Mira's POV
Silver light poured from my hands into Elias's torn throat.
I could feel his life slipping away—feel the exact moment his heart started to slow. The magical healing came instinctively, like my body knew what to do even if my mind didn't.
"Come on," I whispered desperately. "Come on, Elias. Stay with me."
The wound began to close. Slowly. Too slowly.
Kieran stood over Drake's unconscious wolf form, snarling. Even in wolf form, trapped by the curse, he radiated power and fury. His golden eyes met mine for one brief moment, and I felt the connection between us snap taut like a wire.
You came, his eyes seemed to say. You actually came.
Then chaos erupted.
More wolves burst into the archives—at least thirty of them, led by a massive grey wolf who shifted into the scarred man from before. Commander Ash.
"Stand down!" Ash commanded. "All of you, stand down now!"
The freed wolves—the ones I'd broken curses from—stumbled to their feet, confused and disoriented. Kieran positioned himself between them and Drake's body, still growling.
And I kept healing Elias, because I couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. Not when I'd just gotten him as a friend.
"Mira," Ash said quietly, kneeling beside me. "Let me help."
"I can do it. I just need more time—"
"You're burning through your life force too fast. I can see it." He touched my shoulder, and I realized he was right. My hands were shaking. My vision blurred at the edges. The silver light was growing dimmer.
"I can't let him die because of me," I sobbed.
"He's not going to die. But you will if you don't stop." Ash gently pulled my hands away from Elias's throat. "You've done enough. His wolf healing will take over from here."
The moment I stopped channeling power, exhaustion hit me like a wave. I swayed, and Ash caught me before I collapsed.
"Easy. You just broke twenty curses at once and healed a fatal wound. You need rest."
"Can't rest." I pushed against his chest weakly. "Drake is still here. Morgana moved up the ritual. Two days. We only have two days left."
"I know." Ash's expression was grim. "Which is why we need to get you somewhere safe, get you fed and rested, and then figure out our next move."
Kieran padded over, his massive wolf form moving with predatory grace. Up close, he was even bigger than I'd imagined—easily the size of a small horse. His black fur was matted with scars from seven years of living cursed in the forest.
He lowered his head and gently pressed his forehead against mine.
The touch sent warmth flooding through me. Not romantic—not yet. Just... connection. Recognition. Like two pieces of a puzzle finally clicking together after being apart too long.
"Hello," I whispered, reaching up to touch his fur. "I finally get to meet you for real."
Kieran made a sound—half-growl, half-whimper—that broke my heart. He'd been trapped like this for seven years. Unable to speak. Unable to shift. Unable to do anything but watch his kingdom fall apart.
And it was all because of Drake's lies and Morgana's revenge.
"We're going to fix this," I promised him. "I don't know how yet, but we will."
One of Ash's soldiers cleared his throat. "Commander? What do we do with Drake?"
Everyone looked at the unconscious beta. Kieran had torn into him pretty badly—deep gashes across his side, blood pooling on the stone floor. But he was still breathing.
"Chain him," Ash ordered. "Silver chains. I want him locked in the dungeons under constant guard. And I want every wolf he cursed identified and brought to Mira for healing."
"Sir, that could be dozens of wolves—"
"I don't care if it's hundreds. The Bloodbane stays here, she heals our people, and then we figure out how to break the king's curse." Ash's voice left no room for argument. "Any wolf who has a problem with that can take it up with King Kieran himself."
Kieran growled in agreement.
The soldiers moved quickly, dragging Drake away. Some helped Elias—who was breathing steadier now, the wound on his throat already starting to scar over. Others began organizing the freed wolves, taking statements, trying to figure out how long Drake had been cursing people.
Vivian approached cautiously, her face pale. "Commander Ash, I... I need to confess. Drake used me to do terrible things. I spread lies about the Bloodbane. I tried to attack her. I—"
"You were cursed," I interrupted. "You weren't in control."
"But I should have fought harder. Should have realized something was wrong." Tears streamed down her face. "I'm so sorry."
I looked at this beautiful, fierce woman who'd hated me on sight because Drake had twisted her mind. "It's not your fault. Drake and Morgana did this. Not you."
Vivian dropped to her knees. "I pledge my loyalty to you, Bloodbane. And to King Kieran. Whatever you need, I'll do it. I'll spend the rest of my life making up for what I did under the curse."
"I just need you to be honest from now on," I said. "And help us stop Drake and Morgana."
She nodded, still crying.
