Amara's POV
The wind hit first. It tore through my thin coat like it wanted to cut me open. It was sharp and cold.
Then people looked at her. Dozens of scary, tall, and wide wolves stood in a wide circle around me, their eyes fixed like knives. I squeezed my arms tight, and the silver chains hurt my wrists. I kept quiet. I hadn't talked in days.
Someone said, "This one won't last the night." Someone else said, "She smells like ash." Which blood?
She's too small. She's already broken.I wasn't. Not yet. But I could feel it coming.
The ground beneath my bare feet was frozen, and I stumbled once, catching myself before I fell to my knees. They wouldn't see me kneel. Not yet. Not for them.
A sharp voice yelled from the darkness, Bring her forward.
The wolves split. I was pushed hard… by a man with iron eyes. Move. Ahead of me was a raised stone slab. Dark spots painted its surface. Dried blood. My blood would join it soon.
I didn't cry. I hadn't cried in years. Not when they burned my village. Not even when they tied me to the post. And not when they passed me off like a gift no one wanted.
But this? This one was different.
He stepped into the open, and everything stopped. He was bigger than the rest. Built like a war and walked like it too. His presence sent a ripple through the pack.
Alpha Rahel. His hair was black as nightfall, falling just past his shoulders, and his eyes, Gods, his eyes weren't just gold. They burned. His gaze swept over me once, slow and sharp. Then he scoffed.
She's too fragile, Rahel said coldly. She'll break. I flinched, but held his stare.
A guard stepped beside him. The full moon is tonight. The curse needs blood. She won't survive the bite. She doesn't need to.
His jaw twitched. Something passed through his eyes then too quick to name but I caught it. A flash of worry.
Rahel turned away.
Begin the ceremony. Two guards grabbed me by the arms. I didn't fight. Fighting meant hope.
A circle of ash was made around the slab. The dogs chanted low in their mouths, a sound that wasn't quite human. The full moon crept higher, and the air shimmered with raw magic.
They forced me to kneel. Rahel stepped forward. His boots echoed on the stone.
Any last words, girl? His voice was calm, detached.
I met his eyes. You're afraid of me. His lips curled, but not into a smile. I've slaughtered witches stronger than you. But I'm not just a witch, I whispered. Am I?
His eyes narrowed. What are you, then?
I didn't answer. I didn't know. He knelt behind me, close enough to feel his breath on my neck. My pulse slammed against my throat.
I don't want to do this, Rahel said under his breath, so only I could hear. Then don't. It's not a choice. His teeth sank into my skin.
Pain burst through me fire, ice, lightning. Every nerve lit up and screamed. I fell onto the slab, trembling, gasping, as blood spilled down my shoulder.
Alpha, something's wrong someone yelled. My body jerked once. Twice. Then everything stopped.
Darkness enveloped me. Silence, Until… A sound cracked through the night.
My breath.
My eyes snapped ope Gold. Not Rahel's gold. Brighter. Wilder. I sat up without effort. The blood on my skin hissed and steamed. My chains broke like paper.
The wolves backed away. Rahel stumbled, holding his chest. He fell to one knee, panting. What... what did you do? he rasped.
I stood. I wasn't cold anymore. I wasn't weak. I turned to face him, and the wolves parted for me now.
You bit me, I said, voice low, calm. Rahel looked up at me, shaking. No. That's not... that's not possible. What?
I'm the Alpha, he said, voice barely above a whisper. I mark. I don't kneel. But he was kneeling. Then why, I asked, moving closer, are you the one falling apart?
He clutched his chest again, veins throbbing dark under his skin.
I feel... her magic, one of the elders said behind me. It's... inside him. It's wrong, another muttered. This wasn't supposed to happen.
Rahel's breaths turned ragged. His hands shook. You were supposed to die, he mumbled. I tilted my head. Maybe I did.
The slab cracked beneath my feet. My skin glowed gold veins moving beneath the surface. The moon seemed to lower itself, soaking me in light. The dogs didn't bow.
They fell.
One by one, like something inside them short-circuited, and Rahel… He screamed.
It wasn't pain. It was confusion. Rage. Loss. He grabbed my wrist, eyes wide. What are you?!
I smiled. I don't know. But I think you made me.
Rahel's grip relaxed. He stared at the blood on his hand, his blood. Not mine.
You bled, I whispered. Not me.
A pause. Then Rahel's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. Silence fell again. But this time, it wasn't quiet. One of the wolves stepped forward, slowly. Alpha... Rahel is marked. By her.
No, someone whispered. She carries the mark, but he bleeds. That's not a curse it's a bond.
A reversal. A prophecy undone. The sky above us cracked like glass. A low rumble rolled through the trees.
The ground shook beneath my feet. I looked down at Rahel, unconscious. His lips moved, barely. A whisper. Why... why am I the one falling apart?
I didn't have an answer, but something in the air shifted. Something old, and I knew This bite was never about sacrifice. It was about awakening.
Behind me, one of the wolves suddenly screamed, holding their head. I turned just in time to see their eyes turn gold… like mine. Then another. And another.
A curse doesn't end. It spreads, it crept under my skin like fire. My veins throbbed, my lungs screamed for air, but I couldn't move. Couldn't move. I was trapped in my body while something old took root.
Get her up, someone yelled, their voice shaking.
Hands grabbed me, cold and rough. I flinched. I wasn't in the woods anymore. I wasn't the quiet girl who walked freely into her death. I was… more.
Rahel's eyes met mine wild, confused, scared. He's afraid of me.
What did you do? a voice hissed. It was the Beta, Luken, stepping between us. You weren't supposed to
She woke it, Rahel mumbled. The power. The curse. No, I croaked. My voice sounded broken and new. You woke it.
Luken stared at me like I had gotten fangs. Maybe I had. The moon was almost full. The air crackled with something electric. Every wolf in the clearing took a step back. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
She's glowing, someone whispered.
My skin shimmered gold under the moonlight. It wasn't fire. It wasn't pain anymore. It was a cause. Power.
I can't breathe, Rahel gasped, sinking to one knee. Why does it feel like… I'm the one bound?
He clutched his chest, eyes wide, pupils blown. Why am I… the one falling apart?
I looked down at him, at the Alpha everyone feared and felt nothing but calm. Because the curse didn't want a killer. It wanted a key, and somehow, I had become one. But if I were the key… who… or what was trying to open me?