CHAPTER THREE - The Curse that Chose them
1305 Words
Hunter followed Aric down a long stone hallway that twisted deeper into the mountain stronghold. Torches crackled along the walls, giving the place an amber glow that made shadows stretch and crawl like living things.
Every few steps, Hunter felt the tug of the bond—
a warmth in the center of his chest that pulsed toward Aric’s back like a compass needle finding north.
He ignored it.
Or tried to.
His footsteps echoed too loudly.
His hands shook more than he wanted to admit.
And the worst part?
Aric felt everything.
“You’re tense,” Aric said without turning.
Hunter’s jaw locked. “Maybe because I woke up chained like dinner and then got told we’re magically glued together.”
“You were never in danger.”
“You’re an Alpha,” Hunter snapped. “Danger is your favorite breakfast.”
Aric exhaled through his nose—quiet, irritated, very “stop-being-difficult.”
Hunter didn’t care.
He wasn’t giving this man the satisfaction of obedience.
Eventually the hallway opened into a massive chamber—taller than any cathedral, carved from natural rock but polished smooth. Moonlight filtered through narrow slits high in the ceiling, turning the massive space silver.
Hunter slowed.
It wasn’t the architecture that froze him—
it was the giant stone carving at the center of the room.
A wolf.
Ancient.
Massive.
Wings carved from spiraling runes.
Eyes of inlaid obsidian.
And beneath it—
a pool of still water, dark as ink.
It felt alive.
It felt old.
It felt… wrong.
Hunter stepped back, heart stuttering. “What is this?”
Aric finally faced him, arms crossed over his chest. “The Moonborn Mirror.”
Hunter frowned. “A mirror? That’s not a mirror.”
“It is once you touch it,” Aric said. “It shows truth—past, present, or future depending on what you ask.”
Hunter’s stomach tightened. “Why bring me here?”
Aric’s silver eyes held his with unnerving calm.
“Because the bond isn’t random. This is where we understand why it formed.”
Hunter let out a dry laugh. “There is no ‘why.’ I bled on you. The end.”
“Not enough,” Aric said softly. “For a bond this strong—there is history behind it.”
Hunter felt cold slide down his spine.
“No,” he whispered. “My history has nothing to do with you.”
Aric walked toward the pool.
“Come.”
Hunter didn’t move.
Aric looked over his shoulder. “If you refuse, the bond will force clarity another way. Painful ways.”
Hunter’s teeth clenched. “You wouldn’t hurt me. You’d hurt yourself.”
“Not all bond backlash is physical,” Aric said. “Some of it is emotional. Mental. Instinctual.”
Hunter froze.
He had felt Aric’s emotions earlier—faint and unclear.
What if the Mirror intensified it?
What if he would feel everything Aric felt?
“No,” Hunter whispered. “I don’t want to see inside your head. I don’t want you in mine.”
Aric turned fully toward him.
“Hunter.”
His voice softened—deep, calm, almost gentle.
Not a command.
A request.
“Come here.”
The bond pulsed.
Not painful.
Just… persistent.
Hunter hated the way his feet moved.
He stopped at the edge of the pool, staring at its inky surface.
“Touch it,” Aric said. “Just with your fingers.”
Hunter shook his head. “Show me first.”
Aric didn’t argue.
He knelt and placed two fingers on the surface.
The water rippled—
then cleared—
then brightened with silver light.
And a vision appeared:
A forest under a blood-red moon.
Two wolves—one dark, one pale—circling each other like rivals fated for war.
Chains of light binding them together.
Hunter’s breath hitched.
“Stop,” he whispered.
Aric lifted his fingers. The water stilled instantly.
Hunter stepped back. “That means nothing.”
“It means everything,” Aric said evenly. “The Mirror shows connections. That was ours.”
Hunter’s pulse thundered.
“I don’t have a connection to you.”
Aric’s jaw tightened. “You keep saying that with such certainty. As if your missing memories don’t matter.”
Hunter’s stomach twisted. “What?”
Aric’s voice went quiet.
“You were a child when your father fled the Northern packs. But you weren’t meant to survive that night, Hunter. You know that.”
Hunter felt his breath freeze.
Cold.
Sharp.
Unreal.
“How do you know about my father?” he whispered.
“Because he was hunted,” Aric said softly. “By the same curse that hunts you now.”
Hunter stumbled backward. “No. My father… he died in an accident. He got caught in a rogue ambush—”
“That was no accident,” Aric growled. “He was marked.”
Hunter shook his head violently. “Stop. Stop talking.”
“Your father was followed because he ran from a prophecy,” Aric continued, stepping forward. “A Moonborn prophecy. About a wolf with two lives—one heart of shadow, one of light. A wolf who would be bound to an Alpha of the North.”
Hunter’s lungs burned.
He felt dizzy.
He felt sick.
He felt the bond pulse faster, heavier, matching his panic.
“That prophecy is not about me.”
“It is,” Aric whispered.
Hunter’s voice broke into a raw snarl. “I’m not special. I’m not chosen. I’m not connected to you.”
Aric didn’t flinch.
“You survived when your entire bloodline didn’t,” Aric said calmly. “That’s not chance.”
Hunter’s throat tightened painfully.
The room felt too small.
Too bright.
Too silent.
“Stop,” he whispered again, shaking.
Aric stepped closer, voice softer. “Hunter, touch the Mirror. See the truth. If I’m wrong, the water will show it.”
Hunter swallowed hard.
He didn’t want to touch it.
He didn’t want to know.
He didn’t want Aric to be right.
But the bond pulsed in his chest—
a heavy ache of anticipation, fear, fate.
Slowly, shaking, Hunter knelt.
His reflection stared back—
pale, breathless, terrified.
“Just one touch,” Aric murmured.
Hunter shut his eyes—
—then dipped his fingers into the water.
Light exploded.
A rush of cold surged up his arm, through his chest, across his mind—
Images slammed into him:
A woman clutching a baby.
A pack on fire.
A wolf with silver eyes—Aric—reaching toward him as a child.
A mark burned into Hunter’s shoulder, glowing with moonlight.
Chains of light wrapping around two hearts.
One voice whispering through the flames:
‘He belongs to the Alpha of the North.’
Hunter ripped his hand out of the pool, gasping, falling backward onto the stone floor.
“No,” he rasped. “No. That’s not real. That’s not real—”
Aric crouched in front of him, eyes storm-dark.
“It is real,” he said quietly. “You were meant to find me long before you ever knew my name.”
Hunter shook his head, chest heaving.
His voice broke.
“This wasn’t choice,” he whispered. “This was fate.”
Aric’s expression tightened with something like pain. “Yes.”
Hunter’s eyes filled—anger, fear, betrayal all mixing into something sharp.
“I came to kill you.”
“I know.”
“And instead… I was bound to you.”
“I know.”
Hunter stared at him, breath trembling. “What now?”
Aric didn’t look triumphant.
He didn’t look victorious.
He looked… haunted.
“Now,” Aric said softly, “we survive the curse that already knows your name.”
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