Ayla's POV

"Come out now" He growled.

My breath stutters as I try to come up with something, a lie or anything- but my mind blanks.

I push the door open slowly, and come out of the closet, the air feels heavy and charged with his scent and rage.

I glance at the exit, then back at him before a tiny smile tugs at my lips. 

"Don't" He tilts his head at me.

But I run – and in the next second, I'm airborne, his speed is unreal as he catches me easily and throws me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing. 

"Put me down!" I scream, kicking my feet against him as my fist pounds on his back. but his hold only tightens around my waist. 

We arrived at a secluded clearing, surrounded by stone pillars and a few people who were gathered around. I spot Kiara among them, she looks different this time, draped in a flowing white robe trimmed with gold. 

Alpha Kael, as I've picked from other wolves, sets me down on a flat stone...  the hard surface burns cold against my skin. I try to rise, but Kiara steps forward, holding a round object wrapped in dark cloth. She lifts a hand and murmured something under her breath. 

I freeze. Not just freeze, my body refuses to move and my limbs are glued to the stone. 

"What's going on?" My voice cracks. No one answers, not even a glance. 

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry- so please, just release me!" I shout, my voice breaking.

Alpha Kael doesn't look at me, his jaw only tightens as he glides the blade along a smooth stone. 

"Please don't kill me, I'm not the one you're looking for, I swear." 

My vision blurs as hot tears sting my eyes – my chest feels like it's collapsing, but I bite my tongue and lift my gaze to the sky. 

goddess please don't let them do this to me. I beg you. 

Alpha Kael stalks towards me, like a predator to prey. 

"No-no-" I shake my head rigorously, breath trembling.

"I'm sorry" he only says as he brings the blade to my neck. 

The moment I feel the cold blade touch my skin, Alpha Kael stumbles back, his eyes shut and he falls to his knees, the blade slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground. 

He holds his chest as his mouth curls, Kiara runs to him. 

"Alpha, is all well?" 

He mouths something to her and her eyes widen in shock. 

A man runs to our midst and speaks to Kael. I try to listen to what he's saying but the the only word I can make out is "rejected"

Kael turns to me, his eyes darkens and he mutters to the betas by his side.

"Take her to my room" 

He doesn't take his eyes off me as he commands. 

They both look at each other for a second till he snaps again, 

"Take -her -to -my-room. Now!" 

Two of the muscular men walk towards me and both grab my arm. My legs scrap the dirt as they drag me along the pathway.

By the time I'm back to Kael's room, my whole body is on fire and my head throbbed.

My body is flat against the floor and I want to move but not an ounce of strength is in my limbs. 

The door creaks open and  Alpha Kael steps in, he turns towards me and crouches to my position. My jaw clenches as he brings up an arm to trace my cheek. My head tilted away from his burning touch. 

"What are you?" He whispers.

My eyes widens and my muscles twitch and I know If I wasn't so weak right now, I would have head butted him so hard he would want to kill me this time.

"What do you mean what am I?" My words sliced through the air. 

"You stole me from school, to use me for your stupid sacrifice and now you're asking me questions?" The words spill out of me before I can process it. 

"Fuck you!"

Kael's brows are now knitted together as he rubs his chin. After a minute of staring at me, he gets to his feet.

"Hungry?" 

My stomach decided to betray me at that moment by growling loud. 

"No, I don't want your poison!" He shakes his head and leaves the room. After some minutes, he returns with a tray of food and drops it on the table.

"Kiara would bring you clothes, eat and take a shower" he says, with a low and smooth voice. 

The moment he leaves the room, my stomach rumbles at the sight of the steak on the table. After much hesitation, I began eating the food. 

"There's more than enough if you want." She chuckles as she glides into the room with some folded clothes. 

I don't say a word, I just remain where I am, stroking my mother's ring on my fingers.

"What do you know about that ring?" Kiara questions. She had dropped the clothes and now her hands are on her hips.

