Chapter 108 Preparing for the Ritual
LIRA POV
I woke three days after breaking the curse to find everything had changed and nothing had changed at all.
"You need to eat." Aria set a tray beside my bed. "You've lost too much weight."
"I'm fine." I pushed the food away. "Where's Kael?"
"Restrained." Her expression tightened. "He tried to attack Thomas this morning. The curse might be broken, but he's still affected."
I threw off the blankets, ignoring protesting muscles. "Take me to him."
"Lira, you're not strong enough."
"Now, Aria." I pulled on clothes quickly. "That's an order."
She led me through the packhouse to the reinforced chambers we'd built for possessed wolves. Kael occupied the largest one, silver chains on every limb.
"Let me in." I approached the door.
"Bad idea." The guard warned. "He's been violent since midnight, he doesn’t recognize anyone."
"He'll recognize me." I hoped. "Open it."
The guard unlocked the door reluctantly as I stepped inside alone. Kael sat in the corner, chains rattling. His eyes were bloodshot, pupils blown wide. Black veins pulsed under his skin—fainter than before, but still present.
"Kael?" I knelt carefully, just out of reach. "It's me, Lira."
"Lira." He tested the name. "My mate, my Luna, my prisoner."
"Not prisoner." I corrected gently. "Your equal. Remember?"
"I remember darkness." His voice was wrong—layered with something that wasn't him. "All I remember is rage and blood."
"That's the curse talking." I moved closer. "Not you."
"How do you know?" He yanked against the chains. "How do you know where I end and it begins?"
"Because I know you." I reached for his face.
He snapped at my hand, teeth barely missing but I didn't flinch.
"You won't hurt me." I said steadily. "Even like this, you won't."
"You don't know what I'm capable of." He pressed back against the wall. "What I've done and what I want to do."
"Then tell me." I sat cross-legged just outside his range. "Tell me everything."
"I want to kill them." The admission came raw. "Everyone. The pack, the rogues. Everyone who looks at you, anyone who breathes near you."
"Possessive instinct." I kept my voice calm. "Amplified by curse remnants."
"It's not remnants!" He roared. "It's me! This is who I am! Magnus's son! A monster!"
"You're Kael Thorn." I said firmly. "My mate, my alpha. My choice."
"Your mistake." He laughed bitterly. "You should've left me possessed, you should have let the curse take me completely."
"And miss this sparkling conversation?" I almost smiled. "Never."
"This isn't funny!" He lunged forward, chains snapping taut. "I'm dangerous! I could kill you!"
"You could." I agreed. "But you won't."
"How do you know?" He demanded.
"Because you're fighting." I gestured at the chains. "If you wanted to hurt me, you'd use our bond. Force me to free you and take control."
He went still. "I didn't think of that."
"Because you don't actually want to hurt me." I stood, moving closer. "You want to protect me even from yourself."
"Protection that requires chains." He looked at his restraints. "Some mate I am."
"You're sick." I knelt directly in front of him now. "Infected with curse remnants. It'll pass."
"Will it?" He met my eyes. "Or is this my new reality? Locked up, dangerous, useless?"
"Temporary." I touched his cheek carefully, he flinched but didn't pull away. "I promise."
"You can't promise that." His voice broke. "You don't know."
"I know a shaman is coming." I stroked his jaw gently. "She can help."
"A shaman?" He leaned into my touch despite himself. "Since when?"
"Since Selene contacted the Elder Council." I explained. "Told them about the curse, about you, about everything. They're sending their best."
"Their best to do what?" He asked warily. "Lock me up permanently?"
"Heal you." I corrected. "Guide us through the final purification."
"I thought you broke the curse." Confusion flickered through the darkness in his eyes.
"I broke most of it." I admitted. "But there are remnants. Fragments stuck to the primary bloodlines, you are carrying Magnus's portion."
"Of course I am." He laughed without humor. "His sins become my prison."
"Not prison." I kissed his forehead gently. "Responsibility to face them."
"How?" He asked quietly.
"The shaman will explain." I pulled back. "She arrives tonight."
A knock interrupted us. Aria poked her head in cautiously. "Lira, she's here."
"Good." I stood, squeezing Kael's hand once. "I'll be back. Hold on."
"Don't have much choice." He rattled the chains. "Literally."
I left him there, hating every step away. The shaman waited in the main hall. She was ancient—possibly two hundred years old—with white hair and eyes that saw too much. "Luna Lira." She inclined her head slightly. "I am Grandmother Ash, I've come to guide you."
"Thank you for coming." I approached him respectfully. "We need help"
"With the curse remnants." She interrupted. "Yes. I felt them from miles away. Dark magic, clinging to guilty bloodlines."
"Can you remove them?" I asked hopefully.
"No." She said bluntly. "Only you can, through the final purification ritual."
"I already did a purification ritual." I protested. "In the spirit realm. I spoke every name, and offered forgiveness."
"That broke the collective curse." She explained. "Freed the dead. But the individual guilt remains passed through bloodlines like inheritance."
"So Kael carries Magnus's guilt." I processed this. "And the others carry theirs."
"Exactly." She gestured for me to follow. "The lunar eclipse in three days provides the perfect opportunity, the veil between worlds thins then you can enter the spirit realm again."
"Again?" My stomach dropped. "I barely survived the first time."
"Because you weren't prepared." She led me to a ritual room. "This time, you will be."
The room was filled with herbs, crystals, and symbols I didn't recognize. "The eclipse ritual is different." Grandmother Ash began arranging materials. "More dangerous. You'll face not just the dead, but the living guilt, the accumulated sins of em years."
"Sounds fun." I tried to joke.