KATHARINA

I crouched before the pitiful little creature, my lips curved in a smile that never reached my eyes.

"What a distressing situation you've found yourself in, little thing," I murmured. "But do tell me... how did you manage to slip past the poisonous miasma outside, and my enchantments on top of that?"

My tone was gentle. Soft.

Deceptively so.

As I spoke, I sent out a subtle probe of magic, sweeping through its tiny body-searching for shifter energy, hidden spells, anything unusual.

Nothing.

Just an ordinary wild pup, or so it wanted me to believe.

The thought flashed through my mind, sharpening my wariness rather than easing it.

Not only had it bypassed my barriers, its blood also carried an unmistakable lure-one potent enough to stir my dormant hunger.

I'd drunk animal blood before which I found far less repulsive than the human blood my vampiric half clearly preferred.

Yet never-not once-had the scent of their blood stirred such a response in me.

Two peculiarities appearing on the same creature?

No.

I didn't believe in coincidences.

But seemingly not understanding my questions, the pup merely whimpered, peering up at me with striking blue eyes-too clear, too innocent.

Anyone else might have softened. But my heart was made of stone.

Still, I couldn't leave it bleeding out on my doorstep. Not until I figured out the mysteries surrounding it.

That thought had barely formed when I felt something warm brush against my hand, still resting over my knee.

I froze, then snapped out of my thoughts and looked down.

The tiny creature was nuzzling my hand, rubbing against it hesitantly.

For a moment, my mind went blank. When I finally reacted, I stood abruptly, retreating several steps backward while staring at the pup with an unreadable expression.

How long had it been since I felt another's warmth on my skin?

Too long. So long I'd nearly forgotten what it felt like.

At least not since I sealed myself inside this self-imposed cage a century ago, refusing to leave until I found a cure for my immortality.

My fingertips trembled.

Yet somehow, a creature had found itself in, as though sent to remind me of the world beyond these walls-to tempt me. To lure me out. To make me forget why I locked myself away... and accept the curse of living an endless, hollow life.

At the thought, murderous intent rose in my chest like a blade unsheathed.

I'd grown used to the deathly silence around me. Comfortable in it.

So how dare an unrelated stray intrude and try to make me waver?

A sudden premonition struck-sharp enough to steal my breath. A warning from the universe itself.

This creature's appearance would bring change.

Earthshaking changes.

And a witch's premonition was never to be dismissed.

My eyes hardened.

No. It had to die.

As long as it died, whatever fate it carried, good or bad, would die with it.

I lifted my hand-the same hand it had nuzzled moments before-and a death spell gathered on my lips...

But then I caught its gaze.

Wide, innocent.

And seemingly as startled by its own behavior as I was.

My hand stilled.

Then, a bitter laugh tore from my throat-sharp, derisive, laced with self-mockery.

I had lived for nearly a thousand years and considered myself neither righteous nor kind. But I had always upheld one bottomline: I did not strike the innocent and defenseless.

And yet I had nearly done so just now.

Over a premonition. Over an unproven fear.

What did that make me, compared to the people who once branded me an abomination for being a hybrid-condemning me based on nothing but their own unfounded beliefs and prejudice?

I had always thought myself clear-minded. Perfectly so.

Now I wasn't sure.

I remained still for a long moment. When I finally moved, the spell on my lips shifted, into one of healing.

A mist of silver and green drifted from my palm to envelope the pup, mending its wounds in silence.

As the magic faded, I lowered my hand.

"I don't care how you got here," I stared at it and said with cool indifference. "But count yourself lucky you're leaving alive. Now that your injuries are healed, be on your way-and don't let me see you again. Next time, I can't guarantee you'll be as fortunate."

Without waiting for a reaction, I turned around and walked toward the house.

In my long, insufferable life, this encounter would be nothing more than a fleeting memory.

Or so I thought.

Just as I stepped over the threshold, a soft rustle from behind me caught my attention.

Not too stupid, I thought, assuming that it was leaving as I instructed.

...Wait.

My brows suddenly knitted together as I realized the sound wasn't receding.

It was approaching.

I stopped in my tracks, and turned around.

The pup was trotting toward me-slowly, determinedly.

My expression iced over, a humorless scoff slipping past my lips.

I had allowed it to leave out of rare compassion, but apparently, that wasn't appreciated.

Fine. If it wished for death so badly, I would allow it the luxury.

As it approached the edge of my herb garden, my gaze narrowed.

Outside the protective spell circle around the rose garden, the air was lethal. Even a breath of that miasma could kill a grown wolf, much less a pup.

I counted silently as it neared the boundary.

One... two... three...

