Chapter 100: The forbidden act

Nick stood before the Council’s library, the scent of old paper and dust filling his senses. Every instinct screamed that Erin was drifting farther away from him, and he couldn’t shake the pulse of her hybrid energy he had felt, wild and unstable, deep in the night.

“Demon realms aren’t meant for wolves,” one of the druid guardians muttered, stepping forward as Nick pulled yet another forbidden tome off the shelf.

Nick’s golden eyes gleamed. “Neither are prophecies of hybrids meant for the Council, but here we are.” His voice was steel.

For days he had been digging, piecing scraps together: fragments of runes, obscure passages that spoke of bridges between worlds. And tonight—he finally had it. A ritual, dangerous, half-complete. But it was a way.

Later, under the pale moonlight on his mansion rooftop, Nick traced the sigils with his own blood. The air vibrated, thick with power, as the runes burned silver against the stone. The scent of ozone, of storm and brimstone, wrapped around him.

A portal began to form—a jagged tear bleeding shadows. His wolf bristled at the dark energy clawing at his skin, but his heart was set. Erin. I’m coming for you.

But just as he steadied himself to step through, a voice cut from the shadows.

“You’re playing with fire, Alpha,” came Marcia’s voice, cold and furious. She stood at the edge of the rooftop, her eyes flickering like molten embers. “Do you even know what happens if a werewolf steps uninvited into the Demon Realm?”

Nick’s hand clenched into a fist, gaze locked on the swirling void. “I don’t care. She’s in there, Marcia. And I won’t let her face that world alone.”

The portal’s pull grew stronger, the air shrieking like a living thing.

For the first time in centuries, the Alpha of Shadows stood on the brink of stepping into a world no wolf had ever dared cross.

Nick’s boots landed on soil that pulsed faintly red, like veins beneath the earth itself. The air was thick with ash and heat, laced with whispers of power that clawed at his skin. He’d done it. He’d crossed into the Demon Realm.

Shadows writhed along the jagged cliffs, castles of obsidian piercing the skies. This was no place for wolves. His wolf snarled in warning at the oppressive air, but Nick ignored the sting in his lungs, every sense focused on one thought—Erin.

But he wasn’t alone.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

The voice came like velvet layered over steel. Nick turned sharply to find Lena standing a few paces away, her usual composed elegance replaced by something sharper. Her crimson eyes burned in the half-light, her aura unmistakable—regal, commanding, and deadly. The aura of a princess who had stopped hiding.

“Demon princess,” Nick said lowly, his voice half a growl. “So the whispers were true.”

Lena’s lips curved faintly, though her eyes stayed cool. “And you’re reckless enough to rip open a portal with blood magic. Do you have any idea what kind of beacon you just lit? You’re lucky the Minister’s hounds didn’t catch your scent first.”

Nick squared his shoulders. “I don’t care. I came for Erin.”

At her name, Lena’s expression softened for the briefest heartbeat—then hardened again. “She’s safe with me. Safer here than she’s ever been with your Council tearing her apart.”

Nick’s eyes flared gold. “You think I trust demons with her safety?”

“And I should trust a cursed wolf?” Lena snapped, stepping closer, her aura pressing against his. The ground between them hummed with dangerous energy, as though the realm itself braced for a clash.

Nick didn’t falter. “My curse doesn’t matter. She matters. You’ll have to kill me to keep me from her.”

Lena studied him, her sharp gaze slicing through his conviction. For the first time, she looked almost… conflicted. She could see it—the feral devotion, the ache that ran deeper than his curse.

Finally, Lena’s voice softened into a warning, though her eyes still burned. “Nick, this realm isn’t kind. One wrong move, and it will devour you whole. I won’t stop you from seeing Erin… but if you put her in danger by being here, I will.”

The air thickened with unspoken tension as Lena turned, motioning for him to follow.

“Come, Alpha. See for yourself. But know this—if you ruin what I’ve built for her, even Erin won’t be able to save you from me.”

Nick exhaled, his wolf restless beneath his skin, but he followed. Every step was fire, every breath ash. Yet none of it mattered.

He was closer to Erin than he had been in days.

Erin sat cross-legged on the cool stone floor of Lena’s private courtyard, her breath steadying after another draining practice. Her fingers still hummed faintly with the sting of unleashed wind, but her heart beat for another reason entirely.

She felt him before she saw him. That familiar pull in her chest, that unshakable tether that set her instincts alight.

Nick.

Her head jerked up, and there he was—stepping through Lena’s shadowed arches, his golden eyes cutting through the dim. He looked different here in the Demon Realm, his presence so utterly wrong against the crimson sky, and yet he was the only thing that made her feel like home.

For a split second, the ache almost broke her. She wanted to run to him, to bury herself in his warmth, to forget the curse, the prophecy, the lies Henry had told her.

But then Henry’s words whispered again—If a cursed Alpha mates with a hybrid, he dies.

She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t kill him.

“Erin,” Nick breathed, as though her name alone kept him alive. He took a step forward. “I came for you.”

Her throat tightened, but she forced her face into a mask, digging her nails into her palms. “You shouldn’t have.” Her voice was sharp, colder than she ever meant it to be.

Nick stilled. “I couldn’t stay away. You’re—”

“You’re reckless!” Erin snapped, standing abruptly, her power flaring. Wind whipped around her, making the torches gutter. “Do you ever think, Nick? Do you ever stop and realize that maybe you’re not the hero you think you are?”

Nick’s jaw clenched, but his eyes softened with hurt. “I came because I love you—”

“Don’t.” Her voice cracked, though she masked it quickly with anger. “Don’t say that. You’re cursed. If you… if we—” She shook her head violently, turning away before the tears betrayed her. “Just go back, Nick. You don’t belong here. You don’t belong with me.”

The silence after that hit harder than any blow.

Nick stood there, golden eyes locked on her back, his chest rising and falling with the weight of words he couldn’t force past the lump in his throat. He wanted to argue, to fight, to swear to her that nothing could make him leave her side. But the way she wouldn’t look at him, the way her shoulders trembled though she tried to stand tall… it gutted him.

Lena appeared quietly on the balcony above, her crimson gaze flicking between them. She said nothing, but her smirk had faded, replaced with a trace of understanding.

Nick finally exhaled, stepping back toward the shadows. “I’m not giving up on you, Erin. Not ever. Curse or no curse. You can push me away, but I’ll keep coming back.”

Erin’s heart cracked at every word, but she stayed facing the courtyard wall, nails digging deeper into her palms, her storm swirling tighter. She didn’t dare look at him.

Because if she did, she’d break.