CURSED LYCAN
Valeria's smile widened. "Dead? Is that what you thought? How delightfully tragic."
Kael's hands were shaking. Not from the curse this time. From rage. "You were there. The night of the slaughter. I saw your body."
"You saw what we wanted you to see." Valeria took a step closer to the ward line. Didn't cross it. Smart. "A necessary illusion. You understand, of course. We needed you broken. Desperate. The curse works better that way."
The words hit like punches. Sera watched Kael's face go from shock to understanding to something that looked like devastation.
"You." His voice cracked. "You helped them. Helped Marcus kill our pack."
"Helped?" Valeria laughed. "Darling nephew, I orchestrated it. The Bloodmoon pack was stagnant. Weak. Clinging to outdated traditions when we could be evolving. Becoming more."
"They were your family!"
"They were obstacles." She examined her nails, casual. "And now they're gone. Along with a dozen other packs who refused to see reason. Progress requires sacrifice, Kael. I thought your father would have taught you that."
Sera's hand found Kael's arm. He was vibrating with barely contained fury. One wrong word and he'd shift. Charge across the ward line. Get himself killed.
"Why are you here?" Sera asked, drawing Valeria's attention.
Those golden eyes focused on her. Predatory. Assessing. "Ah. The hunter. Marcus told me about you. Sera Blackwood. You're more interesting than I expected."
"Answer the question."
"Direct. I like that." Valeria's smile never wavered. "I'm here to make an offer. One chance for you both to walk away from this with your lives intact."
"We're not interested," Kael growled.
"You haven't heard the terms yet."
"Don't need to."
Valeria sighed. "Always so stubborn. Just like your father. He refused to listen too. Look where that got him."
Kael lunged. Sera barely caught him in time. He fought against her grip, snarling. His eyes were flickering again. Silver to gold.
"Kael, stop!" She pulled him back. "That's what she wants. She's baiting you."
"She killed them. Killed my entire pack. My father. My brother. Everyone!"
"I know. And we'll make her pay. But not like this. Not when she's ready for it."
Kael's breathing was ragged, but he stopped fighting. Sera felt the tension in his muscles slowly ease.
Valeria clapped slowly. "Well done, hunter. You actually got through to him. That's more than most can manage when a Bloodmoon loses their temper."
"State your offer and leave," Sera said coldly.
"Very well." Valeria clasped her hands behind her back. "Here's the deal. Give us Kael. Let us complete our research. In exchange, I'll call off Marcus. Your niece lives. You get to go back to your simple little life. Everyone wins."
"Except Kael."
"Kael is already dying. The curse ensures that. This way, his death means something. Contributes to something greater than one failing lycan."
Sera felt Kael tense again beside her. She squeezed his arm. A warning. Stay calm.
"What makes his blood so special?" Sera asked. "Why go through all this for one lycan?"
"Because he's not just one lycan." Valeria's eyes gleamed. "He's the last pure Bloodmoon alpha. His bloodline carries magic that dates back to the first packs. The original shifters. That magic is the key to stabilizing the corruption process. Making it permanent. Controllable."
"You want to create an army of corrupted lycans."
"I want to create the next evolution of our species." Valeria's voice took on an almost fervent quality. "Imagine lycans who never lose control. Who can shift at will without being slaves to the moon. Who are stronger, faster, better than anything nature intended. That's what Kael's blood can give us."
"At the cost of turning them into monsters," Kael said.
"Monsters?" Valeria laughed. "We're already monsters, nephew. I'm just trying to make us better ones."
"No." Kael's voice was steady now. Calm. "You're trying to play god. And you'll fail. Just like everyone who's tried before you."
"We'll see." Valeria's smile faded. "So. Do we have a deal?"
"Go to hell," Sera said.
"That's disappointing." Valeria snapped her fingers.
The corrupted lycans emerged from the trees. Dozens of them. All the new version. The ones that moved with intelligence and purpose.
They formed a circle around the compound. Just outside the ward line. Waiting.
"You can't cross the wards," Kael said. "Your corrupted pets can't either. This is pointless."
"True. The wards are quite impressive. Old magic. Strong." Valeria tilted her head. "But everything has a weakness. Even ancient protective spells."
She pulled something from her coat. A stone. Black, roughly the size of a fist, covered in symbols that hurt to look at.
Sera's blood went cold. "What is that?"
"A ward breaker. Very rare. Very illegal. Very effective." Valeria tossed it once, caught it. "I'll give you ten minutes to reconsider my offer. After that, the wards come down. And my creations come in."
She turned and walked back into the trees. The corrupted lycans remained. Circling. Patient.
Sera and Kael ran back to the main hall.
"Can she really break the wards?" Sera asked.
"Yes." Kael was already grabbing weapons, supplies. "Ward breakers were banned centuries ago for a reason. They don't just disable protective magic. They shatter it. Permanently."
"So this compound will be exposed."
"This compound will be destroyed." He shoved a pack at her. "We need to leave. Now."
"Where do we go? If the wards are down, we're exposed everywhere."
