Caelan's POV
I drop Seraphina's hand like it burns.
The letter falls to the floor between us. The words repeat in my head: To bond with the Oracle's Heart, the Luna Wolf must kill her bonded partner.
"No," Seraphina says immediately. "Absolutely not. There has to be another way."
"There isn't." I back away from her, putting distance between us. "The letter is clear. Blood sacrifice means death. My death."
"I won't do it!" Her voice rises. "I just bonded with you! I'm not going to—"
"You have to." I force the words out even though they taste like poison. "If you don't bond with the Oracle's Heart, you'll lose your powers in three days. And then Aldric will corrupt you. Use you against me anyway. At least this way, you get to keep your magic and your free will."
Through our bond, I feel her emotions slam into me. Horror. Denial. Rage. And underneath it all, something that makes my chest ache—she actually cares about me. After knowing me for barely an hour, she cares whether I live or die.
"Stop that," she snaps. "Stop being noble and self-sacrificing. We're finding another solution."
"There is no other solution!"
"Then we make one!"
We stare at each other across the destroyed room. The bond hums between us, pulling us together even as we try to stay apart.
I want to go to her. Want to hold her. Want to pretend for just one moment that we have a future together.
But we don't. I've known since I was thirteen that I was meant to die young. This curse, this fate—it's been following me for fifteen years. At least now my death will mean something. Will save someone instead of just taking them with me.
"We need to focus," I say, making my voice cold. "We have three days. Day one: find where that creature took the Oracle's Heart. Day two: steal it back. Day three: you perform the ritual."
"And kill you? That's your plan?" She looks at me like I'm insane. "What happened to breaking curses together? To being bonded mates?"
"That was before we knew the price." I pick up the letter and fold it carefully. "Seraphina, listen to me. My mother is dead. My family line is cursed. I can never have children. I'm a king who can't produce an heir. What kind of future is that? At least if I die now, you live. You keep your powers. You can find another—"
"Don't." Her voice cuts like a blade. "Don't you dare say I can find another mate. That's not how this works. We're bonded. For life. If you die, I die."
I freeze. "What?"
"Did you even read the ritual instructions? True bonded mates share one life force. If one dies, the other follows within hours." She laughs bitterly. "So your noble sacrifice? It kills us both."
The words hit me like a punch. I grab the ritual scroll from where it fell and read it again. She's right. At the bottom, in tiny letters:
"Bonded mates cannot survive separation by death. If one soul departs, the other will follow, for they are now two halves of one whole."
"Then we're trapped," I whisper. "If I die, you die. But if you don't bond with the Oracle's Heart, Aldric corrupts you and uses you to kill me anyway. Which still kills us both."
"Exactly." She walks to the window, her back to me. "So we need a third option. Something the curse-makers didn't think of."
"Like what?"
"I don't know yet!" She spins around, and I see tears on her face. "But I'm not giving up. I spent three weeks homeless and starving. I survived being hunted by shadow creatures. I broke your death curse and turned into a giant wolf. I'm not dying now because some ancient ritual says I have to kill you!"
Her fierce determination makes something warm bloom in my chest. Hope. Dangerous, foolish hope.
"Okay," I say quietly. "We find a third option. But we're running out of time. The creature who stole the Heart has a head start. We need to track her."
"How? She disappeared into the forest."
I close my eyes and reach for the bond. Not just the surface connection, but deeper. Into the place where curse magic lives. Where death and darkness pool.
The curse might be broken, but its power is still part of me. Changed by Seraphina's light, but still there. And that power can sense other dark magic.
I feel it. Like a thread of shadow leading into the forest. The creature's trail.
"I can track her," I say. "The curse power recognizes its own kind. She reeks of dark magic."
"Then we go now." Seraphina is already moving toward the door.
"Wait." I grab her arm. "We can't just rush out. We need supplies. Weapons. And..." I hesitate. "We need to know who we can trust. There's a traitor in the palace feeding information to Aldric."
"Then we trust no one but each other."
"Agreed. But we'll need Lyra. She's loyal, and she can fight."
Through the bond, I feel Seraphina's suspicion. "How do you know she's not the traitor?"
"Because she's had fifteen years to kill me, and she never did. She's protected me when everyone else wanted me dead." I meet her eyes. "I trust her with my life. You need to trust her too."
Seraphina studies me for a long moment. Then nods. "Okay. We bring Lyra. No one else."
We find Lyra in the guards' quarters, cleaning blood from her sword. She looks up when we enter, her eyes red from crying.
"The Queen is prepared for funeral rites," she says quietly. "Seven guards died from the poison. Fourteen more are sick but might survive." She sheathes her sword. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I should have been faster. Should have stopped him."
"It's not your fault." The words come automatically, but they feel hollow. Everything is my fault. My curse brought this nightmare to everyone I care about.
Stop that, Seraphina's voice says in my head. This is Aldric's fault, not yours.
I don't argue, but I don't agree either.
"Lyra, we need your help," Seraphina says. "We're tracking the creature who stole the Oracle's Heart. It's a three-day journey into the Dark Forest. Just the three of us."
Lyra looks between us. "That's suicide. The Dark Forest is filled with rogues, shadow creatures, and worse. We need at least twenty soldiers—"
"We have a traitor in the palace," I interrupt. "Someone feeding Aldric information. We can't risk bringing anyone who might betray us."