By ten steps, the poison in the air would seep into its lungs and end its life.

A fitting end, I would say. A consequence of its own foolishness.

Nine...

Its paws hovered inches from the invisible deathline.

Before I could think, my hand moved-an isolation spell burst forth and shot toward it, wrapping around its small body like a protective veil.

I froze.

Why... had I done that?

A moment later, I told myself it was simple logic: I had gone to the trouble of healing it. Letting it die now would be wasteful.

Yes. That was the only reason.

When it finally stopped before me, looking up with those pitiful blue eyes, I let out a quiet scoff...and then smiled.

"You don't want to leave? Is that it?" my voice dropped low.

It didn't respond and simply stared at me.

Unbothered by its silence, I continued, "Very well. Stay, if you wish. I suppose..."

My fingers twitched, a strange glint flashing past my eyes.

"...I could use the company."

Let's see how long you can keep your wily little tail hidden.

XANDER

I found my mate.

And in the most unexpected, unimaginable way possible.

Looking back now, maybe there had been signs long before today.

Ten years ago, to be exact.

That night had been my first shift, my first moon run.

Young, but those born from my bloodline always shifted earlier than most.

As we approached the heart of Mystic Forest, I had felt it.

An intense pull from within the fog.

Then a voice, soft and insistent, whispered for me to enter. It told me something important was waiting for me inside.

I tried resisting at first, but the feeling only grew stronger. In the end, I gave in, slipped away from the pack and ran straight into the thick fog.

It was an absurd, reckless and undeniably idiotic decision.

From birth, I had been told stories, cautionary tales, about that place.

Stories of people who entered and came out broken.

Some lost the ability to shift. Some went mad.

Some never returned at all. As for whether they died, or were trapped inside, no one knew.

Not that it made any difference either way.

In short, no one walked into that fog and emerged unscathed.

But I did.

For reasons I couldn't understand then, or even now, I did the impossible and survived.

Inside, I followed the pull, searching desperately for what had called to me... but found nothing.

Only endless white fog.

Even that strange inner voice disappeared as if it had never existed.

In the end, I chalked it up to some bizarre side effect of my first shift and slipped back the same way I entered.

Unharmed.

Because everything went so smoothly and easily, I even wondered if all the terrifying stories were lies.

When I rejoined the moon run, my father-the Alpha leading the pack-questioned my disappearance through mind-link. I brushed him off with some flimsy excuse and kept the truth buried.

I didn't dare tell him, or anyone else, that I had gone to the very place we had been forbidden from stepping into.

And for a time, arrogance and complacency replaced the fear I was supposed to feel for that place.

But as I grew older, I witnessed firsthand what happened to those who ventured inside intentionally or by accident.

Their fates were real, horrifyingly real.

That was when I understood something painfully simple:

My survival that night had been luck.

Pure, impossible luck.

From then on, especially with my lifespan already threatened by the bloodline curse, I stayed far away from the forbidden grounds.

I never imagined that ten years later, cornered and desperate to protect my secret, I'd be forced to gamble with my life again-hoping that same impossible luck would save me.

And it did.

But this time... the fog wasn't empty.

Moreover, the strange pull was back, stronger than before. And so was the whisper in my head.

They led me deeper into the fog, and as I did, I witnessed the mist thinning until it finally disappeared and something else stood in front of me.

A medieval mansion.

Surrounded by a lush, thriving garden.

Someone was living here.

In the heart of the forbidden ground.

It sounded absurd-even to me-but it was real.

After I collapsed in the middle of the rose garden, I watched her approach. A woman of breathtaking beauty, walking barefoot across the dewy grass, her pale, slender feet glimmering faintly under the moonlight.

Then her scent hit me-or perhaps it was the garden's-an heady, intoxicating blend of roses and herbs that wrapped around my senses.

Next, my heart, always calm and steady, gave a single, loud thump against my ribs.

And the whisper in my mind rose again, this time clear and undeniable.

Mate.

My first reaction was denial.

Impossible. Ridiculous.

But the restless energy coursing through me as she drew closer told me the truth.

She was my fated mate.

Once I accepted that-I had no choice-the questions flooded in.

Had she and the building always been here?

If so, why didn't I find them here ten years ago?

If not, how did she manage to slip inside without alerting either my pack or the neighboring one?

And more importantly-

What was she?

She wasn't wolf.

Even in my weakened, cursed state, I would've sensed that.

Human? Spirit? Something else?

The answer came from her own lips.

"...how did you manage to slip past the poisonous miasma outside and my enchantments...?"

Enchantment.

So she was a witch, I thought.

My mate was a mysterious witch living in the forbidden grounds of Mystic Forest.

