THE ALPHA FATAL HUNGER

Rain hammered against the windows hard enough to sound like fists. Nobody in Black Hollow castle spoke above a whisper tonight. Not the servants lined along the corridor. Not the guards staring stiffly at the stone floor. Not even the healer kneeling beside the massive bed drenched in blood. Because everyone already knew how this ended. Lady Selene was dying. Slowly. Beautifully. Horribly. Another soft choke tore from her throat as blood spilled over her lips and soaked into the dark fur blanket beneath her body. The healer pressed both shaking hands against her stomach even though the wound wasn’t there. There was never a wound. That was the cruel part. The curse left no mark anyone could fight. “She’s losing too much—” the healer whispered. A lie. They all knew it. You couldn’t stop death once the Alpha touched you. Across the room, Alpha Kael Ravaryn stood beside the tall window overlooking the cliffs of Black Hollow. Still. Massive. Silent. Lightning flashed behind him, silver light cutting across the brutal angles of his face. Dark hair damp from rain curled against his forehead. His black shirt hung open at the throat, exposing scars that disappeared beneath cloth and shadow. He looked carved from the same stone as the castle. Cold enough to survive anything. But his hands— His hands were trembling. Barely. Almost invisible. Selene laughed weakly from the bed. Wet blood stained her teeth. “There,” she whispered hoarsely. “It’s happening again.” Nobody answered her. The healer looked sick. Kael didn’t turn around. Selene coughed harder, body jerking violently. Blood splattered across the sheets. A servant near the door quietly started crying. Kael closed his eyes. That sound. God. It never got easier. Not the coughing. Not the smell. Not the way their bodies failed little by little while he stood there useless as a ghost haunting his own life. “You should leave, my lord,” the healer said carefully. Kael finally looked over his shoulder. The room instantly froze. People feared his rage. They always had. But this was worse. Because there was no anger in his face tonight. Only exhaustion. The kind that hollowed a man out from the inside until nothing human survived in him anymore. Selene stared at him from the bed like she could still see the man beneath the monster everyone whispered about. “Come here,” she rasped. The healer made a horrified sound. “Lady Selene—” “I’m already dead.” Silence swallowed the room. Rain battered the glass harder. Kael stared at her for a long moment before finally moving. Heavy boots crossed stone. One step. Then another. Servants lowered their eyes as he passed. Nobody wanted the Alpha too close. Not after this. Not after all the others. He stopped beside the bed. Selene looked tiny against the dark sheets now. Pale golden hair stuck to her damp cheeks. Blood stained the corners of her mouth black in the candlelight. Still beautiful. Still smiling. “You finally kissed me,” she whispered. Kael’s jaw tightened. The words landed like a knife under his ribs because she sounded happy about it. Happy. Even now. “You should hate me,” he said quietly. His voice was rough. Deep enough to vibrate through the room. Selene’s eyes softened. “I tried.” Another cough bent her in half. The healer turned away this time. Kael didn’t touch her again. He never made the mistake twice. Once was enough. One moment of weakness. One moment of wanting softness after years of living untouched. That was all it took. Selene looked at him carefully, breathing shallow now. “You looked lonely,” she murmured. Something dangerous flickered behind Kael’s eyes. Not rage. Pain. Real pain. It vanished almost immediately. “You shouldn’t have come to my room.” “I know.” “Then why did you?” A tiny smile touched her lips. “Because you asked me to stay.” Kael went completely still. The room suddenly felt too small. Too hot despite the storm outside. He remembered it now. Hours earlier. Rain pouring down the castle walls. Selene standing near his fire while he drank himself toward numbness. And him— exhausted enough to forget himself for one disastrous second. Stay. That was all he’d said. Stay. Then she touched his face. Then he kissed her. Now blood covered the sheets. Kael looked away first. That almost never happened. Selene watched him with frightening gentleness. “You know what the saddest part is?” she whispered. He said nothing. “You kiss like a man starving.” The healer quietly started sobbing. Kael’s expression turned empty again. Armor sliding back into place. Too late. Selene’s breathing hitched suddenly. Once. Twice. Then stopped. The room fell silent except for the rain. No one moved. The healer slowly lowered his head. A servant covered her mouth to stop herself from crying aloud. Kael stared at Selene’s body for a very long time. Then longer. Lightning flashed again. For one horrible second, the dead woman looked alive. Kael’s wolf twisted violently inside him. Murderous. Restless. Hungry. He shoved it down so hard pain split through his skull. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the room. Nobody dared stop him. — The next morning, Black Hollow smelled like burial smoke. Fog crawled through the mountains thick as ghosts while servants scrubbed blood from the Alpha’s chamber walls in terrified silence. No one said Selene’s name aloud. Another woman dead because she wanted the Alpha too close. Another funeral before winter even ended. Kael stood in the training yard beneath freezing rain while wolves circled him carefully. Nobody wanted to spar with him today. Unfortunately for them, he wasn’t asking. “Again,” Kael ordered. A warrior named Bram staggered upright from the mud, breathing hard. “Alpha—” “Again.” Bram lunged. Kael shattered his nose with one punch. Blood sprayed across wet stone. The other wolves flinched. Kael barely seemed to notice. His wolf had been clawing at him since dawn. Restless beneath his skin. Violent. Unstable. He hadn’t slept. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw blood on Selene’s mouth. “You’re distracted,” Beta Ronan said carefully from the edge of the yard. Kael grabbed Bram by the throat and threw him into the dirt hard enough to crack stone beneath him. “I’m not distracted.” Nobody argued. Ronan sighed quietly. Tall, broad, scarred across one eye, he’d known Kael long enough not to fear him completely. “Fine,” Ronan muttered. “Then maybe stop nearly killing your own wolves before breakfast.” Kael wiped rainwater from his mouth. The scent hit him then. Everything stopped. His wolf slammed forward so violently his vision blurred. A smell. Cold air. Snow. Wild pine. And something underneath it that made his entire body lock with primal recognition. Mine. Kael’s head snapped toward the castle entrance. A group of patrol wolves had just entered through the gates dragging someone between them. A girl. Half-conscious. Covered in dirt and melting snow. The second Kael saw her— His wolf lost its mind. Pain exploded beneath his skin. Bones cracked. Gasps erupted around the yard as claws nearly tore through his hands. “Alpha—” someone shouted. Kael barely heard them. All he could smell was her. Sweet. Dangerous. Wrong. The girl lifted her head weakly. Silver eyes. Not gray. Silver. And the moment they landed on him— Something ancient moved inside his chest. Not attraction. Recognition. Pure animal instinct flooded him so hard he nearly shifted right there in front of the entire pack. Ronan grabbed his arm fast. “Kael.” Too late. A growl ripped from Kael’s throat so deep it silenced the entire courtyard. The girl froze. So did everyone else. Kael stared at her like a starving predator trying not to devour its prey alive. Rain dripped down his face. His claws slid halfway from his fingertips. The stranger’s breathing became uneven as guards forced her forward. Then— Very slowly— She opened her bleeding hand. A silver pendant rested in her palm. The symbol carved into it made Kael’s blood turn to ice. Because he knew that mark. And thirteen years ago— He watched an entire bloodline burn for it.