Luna's POV
Kael's mother was murdered? I stare at the death certificate on my phone, my hands shaking. This says she died from silver poisoning, not childbirth!
Kael grabs the phone from me, his face going white as he reads. That's impossible. My father told me she died giving birth to me. He said His voice breaks. He said it was my fault she died.
Your father lied, Jason says grimly. He's been reading the message over Kael's shoulder. The question is why.
And what does this have to do with me? I ask, reading the threatening text again. You'll die the same way. In exactly thirty days. On the night of the Blood Moon.
The Blood Moon, Tobias says slowly. That's when mate bonds are strongest. It's also when they're most vulnerable to dark magic.
Dark magic? I repeat. That's real?
Unfortunately, yes, Kael says, still staring at his mother's death certificate. There are wolves who practice forbidden magic. Blood curses. Death spells. My father hunted them ruthlessly, said they were a threat to pack safety.
Maybe he was hunting them because he used them, Elena suggests quietly. She's been standing in the corner, listening. Maybe Cyrus cursed your mother, Kael. And now someone's trying to use the same curse on Luna.
My hand moves protectively to my stomach. How do we stop it?
We find out who's sending these messages, Kael says, his voice hard with determination. And we find out what really happened to my mother.
But over the next three days, we hit dead ends everywhere. The messages come from untraceable numbers. None of the old pack members remember anything suspicious about Kael's mother's death. The official story that she died in childbirth was accepted without question.
Because my father was Alpha, Kael says bitterly. No one would dare question him.
Meanwhile, I can feel the bond between Kael and me getting stronger every day. His emotions bleed into mine. When he's angry, I feel rage burning in my chest. When he's scared, my heart races with his fear.
It's overwhelming and intimate and terrifying all at once.
Is it supposed to feel like this? I ask Elena during one of my check-ups. Like I'm losing myself in him?
Temporary emergency bonds are always intense, Elena explains. They're meant to create instant connection for protection. But Luna, you need to decide before the thirty days are up do you want to make this permanent or break it?
I don't know, I admit. Part of me wants to trust Kael again. But I'm so scared of getting hurt.
That's normal, Elena says gently. Just remember you have a choice. No matter what anyone says, the bond is yours to keep or break.
On day seven of the restored bond, something happens that changes everything.
I'm having breakfast with Kael when my phone rings. Unknown number.
Don't answer it, Kael warns.
But something makes me pick up. Hello?
A woman's voice, old and crackling. Luna Hartley. Finally. I've been trying to reach you.
Who is this? I demand.
My name is Margot. I was the Moon Priestess for Silverpine Pack thirty years ago. I delivered Kael Thorne into this world. And I witnessed his mother's murder.
I almost drop the phone. What?
Meet me at the old temple in the forest, Margot says. One hour. Come alone. I'll tell you everything about the curse.
Luna's not going anywhere alone, Kael says loudly enough for Margot to hear.
Then she'll never know the truth, Margot replies. The curse can only be discussed with those it affects. That means Luna. Not you, Alpha.
The line goes dead.
I look at Kael. I have to go.
Absolutely not, Kael says. This could be a trap.
Or it could be our only chance to stop the curse! I argue. Kael, in twenty-three days, I might die. If this woman knows how to save me
Then I'm coming with you, Kael insists.
She said I have to come alone.
I don't care what she said! Kael's eyes flash gold. I'm not letting you walk into danger.
We argue for ten minutes before reaching a compromise. I'll go to the temple. Kael and Tobias will follow at a distance, close enough to help if something goes wrong but far enough that Margot won't see them.
An hour later, I'm walking through the forest toward the old temple. It's a crumbling stone building that hasn't been used in decades. The pack built a new temple closer to town years ago.
Inside, candles flicker in the darkness. An ancient woman sits on the stone altar, her eyes milky with age.
Luna, she says. You look like your mother. Elise was beautiful too.
You knew my mother? I ask, surprised.
I knew many things, Margot says. Sit. We don't have much time.
I sit on a stone bench facing her. Tell me about the curse.
Thirty years ago, Kael's mother came to me, Margot begins. She was pregnant, terrified. She told me Cyrus had made a deal with a dark witch. He traded his mate's life for power for the strength to crush his enemies and rule Silverpine forever.
