Chapter 5: "Cursed love"
1268 Words
The gates of Moon Fang territory opened without question.
No one stopped him.
No one dared.
Kael was the Alpha.
His return was silent, but the weight of eyes followed him all the same. Warriors bowed, elders nodded, omegas stepped aside but it wasn’t reverence he felt. It was judgment. Confusion. Whispers waiting behind closed lips.
He said nothing.
His clothes were torn, chest streaked with scratches from the forest. His hands still trembled from what had passed not from fear, but from something far worse. From pain. From the bond.
He made it to the packhouse, to the privacy of his quarters, before he let his facade falter. A growl rumbled in his throat as he slammed the door behind him.
Kael leaned against it, breathing heavily, trying to make sense of the fire still burning under his skin. The touch had been brief barely a brush of fingers. But it had hurt.
Not the kind of pain a mate should bring.
He clenched his fists. That scent it had been intoxicating, impossible to ignore but buried within it was something wrong. Something sharp. Poisonous.
Wolfsbane.
His mind rebelled at the thought. No wolf could survive it in the bloodstream. No true mate should carry it.
And yet she had.
She had been everything the bond promised his, and only his and still, her presence had seared him like a wound.
Kael stripped off his shirt, revealing the faint burns across his forearm, exactly where her skin had met his. They were healing fast his wolf ensured that but the memory lingered.
He sat heavily on the edge of his bed, dragging a hand through his hair.
Who was she?
Where had she come from?
And how could a mate his mate carry the one thing that could harm him?
He needed answers.
He needed to know what this was.
Because the bond had pulled him to her like gravity undeniable, unrelenting but something about it wasn’t right. And that terrified him more than anything.
---
Down the hall, on the other side of the packhouse, Erya sat alone in what should have been her bridal chamber.
The ceremonial silks still clung to her body, now torn and stained from the chaos of his departure. Her hair hung loose around her face, eyes rimmed red with disbelief.
He had left her.
In front of the entire pack.
During the final rite.
And for what? A scent? A shadow in the trees?
He didn’t love her. She had known that. But Kael was a man of duty, of honor. He never abandoned his responsibilities. Never left a ceremony half-finished. Never embarrassed the daughter of his Beta like this.
Erya stared at the flickering candle beside her, its flame quivering under the weight of her silence.
What had she done wrong?
Where had he gone?
And who had he gone for?
Her breath hitched. She clutched the ring that was meant to bind them, knuckles white.
No one had told her anything. Not even her father. They all waited for Kael to speak. And still, no word came.
Only silence.
And the ache of rejection.
---
Meanwhile, Kael stood at the edge of his balcony, overlooking Moonshade Forest. The night was quiet, but his thoughts were loud.
He would investigate the scent of wolfsbane. He would search every record, consult every elder, speak to any who might know of cursed bloodlines, rogue wolves, or witches in hiding.
He had to find her again.
Not to claim her.
Not yet.
But to understand what the Moon had given him… and what price came with it.
Because if she was truly his mate…
Then why did it hurt to love her?
The moon was high when Kael finally moved.
He left the packhouse without a word, slipping through winding paths between stone cottages and ancient oaks, heading to the far edge of the territory where time felt slower, where the trees whispered older names.
There, in a weather-worn cottage nestled at the edge of Moon Fang’s ancestral grounds, lived Elder Nyra.
She had once been a seer, a warrior, and an advisor to Alphas long before Kael was born. Time had silvered her hair and lined her face, but her spirit remained sharp as steel. Of all the elders, she was the one Kael trusted most.
He approached the cottage. Light flickered inside she was awake. Of course she was.
Kael didn’t knock. He stepped inside.
Nyra stood by the hearth, draping herbs to dry. She didn’t turn.
“You found her,” she said softly. “Didn’t you?”
Kael’s throat tightened. “Yes.”
She finally turned, her eyes like pale embers—ancient, knowing.
“And it hurt,” she said.
He nodded, his voice low. “Her skin burned mine. There was wolfsbane in her blood.”
Nyra stepped forward, her gaze scanning the fading mark on his forearm.
“Sit, Alpha.”
Kael obeyed.
She moved slowly to the fire and stirred a pot of tea, the scent of sage and pine filling the air. Then, in a voice touched with sorrow and shadow, she began:
“There is a story I once swore I’d never tell again. An old tale, buried even among our own. It speaks of love… and of what love dares to defy.”
Kael’s eyes never left her.
“Long ago, there were two wolves true mates, chosen by the Moon Goddess. Their bond was pure, deeper than any bond seen since. They loved fiercely, without doubt or fear. The world envied them.”
Nyra’s hands moved gently as she spoke, pouring the tea but not drinking.
“But death came too soon for the male. Illness or a curse, no one knows for sure. The female young and wild with grief refused to let him go. She begged the Moon, the stars, the spirits. None answered.”
Her voice darkened.
“So she turned to those who would answer. The witches.”
Kael stilled.
“She gave them what they asked blood, memory, even a sliver of her soul. And he returned… but not whole. Not right. Her defiance had broken something sacred.”
Nyra paused. Her eyes shimmered like wet stone.
“The Moon Goddess cursed her. Not just her but every daughter born of her line. 'From mother to daughter, the curse shall grow,' the Moon said. 'You will carry the bite of wolfsbane in your blood. You will feel the bond, but never truly hold it. And if you dare to love again… it will burn.’”
Kael felt his breath leave him. “So she wasn’t meant to have a mate.”
“No,” Nyra said. “But sometimes, fate slips through the cracks. And sometimes, the Moon allows it perhaps to test us. Or perhaps because even curses remember love.”
Kael turned his gaze to the fire. “She didn’t ask for this.”
“No. But neither did you.”
Silence fell between them like snowfall.
Nyra stepped closer, her voice softer now.
“If she truly is the one fate chose for you, Kael… then your love will be a battlefield. Not against each other, but against everything that stands between you.”
Kael looked up at her, pain and determination etched in every line of his face.
“I need to find he
r again. I need to know what this bond means for both of us.”
Nyra gave a slow nod. “Then tread carefully, Alpha. Curses do not break easily. And some are born to burn.”
- Writer
