Chapter 104: Bloodlines & Curses
The word cursed lingered in the air like a dark omen.
Damian’s body tensed, his protective instincts roaring to the surface as he glanced at Isla. Her face was pale, exhaustion pulling at her features even as she tried to sit up. His hand pressed gently to her shoulder, urging her to stay still.
Lucia hesitated only a moment before stepping forward. “There’s more,” she admitted. “The golden-eyed wolves, they weren’t just powerful. They were feared. Not because of their strength, but because of what they carried in their blood.”
Damian’s jaw clenched. “What are you saying?”
Lucia exhaled sharply. “I’m saying that Isla’s child might not just be powerful. It might be something… beyond even that.”
A silence settled over the room, heavy and suffocating… and then…
“It’s the bloodline.”
The voice was hoarse, rasping. Familiar.
Isla’s breath hitched as she opened her heavy eyelids and turned toward the doorway.
Her father stood there.
His face was weathered, haunted by time and regret. But his eyes, those same eyes she’d inherited, with indigo and golden specks,held knowledge. A knowing that sent a chill through her spine.
Isla barely found her voice. “You knew.”
Her father’s expression didn’t waver. “Yes.”
The tension in the room was suffocating.
Damian stepped forward, every muscle in his body wound tight. “You’ve been hiding this from her?”
Isla’s father met his gaze evenly. “I did what I had to.”
A low growl rumbled in Damian’s chest, but Isla raised a hand, stopping him. Her pulse pounded in her ears, her body thrumming with too many emotions.
She turned to her father, her voice barely above a whisper. “Tell me everything.”
He sighed, stepping further inside. “You were never meant to be just a part of this war, Isla. You were meant to end it.”
Her fingers curled into the sheets. “What does that mean?”
Her father’s expression darkened. “The golden-eyed bloodline wasn’t just powerful, it was made to restore balance. To destroy the unnatural and Vincent…” he exhaled. “He isn’t just a threat. He’s the product of something that should never have existed. However, Jhelum wasn’t always like this.”
Damian’s hands fisted at his sides. “And Isla?”
Her father’s gaze softened. “She’s the last of the true bloodline and her child…” He hesitated. “Your child is the key.”
The words settled like lead in her chest.
A part of her had always known she was different. That her connection to the past was more than just strange dreams and visions, that until recently she thought were a product of her imagination. But this, this was something else entirely.
Her father’s voice was quieter when he spoke again.
“You’re not just carrying a future Alpha, Isla.”
His eyes locked onto hers.
“You’re carrying the one who will either save us or end us all.”
Brienne couldn’t sleep.
The cell was dark, cold, but none of that mattered. It was him, his presence, the weight of his gaze in the shadows.
Vincent.
She heard the quiet scrape of boots against the stone before he spoke. “You remember it, don’t you?”
Brienne forced herself to keep her breathing even. “You talk too much.”
A low chuckle. “You’re resisting something that’s already in your blood.”
She clenched her jaw.
Because the worst part?
She did feel it. The strange pull, the ache in her chest when he was near. But it wasn’t her, not truly. It was something old, something buried deep.
Something that had nothing to do with this life.
Brienne forced herself to meet his gaze. “I don’t belong to you.”
Vincent’s expression flickered, something unreadable in his golden eyes.
Then he murmured, “Not yet.”
Her stomach twisted because deep down, she wasn’t sure if she was fighting him or herself.
Alaine hated him. She hated the way Leo smirked at her like he had her all figured out. Hated how he moved around her with quiet confidence, as if waiting for her to make the first move. God help her, she hated how much she wanted him.
“Are you always this frustrating?” she snapped, arms crossed as she leaned against the training post.
Leo chuckled, stepping closer. “Only when I enjoy the company.”
Alaine scoffed. “Flirting won’t get you anywhere. I prefered you when you were trying to evade me.”
His eyes gleamed. “Who said I was flirting?”
Her breath hitched when he moved closer, close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from his skin.
Leo’s voice dropped to a near whisper. “You want this, Alaine.”
She refused to back down. Refused to be the one who cracked first. So she lifted her chin, her voice steady. “Then prove it.”
Later that night, when the fortress was quiet, Damian lay beside Isla, his hand resting protectively over her stomach.
She watched him, studying the worry etched into his features.
“You’re afraid,” she murmured.
His jaw tightened. “Of losing you.”
Her fingers brushed against his cheek. “You won’t.”
Damian’s gaze met hers, intense, filled with something raw. “I can’t lose either of you, Isla.”
She swallowed hard, emotion tightening her throat.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered.
Damian exhaled sharply, pressing his forehead against hers. “Then let me keep you safe.”
She curled her fingers into his shirt, pulling him closer.
As his lips found hers, slow and deep, she let herself get lost in him, because right now, in his arms, nothing else mattered. But even as desire burned between them, a shadow lurked just beyond their reach because war was coming and Isla wasn’t sure if any of them would survive what was coming next.