Serenity's world turned sideways. Sable. Her younger sister. Alive.
"Impossible," Serenity whispered. "You're dead. I saw your body—"
"You saw what I wanted you to see." Sable's smile was sharp as broken glass. "Amazing what a little witch magic can do. Create a fake body. Fool everyone into thinking poor little Sable was killed."
The Syndicate hunters spread out across the castle hall. Their guns hummed with deadly energy. But all Serenity could focus on was her sister's face. Identical to hers, except for the red hair and the hate burning in familiar silver eyes.
"Why?" Serenity's voice cracked. "We were family."
"Family?" Sable laughed. "You mean the family that always chose you? The forecast that named you as special? The destiny that was supposed to be mine?"
Commander Briar stepped forward. "Touching reunion, but we have work. Hand over the Nightborn."
"She's my sister," Sable said coldly. "I'll handle this."
Kael moved in front of Serenity. His pack flanked him, injured but ready to fight. "You want her? Go through me first."
"Gladly." Sable raised a weapon that glowed with silver light. "I've been waiting to watch you die, cursed Alpha."
But before anyone could attack, Riven stepped between them all. "Wait." His golden eyes darted between the forces.
"Briar, you said you wanted the Nightborn alive."
"Correct."
"And Kael, you need her blood to break your curse." "
Yes."
"Then why are we fighting?" Riven looked straight at Serenity. "Maybe there's another way."
Serenity felt everyone's eyes focus on her. The weight of their demands, their desperation, their hatred. All of it pushing down like a mountain.
"What are you thinking?" she asked Riven.
"A temporary peace. Long enough to understand what we're really dealing with."
Riven pointed toward Kael. "Tell them about the curse. All of it."
Kael's jaw clenched. "That's pack business."
"Not anymore." Riven's voice hardened. "If this curse spreads like you say, it becomes everyone's problem." Briar dropped her weapon slightly. "Explain."
Kael looked like he'd rather eat glass. But after a long moment, he began to speak. "Five years ago, my pack was the best in the region. We ruled three territories. Had over two hundred members." His voice was hollow. "Then we found the artifact."
"What artifact?" Serenity asked. "An old stone tablet. Covered in images we couldn't read. Our pack historian said it was valuable. Worth a fortune to fans."
Sable snorted. "Let me guess. You tried to steal it."
"We tried to claim it. There's a difference." Kael's gray eyes flashed. "But the tablet was protected by old magic. Blood magic."
The temperature in the hall dropped. Everyone could feel the wrongness coming from Kael and his wolves.
"The moment I touched it, the curse began," Kael continued. "It spread through my pack like cancer. Killing us slowly from the inside."
"How slowly?" Briar demanded.
"A year to die. Maybe less." Kael motioned to his wolves.
"Look at them. See what we've become."
Serenity really looked at Kael's pack for the first time. Beneath the surface, they were all dying. Gray face. Sunken eyes. Black veins moving up their necks like spider webs. But it was worse than that. The curse wasn't just killing their bodies. It was eating their hearts.
"You can't feel anything anymore, can you?" she realized. "No happiness. No love. No mercy."
"Nothing," Kael confirmed. "Only hunger. And rage. And the need to live."
"That's horrible," Serenity whispered.
"It gets worse." Kael's voice dropped. "The curse spreads to everything we touch. Plants die. Animals flee. People get sick just being near us."
"And if you die with the curse still active?" Riven asked quietly.
"It bursts outward. Like a plague. Every magical being within a hundred miles gets infected." Kael met Serenity's eyes. "Including you. Including your sister. Including everyone in this room."
Silence fell over the hall. Even Sable looked shaken.
"How do you know a Nightborn can break it?" Briar asked.
"The same scholar who identified the tablet. Before the curse killed him, he found a counter-spell. Ancient magic that needs the blood of the last Nightborn Wolf." All eyes turned to Serenity. She felt like a butterfly stuck to a board.
"What exactly would I have to do?" she asked. Kael paused. "A blood ritual. On the new moon. Your life force passed through the original spell to cleanse the corruption."
"And then?"
"Then my pack lives. The curse dies with the ritual."
"What happens to me?"
Another long pause. Too long. "The ritual requires a permanent bond," Kael said finally. "Your magic tied to mine. Your strength feeding my pack's healing."
