Elina's POV
The dawn came with a silence that felt unnatural. No birds, no whispers of the trees — only the heavy breath of the fortress, as if it too waited for the storm that was coming.
I hadn't slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his — molten silver, edged in hunger and torment. Dolph.
The cursed Alpha.
My mate.
I could still feel where his hand had clamped around my arm when he dragged me from the Great Hall the night before — not in pain, but in heat. I could hear the court's murmurs echoing like ghosts in my head: "The cursed Alpha has found his mate."
Some voices trembled with relief.
Others — with fear.
By morning, the fortress was restless. Guards patrolled with their eyes averted. Servants bowed too quickly, too low. When I stepped into the corridor, flanked by two soldiers, whispers followed like shadows:
"She's human."
"He'll kill her before the moon wanes."
"No, she'll break the curse."
"Or die trying."
I wanted to disappear. To melt into the stone. But the moment the throne hall doors opened, I realized there was nowhere left to hide.
The hall was vast and golden — the kind of splendor that suffocates. Marble and moonlight, banners of silver stitched with the royal sigil of the wolf crowned by stars. At the far end, on the raised dais, sat the King and Queen of all wolfkind.
Alpha King Adolwolf Boris — tall, cold, his black beard streaked with iron. His eyes gleamed with that kind of authority that does not need to be shouted; it commands by simply existing.
And beside him, Queen Luna Adolwolf — her beauty was perilous, smooth and glacial, her presence like frost creeping across a wound.
I felt the tremor in my hands as the guards pushed me forward. Then the doors opened again — and Dolph entered.
The air changed.
Every wolf in the hall stiffened. Even the guards beside me bowed their heads slightly, instinctively, though Dolph was not their King. His aura rolled like thunder — restrained, but barely. His gaze found mine instantly, sharp and electric.
He looked as though he hadn't slept either. His jaw was tight, his hair disheveled, his dark coat unbuttoned. Yet there was something primal about him — a barely leashed power that warned everyone: Do not touch her.
"Alpha Dolph Hati," the King said at last, his voice echoing through the marble. "You were summoned at dawn. I did not expect you to keep your King waiting."
Dolph bowed — barely. "Your Majesty."
"You stand accused of breaching the sacred bond laws," spoke Elder Theron from the side, his voice dry as dust. "By claiming a human mate within the royal domain, without sanction or the Council's blessing."
I swallowed. Claimed. The word sounded like a weapon.
Queen Luna's voice was smooth. "Do you deny it, Alpha Hati?"
"Nooo," Dolph said. "I do not deny her."
The entire hall went still.
Something electric passed through the air — something that made even the torch flames flicker lower.
King Adolwolf leaned forward on his throne. "Then you understand the gravity of what you've done. You've bound yourself to a mortal under my roof. To a human. You've risked the balance between our kind and theirs."
Dolph's gaze never left the King. "I risked nothing that wasn't already dying."
"Watch your tone," the Queen murmured, though her lips curved faintly — the ghost of a dangerous smile. "Your curse may make you feared, Alpha, but do not mistake fear for immunity."
Dolph's jaw flexed. I could feel his anger coiling in my chest through the bond — hot and sharp, like the edge of a blade drawn too quickly.
Then the King rose. His voice was deep, almost mournful. "I have always valued you, Dolph Hati. You've been my most trusted warrior. My blade when peace failed. My shadow when I needed silence."
"I have never failed you," Dolph said quietly.
"No," the King agreed. "You have not. And that is why I must ask you — as your King, not as your enemy — to release this bond. Renounce her."
My breath caught.
"Renounce herrrr," the King repeated, his eyes shifting to me now, cold and assessing. "For the sake of your people, and the realm."
The hall waited — every elder, every guard, every wolf holding their breath.
Dolph didn't answer. He just stared at the King for a long, tense heartbeat. Then he took a single step forward.
"I have fought your wars," he said, voice low and trembling with contained fury. "I have bled for your borders, buried my brothers, hunted your enemies. For years, I have obeyed every command — without question, without rest. And all that time, I lived without a mate. Without hope."
