58

58
Thalia’s POV

The words echoed in my skull long after Nyra had spoken them. The curse’s choice. I couldn’t decide if it was worse than being Jaden’s.
“I don’t understand,” I said finally, my voice hollow. “What does it mean to be chosen by a curse?”
Nyra’s gaze stayed steady, but something flickered in her eyes, something almost… pitying. “It means the curse will use you as much as it uses him. It will pull at you, test you, feed on your fears. And if you’re not careful, it might anchor itself in you fully.”
Nancy let out a sharp breath. “So she’ll suffer like Jaden does.”
Nyra shot her a glare, but I caught the truth in the silence that followed. My heart hammered, and I pressed my marked wrist to my chest as if I could block the cold pulse spreading through me.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I whispered.
“No one asks for a curse,” Nyra said softly, “but sometimes fate doesn’t care.”
Her words made me want to scream, to break something, to tear free of every invisible chain. Instead, I forced myself to sit taller. “Then I’ll fight it. I won’t let it take me.”
Nancy’s lips curved into a sad smile. “That’s what Jaden said too, in the beginning.”
The room tightened around me. The flicker of the candle threw sharp shadows across the walls, reminding me too much of the ones I had seen in the corridor of smoke and stone. My pulse quickened. “No. I’m not like him.”
Nyra came closer, kneeling by my bed this time, her hand hovering near mine. “You’re stronger than you think, Thalia. But strength isn’t always enough against something born from blood and betrayal.”
Her tone shook me more than the flames ever could.
I pulled my hand back, staring at the black veins that spread from the bite. They had grown since I first woke, curling faintly toward my elbow. Panic clawed at me. “It’s getting worse.”
Nyra reached out quickly, finally touching my wrist despite her earlier hesitation. Her palm was warm, almost burning, but the cold inside me didn’t fade. “It will spread when you’re afraid. The curse drinks from that.”
I bit down on my lip to stop the tremor in my breath. “So I can’t be afraid?”
Her gaze met mine, steady, unflinching. “You have to learn to master it.”
Nancy let out a soft scoff. “Easier said than done.”
“Silence,” Nyra snapped, and Nancy fell quiet, though her eyes glittered with frustration.
I pulled my wrist away, hugging it to my chest again. The thought of mastering something I didn’t understand felt impossible. And yet—I remembered Jaden’s silver eyes, the way he had fought until his body shook, his wolf burning with defiance. He hadn’t given in. Not completely.
Maybe neither could I.
A knock interrupted my spiraling thoughts. Sharp, deliberate, not like Nancy’s hesitant steps or Nyra’s silent presence. Nyra stood, her shoulders stiffening, and opened the door only a crack.
Voices murmured outside. I caught only fragments: “Alpha… unrest… curse spreading…” The words sent a chill through me worse than the mark.
Nyra’s reply was low and clipped. “She’s resting. Tell them nothing.”
She shut the door and turned back, her expression unreadable.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“No one you need to worry about.”
I clenched my fists. “Stop saying that. Everyone thinks I don’t need to worry, but I’m the one with this—this thing crawling through my veins!”
Nyra’s face softened, but she didn’t move closer. “If they knew the curse had marked you, they’d see you as a threat. Or worse, a tool.”
My stomach sank. “So you’re hiding me.”
“Yes,” she said simply. “For now.”
Nancy crossed her arms, stepping closer to me. “And how long can you hide something like this, Nyra? The pack notices everything. If she stumbles once, they’ll know.”
The tension between them filled the room like another kind of smoke. I wanted to scream at them both, but instead I drew in a shaky breath. “Then teach me. Both of you. Whatever I need to survive this.”
Nancy blinked, surprised, while Nyra’s eyes narrowed in thought. Finally, she gave a small nod. “Very well. But it won’t be easy. The curse doesn’t just test your body. It tests your heart.”
Her words sent a shiver through me.
Before I could answer, the mark on my wrist pulsed again—this time harder, sharper, like claws digging beneath my skin. I gasped, clutching it, and images flashed across my vision.
Jaden, bloodied, his wolf staggering beneath endless shadows. His eyes meeting mine, silver blazing, the bond between us pulling tight like a chain.
“Thalia!” Nyra’s voice cut through the vision. Her hands gripped my shoulders, steadying me as I shook.
I blinked hard, gasping, the image fading. Sweat soaked my skin. “I saw him. Jaden. He’s fighting them again.”
Nyra exchanged a grim look with Nancy, then turned back to me. “The bond is deepening. That’s why you’re being pulled into his battles. If it continues…”
Her voice trailed off, but I already knew. If it continued, I’d bleed with him. Break with him. Maybe even die with him.
The thought should have terrified me, but what frightened me more was how much I didn’t want to break the bond.
I closed my eyes, clutching the mark. “Then I’ll fight with him.”
Silence followed, heavy and uncertain. When I opened my eyes, Nyra was studying me, her expression unreadable.
“You’re either very brave,” she said softly, “or very foolish.”
Nancy smirked faintly. “Maybe both.”
I let out a shaky breath, my body trembling with exhaustion. But beneath the fear, beneath the chill of the curse, something steadier burned—a spark that hadn’t been there before.
If the curse had chosen me, then I would choose how to meet it.
Even if that meant standing at Jaden’s side, whether in fire, shadow, or blood.