I turn to face her, my eyes narrowed as I reply to her "What do you mean?  It's just a ring" I shrug.

"No darling" She moves closer to me and picks my hand up. I wanted to stop her but I was curious about what she had to say. I still haven't mentioned the fact that she had been terrorizing me in my sleep. 

She slips her shirt off a bit and shows me a mark on her shoulder, the same mark inscribed in my ring. 

"I bet you've started seeing the signs already" She releases my arm and covers the mark on her shoulder.

"I hope you're prepared," Kiara says before stepping out.

Ayla's POV

"Kiara!"

"What do you mean prepared?"

She doesn't turn back or answer me. At that moment my head snaps up and my body begins trembling.

The room glows an ethereal light and my body feels impossibly light-like the air itself is pulling me upward.

I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder-When I turn, a tall brunette woman stands behind me-beautiful, unreal, and her eyes glowed like moons reflecting on water.

"Who are you?" I whisper.

She only smiles and brushes her fingers against my cheeks.

"When the moon bleeds and the cursed wolf kneels," her voice echoed, soft yet thunderous, "love shall either heal the wound... or end the world."

Then she's gone.

"Wait!" I scream out, but the room is back to normal.

Before I can process what just happened, Kael bursts in.

"What did you do?" he growls.

My brows furrow. "What do you mean, what did I do?"

"You can summon the messenger!"

"Look, I don't-know. I was here and there was suddenly light and-and-I don't know," I stuttered.

His nostrils flare as he scans the room, every inch of him vibrating with tension.

"Do it again," he barks.

"What do you mean-do it again?"

"I just told you, I don't know how it happened!" I snap back at him.

My anger has been simmering too long now, and it's beginning to boil over. I step closer to him and point my finger at him.

"You dragged me here, you tied me to a rock, and now you're throwing questions at me-like I asked to be a part of this nightmare!"

"Watch your tone!" he seethes.

"No! You watch yours." My voice is shaky but I don't care.

"I'm not your slave, I don't belong to your pack, and I'm not a sacrificial lamb to you! Do not treat me like I'm an object! I don't care who you are."

I pause for a moment to catch my breath. "Take me back to the academy now!"

"And what will you do if I don't?" He closes the space between us so that I can feel his hot breath against my skin. I feel the hair on the back of my neck rise for a while. 

I huffed. "Dear Alpha Kael... trust me, it'd be the greatest mistake you'll ever make."

He tilts his head and I see a small smile form on his lips.

"Is that a threat, Ayla?" his stare hardens as he mumbles.

"Oh, trust me, Kael. You don't want to find out," I taunted.

He takes a step away from me and turns to leave, but when he reaches the door, his body jerks backwards and he falls to the ground.

I run to him when he doesn't move or get up.

"Stay away from me," he mutters with teeth glued together.

His hand flies to his chest and a low growl rips from his throat.

"I didn't do anything!" I begin to panic. If the pack finds out I hurt their dear alpha, my head would be on a spike before the day ends.

"Kael, Alpha Kael!" I call out.

His eyes flicker and his iris turns a very bright red color, brighter than any wolf I've seen. The veins along his neck and arms pulse violently, turning a black shade of color.

"What in the goddess' name is happening to you?"

He doesn't answer. His head snaps back and a sound, half-growl, half-roar, tears from his throat. Sharp claws are now emerging from his fingers.

Kiara runs inside, and the moment she sees him, she freezes.

"Oh goddess..." she breathes.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask, panicked.

Kiara's face drains of color. "The orb," she whispers.

"The what?"

Kael's head snaps towards her, his red eyes darkening into black.

"Shut up!"

"You have to tell her! She might know a way!" Kiara yells at him.

"No!" Kael snaps back.

"It's draining you, Kael. You're going to die if you don't break the curse." Her breath comes fast and her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Kael's gaze flickers-not in anger this time, but fear-and I almost pity him for a second.