Understanding dawns on Lyra's face. "You think one of our own guards—"
"We don't know who," Seraphina says. "So we trust no one but each other. Are you with us?"
Lyra doesn't hesitate. "Always." She stands and grabs her weapons. "When do we leave?"
"Now," I say. "Before anyone realizes we're gone."
We gather supplies quickly. Weapons, food, water, bedrolls. Lyra moves with efficient speed while Seraphina and I work in tense silence.
I can feel her through the bond. Her fear. Her determination. Her absolute refusal to let me die.
And underneath it all, something growing. Something that wasn't there an hour ago.
Love.
She's falling in love with me. And I'm falling in love with her. Fast and impossible and completely doomed.
Because even if we find the Oracle's Heart, even if we steal it back, the ritual still requires my death. Unless we find that third option.
We slip out of the palace through a secret passage Lyra knows. The forest looms ahead, dark and dangerous.
"The trail leads north," I say, following the shadow-thread only I can sense. "Deep into the forest. At least a day's walk, maybe two."
"Then we'd better move fast," Lyra says. "We have three days before—"
She stops. Stares at something in the trees.
I follow her gaze and my blood runs cold.
Bodies. Hanging from the trees like gruesome decorations. Palace guards, their throats cut, their eyes still open in death.
And carved into each of their chests is the same symbol: A circle with a crescent moon, crossed out with a bleeding slash.
"That's the symbol for Luna Wolf killers," Lyra whispers. "A hunter's mark."
"They're not just after the Oracle's Heart," Seraphina says quietly. "They're hunting me specifically. Leaving a trail."
"It's a trap," I realize. "They want us to follow. They're leading us somewhere."
"So we turn back?" Lyra asks.
I look at Seraphina. Through our bond, I feel her decision before she speaks it.
"No," she says. "We go forward. Because if we don't, I lose my powers, and Aldric wins. Trap or not, we have no choice."
We start walking into the forest. The hanging bodies sway in the wind behind us, a grim warning of what's to come.
The shadow-thread leads deeper and deeper into darkness. I count the bodies as we pass them. Seven. Twelve. Twenty.
All guards. All killed recently. All marked with that hunter's symbol.
"How many people are we fighting?" Seraphina asks quietly.
"An army," I answer. "Aldric didn't just send one creature. He sent dozens."
We walk for hours. The sun sets, and the forest grows darker. We should stop. Make camp. Rest.
But I can feel something ahead. Something waiting.
"We're close," I say. "The Heart is near. I can sense it."
"So can I," Seraphina says, and I realize she's right. Through our bond, I feel her Luna power reaching toward its source. The Oracle's Heart is calling to her.
We push through thick brush into a clearing.
And freeze.
The clearing is filled with shadow creatures. Dozens of them, their yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. And in the center, tied to a post, is a young girl. She can't be more than ten years old, crying and struggling against her ropes.
"Daddy!" she screams when she sees me. "Help me! Please!"
My heart stops. That voice. Those eyes.
"Elena?" I whisper.
"Your Highness," Lyra breathes. "That's impossible. Your sister died fifteen years ago."
"I know." But I'm already moving forward, my mind screaming that it's a trap, my heart not caring.
The girl looks exactly like Elena. Same dark hair. Same silver eyes. Same face I've seen in my nightmares for fifteen years—the face of the first person my curse killed.
"Daddy, it's me!" she sobs. "I'm alive! The curse didn't kill me, it trapped me! I've been waiting for you to find me!"
"It's not real," Seraphina grabs my arm. "Caelan, stop. It's an illusion. A trick."
But I can't stop. I'm walking forward like I'm being pulled by strings.
Because what if it's real? What if my sister survived somehow? What if I can save her this time?
"Daddy, please!" Elena reaches for me. "Don't leave me again!"
I'm ten steps from her. Five. Three.
"Caelan, NO!" Seraphina tackles me, knocking me to the ground just as a blade swings through the air where my head was.
The "girl" shifts, her face melting into something else. Something with too many teeth and yellow eyes.
"Almost," the creature hisses in Elena's stolen voice. "So close to cutting off the prince's head."
More creatures emerge from the shadows. Twenty. Thirty. Fifty.
We're completely surrounded.
And standing behind them all is Aldric, smiling that poisonous smile.
"Thank you for making this so easy," he says. "I thought I'd have to hunt you down. But you walked right into my trap." He holds up the wooden box—the Oracle's Heart. "Now, let's make a deal. Seraphina bonds with the Heart right now, under my control. Or I kill you both and take my chances with corrupting her corpse."
"Never," Seraphina snarls, pulling me to my feet.
"Your choice." Aldric opens the box.
Purple light pours out, wrapping around Seraphina like chains. The same binding magic from before, but stronger. So much stronger.
She screams as it invades her mind.
I try to reach her, but creatures grab my arms, holding me back. I watch in horror as Seraphina's eyes turn from green to glowing purple.
"Seraphina, fight it!"
But she's not Seraphina anymore. The Oracle's Heart is taking control, twisting her Luna power into something dark.
When she looks at me, her face is empty. Emotionless.
"Kill him," Aldric orders.
And Seraphina raises her hand, deadly light building in her palm, aimed straight at my heart.