Karyme POV:

Dinner was a battlefield.

I picked at my steak. Then, my throat began to burn.

"Wolfsbane," I rasped, airway closing.

Archie roared for the doctor, terror in his eyes. "Get the antidote!"

Faustina watched her plate, a small smile playing on her lips.

The shot stabilized me.

"It was an accident!" Faustina wailed. "I saw a new cook using strange herbs! Oh god, the stress... the baby..." She doubled over.

Archie froze. He looked at me, alive, then at her.

"I have to check on the heir," he said, and left me.

I locked myself in my room. Two hours later, a crash echoed from the hall.

I stumbled out. The massive crystal chandelier lay shattered on the marble. Faustina lay amidst the glass, screaming, a small cut on her head.

"She pushed me!" Faustina shrieked, pointing at me. "Karyme tried to kill the baby!"

I stood on the landing, twenty feet away.

Archie looked up, eyes glowing red.

"Go to your room, Karyme," he commanded. The Alpha voice slammed into me. "You are confined."

"Archie, look at where I am standing-"

"GO!"

Later, I watched from the window. Archie sat on a garden bench, Faustina on his lap. He kissed her. Deep. Passionate.

The curse didn't kill us. He did.

My phone buzzed. Wolfsbane cleared.

I am coming, Jalen.

I opened the window, looked at the three-story drop, and shifted. I suppressed the white glow, remaining a shadow.

I landed and ran for the trees.

Karyme POV:

I didn't make it.

The Alpha Command-You are confined-was a magical chain. My wolf seized mid-stride, muscles locking up, collapsing into the dirt.

Warriors dragged me back, throwing me onto the bedroom floor.

"Lock the windows," Archie ordered from the doorway, silhouette dark. "If she runs, break her legs."

The lock clicked.

For two days, I paced. Signal jammed.

Then, Faustina's voice slithered into my mind.

"Do you like the cage, Luna? I win. The chandelier was just the start. I'm leaving now. I'm going to disappear. And guess who Archie will blame?"

An hour later, chaos.

Archie stormed in, eyes bleeding crimson. He slammed me against the wall, hand crushing my throat.

"Where is she?" he roared. "Faustina is gone! Her room is empty! Signs of struggle! You hired someone!"

"No..." I choked.

"Find her," he commanded his warriors. "Tear the territory apart. Bring me anything that smells like a rogue."

He threw me onto the bed. "If she is hurt, Karyme, you will pray for death."

Karyme POV:

They dragged me to the Main Hall. Archie sat on the obsidian throne, looking like a king of the underworld.

"We found them," the Head Warrior said.

Two warriors dragged in a sobbing Faustina. She looked disheveled, but unharmed.

"Oh, Archie! The rogues... they said the Luna paid them!"

Archie's eyes snapped to me.

Another warrior walked in carrying a burlap sack. It was stained with mud and reeked of sulfur and something sharp-industrial solvent. The sack moved.

"A rogue pup," Archie said, voice dead. "Used to distract the guards. Is this your accomplice?"

"No!" I crawled forward. "Don't touch him!"

Archie picked up a heavy iron fire tong, the tip glowing red.

"Tell me the truth."

"I didn't! That's not a rogue!" I sobbed. "Archie, look! That is your blood! That is our son!"

Archie froze. He sniffed the air, but Faustina had done her work well. The chemical stench masked everything. All he smelled was the solvent and the faint, underlying scent of a trespasser.

"Our son?" He laughed darkly. "We have no son. The curse kills them all. You're lying to save a filthy rogue mongrel."

"His name is Jalen! Please!"

"You are insane."

He raised the iron tongs.

He swung.

The iron struck the sack with a wet crunch.

The scream wasn't human. It was a child in agony.

I vomited blood onto the marble. The mother-child bond shattered in my chest.

"Stop!" I gargled.

Archie stared at the sack. Doubt flickered in his eyes.

"Alpha... the heir is scared," Faustina whispered.

Archie's face hardened. "Just a rogue."

He raised his boot.