"Tell me what? What the hell is going on?!"

Kael's gaze sweeps over me. His claws are retreating now and the dark veins had begun fading. His jaw locks like he's stopping himself from speaking.

"You know what? It's fine!" I shrug. "Since no one is going to say a word, I'll just do y'all the favor of disappearing."

I get to my feet and leave, but Kael's grip stops me-rough and firm but not enough to hurt me.

I halt. His touch sets my skin on fire and burns through me.

I look at him, then at Kiara, and back at him again. I want to pity them for a moment, then I remember how I was tied down some moments ago.

I unwrap his hand from my wrist.

"Look, I can't sacrifice myself to save anyone if that's what you want. Besides, how do all these concern me?"

Kiara gets to her feet, tears strolling from her eyes.

"You're Liora's daughter-the Sayer who fell in love," she mutters.

"What are you saying?" I laugh out loud.

"My mother's name is Leah. And what does Sayer mean?"

I'm trying not to get overwhelmed at the turn out of events today.

"You summoned the messenger," Kiara speaks.

"When the moon bleeds and the cursed wolf kneels..."

"Love shall either heal the wound... or end the world."

We both say the last sentence together.

"How do you know that?" My lips quiver as I speak.

It's not possible. Kiara wasn't here when the woman appeared to me.

"Because you, Ayla, are the daughter of a great Sayer. And Kael is-"

"The cursed wolf," I complete her sentence.

Ayla's POV

Kiara nods and I freeze, my stomach twisting into knots.

It's impossible. My father died a long time ago and my mother... she was just... she wasn't... she couldn't have been a Sayer. None of this... any of this... it doesn't make sense.

I press my palm against my temples, trying to steady the storm of thoughts racing through my mind. My mother... Leah... the ring... my dreams-it all had to be a coincidence.

"Look, Kiara. This can't be real, I think you're getting it all wrong."

I face Kael, who's now up and leaning against the door. He doesn't say anything; he just stares at me.

"This can't be real. It's insane." I pace around the room with quickened steps.

I halt and face Kiara, whose gaze burns through me-fierce and unyielding. She's serious.

"This... this is insane." I throw my hands up in exasperation, my fingers clawing at the air as if grabbing hold of reality could make it stop.

They both don't speak a word.

"Okay, listen." I pause and take a deep inhale and exhale. "You're telling me that my mother is a Sayer, and she's the reason you are cursed?"

Kael's jaw flexes before he nods once.

"You feel it, Ayla," Kiara mutters. "You're almost twenty-one, your powers are beginning to manifest."

Her voice sharpens. "Speak to me."

My heart jumps. I look around, but her lips don't move.

Then louder inside my head: "Speak to me."

Pain tears through my skull as I stagger backwards, clutching my head.

"What are you doing to me?!" I scream. "Please-stop!"

The voices halt and I calm down.

"How... how did you do that?" My breath is restless against my voice.

"I'll show you to your room," Kiara only says.

***

The next day, I get up early and have my breakfast.

Kiara's voice still echoed in my head, plus so many things that happened the previous day. It's all new and I'm still finding it hard to process, even when half-part of me still doesn't believe.

I moved around the quarters for a while, touring my new environment before heading to the sparring room. I needed to relieve the growing tension inside me.

"Sebastian, is that you?" I call out, briefly grabbing the attention of others around us.

Sebastian runs towards me and lifts my body into the air.

"Why are you here?" he questions after placing me down- still surprised.

"I got picked..."

"We're five here, so how?"

"I don't know, I'm just here-I guess." I shrug.

"Well, that's fine. Now that you're here..."

He sandwiches my cheeks in his palm as his lips find mine.

"I miss you," he whispers.

"Seb, we can't continue this..."

I slip out of his hold, stepping back. I can't afford distractions right now-especially not ones that come in mixed signals.

