Chapter 2 Two

Aidan's POV

They call me The Cursed Alpha.

Not to my face, of course. Never to my face.

They whisper it in the shadows, when they think I'm not listening. When they forget that an alpha doesn't need to hear with ears...he feels it in the tension of the room, in the weight of their stares.

They think I don't care.

They're wrong.

I care.

Because curses don't kill people. People do.

And three dead mates... that's not a curse.

That's a pattern.

"Alpha Aidan," Marcus says, falling into step beside me as we walk the east ridge, "we found signs of rogue activity near the ravine. Smelled like a female. Human and wolf scent, faint but fresh."

My jaw tightens. "And?"

"And it looks like she's been evading our patrols for days. Smart. She knows how to cover her tracks."

"Too smart," I mutter, more to myself than him. "She was in the cabin."

Marcus halts. "You saw her?"

"I touched her."

He still goes. "And?"

"I felt the bond."

He flinches. "Again?"

I nod once.

"Moon help us."

"No," I say quietly. "Not the Moon. Not this time."

We walk in silence for a while. The forest is thick here, scent-marked by my wolves, but she'd managed to slip through anyway. Unseen. Unheard.

Untouched until I found her.

"She threatened me," I added.

Marcus actually chuckles. "Sounds like your type."

"Not funny."

He sobers. "What do you want to do?"

That's the question, isn't it?

What do I want to do?

Track her? Already tried that. Her scent vanished at the stream like smoke in the wind. Fight her? She runs from fights. Kill her?

I flinch at the thought.

Because that's what happened before.

They touched me. They bonded.

And then they died.

"She didn't recognize me," I say slowly. "But she ran like hell."

"Maybe she knows the stories."

"She looked... different." I frown, remembering the flash in her eyes. Fear, yes but also fire. Defiance. Like she was daring the world to try her.

Marcus glances sideways. "You think she's the one from the prophecy?"

"I don't believe in prophecies."

"You don't have to. The Moon believes in you."

That earns him a glare.

He just shrugs.

"Have the patrols double their sweep," I say, moving again. "She's still in our borders. I want her found."

"And when will we find her?"

I pause.

When we find her... what?

Do I lock her up? Break the bond? Watch her die like the others?

Or do I finally get answers?

By the time I get back to the packhouse, my head is full of questions and none of them have answers.

I push the doors open. The room stills.

Twenty wolves, my warriors, my inner circle sit around the long table. Maps spread out, reports in piles.

They all look up.

"Alpha," my Beta says, standing. "We've got a problem."

I raise a brow. "Another one?"

He slides a folder across the table. "Her name is Selene Wilder. Rogue. No known pack. Traveled through five territories in the last six months. Rumors say she's part witch. There's a price on her head from Silver Fang territory."

"Witch?"

He shrugs. "She's unregistered. No record of birth, no lineage. But every pack that's tried to catch her has ended up burned. Literally."

My wolf stirs.

Burned.

Like the dream.

Like the visions I've been getting for weeks now.

"She's not just some rogue," I murmur. "She's something else."

One of the older warriors grunts. "You sure it's not just another trap, Alpha? Another decoy mate? That's how it started last time."

The room goes quiet.

I look him in the eye. "You think I don't remember?"

He drops his gaze. "No, Alpha."

I pick up the folder, staring at her picture. It's grainy, caught from a security camera at a border post. But the eyes...those silver-gray eyes, cut through the blur.

"She didn't flinch when I touched her," I say. "But the bond reacted."

"That means it's real," Marcus says.

"Or it's another death sentence," someone mutters.

I slam the folder shut.

"She's mine."

Every head turns.

"She crossed into my territory. She challenged my wolves. She burned her scent trail like a witch and vanished without a trace. But she's mine."

"What if she doesn't want to be?"

The words come from a quiet voice at the end of the table. My sister, Lira. The only one who still dares to speak to me like I'm human.

I look at her. "Then I'll give her a choice."

"And if she runs again?"

I stand.

"Then I'll chase her."

Night falls fast in the mountains.

The wind shifts, and I catch it again, her scent. Faint. But fresh.

I don't wait for Marcus. I don't wait for backup.

I shift mid-run, bones cracking, fur rippling as I drop into my wolf form and tear through the trees.

She's nearby.

I feel it.

She's watching me, even now.

Come out, little flame.

I found the clearing first.

A ring of stones. An old fire pit. Empty.

But the scent is stronger now.

And there...on the far edge...movement.

She steps out of the shadows, slow and calm.

Selene.

No knife this time. No running. Just... watching.

"You're persistent," she says, voice cool and rough like gravel.

"You left the door open."

"Didn't know I had company."

"You knew."

She tilts her head. "What do you want, Alpha?"

I shift back, stilling the air between us. Naked and unarmed. Power simmering under my skin.

"Answers."

She laughs. Actually, I laugh. "You won't like them."

"Try me."

She takes a step closer. "You felt it, didn't you? The bond."

"Yes."

"Then you should've killed me the second it snapped into place."

I blink. "Why?"

"Because you're cursed."

I flinch. She saw the files. She knows the rumors.

"You believe that?"

She shrugs. "I believe in patterns."

I take a slow step forward. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's the problem, Aidan. It's not you I'm afraid of."

"Then what?"

She holds my gaze. "Whatever wants me dead the moment I'm bound to you."

For the first time in years, I don't know what to say.

And then she says the words that shatter everything:

"I've seen them. The dead ones. Your past mates. They come in my dreams. And they're warning me."

I freeze.

"What did they say?"

She steps into the moonlight.

"They said you weren't cursed. You were chosen."

The ground trembles beneath us.

And in the distance, something howls...low and ancient, not of this world.

We both turn toward the sound.

And Selene whispers, "They found me."