Cursed By The Lycan Blood

f crickets. Even the wind, which usually whispered through the trees o

r drum. Her eighteenth birthday. The day she was supposed to find her place in the pack. The day s

d by towering pines and ancient stone markers etched with the names of ancestors long passe

firelight, sh

tching-her Alpha, t

it

dg

dem

ial dress clung to her skin, soaked by the evening dew and smeared with ash from th

el like tradition.

ross the clearing, slicing thr

epper hair glinted red under the Blood Moon above. "Daughter of the Law line. Born

caught in

g off to the side. Maren Law's fa

d her this d

ver li

on't know what's in my blood. But

t it the night you were born. The blood of the old gods runs through

only real friend in the pack. But his voice was quickl

phecy speaks of a blood-born girl who will awaken the f

forward. Her voice cracked, but her fury flared.

Elder Hagan said coldl

he shadows, cloaked in black, faces hidden. One c

hispered, s

shall be cast out under the light of the Blood Moon. You are her

that, the warr

hey were stronger, faster-trained t

ckles burned

reached the edge of the wildlands-the forbidden zone where no pack dared to tread. Lege

threw her t

of honor. "Die quickly," one muttered befor

as left

Condemne

weight of her fear was suffocating, and still the Blood M

he just lay th

ame th

rom w

e deeper. Rou

ries we

ans wer

ed in her hand though it was more symbolic than practical. She turned

n

broke b

around. "W

ans

at rumbled through th

urged.

er bare feet pounded the earth. Somewhere behind

e toying

o a clearing. The moonlight spilled across the space lik

what was l

d beneath the moonlight, and his dark hair hung in loose waves

move. Di

the dagger.

epped forw

you?" she

said, voice like gravel. "But I alr

ees bu

l it. Just li

terly, tears burning her eyes

flickered

sem

himself than to her. "You'r

to run, she didn't move. Couldn't. There was something ancient in

you?" she

ed his head,

aid. "Once King of the Lyca

ared a

he words that woul

key to everything I've lost-

n Kni

blade coated in blood. The feral king. The cursed alpha. The one who led

hing the dagger tighter. "Y

t didn't quite reach his eyes.

. No more howls. No shifting shadows. The othe

ow, deliberate. "You carry old bloo

hispered. "Whatever it i

. "But blood remembers. Power d

embled. "I'm not

he forest won't spare you. Your pack certainly won't take you ba

ooming silence. He was right. Whatever was out there had

ked. "What do yo

r wrists. The shackles still glo

"And if what I suspect is t

ended

at it like

alk, or I can carry y

Every instinc

fety behind her. Only a pack tha

into her waistband, took a shaky

s warm. Sur

ip was

r word, he led her

the wildlands. The forest grew darker, denser. But

He moved with an effortless grace, barely making a sound. His eyes scanned

going?" she as

place

if I don't b

live long enough to

ng," she

in a hollow between the hills, was a massive stone structure built into the m

live

," he said, "b

ched. Her body throbbed from bruises and burns. By the time t

flinched at her presence. They simp

stone pulsed with faint runes. Fires crackled in iron sconces. And throug

ng corridor and opene

bed layered in furs, a basin of water,

id. "I'll send someone

ying here,"

you

se you dragged me out of the woods an

ly. "But you do owe

falt

t tr

, stopping just

he curse. About why the Blood Moo

eath h

h something older than time. "You think you were

one in the quiet stone room- heart racing, mind spin