Killian's POV
The Elders' words won't stop ringing in my head.
I've heard a thousand warnings in my life, but never one that clung to my bones the way that one did. The way the Elders had looked at Layla like they were scared of her or what they would become.
Layla was harmless. She was an omega.
An Omega who's supposed to be dangerous?
I scoff quietly to myself, pacing inside my study. I've tried telling myself it was paranoia, that the elders were paranoid and old, maybe even delusional but deep down, I know better.
There's something about Layla. Something I feel in my blood. And I need to know what it is.
I grab my coat and head out into the night without telling anyone. Not my brothers.
I have connections with people who can give me the info I need. I decide to investigate further.
-
It takes hours to cross the mountains that separate Lunaris from neutral zones, places where no pack holds sway. These were places filled with the kind of whispers no one dares speak aloud. My destination is one such place.
The Echo Hollow.
Just saying the name makes most wolves shiver. It's a dead zone, forbidden by law and custom. A no-man's-land filled with things that shouldn't exist—and yet they do. And tonight, I walk straight into it.
I step inside the tunnels that lead into the Hollow. There's no light here, except for the glow from torches hanging on jagged walls. The air is thick with moss, blood, and something else I can't name. It seems ancient, stale magic maybe.
Eyes look at me from the shadows. These are rogues, exiles and other things that used to be wolves but have long abandoned their humanity. Creatures with broken eyes and sharper teeth.
But no one dares touch me. They know who I am.
Killian, Alpha of Lunaris. Cursed Alpha. That's what they call me behind my back.
I walk deeper into the tunnels. My heart pounds, not from fear, but anticipation. There's one person who might have answers. And she doesn't give them easily.
Finally, I reach the place.
A curtain made of deep velvet, black as midnight and stitched with silver runes, blocks the entrance to her chamber.
I push it aside.
The air instantly thickens, hot with incense and something… electric.
Her lair is a mad collection of relics and things that don't belong in this world. In here, there are jars filled with glowing herbs, dried bones hanging on twine, dreamcatchers tangled with red string. Crystals pulse with faint light as I walk in.
And then I see her.
Madame Solana.
She sits on a curved bone throne dressed in silks the color of ash and amethyst. Her skin is pale and ageless, like marble come to life. Her hair falls like smoke around her shoulders, and her violet eyes lock on to mine.
"Killian she murmurs "The cursed Alpha finally walks into my hollow. What truth are you bold enough to chase tonight?"
I don't flinch. "I need information."
Her smile is slow. "Ah. So the dreams have begun."
"No dreams. Just a warning," I snap, folding my arms. "From trusted Elders. He said my mate… isn't what she seems."
She chuckles "They never are."
My jaw tenses. "What do you know about her? About Layla?"
She rises from her seat, walking toward the obsidian table in the center of the room. "Everything has a price, Alpha. You know that."
"I brought silver," I say, tossing a pouch on the table.
She doesn't even glance at it.
"I want more," she purrs. "Something that can't be melted or forged."
I narrow my eyes. "What?"
"Blood."
The word is a whisper, but it echoes through the room.
"I don't—"
"A drop is all I need," she says, placing a small obsidian bowl on the table. "Truth is expensive. And what you seek… is ancient."
I hesitate. My wolf snarls inside me, instinctively resisting anything to do with blood magic.
But I need answers.
So, I reach into my coat, take out a small dagger, and prick my finger. Blood pours out from my finger and it falls. The moment it hits the bowl, the walls tremble.
Whispers crawl through the room.
Solana closes her eyes, breathing them in like perfume.
"She is not merely Omega," she says finally. "She is descended from the Lost Lineage."
My heart stops.
"Lost Lineage?" I ask, barely able to speak.
"A bloodline erased from history. Hidden by the Alphas of old because of what it could do. They feared them. And rightly so."
I stare at her. "Why?"
Solana moves to a hidden drawer and pulls out a scroll. It's old and marked with a red seal—a seal made of dried blood.
She hands it to me. As I unroll it, my breath catches.
The words are strange, but somehow, I understand them.
The Binding Curse. One shall reign. One shall fall. The mate of shadowed birth shall awaken magic buried deep—power to save or destroy.
I look up at her. "This sounds like a fairytale. A bedtime story for scared wolves."
She leans closer, looking straight into my eyes "You will believe… when your dreams start to speak to you."
A chill runs down my spine.
"Why now?" I ask. "Why is it happening now?"
"Because time runs in circles, Alpha. And the third moon is nearly upon us."
"What happens then?"
Her voice softens, becomes almost kind.
"She will begin to change. She will hear the whispers of those who came before her. And when the third moon rises… her power will awaken. Whether she wants it or not."
I grip the scroll tightly. I don't want to believe this. maybe they're all just delusional. But then…the elders did seem scared.
"You said I'm cursed. What did you mean by that?"
Solana just smiles. "You already know, don't you? You've felt it all your life—the pull toward something, someone, you were told you should never have. And yet, here you are. Bound. Blood for blood."
I back away, feeling the walls close in around me.
"Be careful, Killian," she says softly, almost like a warning. "The girl is not your ruin. But she might just be your reckoning."
I don't say a word as I turn and walk away.
Outside, the air is colder. I look at the sky.
The moon is already beginning to wane.
Two more to go.