What an intriguing, yet suspicious person.

And judging from the calm indifference in her eyes-despite the soft, gentle tone she spoke to me with-she was far from harmless.

Which was perfectly understandable, after all, not just anyone could survive out here.

But for the moment, I had more immediate concerns.

I needed a temporary shelter.

I needed time.

And needed her not to throw me out in my half-dead, cursed state.

So I made a plan.

Act harmless.

Make her believe I was just a lost, pitiful little creature that wandered into her territory.

She must not know I was a werewolf.

Not just to keep my secret, but also because something deep, instinctive, warned me she might not be pleased at the discovery.

So I looked up at her with the most innocent eyes I could muster.

Then, while she was distracted, I nuzzled her hand.

I couldn't be sure since I had no prior experience, but that should count as showing goodwill, right?

But her reaction-freezing up, jerking back-suggested otherwise.

And then I felt it.

Killing intent.

Aimed directly at me.

My blood ran cold.

Why the sudden change?

Did she sense I wasn't an ordinary pup? Her magic detected the truth?

If that was true-

A bitter thought occurred to me.

Was I going to become the first Alpha killed by his fated mate before we even officially recognized the bond?

And in this state, half-paralyzed by the curse, I couldn't even run, not to mention fighting back.

Just when I lost hope, our gazes met and unexpectedly, she hesitated.

Something in her gaze seemed to shift.

And instead of striking, she threw her head back and laughed, a sharp, bitter sound that echoed something deep inside me.

Before I could make sense of it, her expression smoothed back into calm indifference.

Then something unbelievable happened.

Magic-real, tangible magic-formed in her hand.

Not channeled through tools or rituals like the witches I'd encountered before.

Pure, raw power.

Then while I was still stunned, she shot it toward me.

It felt warm, alive.

Then slowly, it healed me..

Not just my injuries, but the searing, relentless agony in my bones.

The curse's pain.

She told me to leave afterward, but I barely heard her.

All I could think was-

My mate was extraordinary.

More than extraordinary.

For the first time in years, my entire body felt light, no longer crushed under the curse's weight.

Her magic eased it.

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind in a short span of time, my eyes sparkling with hidden excitement.

As she turned away, I made a decision.

There were still some hours before dawn, before I returned to my human form.

Within that time, I needed to learn everything I could about this mysterious woman.

And the best way to do that was to stay near her.

But disappointment soon washed over me.

I had forgotten that during the curse's active hours, I'm left half-paralyzed, unable to do nothing but wait for dawn to break.

The fact I'd made it this far was already a miracle.

That thought had barely settled when I felt something change inside me.

A spark of energy shot through my body.

My limbs twitched.

My muscles responded.

My strength, albeit faint, had returned.

My eyes instantly widened, complicated emotions flooding them.

Her magic didn't just ease the curse.

It restored a sliver of my strength, which in my current condition, was more than enough.

My resolve hardened.

No matter what it took, I had to stay by her side.

There was a chance that she might know something about my bloodline curse.

Maybe...

Maybe this mate of mine might just be the key to breaking it.

KATHARINA

After leading the pup inside, I stopped paying attention to it entirely, even as it trotted behind me.

Instead, I walked toward my potion room, opened the door, and stepped in. As I reached back to close it, I caught the pup trying to slip its tiny body forward.

What a cunning little thing.

Immediately, I stretched out my leg to block it.

My lips curled in an enigmatic smile as I looked down.

"You want to enter?" I asked, meeting its bewildered eyes.

Its expression practically said: You brought me in already. Why are you stopping me now?

Ignoring its confusion, my smile deepened, then I lowered myself slightly, meeting its gaze on purpose.

"Too bad. This room is off-limits. You may wait outside... or leave if you lack the patience. Do as you wish."

Then without another word, I ruthlessly shut the door in its face.

Remembering that dazed, dopey look it had given me, a soft chuckle involuntarily slipped out.

The sound startled me, and my expression froze. But a moment later, it smoothed over into impassive calm.

In the same breath, I turned away from the door and walked toward the massive cauldron standing right at the center of the room.

A foul, bitter smell rose from the dark, reddish liquid simmering inside, but my nose didn't even twitch.

This was my latest attempt at creating the cure for immortality.

It required rare, unusual ingredients-a considerable part from the poisonous plants in my garden-and had to be brewed continuously under an undying flame for exactly 1,300 days, with new components added every 100 days.

And today was the final day.

The 1,300th.

As for how I acquired the ingredients despite not taking a step out of here...

That was the easiest part.

I turned my right palm upward, pressed my left thumb and middle fingers together, closed my eyes, and murmured a search-and-summon incantation-a spell meant for locating and pulling ownerless objects within a restricted range.

