The alpha cursed mate

The truth beneath the ashes

The High Priestess of the Shadow Witches lived on the edge of the world.

A cave beyond the mountains, guarded by nothing but bones and black wind.

Mira didn’t hesitate.

She walked barefoot through snow and ash, cloak billowing behind her like smoke from a ruined temple. Her belly pulsed with slow warmth her child still sleeping, at peace. But Mira’s mind was a storm.

Kade had lied.

The witches had used her.

And now, she needed answers from the only person powerful enough to speak the truth without flinching.

High Priestess Lirien.

The cave breathed. Literally.

As Mira stepped inside, the walls exhaled hot, damp, metallic air. Blood-scented. Alive.

A whisper echoed before the shadows parted:

“You seek truth, girl cursed by womb and prophecy.”

Mira didn’t flinch. “I want to know what Kade gave you.”

Lirien appeared from the dark like smoke solidifying.

She was tall. Thin. Older than war. Her skin was inked with dead languages, and her eyes were stitched shut but she saw everything.

“I did not take what he offered,” Lirien said. “I refused.”

Mira stiffened. “Then what did he give?”

Lirien turned and began walking deeper into the cave. “Come see.”

The path descended. Deeper. Colder.

Until they reached it: an altar made of obsidian and bone.

On it, a heart. Still beating.

Mira’s knees buckled.

“Mother,” she whispered.

Lirien nodded. “The last of her soul was trapped in that heart. A sliver of what she was. Kade brought it. Offered it to awaken the child’s power. But I would not use it.”

Mira blinked, throat dry. “So who did?”

Lirien’s stitched eyes bled a single black tear.

“He did it himself.”

Mira stumbled back from the altar.

The betrayal wasn’t just a lie.

It was sacrilege.

He had taken her mother’s heart the only piece left of the woman who died to give her life and used it.

Without asking. Without warning.

For her.

For their child.

For power.

And Mira wasn’t sure if she wanted to scream or collapse.

Lirien placed a hand on her shoulder. “The bond is fraying.”

“What bond?”

“Between you and the alpha. Between you and your child. Too many lies. Too much magic. If it breaks, the child will turn.”

“Turn?”

“Into something neither mate nor mother can control.”

Mira turned toward the cave entrance.

The wind howled through the stone like a warning howl from the gods.

“Kade,” she whispered, “what have you done?”

That night, she returned to the pack house.

Kade met her at the gate, smiling relieved. He tried to kiss her.

She stepped back.

Cold. Quiet.

“I went to see Lirien,” she said.

His smile faltered.

She leaned in close, voice sharp enough to draw blood.

“We’re not done. But we are not okay.”

Then she walked past him, alone, the night folding around her like armor.