Horror washes over me. Kael's father killed his own mate?
Not directly, Margot says. The curse was designed to activate during childbirth. The baby would live, but the mother would die. Silver poisoning disguised as complications. No one would suspect murder.
Why would Cyrus do that? I whisper.
Because he wanted absolute power, Margot says. A mate bond can be a weakness. Cyrus wanted no weaknesses. So he sacrificed his mate and raised his son to believe love was dangerous.
Everything makes sense now. Kael's fear of the mate bond. His father's teachings. All of it stemmed from Cyrus's evil.
The curse is passed down, Margot continues. Any woman who bonds with a Thorne Alpha will die in childbirth unless the curse is broken.
My hand flies to my stomach. How do I break it?
You can't, Margot says, and my world stops. Only the one who cast it can break it. And that witch died fifteen years ago.
Then I'm going to die? I ask, tears streaming down my face. There's nothing I can do?
I didn't say that, Margot says. There is one way. The curse can be transferred.
Transferred to who?
To the person who activated it, Margot explains. Someone knew about the curse. Someone wanted you to restore the bond with Kael so the curse would kill you. If we find out who and why we can transfer the death curse to them instead.
Hope flickers in my chest. How?
Blood magic, Margot says. On the night of the Blood Moon, you'll need the blood of the person who manipulated you. Mix it with yours in a ritual, and the curse transfers to them. They die instead of you.
Who would want me dead badly enough to use a death curse? I ask.
Someone with a secret, Margot says. Someone afraid of what you might discover. Someone who
She stops abruptly, her milky eyes going wide.
What? I ask. What's wrong?
They're here, Margot whispers. The one who activated the curse. They followed you.
Who? I spin around, but the temple is empty.
Then I hear it. Footsteps. Slow and deliberate.
A figure steps out of the shadows.
It's Jason.
My brother is holding a silver knife.
I'm sorry, Luna, he says, and there are tears in his eyes. I didn't want it to come to this. But you should have stayed away from Silverpine. You should have let the past stay buried.
Jason? I back away, my heart breaking. What are you doing?
What I should have done twenty years ago, Jason says. Protecting our family's real secret. The one even more dangerous than Mom and Dad's execution.
What secret? I demand.
Jason looks at Margot. Tell her. Tell her what our mother really was.
Margot closes her eyes. Elise Blackwood wasn't just an Alpha's daughter. She was a dark witch. One of the most powerful in history. She's the one who cast the curse on Kael's mother. She's the one Cyrus made the deal with.
The world tilts.
My mother was the witch? I whisper. My mother killed Kael's mother?
And when Cyrus couldn't pay what he owed, Mom was going to curse his entire pack, Jason says. I found out what she was planning. I was eighteen. I told Cyrus everything. He executed Mom and Dad to stop the curse from spreading.
I can't breathe. Can't think.
You helped kill our parents? I ask, my voice breaking.
I saved the pack! Jason shouts. But I didn't know about the bloodline curse. I didn't know Mom's dark magic would pass to you, her daughter. When you got pregnant with Kael's baby an Alpha heir the magic activated. You became the new vessel for the curse.
So you're going to kill me? I ask. Your own sister?
I'm going to transfer the curse to where it belongs, Jason says, raising the knife. Back to the Blackwood bloodline. I'll use your blood to complete the ritual, and the curse will die with you.
Jason, no! I try to run, but he's faster.
The silver knife flashes.
Then Kael crashes through the temple doors in his wolf form, massive and furious.
He hits Jason like a freight train, knocking the knife away.
But Jason shifts too, and suddenly two wolves are fighting viciously inside the ancient temple.
Margot grabs my arm. Run! The curse is unstable now. If you stay, it will consume you!
I can't leave Kael!
He's not the one in danger! Margot shouts. The baby is! Your daughter inherited the dark magic. If you don't break the curse in twenty-three days, she'll be born with it active. She'll kill you the moment she's born, just like Kael killed his mother!
Horror floods through me.
My own daughter will kill me?
Unless I can transfer the curse to Jason.
Which means I have to let my brother die.