Rex Pov
Something cold woke me up. I opened my eyes slowly because I felt strange, like I was coming out of a deep sleep that shouldn't have ended yet. My right hand felt wet and heavy.
I lifted it up and saw blood covering my palm and fingers. Fresh blood that was still dripping.
"What is going on?" I said and sat up fast.
That was when I saw the wall.
Someone had written on my bedroom wall in blood. The words "kill the Alpha" were painted over and over from the floor almost to the ceiling. Big letters and small letters, and some that dripped down like they had been written too fast. My stomach dropped, and I thought I was going to throw up.
"No," I whispered. "No no no."
I looked at my hand again and realized the truth. This was my blood; I had written this. Yolande had taken control of me while I was sleeping and made me do this.
Her laugh filled the room even though I couldn't see her. "Surprised, little wolf," she said. "I wanted to show you what your hand will write in the future. Our future."
"Get out of my head," I screamed and jumped out of bed. I grabbed the blanket and started scrubbing the wall as hard as I could.
The blood smeared at first, but didn't come off. I scrubbed harder until the blanket was soaked and red. My fingers started bleeding more from the pressure, but I didn't stop. I had to get these words off the wall before someone saw them.
It took forever, but finally the words started disappearing. I kept scrubbing even after they were gone just to make sure no trace was left. When I was done, the blanket was completely red, and my hands were shaking.
I ran to the bathroom and grabbed a cloth. I wet it and came back and scrubbed the wall again. Then I took both the blanket and the cloth to the fireplace and threw them in; the fire caught immediately and turned the fabric to ash.
I stood there watching to make sure every piece burned. Nobody could see this. Nobody could know what Yolande was making me do.
"That was just practice," Yolande whispered in my ear. "Now let me show you the real performance."
Everything went dark. I couldn't see my room anymore, the fireplace, or anything. Then, slowly, a new image appeared in front of me, like I was watching it happen in real life.
I was standing in the pack ceremony grounds. The full moon was huge and bright above me, and the whole pack was gathered in a circle around the center. Everyone was dressed in ceremonial clothes, and they were all smiling and talking. It was the mating season ritual that happened every year.
Urdon stood in the center wearing the traditional Alpha robes. They were dark red with gold symbols stitched into the fabric. He looked happy and confident, like he always did during pack ceremonies.
I watched myself walk toward him through the crowd. Everyone moved aside to let me pass because I was the Beta, and I belonged near the Alpha during important events. Urdon saw me coming and smiled.
"Ready for this?" he said in the vision.
Vision me smiled back. "Always ready."
Then I watched myself pull out a silver knife from inside my robes. Urdon's smile disappeared, and his eyes went wide. He tried to step back, but I was too fast; the knife went into his chest right where his heart was, and blood poured out immediately.
Urdon fell to his knees and grabbed the knife handle. He looked up at me with confusion and pain, and betrayal all mixed together. "Why," he whispered.
But vision me just stood there smiling while Urdon collapsed on the ground, and the whole pack started screaming.
The vision ended, and I fell to my knees in my real room. I was gasping and sweating, and my heart was beating so fast it hurt.
"I will not do that," I said. "I will never do that."
"You will," Yolande said, and her voice was so confident it terrified me. "Because I own your hands now, little wolf. I own your body, and soon I will own your mind too.
That vision was your future. Ten days from now, at the full moon ceremony, you will kill the Alpha in front of his entire pack."
"No," I said and stood up. "I am going to stop you."
"How," Yolande laughed. "You cannot even stop me from making you write on walls. You think you can stop me from making you commit murder?"
I didn't answer because I didn't have an answer at the time. She was right; if she could control me while I was sleeping, then she could control me anytime. I needed help, and I needed it now.
I threw on pants and a shirt and ran out of my room. I didn't care that it was barely dawn and most of the pack was still sleeping. I ran down the hall to Kyran's room and pounded on his door.
"Kyran," I yelled. "Open up right now."
The door opened, and Kyran stood there looking half asleep and confused. "Rex, what is wrong. It is not even sunrise yet."
"I need that ritual," I said and pushed past him into the room. "The dangerous one you told me about. I need it now, and I do not care if it kills me."
"Slow down," Kyran said and closed the door. "Tell me what happened."
"She made me write kill the Alpha on my wall," I said, and the words came out fast. "I woke up, and my hand was covered in blood, and the words were everywhere. I scrubbed them off and burned the evidence, but then she showed me a vision."
"What kind of vision?" Kyran asked.
"She showed me exactly when and how she is going to make me kill Urdon," I said. "Ten days from now at the full moon mating ceremony. I am going to stab him in front of the entire pack, and there is nothing I can do to stop it unless you help me."
Kyran's face went pale. "She showed you the exact moment. That means she has already locked onto the timeline. The curse is set."