Iris POV
The Shadowpaw caves erupt into chaos.
Warriors rush past the chamber door, moving with military precision toward the exits. I can hear the sounds of fighting echoing from outside—snarls, screams, the clash of bodies colliding.
Kael strains against his silver chains, and I can see smoke rising from where the metal burns his wrists. Rowan! Release me!
Alpha, you're not stable
My pack is under attack! RELEASE ME!
Rowan hesitates, looking between Kael and me. If you shift during the battle—
Then chain me again after! Kael's eyes flash gold. I won't hide in here while my wolves die protecting what's mine!
The possessiveness in his voice sends a thrill through me that I don't have time to examine.
Rowan makes a decision. He unlocks the cuffs, and Kael surges to his feet. Even partially transformed, he moves with deadly grace.
Iris, you stay here, Kael orders. Behind the silver door. Don't come out no matter what you hear.
I can help
You can't fight. His voice is harsh but his eyes are pleading. Your wolf is too weak. You'd be slaughtered in seconds. Please. Stay here where I know you're safe.
Before I can argue, he's gone, rushing toward the battle with Rowan at his heels.
I'm left alone in the chamber, listening to the sounds of war echoing through stone corridors.
Everything in me screams to follow him. The bond pulls at my chest, begging me to be near him. But he's right, I can't fight. I'm useless in a real battle. Always have been.
I pace the chamber, my weak wolf howling uselessly inside me. Through the bond, I feel Kael's rage and power as he tears into enemies. He's magnificent in battle—brutal, efficient, unstoppable.
Then I feel something else. Pain. Sharp and sudden.
He's been hurt.
No, I whisper. I rush to the door, but it's been locked from the outside. No, no, no—
A voice cuts through the chaos outside. Female. Cold. Mocking.
Is that all the famous Shadowpaw Pack can offer? How disappointing. I expected more from the wolves who protect a cursed alpha.
Morganna. It has to be.
I press against the door, trying to hear.
Where is she? the witch continues. The little omega who thinks she can save him? Bring her to me, and I'll let your pack live.
Never! That's Kael's voice, deeper and more growling than before. The curse is taking over.
Morganna laughs. Oh, Beast. Still trying to play hero? You couldn't even save yourself. What makes you think you can save her?
Through the bond, I feel Kael's fury spike, and his control slip. The curse is feeding on his emotions, using his fear for me against him.
I'm making him weaker by existing.
The thought crystallizes into certainty. As long as Morganna knows about me, she can use me as a weapon against Kael. She can force him to choose between protecting his pack and protecting me.
Unless I take that choice away from him.
My hands are shaking as I examine the silver door. It's locked, but the lock is old. And I'm small.
The window gap at the top is narrow—barely eight inches. Too small for any normal wolf.
But I've never been a normal wolf.
I shift, ignoring the pain as my weak wolf emerges. I'm tiny in this form, barely bigger than a large dog, with silver fur that's more gray than white. The runt. The failure.
But small has advantages.
I squeeze through the window gap, my weak body barely fitting. My fur catches on the rough stone, tearing. Pain lances through me, but I don't stop.
I drop to the corridor floor and shift back, gasping. Blood trickles from scratches across my shoulders where the stone cut too deep.
Then I run toward the sounds of battle.
The main cavern is carnage.
Shadowpaw wolves fight against rogues who move with unnatural coordination—Morganna's enchantments making them faster, stronger, harder to kill. Bodies litter the ground. The air stinks of blood and dark magic.
In the center of it all, Kael fights like a demon.
He's fully shifted now, not into his wolf form, but into the nightmare form the curse traps him in. Massive, covered in dark fur, face more beast than man. His claws are dripping red. His roar shakes the cavern.
And standing at the far end, untouched by the violence, is Morganna.
She's beautiful in a terrible way—dark hair, pale skin, eyes that glow with power. She watches the battle with detached amusement, like it's entertainment.
Her eyes find me the second I enter the cavern.
Well, well, she purrs. The omega emerges. How... convenient.
Kael's head snaps toward me, and his roar of denial shakes loose stalactites from the ceiling. IRIS! NO!
He tries to reach me, but three enchanted rogues block his path. I watch in horror as he tears through them, desperate to get to me, and the curse surges stronger with every second.
Stop! I scream. Kael, stop! You're making it worse!
But he can't hear me over his own fury.
Morganna moves forward, power crackling around her hands. Such loyalty. Such desperation. Tell me, little omega, do you know what your presence does to him?
I know the curse feeds on his hope, I say, trying to keep my voice steady.
Oh, it's so much worse than that. Her smile is cruel. Every time he cares about you, every time he fights to protect you, the curse digs deeper. You're not his salvation, child. You're his poison.
The words hit harder because part of me fears they're true.
Then I'll leave, I say. Call off your rogues. Let the pack live. And I'll reject the bond and go.
NO! Kael's bellow makes the cavern shake. He's fighting toward me with renewed desperation, but the rogues keep coming.
Morganna tilts her head, considering. Tempting. But not quite what I want. Her eyes gleam with malice. I don't just want him to suffer. I want him to watch you suffer. I want him to know that everyone he cares about dies because of what he is.