I might be a Sayer, and tomorrow I turn twenty-one. My full wolf powers will awaken, and somewhere along all that, I'm supposed to find my mate. It's all overwhelming.

"Ayla, you know I really like you," he insists, giving me the puppy-eyed look he always used when he wants something. Sadly, it won't be working today.

"We could make this serious, we're in a new place now."

"I'm sorry, Seb, I just... can't," I tell him.

Sebastian is a really cool person, but he only wants us together in private. He's scared people will talk when they find out we're together, and I know the only reason he wants to be serious right now is because we're in a different place, no one here knows the things I've done-yet.

He turns and walks away and within seconds, he has his hands around a random girl's waist, and she's all up in his space, her hands wandering boldly up his inner thigh. Typical.

"Heard you're the best at Nightwhisper. Wanna spar?" A voice calls out, grabbing my attention from Sebastian.

I turn my head towards the stranger's voice. He wasn't exactly my type, but he's okay. My mind drifted to Kael for a while when I thought about my type.

He's not my type either. Liar.

"Are you scared to take me on?" He teases, lips curving into a cocky smile.

My brows lift slowly.

"Get into the ring." My sentence is more like a command than a request. I tilt my head towards the ring.

The moment we stepped into the ring, the whole crowd began gathering us. After going at each other for a while, I've cornered Cian-whose name I've gathered from the crowd-and he seems out of moves.

"Careful, Cian," someone yells. "Heard she goes mental and murders people in the ring!"

Laughter erupts around me.

My chest tightens and tears blurred my vision. It was a mistake. One unintentional mistake that I've been punished for ever since.

Before I can focus back on the fight, Cian's fists collide with my stomach, knocking the air out of me before tackling me to the ground, pinning my body with his legs.

His knee grinds against my core deliberately, and a smug, disgusting smile spreads across his face. I don't hesitate-I slam my elbow into his jaw with all the strength I have. He reels backwards, dark crimson spilling from his mouth. Gasps spread amongst the crowd.

Cian wipes his lips with his thumb and when he sees the color, his demeanor changes and he growls-bearing his sharp fangs at me as he charges towards me-

"Enough!" Alpha Kael roars. 

Cian pauses immediately and I can see him fuming and pulsating with both hands fisted to his sides. Next time he'll know not to mess with me.

***

That night, I locked myself in my room and the moment the door shuts, everything I've been holding in breaks. Hot tears spill down my cheeks, my body trembling as Alex's face flashes in my mind. The way she called my name and her genuine smile whenever she sights me. The way she didn't care what anyone said about me.

And the way she died in my arms.

"I didn't mean to," I whisper, voice cracking. "I didn't mean to hurt you... Alex, I swear."

In the midst of my pain, my wolf stirs suddenly-she's alert and eager. A pulse of pleasure rushes through me, forcing me upright.

What now?

I sigh and glance at the clock. Midnight.

My birthday. I'm twenty-one and now a fully-grown wolf.

My wolf stirs again, alerting me to the pull. Something-someone-is pulling me outside.

My instincts take over, dragging me through dark hallways until I reach a part of the quarters I hadn't toured. A shimmering pool stretches before me, moonlight glistening on its surface. Something moves in the water, and panic shoots through me.

I turn to run-only to slam into a hard chest. In the next second, I'm pinned against the cold wall. A massive, dripping figure cages me in, heat and something tempting radiating off him.

My wolf purrs so loud it vibrates through me. Lust clouds everything.

"Running away already, Mate?"

That voice-the deepness and roughness vibrated through my spine, causing me to shiver for a second.

Mate? Already? How?

I try to get a look at his face, but it's very dark inside here, like the goddess was listening to me... the dark clouds shift away from the moon, softly casting light into the area and giving me a proper view of his face.

Alpha Kael.

His jet black hair drips water onto my skin and his eyes glow a bright red color, showing his rank as an Alpha... but it's the look in them that freezes me.

Desire.

Raw, unrestrained, and directed at me.