"You mean I become your slave."
"You become my mate. There's a difference."
"Is there?" Serenity's silver eyes blazed. "Do I get to choose? Do I get to leave? Do I get to have my own life?"
Kael's silence was answer enough. "Absolutely not."
Serenity stepped back. "Find another way."
"There is no other way!" Kael's power cracked. For a moment, desperate pain showed through his empty mask. "Do you think I want this? Do you think I want to trap you?" "
Yes, I do."
"You're wrong." Kael's voice broke. "Before the curse, I was different. I cared about honor. About saving the innocent. Now I can barely remember what love feels like."
Something in his tone made Serenity pause. Beneath the monster, she glimpsed the man he used to be.
"Then find a way to break the curse without enslaving me," she said.
"I've tried everything. This is the only choice left."
"No." Riven stepped forward. "There might be another way."
Everyone turned to him. "The Syndicate has been studying supernatural curses for decades," Riven said. "They might have alternatives."
Briar laughed bitterly. "You think we'd help her stay free? She's too dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" Serenity demanded.
"You're the last Nightborn Wolf. Your bloodline holds power that could change the supernatural world." Briar's blue eyes shone.
"In the right hands, you could unite all the groups. In the wrong hands, you could destroy them."
"I don't want to rule anyone!"
"What you want doesn't matter," Sable said coldly. "It's what you are that counts."
"And what am I, sister?"
Sable's smile turned nasty. "A weapon. One that belongs to whoever can control you."
The pieces clicked together in Serenity's mind. "This was all planned. The curse, the time, everything. Someone wanted to force me into this choice."
"Very good," a new voice said from the darkness. An old woman stepped into the hall. Tall and gaunt, with silver-white braids and eyes that glowed with strange light.
"Elder Thalia?" Kael breathed.
"Hello, Alpha." Elder Thalia Moonrow smiled. "You've done well. The girl is exactly where she needs to be."
"You." Serenity's power flared around her. "You planned this."
"I guided it. There's a difference." Thalia's blind eyes somehow focused on Serenity correctly. "The prophecy had to be fulfilled. One way or another."
"What prophecy?"
"The one that says you'll choose a mate who will either unite or destroy our world." Thalia pointed toward Kael, Riven, and the Syndicate forces.
"And now you have your options."
"I choose none of them."
"That's not how prophecies work, child."
Serenity felt anger building inside her. Silver light blazed from her eyes. "Watch me."
Her power burst outward. Everyone in the hall staggered backward. The old stones of the castle cracked. Dust rained from the roof. When the light faded, Serenity stood alone in the center of the room. Energy crackled around her like lightning.
"I won't be anyone's weapon," she vowed. "I won't be anyone's slave. And I won't let you force me to choose between terrible choices."
"Then what do you propose?" Elder Thalia asked quietly.
"A new deal." Serenity looked at each group in turn.
"I'll help break Kael's curse. But I stay free. No blood ties. No permanent ties. No forecast chains."
"Impossible," Kael said. "The ritual requires—"
"Then we find a different ritual." Serenity's voice rang with power. "You have three days until the new moon. Use them."
"And if we can't find another way?" Briar asked. "Then I let the curse spread. And we all die together."
The hall fell silent. Everyone stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"You're bluffing," Sable said.
"Try me."
But before anyone could respond, the castle started to shake. Not from battle this time. From something much worse. Cracks formed in the floor. The walls groaned. Ancient protective magic started failing.
"What's happening?" Riven shouted over the noise. Elder Thalia's face went pale.
"Oh no. We're too late."
"Too late for what?"
"The curse is increasing. Something triggered it." Thalia's glowing eyes widened in horror. "It's not going to wait for the new moon."
The shaking increased. Outside, they could hear Kael's pack howling in pain.
"How long do we have?" Kael demanded.
"Hours. Maybe less." Thalia looked directly at Serenity. "The ritual must happen tonight, or everyone within fifty miles dies."
"Tonight?" Serenity's voice cracked.
"But I'm not ready—" She never finished the sentence. Because at that moment, the floor beneath their feet cracked open. And something crawled out of the darkness below. Something that looked exactly like Serenity, but with eyes like burning coals and a smile full of teeth.
"Hello, sister," the thing said in Serenity's voice. "Ready to meet the real prophecy?"