76

76
Jaden's POV

The world was too still when I opened my eyes.

For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. The faint light creeping through the high windows made everything look unfamiliar—my desk, the ash-stained floor, the iron mirror that caught only half my reflection.

Then memory came flooding back. The council. The fire. Thalia.

The burn in my chest flared faintly at her name, a dull ache instead of the inferno it had been hours ago. She had pulled me back from the brink, her voice cutting through the rage like cool rain. The bond still hummed softly between us, steady, alive.

But beneath it, something darker pulsed.

The curse. It never slept.

I sat up, rubbing a hand over my face. The skin there was hot, tight, still carrying faint cracks of heat. The healer had refused to enter my chamber last night. Even the bravest of them didn’t want to touch me anymore.

Good. Fear kept them alive.

I moved to the window, pushing it open to let the dawn air in. The horizon burned faint gold, the light painting the castle walls. The air smelled of ash and iron. Somewhere below, I heard the faint clatter of armor.

Too early for patrols.

Something was wrong.

The wolf in me stirred, muscles tightening, every instinct whispering danger. I scanned the courtyard below. Guards were gathering near the training yard—too many, too quiet, their formation wrong.

Coran’s doing.

The thought came sharp as a blade, and the curse stirred with it. He’d waited all night to act, waited until I was weakened, until the pack still feared the fire they’d seen.

Through the bond, a faint warmth brushed against my mind—Thalia, still asleep. I felt her steady heartbeat like an anchor, soft and human.

I didn’t want her to wake to this.

Pulling on my coat, I strapped my dagger to my thigh and stepped into the corridor. The torches burned low, throwing thin shadows along the walls. Every sound echoed too loudly—my boots against stone, the whisper of cloth.

At the first corner, I caught movement.

Two guards stood near the hall’s entrance. When they saw me, they stiffened—then one quickly bowed too deeply, too rehearsed.

“Alpha,” the taller said. “Elder Coran requests your presence at dawn.”

“At dawn,” I repeated slowly, watching how his hand lingered too long near his sword. “And if I refuse?”

The shorter one swallowed. “He said you wouldn’t.”

The wolf growled low inside me.

I smiled coldly. “He was wrong.”

Their eyes widened just as I moved.

The taller guard reached for his blade, but I caught his wrist, twisting hard until the weapon clattered to the floor. The second barely had time to shout before I slammed him into the wall. Both dropped within seconds, dazed but alive.

I didn’t want blood. Not yet.

The corridor ahead flickered with sudden light—torches flaring to life all at once. Shadows leapt across the walls as more boots thundered from the other end.

They were surrounding me.

“Jaden of the Moonlight Pack,” a voice called. Coran. “By decree of the Elder Council, you are to be contained until further judgment.”

Contained. A neat word for caged.

I stepped into the light, my pulse steady despite the growing fire under my skin. “Judgment?” I said softly. “I already gave you that last night.”

Coran stood at the far end, flanked by a line of armored men. His silver robes gleamed faintly in the dawn. “You burned sacred ground, threatened the council. You’re no longer fit to lead.”

Behind him, a few Elders looked uneasy—but none spoke.

“And who,” I said, taking a slow step forward, “will lead in my place? You?”

“If the pack must survive, then yes,” Coran said. “You’ve let your curse rule you long enough.”

He lifted his hand. The guards moved.

Blades hissed. Chains flashed silver in the light—enchanted iron, I realized. They wanted to bind me, not kill me.

For a heartbeat, I considered letting them try.
It would be easier—to let it end here.
But then, through the bond, a soft pulse reached me.

Thalia.

The moment her heartbeat brushed mine, everything inside me shifted. The curse flared—not in rage, but in defiance.

I met Coran’s eyes. “You’ll regret this.”

And then I moved.

The world blurred into motion—the clang of metal, the ring of steel against stone. The first guard lunged; I caught his wrist, twisting the chain back into his chest. Another came from behind; I turned, the wolf lending speed to my limbs, the chain slicing through air where my neck had been.

Sparks flew. Smoke followed.

The curse whispered louder now, let go, burn them, end this.
But I couldn’t. Not here. Not where Thalia could feel it through the bond.

Still, restraint came at a price. The pain built behind my eyes, heat spilling under my skin, searing every nerve. My vision blurred red.

“Take him!” Coran’s voice snapped, furious.

More chains. More guards. Too many.

A blow landed hard against my shoulder; I stumbled, then caught myself. The iron grazed my arm—cold, biting, smoke rising instantly from the contact. I snarled, wrenching it free, the flesh blistering where it touched.

The wolf’s growl rose in my throat.

Burn them.

No.

I slammed my fist into the wall instead, sending cracks spidering through the stone. Dust rained down, choking the air. The guards faltered, uncertain now whether to fear me or the thing inside me.

Coran’s voice rose over the chaos. “See? He can’t control it! Restrain him before he destroys us all!”

The curse surged, furious, sensing the threat.

And then—
Thalia’s voice.

Not aloud, not even through words, but through the bond: a whisper, soft and trembling.

Jaden… please.

It was enough.

I forced a breath, dug my claws into the stone, and shoved the fire back down. Every muscle trembled. I turned and ran—not in retreat, but to draw them away, out of the halls, away from her.

The forest waited beyond the eastern gate.

I crashed through the last line of guards, ignoring the pain as an arrow grazed my shoulder. The cold air hit me as I broke through the gates, the world suddenly vast and dark again.

Behind me, the castle lights flickered like dying stars. Ahead, the forest loomed—ancient, silent, unwelcoming.

Perfect.

I vanished into the trees.

The bond pulsed once, faint and frightened. I closed my eyes, whispering against it, I’m alive.

Then I let the darkness take me.