Chapter 27 The Confrontation
Derek sat alone in his study, staring at nothing.
A half-empty glass of whiskey sat beside scattered papers on the combat trials. Updates from the border patrols. None of it held his attention.
His mind kept circling back to the fight. To Amanda's face when he'd dismissed her suspicions. The hurt in her eyes.
You're creating problems that don't exist.
He'd been harsh. Maybe too harsh. But she was asking him to believe the impossible. That Silas, his oldest friend, the man who'd stood by him through three years of hell, was the one who'd cursed him.
It didn't make sense. It couldn't be true.
Could it?
Derek reached for the whiskey. The burn down his throat did nothing to quiet his thoughts.
The door slammed open.
Derek's head snapped up. Amanda stood in the doorway. Chest heaving, hair tangled, eyes wild with fear and fury.
For a second, he thought she was bleeding. Then he saw it wasn't blood. It was the faint shimmer of magic still clinging to her hands.
"Amanda?" His chair scraped back. "What the hell..."
"Don't move." She gasped, slamming the door shut behind her. Her phone trembled in her grip. "I have to show you something."
He frowned. Irritation flickered behind his exhaustion. "It's almost midnight. What are you..."
"Just look!"
Her voice cracked, sharp with desperation. She crossed the room and dropped her phone on the desk. The screen glowed with images. Dark runes, a ritual circle carved into stone, vials of blood glinting under candlelight.
Derek stared. His heartbeat slowed, then quickened again. "What is this?"
"It's the forbidden wing. I followed Silas there tonight. He went into a locked room. When I got inside, I found this. Derek, it's your blood. Your hair. He's been using them for the curse."
He blinked at her. Disbelief spread across his face like frost. "You... what? You followed Silas? Into the east wing?"
"Yes! Because I knew something was wrong! The energy in that part of the manor, it's the same I felt the night you collapsed. I had to be sure."
His expression hardened. "You broke into his private space?"
Amanda's breath hitched. "Private space? Derek, it's a ritual chamber. There were blood vials, curse symbols..."
"You've been investigating him behind my back?" His voice cut through hers. Low but dangerous.
"I was trying to help you!"
"By sneaking around like a thief?"
Her eyes flashed. "By saving your life!" She pointed at the photos. Her voice trembled. "Look at them! Do you really think I'd risk everything just to play detective? He cursed you, Derek. He's the reason you lost your wolf."
Derek's jaw tightened. He stared down at the images again, then back at her. "Evidence can be planted. You don't know what you saw."
She took a step closer. Her hands trembling. "I heard him, Derek. I heard him say I wouldn't live to finish breaking the curse."
That made him pause. Just for a heartbeat. But the next moment, his expression shuttered again.
"Maybe you misunderstood. Silas has been under pressure since the council started watching us. He could have been talking about something else..."
"Oh, for Goddess' sake, stop defending him!" Amanda's voice broke. "You think I imagined all of this? That I faked those photos? That I made up what I heard?"
His voice rose. Raw and sharp. "I think you want to be the hero!"
Amanda froze.
"You want to be the one who saves me." Derek's tone turned harsher with every word. "You want me to owe you. To depend on you." He leaned forward. Eyes burning. "Admit it. You need to be needed, Amanda. That's why you won't let this go."
Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first.
When she finally spoke, her voice was a whisper. "You think I'm doing this for gratitude?"
He looked away. "I think you don't know when to stop."
Amanda laughed softly, bitterly. "After everything I've done... you still don't trust me."
Derek didn't answer. The silence that followed was heavy enough to choke on.
She swallowed hard, blinking away tears. "You'd rather believe I'm manipulative than believe your best friend betrayed you."
He looked up then. His eyes were cold steel. "I've known Silas my whole life. I've known you for two months."
The words sliced through her.
Amanda took a shaky breath and straightened her spine. "Then I guess there's nothing more to say."
She turned toward the door. Her footsteps were quiet, but the sound still echoed in the stillness. She stopped for only a second. Her hand on the handle. "You're not cursed because of your wolf, Derek." She said it softly, without looking back. "You're cursed because you can't see the truth, even when it's right in front of you."
The door clicked shut behind her.
Silence flooded the study.
Derek stood there, staring at the door long after she'd gone. The only sound was the faint ticking of the clock on the wall and the whisper of the wind against the windows.
He turned back to the desk. The photos still glowed faintly on the phone screen. The runes. The blood. The strands of silver hair that could have been his.
He picked up the glass of whiskey and downed the rest in one swallow. But it did nothing to quiet the unease clawing at his chest.
Could Amanda have faked it? No. She didn't have the knowledge. But if she hadn't...
He rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn it."
He could still hear her voice. Shaking, desperate. He cursed you. He's the reason you lost your wolf.
A sound broke the silence.
The door creaked open again. Derek stiffened, expecting Amanda. But it wasn't her.
Silas stepped inside. Calm and composed. His expression perfectly unreadable. "I heard shouting." He said it lightly, glancing around. "Is everything alright?"
Derek didn't answer. His gaze lingered on his oldest friend. The easy smile, the relaxed posture.
Then his eyes drifted back to the phone on his desk. To the photos.
"Yeah." Derek said it slowly. His voice unreadable. "Amanda found some... concerning things in the east wing."
Silas's smile didn't falter, but for the briefest second, just a flicker, something cold passed through his eyes.
Then it was gone.