay down. Blood ran into my eye, hot and sticky, but the sound that cut through everything was Sasha’s cry. Valen had charged toward her. She crouched over Kade’s body, her bare hands pressed to his chest, as she shielded him with her frame. Delia snarled beside her, her pale wolf ready to die in place of the man she loved. Valen’s gray form barreled forward, and his claws seemed to catch the light.

“No!” I roared the word as Kay tore out of me. My body snapped into fur and shadow in an instant. I slammed into Valen before he reached her, and our bodies collided with a crack that echoed through the ridge. He went down hard, but not hard enough. He rolled, his teeth snapping, and he came back with a speed that rattled me. Claws raked my side, hot lines of pain that opened across my ribs. But I didn’t care. I didn’t stop. This wasn’t a fight anymore. It was like war inside of me. I drove him back, every strike landing harder than the last. Something inside me slipped loose. Something dark, something I had buried since the day exile became my cage. Shadows coiled around my legs, my shoulders, and my claws. It wasn’t smoke. It was something a part of me. Something that bled out of me, and it was alive. I didn’t know what was happening, but I had one guess. It was the curse. Gasps carried across the ridge as pack wolves saw what I had become. Voices shouted:

“The cursed one! He is here! He will kill her! He will kill us all!”

But I didn’t look at them. I couldn’t. All I saw was Valen. The taste of his blood in my mouth and the sound of his laughter cut through my rage even as I tore into him.

“You are stronger when you are a monster,” he spat, blood dripping from his muzzle. “That’s rather fitting…especially because that is all you will ever be,” I slammed him into the ground, my claws at his throat. My shadows wrapped around him, pinning his limbs. Valen struggled, but I was strong. His eyes widened, and it was as if he understood. There was nowhere for him to go, and I could see the fear in his eyes. One strike. One bite. That was all it would take to end him. But Sasha’s voice cut through the fog.

“Ronan! No!” I froze. My claws pressed shallow into Valen’s neck. Her voice was raw and desperate. “Don’t do it!” she shouted. “My truth sense…he knows something. Something important!” Valen’s bloody grin spread wide beneath me.

“Smart girl,” he croaked. “Smarter than you, cursed one. You think you can stop yourself forever? You will slit her throat again, just like before,” I snarled and pressed harder, shadows tightening. He gasped, but his eyes gleamed. “You want truth?” he hissed. And I knew he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to Sasha. “Then listen. You think your twin is dead? You think the forest buried her with your mother?” Sasha’s sharp intake of breath carried across the ridge. “She is alive,” Valen spat. “And when I’m finished, she will be mine!” the words slammed into me harder than any claw. I heard Sasha choke behind me. Her twin. Alive. I wanted to rip his throat out. I wanted to tear him apart until there was nothing left but silence. But Sasha’s truth sense screamed louder than my rage. She had said it: he was telling the truth. My shadows wavered. Valen laughed, and then he coughed up some blood. “See? You can’t kill me. You need me. Without me, you will never find her,”

“Fine,” I spat out as I wrenched him up and slammed him into the stone wall of the cave entrance. The pack roared around us, some in fear, some in awe. My claws hovered at his throat, but I didn’t strike. Sasha ran to my side, her hands slick with Kade’s blood, her eyes wild.

“Ronan, stop! Please!” I froze again, but for her. Always for her. Valen’s laugh rolled low and broken.

“You think holding back makes you less of a monster? No. It makes you weak,” he said, and then, with one violent surge, he ripped free of my shadows. My body jolted, the curse recoiling like it had been burned. He stumbled, bleeding, but still he managed to get onto his feet. “This isn’t finished,” he snarled. His eyes locked on Sasha. “Follow me if you want your sister,” and then he was gone. He slipped into the trees, his wolves retreating with him like a tide pulling back into the dark. The ridge went silent except for the whimpers of the wounded. My shadows coiled back into my skin, leaving me trembling and raw. Sasha’s hand touched my arm. I turned, and what I saw in her eyes wasn’t fear. It was heartbreak.

“You can’t kill him,” she whispered. “You are bound,” I didn’t respond. The truth was worse: I couldn’t be killed either. Not until I killed her. That was the curse. That was the truth I would never let her hear. Instead, I looked past her to Kade. He was pale, barely breathing, Delia pressing her hands to his wound as if she could hold his life in with sheer will.

“He needs a healer,” she snapped at me. “Now!” I nodded.

“Get him inside. I’ll clear the path,” I said. We moved together, battered, broken, but not beaten. The pack parted, some bowing their heads, others glared at me with open terror. They had seen the curse. They had seen what I was. And they would never forget it. Inside the packhouse, Kade was laid on the table. The healer rushed in with herbs and cloths. I stood in the corner, blood drying on my skin, my shadows still whispering against my ribs. Sasha didn’t look at me again. She sat by Kade, holding his hand, her other hand shaking as she wiped her face. Thelma appeared in the doorway, her staff tapping once. Her eyes found mine.

“The prophecy stirs,” she said. “And so does the curse,” I said, nothing. Because all I could hear was Valen’s voice, laughing through blood:

You think your twin is dead? She is alive. And when I’m finished, she will be mine.