She raises her hand, and dark magic coalesces around her fingers.
Iris, RUN! Kael screams.
But I'm done running. I've run my whole life—from bullies, from rejection, from my own weakness. Not anymore.
I don't know what possesses me. Maybe it's stupidity. Maybe it's the bond. Or maybe I'm just tired of being useless while people I care about get hurt.
But as Morganna's magic flies toward me, I do something insane.
I reach for the bond—that silver thread connecting me to Kael—and I pull.
Power floods through me. Not my power. His. The strength and dominance of an alpha, channeled through our mate connection.
The dark magic hits me and... Bounces off.
Morganna's eyes widen in shock.
I'm shocked too, but I don't let it show. You want him to watch me die? I say, and my voice sounds different. Stronger. Then you're going to be disappointed.
I have no idea what I'm doing. But through the bond, I can feel Kael's power thrumming like a live wire. And for just a moment, I understand what Sera meant about the Moonfire Ritual.
The bond is a channel. Power can flow both ways.
I pull harder, and silver light explodes around me.
It's not the ritual, I don't know how to do that yet. But it's something. Enough to make Morganna pause. Enough to make her enchanted rogues hesitate.
Impossible, Morganna breathes. You're an omega. Weak. You shouldn't be able to
Yeah, well. I step forward, and the silver light pulses brighter. Turns out I'm really good at doing things I shouldn't.
The power is burning through me, too much for my weak body to handle. I can feel it tearing at my wolf, shredding the connection between us. This is going to hurt.
But Kael is safe. The pack is safe. That's what matters.
Morganna's expression shifts from shock to fury. You little
She doesn't finish. Because Kael finally breaks through the rogues and reaches us.
He's terrifying—the curse fully manifested, eyes blazing gold, claws extended. He positions himself between me and the witch with a snarl that promises death.
Touch her, he growls, and I'll tear you apart slowly enough that you'll beg for the mercy you never gave me.
For the first time, I see fear flicker across Morganna's face.
She's powerful. But Kael is an alpha in the grip of both a curse and a mate bond. There's no force on earth more dangerous.
This isn't over, Morganna hisses. She snaps her fingers, and her remaining rogues retreat. You won't save him, little omega. The curse can't be broken. All you've done is delay the inevitable.
She disappears in a swirl of dark smoke.
The moment she's gone, I collapse.
The borrowed power drains out of me like water, leaving me hollow. My legs give out, but before I hit the stone floor, Kael catches me.
You foolish, reckless, impossible woman, he growls. But his massive, clawed hands are gentle as he cradles me against his chest. I told you to stay in the chamber!
I don't take orders well, I manage.
Through the bond, I feel his emotions—fury and fear and relief and something deeper that neither of us is ready to name.
You pulled my power through the bond, he says, wonder creeping into his voice. I felt it. You shouldn't have been able to do that.
Yeah, well. I'm full of surprises.
His eyes—still gold but clearing to brown at the edges—meet mine. You saved the pack.
You saved me first. I was just returning the favor.
Something shifts in his expression. For a moment, the monster face is gone, and I see only the man underneath. Scarred. Exhausted. But looking at me like I'm the most miraculous thing he's ever seen.
Iris, he starts, his voice rough with emotion.
Then his body convulses.
No, I whisper as I feel the curse surge back with a vengeance. Using his power cost him. The curse is punishing him for it.
His scream tears through the cavern as his body begins to shift again—bones cracking, fur spreading, humanity slipping away.
Kael! Fight it!
But he can't hear me anymore. The beast is taking over completely.
Rowan and other warriors rush forward with silver chains, but Kael is too strong. He throws them off, still holding me but barely in control.
Alpha! Rowan shouts. You have to let her go! The curse
Kael's golden eyes find mine. And in them, I see his terror. Not of dying. Of hurting me.
It's okay, I whisper, reaching up to touch his monstrous face. I'm not afraid. I know you won't hurt me.
His claws tighten on me, not enough to injure, but enough that I feel his desperate control slipping.
Trust yourself, I say. Trust us.
For one heartbeat, two, we hover on the edge. Then, slowly, painfully, the gold in his eyes recedes. The beast pulls back just enough.
Kael releases me into Rowan's arms and stumbles backward. Chain me, he gasps. Now. Before I
The warriors move fast, securing him with silver that burns and smokes against his skin. He doesn't fight them. Just watches me with those haunted eyes.
I'm sorry, he whispers.
Don't be. I try to stand, but my legs won't hold me. Whatever I did with the bond, it cost me too. We saved the pack. Together.
You shouldn't have risked yourself
And you shouldn't have come to battle while cursed. I guess we're both reckless idiots.
Despite everything, his lips twitch. I'm starting to realize that.
Sera appears, looking between us with an expression I can't read. Both of you, medical bay. Now. And then we're having a serious conversation about what just happened.
As the warriors help me walk and others escort chained-Kael toward the healing chambers, I feel the bond between us humming with new understanding.
We can share power. Which means maybe, just maybe, we can fight this curse together.
But first, we have to survive each other.