IVY
"Run!"
The single word snapped through my mind, breaking the trance that had frozen me in place. My body moved before I could think, scrambling for the door, feet sliding on the slick stone floor. The connection between me and the monstrous wolf felt like a frayed wire—one that could ignite again at any second and tear me apart.
I barely made it past the threshold when a rough hand clamped down on my arm, yanking me back.
“You’re going to pay for that, you little—” the guard snarled, his face twisted with rage.
“Let her go.”
The words weren’t shouted, but they hit like thunder. The guard froze, his grip dropping instantly, and I staggered backward, gasping for air.
An even older man approached, his stride measured and deliberate. Everything about him exuded authority—his silver hair neatly combed, his dark robes flowing as if the very air obeyed him. Even the guard bowed as he neared, though the man’s piercing gaze stayed locked on me.
“Elder Maxwell,” the guard began hesitantly, “you don’t understand. She’s unstable and we need to get her to the Alpha King now before time—”
“Leave,” Maxwell interrupted coldly, not even sparing him a glance.
The guard hesitated, then ducked his head and stormed off, muttering under his breath.
I barely had time to catch my breath before Maxwell did something that completely surprised me. He bowed his head to me.
“It is an honor to be in your presence,” he murmured, his voice steady and reverent. “We have waited decades for you.”
I blinked and instinctively backed away, “What?”
Maxwell straightened, a small smile on his lips. “You don’t understand, do you?” He glanced briefly at the darkened corridor behind me, where the snarls of the wolf had faded into an eerie silence. “You ordered him to stop. And he did.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “It wasn’t an order. I just… shouted. I was scared—”
A sudden realization struck me like a lightning bolt, “Was that… was that him? The Hybrid Alpha King? Knox Thorne?”
My mate was the cursed Alpha King?”
Maxwell nodded, “Yes. He wasn’t to be in the arena yet and neither were you. At least not until the necessary precautions have been taken but that doesn’t matter now because the Alpha King’s wolf cannot be tamed, cannot be reasoned with—except by one,” He looked straight into my eyes, “His mate and the anchor.”
My knees felt weak, and I staggered back a step again. “The what?”
Maxwell tilted his head, his expression unreadable. “The curse placed on the Alpha King decades ago was for the crime he committed out of his cruelty and so his wolf was bound to an endless, feral rage. A rage that will fester and spread until he completely loses his humanity since his act was inhuman as his punishment and when this happens, he will lose all control and no one will be able to stop him. His wolf will unleash its chaos on the entire realm.”
I swallowed hard trying to piece what he was telling me with what I already knew, “So why does he kill and eat the hearts of the maidens sent to him? What does that have to do with stopping his wolf from going feral and what does this have to do with the fact that I’m his mate or anchor?”
His eyes flickered for a moment, a shadow passing over them, before his lips curled into a grim smile. “You look weak, child. You should rest. We can continue this conversation later.”
“No,” I snapped without meaning too then softened my voice, “No, I… my life just shattered into pieces in the last week. I can’t… I need to understand this. I need to know what being his mate means for me.”
Maxwell sighed, the sound heavy with years of untold stories. “Words have twisted with time, child. The Alpha King does not kill the maidens to feast on their hearts. Their essence… it keeps his humanity in check—if only for a short while.”
I shuddered. “And what happens to them?”
“They live,” Maxwell said, his voice darkening. “They are absorbed into the pack, but only as shadows of what they once were but it is a price we have to pay to stop it from completely destroying us all. But everyday that passes, the more inhuman the King becomes.”
My stomach turned, a sick feeling gnawing at me. “What part do I play in this?”
Maxwell’s expression darkened further. “There is only one way to break the curse. Only one person can do it—a chosen maiden of pure heart. We were spiraling because we didn’t think you would ever show up but here you are and your sacrifice is going to save us all.”
I felt a knot tighten in my chest. “You are telling me that I’m supposed to save a realm? What sacrifice am I supposed to make?”
Maxwell’s smile was empty, reaching his lips but never his eyes. “It is your destiny so you have to accept it. By the next full moon, your sacrifice will be made. Releasing your pure essence is the only way to fix what was lost by his cruelty.”
He paused, his gaze locking onto mine, and his next words stunned me to the depths of my core, me, “To cleanse the land and break the curse, you must die.”
