Chapter43
967 Words
Kael’s pov
I sat there for a long while, the words still in my head. Am I dying?
My chest burned. My throat was raw. I wiped at my mouth, and my hand came away red. The black on my veins had not faded. I pushed my sleeve down, hid it, even though I hadn’t seen anybody while I was coming. That fear… it’s the kind that makes your whole body cold.
I could not let them see me like this. Not Willow. Not Kaida.
The curse was moving. I knew it. It had always been there, but now it was like it was clawing through my skin, trying to take me apart from the inside. I thought I had control. I thought I could keep it buried.
I stood, slow, pressing my hand to the wall when my legs gave a small shake. The blood I spat onto the floor looked darker now. Thicker. I rubbed my boot over it until it was gone, like it had never happened. No one can know.
Not yet.
I walked out, shoulders stiff, breath steady even when it wasn’t. The halls felt colder, like the stone itself was breathing against me. Every step, I was fighting the weight inside my chest.
I thought about Kaida. About the way I yelled at her. Over nothing. Just her touching my arm. Her eyes had gone wide, not with fear of me but with confusion. She had seen something. My curse bleeding through. She had run to Axel, I knew it. She always ran to him. But he would never believe her. He would never see me for what I was. He thinks Willow is my weakness. Maybe he’s right. But this is not about her. This is about the darkness that was set in me when i saved her.
I made my way to my chamber. Closed the door. Leaned against it and just breathed. My wolf inside me was quiet, too quiet. He was afraid as well.
I dragged a hand down my face and sat on the edge of the bed. My shirt clung to me with sweat. My skin was cold but damp. I pulled the collar down and saw it, those veins, black like ink crawling across me. It wasn’t just my arm now. It was climbing my chest. It looked alive. It looked hungry.
I wanted to tear it out with my hands.
But then I thought of Willow. Her face. The way she looked at me earlier, her mouth open in surprise when I stole Kaida from her side, whispering about mates, about her being mine. My Luna. She had smiled. She had blushed. She had believed me.
How could I let her see me like this? How could I let her touch me and feel this death crawling under my skin?
I pressed my hand hard over my chest, like I could push it back in, keep it from spreading. My nails dug into my skin until it hurt. Still, the black lines pulsed against my hand.
I wanted to scream. To tear something apart. But I didn’t. I just sat there and let the fear choke me.
The curse is waking.
It’s stronger now. Stronger because of her? Or maybe because I let myself want her too much. Every time I take her, every time I mark her, maybe I am feeding it. Maybe I am giving it more of me.
I bent forward, elbows on my knees, face in my hands. My breath came shallow. The thought of losing control again, of hurting Kaida or worse, hurting Willow made me sick.
I should tell her. I should tell someone. But I know what will happen if I do.
Kaida will look at me with pity. Axel will see me as unfit. The pack will whisper. And Willow… Willow will blame herself. She will think she is killing me, when it is me who is cursed, not her.
No. I can’t tell her. Not now.
I wiped my mouth again. More blood. Bitter on my tongue. I swallowed it down.
I forced myself to lie back on the bed. My body shook as I pulled the covers over me. I wanted rest, but I knew sleep would not come easy. The curse never let me rest.
Willow was nowhere to be seen. She probably went out looking for me. I felt relieved not seeing her. I just hoped she wouldn’t be fed what happened earlier.
I stared up at the ceiling. My mind kept circling the same thought.
How much longer can I keep this hidden?
My wolf stirred then, a low sound inside me, not words but a warning. He felt it too. He knew what I would not say aloud.
The curse is breaking me.
I pressed my fist to my chest where the pain was strongest. My skin was hot there, burning under my hand. The veins beat against me, black and alive.
I closed my eyes.
“Not yet,” I whispered.
Not yet.
I will not die now. I will not let this take me. I will not leave her.
For a moment, my wolf stirred, restless. I thought he would settle, thought he would growl the way he always did when I tried to calm him.
But this time, it was different.
His voice came low, broken, like a shadow inside me.
You will.
My eyes snapped open. My chest seized, the curse pulsing so hard it rattled my bones.
You will, Kael, the wolf whispered, his voice warped with something that wasn’t only him. And when you do… she will follow.
I sat up fast, breath ragged, sweat slicking my skin.
The room was quiet. Too quiet.
But his words stayed, carved into me like claws.
- Writer
