Kira's POV
"Don't move." The Alpha's silver eyes burned into mine, but his voice shook like he was afraid.
Afraid? Of me? That didn't make sense. I was just a half-dead rogue bleeding in an abandoned shack.
The partner bond pulled at my chest, trying to drag me toward him. Every part of my wolf wanted to run into his arms and never let go. But the fear on his face kept me frozen against the wall.
"You're supposed to be dead," he whispered.
My heart stopped. "What?"
He stepped closer, and I could see him better in the moonlight. Dark hair, sharp jaw, shoulders big enough to carry the world. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, and he was looking at me like I was a ghost.
"Kira Blackthorne," he said my name like a curse. "The Alpha's daughter who died ten years ago."
"I didn't die." My voice came out small and scared. "I ran away."
"No." He shook his head hard. "You died in the Whispering River with your sister. Everyone knows the story. Two kids drowned, only bodies were never found."
Cold fear crawled up my spine. "That's not what happened. I survived. Mira died, but I lived."
"Impossible." But even as he said it, doubt flickered across his face.
I pushed myself up the wall, trying to stand on shaking legs. "Why would anyone lie about that?"
"Because..." He stopped, his eyes going wide like he'd just realized something terrible. "Oh, goddess. If you're alive, then the magic is all wrong."
"What magic?"
Instead of answering, he pulled out a phone with hands that shook. He called a number and pressed it to his ear.
"Morgana," he said, and my blood turned to ice.
I knew that name. Every magical creature knew that name. Morgana Vex, the witch who dealt in death magic and made deals that always ended badly.
"She's alive," Zander said into the phone. "Kira Blackthorne is standing right in front of me, very much alive."
I couldn't hear the other side of the talk, but I watched Zander's face go from confusion to understanding to pure terror.
"What do you mean the spell is broken?" he asked. "What happens now?"
More talking from the witch. Zander's face got paler with every word.
"How long do we have?" he asked.
My wolf was going crazy, pacing and growling inside my head. Something was very, very wrong here. Why was my mate talking to a death witch about me?
"Fine," Zander said finally. "But if you're lying to me, I'll tear you apart myself."
He hung up and stared at me with those silver eyes full of fear.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Why were you talking to Morgana Vex about me?"
"Because ten years ago, I made a deal with her," he said softly. "A deal that required the death of both Blackthorne daughters."
The cabin started spinning around me. "You what?"
"My family was killed by rogues when I was twenty. Parents, little brother, everyone I loved. Morgana said she could bring them back, but the spell needed the death of an Alpha's family. Specifically, Marcus Blackthorne's family. " I couldn't breathe. My mate - my supposed mate - had tried to kill me and my sister.
"She told me you both died in the river," Zander continued, his voice getting desperate. "She said the spell was complete and my family would return. But they never did. And now I know why."
"Because I lived." Tears burned my eyes. "Because I survived when I was supposed to die."
"The spell is broken and unstable," he said. "According to Morgana, it's been feeding off your life force for ten years, keeping you barely alive while it tried to complete itself."
That explained so much. Why I was always tired. Why using my shadow skills drained me so completely. Why I felt like I was slowly dying inside.
"But now that we're mates..." Zander's voice cracked.
"What? What happens now?"
"The spell is trying to fix itself. It's going to kill you to finish the magic, and then use our mate bond to kill me too. Two birds, one stone."
I slid down the wall as my legs gave out totally. "How long?"
"Three days."
Three days. After ten years of running and surviving and trying to stay alive, I had three days left.
"There has to be a way to stop it," I whispered.
Zander knelt down in front of me, his eyes full of sadness and pain. "There is. But you're not going to like it."
"Tell me."
"We have to go back to where it started. The Whispering River. And we have to..." He stopped, unable to say the words.
"We have to what?"
"We have to finish your death. Properly this time. The spell will release its hold on both of us, but only if you die in the same place where the magic began."
I stared at him, understanding washing over me like ice water. My mate wasn't my rescue. He was my killer.
"You're asking me to kill myself to save you," I said.
"No." His voice was fierce now. "I'm asking you to trust me. There's another way, but it's dangerous and it might not work."
"What other way?"
He reached out like he wanted to touch my face, then pulled his hand back. "We fake your death. Trick the magic into thinking it's complete. But if we get it wrong, if we mess up even a little bit..."
"We both die anyway."
"We both die anyway," he agreed.
I closed my eyes and tried to think. Trust the mate who'd made a deal to kill me? Or spend my last three days running from a magic spell that would hunt me down no matter where I went?
When I opened my eyes, Zander was watching me with desperate hope.
"Why should I trust you?" I asked.
"Because," he said softly, "I just realized that I'd rather die trying to save you than live knowing I killed you."
The partner bond purred at his words, trying to convince me he was telling the truth. But before I could answer, a new smell hit my nose.
Wolf. Multiple wolves. Moving fast and getting closer.
Zander's head snapped up, his nostrils burning. "Patrol. My patrol."
"So?"
His face went grim. "So I told them to kill any rogues they found on sight. And officially, you're still a rogue."
The sound of paws hitting the ground got louder. They'd be here in less than a minute.
"Hide," Zander ordered.
"Where? This cabin has one room!"
He looked around anxiously, then grabbed my arm. "Can you shadow-walk us both?"
"I don't know! I've never tried!"
The wolves were almost here. I could hear them breathing, smell their joy at finding prey.
"Try," Zander said. "Because if they see you with me, they'll think I've gone soft. They'll challenge my command and kill you anyway."
I reached for my shadow skills, but I was so weak from blood loss and fear that I could barely feel them.
"I can't," I gasped. "I'm too tired."
The first wolf burst through the opening in full shift, teeth bared and ready to kill.
And that's when Zander did something that shocked me to my core.
He stepped in front of me, protecting me with his own body.
"Stand down," he ordered his patrol.
But the lead wolf didn't stop. He leaped straight at Zander's throat, and I realized with fear that this wasn't just a patrol.
This was a coup. And my mate was about to die protecting the rogue he was meant to kill.