Alpha king and his cursed mate

Episode 9 – The General's Fracture

The sound of swordplay echoed through the northern courtyard as Katrina Roberts stood in the center of the training ring, drenched in sweat, her blade cutting clean through the air. Soldiers watched in silent awe; none dared interrupt her fury.

Each strike she delivered was perfect.

Precise.

Deadly.

And fueled by chaos.

Not the kind that showed but the kind that sat behind her eyes.

The kind that whispered.

“You’re slipping,” Michael Berg’s voice came from the edge of the ring.

Katrina didn’t pause.

“I’m sharpening,” she replied, slashing forward, the steel ringing with finality.

Michael stepped closer. “You haven’t been yourself. And you’re not even hiding it anymore.”

“I’m preparing,” she snapped. “There’s a difference.”

Michael folded his arms. “For what? Another war? Another chance to prove yourself to a man who chose someone else?”

The blade in Katrina’s hand dropped slightly.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, too quickly.

But he did. He always had.

Michael took a step closer. “Katrina... do you know how dangerous it is to want something that’s not yours? Especially when it involves someone like Malcolm?”

Her eyes flicked up sharp. Defensive.

“You think I’d betray him?” she asked.

“I think you’ve spent years convincing yourself that loyalty is the same as love,” Michael said quietly. “And you’re about to find out it’s not.”

Flashback – The Beginning of the Rift

There was a time Malcolm smiled more. Laughed. Trusted.

And much of that time was with Katrina at his side.

As children, they raced through the castle corridors.

As teens, they trained in the same squad.

She had stood beside him when his father died. When his mother vanished. When his Lycan first emerged and nearly tore their training grounds apart.

She calmed him.

She understood him.

But fate damn fate chose Mara Evans.

And since then, Katrina had told herself she was fine.

Fine.

Until the night the raven came.

Until the night she held the wyrmbone in her hands and didn't throw it into the fire.

Now Her Private Quarters

The room was dark except for the single flame on her desk.

Katrina sat there, fingers trembling as she opened a scroll she swore she’d never read.

It bore no name. No symbol.

Only one question:

“Would you rewrite the story if given the pen?”

She read it three times.

Her heart pounded.

And then without meaning to she whispered aloud:

“Yes.”

The candle’s flame flared violently.

The shadows moved.

And in the mirror across the room, her reflection blinked… *before she did.*

Malcolm’s Estate – Growing Tensions

Malcolm was furious.

Not just because the Shadowborn had found them again.

Not just because Mara and the child were marked.

But because the traitor was inside the walls.

Someone had let the enemy in.

“Search everyone,” he ordered his warriors. “Every door. Every seal. Every item brought in over the last three days. Tear this place apart if you have to.”

Mara stood nearby, her son in her arms, pale and trembling. The child still pulsed with an aura that hummed through the air like a living shield.

“Malcolm,” she said softly, “Katrina delivered the last shipment of supplies. She brought my new robes. My books. The ward candles.”

Malcolm froze.

He turned sharply. “What?”

“She said the witches were preparing a barrier stone, and she came early to bring them herself. Said it was safer.”

Malcolm’s eyes darkened. “She was alone?”

Mara nodded.

He didn’t speak.

Just left the room his aura rippling like a storm.

Cornered by Truth

She was already in the stables, saddling her mare.

She could feel the lie unraveling.

Malcolm would know soon. Michael already suspected.

And the wyrmbone… she had planted it.

Not to harm.

Only to test.

To see what Thea’s threat really was.

But now, the shadows whispered louder.

They promised more.

More than love.

More than title.

Power. Real power.

Power that did not care about fate.

“Leaving already?”

The voice came from behind her calm. Even amused.

She turned.

Malcolm.

His eyes glowed in the half-dark.

Katrina stepped back, heart hammering.

“I was...”

“Running,” he finished. “Cowards run. You’re not a coward, Katrina.”

She said nothing.

He stepped closer. “You brought in the bone.”

She flinched.

“And you opened the scroll,” he said.

Her lips trembled. “I only”

“Wanted what wasn’t yours.”

Her eyes snapped up. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that. I have bled for this kingdom. Killed for you. Protected your people when you disappeared for years chasing a ghost mate.”

Malcolm’s voice dropped dangerously low. “And now that she’s real now that she’s here you trade your honor for bitterness?”

Tears filled her eyes. “You think it’s just about you? This is bigger than you, Malcolm. Thea is not the threat anymore. *You* are. You and that child.”

Silence.

Then a single word from Malcolm.

“Leave.”

Her breath caught.

“I won’t kill you. Not today,” he said coldly. “But if I see you near Mara or my son again… I’ll forget that we were ever friends.”

She turned and mounted her horse, fury and heartbreak seething behind her eyes.

And as she vanished into the forest, a shadow followed behind her… unseen.

Thea’s Lair

A cauldron bubbled. A mirror shimmered.

Thea smiled as Katrina entered.

“Did you deliver the seed?” she asked.

Katrina dropped to one knee. “He cast me out.”

Thea reached forward and touched Katrina’s forehead with one blackened finger.

“Then it begins.”

Suddenly, Katrina gasped eyes wide as dark energy surged through her veins.

A bond had formed.

A pact sealed.

And now Katrina Roberts no longer served the Alpha King.

She served the shadow.