THE ALPHA’S SECRET CURSE

The first time I saw Kael Draven, he looked at me as if I were the one person in the world he wanted to destroy. Rain poured over Blackthorn Academy, turning the narrow road into a river of mud. Beyond the enormous iron gates, dark towers rose above the forest, their windows glowing like watchful eyes. I tightened my grip on my suitcase. This was the school my mother had warned me never to attend. And the place where I hoped to discover why she had disappeared twelve years ago. “Name?” The guard at the entrance barely looked up from his clipboard. “Amara Vale.” His pen stopped moving. For a moment, he stared at me as if I had spoken a language he hadn't heard in a hundred years. Then he stepped away from the gate. “Wait here.” “Why?” He didn't answer. Instead, he spoke quietly into the radio clipped to his shoulder. I caught only three words. The Vale girl. My stomach tightened. Before I could ask another question, the academy gates swung open. A black car rolled into the courtyard and stopped near the entrance. A young man stepped out, dressed in a black academy uniform with a silver crest pinned to his chest. He was tall, with dark hair falling carelessly across his forehead. His face was handsome in a sharp, intimidating way, but it was his eyes that made me forget the cold. Silver. Not grey. Not blue. Silver. He studied me with an expression that made my skin crawl. “You need to leave,” he said. I blinked. “Excuse me?” “You heard me.” I looked past him at the academy. Students were gathering beneath the covered entrance, whispering as they watched us. “I was accepted here. I'm not leaving because some rude student tells me to.” His jaw tightened. “Do you have any idea where you are?” “Blackthorn Academy. Unless the sign at the gate is lying.” A few students nearby exchanged nervous looks. The stranger stepped closer. “Kael Draven,” he said. “Remember that name when you decide to ignore my warning.” I folded my arms. “And why should I listen to you?” “Because I know things about this place that you don't.” “Then explain them.” He stared at me for a moment before his gaze dropped to my left wrist. A silver crescent had appeared beneath my skin. I gasped. The mark glowed faintly, like moonlight trapped beneath glass. Kael went completely still. “No,” he whispered. The crescent burned. I stumbled backward, clutching my wrist. Pain shot up my arm, and the world around me dissolved. Suddenly, I was standing in a forest beneath a blood-red moon. Trees burned around me. Wolves howled in the distance. A woman knelt in the snow, her hands stained with blood. I couldn't see her face, but I knew her voice. “Amara, run!” “Mum?” She lifted her head. Behind her stood a boy covered in blood, his silver eyes fixed on mine. Then a voice echoed through the darkness. When the Alpha finds his mate, the curse will awaken. The vision shattered. I fell against someone solid. Kael caught me before I hit the ground. For one impossible second, we stared at each other. His hand held my arm, and the silver mark on my wrist burned brighter. Then I felt it. Fear. Not mine. His. Kael released me as if my skin had burned him. “Get away from me,” he said, his voice rough. I struggled to steady my breathing. “What was that? What happened to me?” He glanced toward the academy entrance. Several students were staring at us, and a teacher had begun walking in our direction. “They mustn't see that mark.” “Who mustn't?” “The elders.” “Kael, tell me what is happening!” He looked back at me. The silver light inside his eyes seemed brighter now. “You should never have come here.” “I came to find my mother.” At the mention of her, something changed in his expression. Recognition. He knew something. “You knew her,” I whispered. Kael said nothing. I stepped toward him. “What happened to my mother?” Before he could answer, a low growl rose from somewhere inside the forest. The conversations around us stopped. A shadow moved between the trees, too large to be an ordinary animal. The teacher shouted for everyone to get inside. Students rushed toward the academy doors, but Kael remained where he was. Then he moved in front of me. “Stay behind me.” “I don't take orders from you.” “For once in your life, Vale, just do as you're told!” His voice carried a strange force. Even the teacher hesitated. Something growled again from the forest. Kael's hands curled into fists. Then he leaned closer, speaking so quietly that only I could hear. “Listen carefully. I don't care whether you hate me. I don't care whether you think I'm a monster.” His gaze fell to the silver crescent on my wrist. “But if the elders discover what you are to me, they will kill us both.” My heart hammered. “What am I to you?” For a long moment, he looked at me as if the answer terrified him. Then he spoke two words that changed everything. “My mate.” Somewhere in the forest, a wolf howled. And deep beneath my skin, the silver mark answered. To be continued…