A heartbeat later, it appeared in my palm.

Lava Bloom.

A crimson flower that grew only in volcanic crevices.

Said to be an all-antidote, capable of counteracting every poison in existence.

And the final ingredient for my potion.

Without hesitation, I tossed it into the cauldron.

Then watched closely as the decoction turned a molten red, bubbling violently as if ready to overflow-yet it didn't. Instead, it fizzed out in an instant, the liquid shrinking rapidly until only a thin layer remained at the bottom.

Then it crumbled into black powder.

Another failure.

My expression didn't change.

To say I wasn't disappointed would be a lie. But after thousands of failures, the feeling barely left a mark on me anymore.

Instead, I preferred focusing on more practical things.

Like reviewing the entire process in my mind, searching for where it went wrong.

Afterward, I picked up a thick, leather-bound journal: one of many, from the side table and flipped to a half-filled page.

This was my 8,999th entry, each one a record of another ruined attempt.

Was I tired? Yes.

Was I frustrated? Also yes.

But until I achieved my desire-either to become a mortal or die trying-I could not afford to stop.

Lately, I kept having a premonition.

A whisper telling me that the day I longed for was drawing near.

That alone kept me going.

My pen danced across the page, filling the remaining space with notes. Then I paused, thinking for a moment before turning to a fresh page.

My 9,000th entry.

Maybe this one will be the real cure, I thought with the same hope I'd carried the previous 8,999 times.

-

XANDER

I had high expectations when I followed her inside, imagining uncovering some of her secrets, no matter how trivial, without much trouble.

Reality was far from it.

She locked me out of the room she entered, a place I instinctively knew held considerable significance.

I nudged the heavy oak door with my small body. When it didn't move an inch, disappointment washed over me.

But then I thought, it wasn't over.

I still had time until dawn. Maybe she would come out before that, and I'd get my chance.

With that thought, I relaxed slightly, crouched down, and stationed myself as a determined door guard.

Time flew by, during which I even dozed off.

When I woke, the door still remained firmly shut.

Meanwhile, my strength was returning steadily, which meant dawn was approaching.

Soon I would shift back into my human form, and I could not let her see that.

But leaving now felt wrong.

How can I be sure I'll be able to find this place again?

From her words, she'd cast enchantments around this place, so it'll likely vanish from sight once I left.

Besides, as the Alpha of my pack, I couldn't simply ignore a mysterious witch of unknown origins living this close to my territory.

Mate or not, she was a potential threat-until proven otherwise.

As I lingered by the door, frustration and impatience gnawed at me.

Minutes slipped by, one after another, until a familiar tingling crawled beneath my skin-the warning sign of the transformation.

My time was up.

Reluctantly, I got to my feet, cast one last lingering look at the closed door, and sprinted toward the back exit-the same way she had led me in.

Thankfully, she hadn't locked it.

With my strength nearly restored, I nudged it open and slipped outside with ease.

The moon had already dimmed-daybreak was close.

But a bigger problem hit me almost at once.

Which way led out of here?

Stumbling into this place had been nothing but sheer luck. Now, without its enigmatic owner to guide me, every direction felt wrong.

A moment later, a thought clicked into place and my gaze drifted toward the rose garden.

I'd collapsed somewhere around there earlier.

If I was lucky, the exit might be nearby.

I took a step forward, then froze.

I hadn't paid attention before, but now that I looked properly, I instantly recognized the plants in the herb garden.

Belladonna. Hemlock. Mandrake.

And worst of all-

Wolfsbane.

Every strand of fur on my body bristled in instinctive alarm.

With all these poisonous plants clustered together, the very air here should have been lethal. Yet I'd managed to walk past earlier in one piece.

There was only one explanation.

She had protected me, quietly and subtly.

At that realization, something flickered in my chest. Something heavy, tangled, and unreadable.

But sentiment wouldn't save me now.

Without her protection, I couldn't risk stepping into that poisonous miasma again.

Fortunately, I spotted a narrow path that curved around the garden.

I stepped onto it, my movements cautious as I watched out for any hidden traps she might have laid.

None appeared.

Eventually, I reached the rose garden again and circled its perimeter, searching methodically for anything unusual.

I came up empty. No exit was in sight.

A tight knot formed in my chest.

If I kept wandering in circles like this, my secret might truly be exposed to my enigmatic mate the moment dawn breaks...

Right then-

I caught sight of a faint swirl of white at the far end of the garden.

Fog?

My heart leapt.

If it was the same fog that shrouded the forest outside...

Then that meant-

The exit!

Without hesitation, I sprinted toward it.