Kael stopped. Looked at her with those silver eyes that had seen too much death. "There's one place. The northern facility. The one Marcus uses for his research."
"You want to walk right into their base?"
"I want to end this. Tonight. Before anyone else dies." He grabbed her shoulders. "Valeria made a mistake. She told us what they want. Where they'll take me. That means we know their next move."
Sera saw where he was going. "We let them capture you. Like we planned."
"But faster. More desperate. They'll think they've won. That we're running scared. They'll take me straight to the main facility." His grip tightened. "And you follow. Hit them when they're distracted with me. Find the research. Find the cure. Burn it all to the ground."
"That's insane."
"You said you'd rather die fighting than live knowing you didn't try."
"I was talking about a plan with at least a five percent chance of success. This is maybe one percent."
"Then we better make that one percent count." Kael released her. "I'm out of options, Sera. Out of time. This is my last shot at stopping them. At maybe breaking this curse. I have to take it."
Sera wanted to argue. Wanted to find another way. But she saw the truth in his eyes. He was right. They were out of time.
"Fine." She checked her weapons. "But we do this smart. I need a way to track you. Something that won't be detected."
Kael thought for a moment. Then he pulled a knife from his belt. "Blood magic. It's old. Primitive. But it works."
"What do I do?"
"Give me your hand."
Sera held it out. Kael made a small cut across her palm. Did the same to his own. Then he pressed their hands together.
The effect was immediate. Sera felt something lock into place. Like a string connecting them. She could feel him. Not his emotions exactly. But his presence. His life force.
"I can sense you," she whispered.
"And I can sense you. No matter how far apart we are, we'll know where the other is." He pulled his hand back. Both cuts were already healing. Lycan regeneration. "If I'm in danger, you'll feel it. And vice versa."
"That's useful."
"It's also permanent. Blood bonds don't break. Even after death." His expression was serious. "You'll carry a piece of me forever. Are you sure?"
Sera looked at her palm. At the thin line already fading. Felt that string connecting them. Tying her to this cursed lycan who'd become something she hadn't expected.
An ally. A partner.
Maybe more.
"I'm sure," she said.
They gathered the last of the supplies. Weapons, medicine, food. Everything they could carry. Kael took one last look around the hall. At the paintings of his pack. His family.
"I'm sorry," he said to the empty room. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. But I'll make this right. I promise."
Outside, a sound like breaking glass echoed across the compound.
The wards were coming down.
Sera and Kael moved to the edge of the main hall. Watched as cracks appeared in the invisible barrier. The symbols on the ward stones flickered. Died.
Then the corrupted lycans charged.
"Ready?" Kael asked.
"No. But let's do it anyway."
They burst from the hall at a full run. Kael shifted mid-stride, becoming the beast. He crashed into the first wave of corrupted lycans like a wrecking ball. Sera followed in his wake, blades flashing.
They fought their way to the tree line. Bodies dropped behind them. But more kept coming. Too many.
A corrupted lycan got past Kael's guard. Went for Sera. She dodged, slashed, but it was fast. Its claws caught her leg. She stumbled.
Kael was there instantly. Ripped the thing off her. Threw it into three others.
"Keep moving!" he roared.
They broke through the circle. Hit the forest running. Behind them, howls filled the air. The corrupted lycans were giving chase.
"They're herding us," Sera gasped. "Pushing us toward something."
"The facility. They want us to run right to them."
"Then we give them what they want."
They ran for an hour. The corrupted lycans stayed close but never quite caught up. It was deliberate. Controlled. Sera could feel the blood bond pulsing. Could sense Kael's exhaustion matching her own.
Then the trees opened up.
A compound sprawled before them. Modern. Sterile. Nothing like the ancient Bloodmoon territory. This was all concrete and steel and technology.
And standing at the entrance was Marcus.
"Right on time," he called out. "We've been expecting you."
Kael shifted back to human form. Stood there breathing hard, naked, defiant. "This ends tonight."
"Yes." Marcus smiled. "It does."
He raised the device. Pressed the button.
Kael went down like someone had cut his strings. Convulsing. Screaming.
"No!" Sera lunged forward.
Corrupted lycans grabbed her from behind. Held her arms. Forced her to watch as Kael suffered.
Marcus walked over. Crouched beside Kael's twitching form. "The device has a new setting. Much stronger than before. You'll be paralyzed for hours. Plenty of time for us to extract what we need."
He looked up at Sera. "And you. The hunter who just wouldn't quit. Valeria wanted me to kill you. But I think I'll keep you alive. Let you watch as we complete our work. Seems more poetic that way."
Sera fought against the corrupted lycans holding her. Useless. They were too strong.
Marcus stood. Gestured to his people. "Take them inside. Prep the alpha for extraction. Put the hunter in a cell. We'll decide what to do with her later."
They dragged Sera toward the facility. She craned her neck, trying to see Kael. He was being loaded onto a stretcher. Still convulsing. Still in pain.
Through the blood bond, she felt his agony. Felt his fear. Not for himself.
For her.
The facility doors closed behind them with a sound like a tomb sealing.
And Sera realized their one percent chance had just dropped to zero.