The King's jaw tightened, but Dolph continued.
"I searched the mountains, the cities, the ruins of our kind — and found no one. The curse took everything. My pack feared me. The moons turned and turned, and still, I was alone."
His voice broke slightly, raw around the edges.
"But now…" He turned his head toward me. The look in his eyes made my heart stop. "…I found her. And I will not renounce her."
The hall erupted into gasps and whispers.
Elder Theron stepped forward, trembling with outrage. "Alpha Hati, you defy the King's command!"
"I defy injustice," Dolph growled. "You call me cursed. You call me beast. Yet I have been your shield. And now, when the bond the Moon herself gave me finally appears, you would have me destroy it?"
"Enough!" the King's voice thundered, shaking the very stone.
Dolph's hands clenched at his sides. For a second, I saw the faint shimmer of light beneath his skin — the mark of his curse awakening. The air around him pulsed like heat off metal.
Lady Victoria rose from the circle of advisors, her eyes sharp and almost sympathetic. "Your Majesty," she said softly, "perhaps we should remember what happens when the cursed one's emotions are provoked. The last time he lost control…"
She didn't need to finish. Everyone in that hall remembered the massacre.
The King exhaled slowly, lowering himself back onto his throne. "I am not blind to his strength, Lady Victoria. Nor am I ignorant of what he is."
Then his gaze turned to me again — colder this time. "Human girl," he said. "Do you even understand what you've done? What you've bound yourself to?"
My throat felt tight. But something in me refused to bow. "I didn't choose this," I whispered. "But neither did he."
Queen Luna tilted her head, eyes glinting. "She speaks the truth."
The King's look flicked to her sharply. "Luna—"
"No," she said softly, almost serenely. "You fear what cannot be controlled. But perhaps the curse found its answer in her."
The hall buzzed with murmurs again. Elder Theron shook his head. "You would risk the wrath of the Moon Goddess herself?"
"I would risk hope," the Queen replied.
Dolph's voice came again, lower now. "You want order, Majesty? Then let me prove her worth. Let me prove the bond will not destroy me — or you."
"And if it does?" the King asked.
"Then you can kill me yourself."
The words fell heavy, final.
The King studied him in silence for a long while, then looked at the Queen. Something passed between them — something wordless and sharp.
Finally, the King said, "Very well. But if she becomes your weakness, Dolph… I will end it myself."
He turned to me. "And as for you, girl — until this is resolved, you will remain within the fortress walls under watch. Step beyond them, and the bond will be the least of what kills you."
The guards moved closer. Dolph's aura flared in warning, and they froze.
"Don't you dare, Do not touch her," he said, his voice soft but deadly.
The King's eyes narrowed. "Control yourself, Alpha."
Dolph's reply came like a growl: "Control me, and you'll have another war."
The hall fell to silence. Even the flames seemed to bow.
Then the King's voice rang again, final and cold. "This council is adjourned. May the Moon watch us all — for we tread dangerous ground."
The moment the hall emptied, I could finally breathe — though the air still tasted of metal and storm.
Dolph came to me. His hand brushed mine, just briefly. It was enough to still the trembling.
"You shouldn't have spoken," he murmured, eyes still burning from whatever battle he was fighting inside.
"And you shouldn't have defied him," I said quietly. "He's your King."
"He's my King," Dolph said. "But you're my mate."
I stared at him. "Do you even know what that means for me?"
"Yes." His voice softened. "It means you'll be hunted. Feared. Maybe even hated."
"And you?"
He gave a small, broken smile. "It means I'll burn the world before I let them touch you."
The light flickered across his face — and for a second, I thought I saw the faint shimmer again, the mark of the curse stirring in his blood.
The cursed Alpha.
And me — the human who might be his salvation, or his ruin.
When he turned away, the echo of his vow stayed with me long after his footsteps faded.
Somewhere in the fortress above us, the moon broke through the clouds — pale and watching.
And I knew, deep in my bones, that this was only the beginning.
End of chapter Three.