Ash helped me stand. "Come. You need food and rest. We'll set you up in the royal chambers—they've been empty since Kieran was cursed, but they're the safest rooms in the Keep."
"I should stay and help—"
"You can barely stand. You're no good to anyone like this." He gestured to two female wolves. "Escort the Bloodbane to the royal wing. Get her whatever she needs."
Kieran followed as they led me through the Keep. Other wolves stared as we passed—some with hope, some with fear, all with curiosity.
The royal chambers were massive. A huge bed. Windows overlooking the forest. And everywhere—portraits of Kieran in his human form.
I studied one painting closely. He looked younger than the man I'd met in my dreams. Happier. More carefree.
"The curse changed him," one of the female wolves—a kind older woman named Mara—said quietly. "He used to smile. Used to laugh. Now..." She looked at Kieran sadly. "Now he just survives."
Kieran lay down by the fireplace, his golden eyes watching me.
"I'll bring food," Mara said. "And we'll post guards outside. You'll be safe here."
When she left, I sank onto the bed and finally let myself feel everything I'd been holding back.
Terror. Exhaustion. Grief for Elias almost dying. Fury at Drake. And underneath it all—a desperate need to save Kieran before time ran out.
"Two days," I said to him. "How are we supposed to break a seven-year curse in two days?"
Kieran stood and padded over. He rested his massive head in my lap, and I ran my fingers through his fur.
"I don't even know if it's possible," I admitted. "Every record says I have to sacrifice myself. That my death is the only way to break the curse. But if I die, Morgana wins. She gets your power, and you probably die anyway."
Kieran made a soft sound—almost like he was trying to say "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." I touched the crescent moon on his forehead—a white marking that matched my birthmark. "None of this is your fault."
A knock at the door. "Bloodbane? May I enter?"
"Come in."
An ancient wolf limped into the room—white-furred, blind in one eye, moving with the careful steps of someone very old.
She shifted into an elderly woman with long white hair and milky eyes.
"Hello, child," she said in a voice like rustling leaves. "I am Oracle Luna. I've been waiting a very long time to meet you."
"Oracle?" I stood. "You can see the future?"
"Sometimes. When the Moon Goddess allows it." She moved closer, studying me with her one good eye. "I had a vision about you seven years ago, on the night Kieran was cursed. I saw two possible futures."
My heart raced. "What futures?"
"In one, you sacrifice yourself on the blood moon altar. The curse breaks, but both you and Kieran die, and Morgana absorbs enough power to become unstoppable. She plunges the world into darkness for a thousand years."
"And the other future?"
Luna's expression turned strange. "In the other, you don't sacrifice yourself. You do something else. Something impossible. You transform the curse instead of breaking it."
"Transform it how?"
"That's what I couldn't see. The vision was unclear—just light and pain and two figures becoming one." She touched my glowing birthmark. "But I saw this mark split in half. I saw the Bloodbane become something new. Something that's never existed before."
"That doesn't make sense. How can I transform a curse designed to kill me?"
"I don't know. But I've learned to trust what the Moon Goddess shows me, even when I don't understand it." Luna smiled sadly. "You were created to end Kieran's bloodline, child. Perhaps the answer lies in understanding what 'end' truly means."
Before I could ask more questions, Kieran suddenly leapt to his feet, snarling at the window.
I followed his gaze and saw purple fire blooming in the night sky over Shadowveil Forest.
Morgana's magic.
A voice boomed across the entire kingdom—loud enough that every wolf in Bloodmoon Keep could hear it.
"ATTENTION, WEREWOLVES OF THE KINGDOM. I AM MORGANA MOONSHADOW, AND I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT."
My blood turned to ice.
"THE BLOODBANE HAS ARRIVED, AS PREDICTED. IN TWO DAYS, SHE WILL COME TO SHADOWVEIL FOREST FOR THE RITUAL. BUT I'VE DECIDED TO GIVE HER EXTRA MOTIVATION."
The purple fire twisted and formed an image in the sky—Sister Margaret and the orphan children, trapped in a magical cage.
"NO!" I screamed.
"IF THE BLOODBANE DOESN'T APPEAR AT THE BLOOD MOON ALTAR IN EXACTLY FORTY-EIGHT HOURS, THESE INNOCENTS DIE. IF SHE TRIES TO BREAK THE CURSE ANY OTHER WAY, THEY DIE. IF SHE DOESN'T SACRIFICE HERSELF WILLINGLY, THEY DIE."
Morgana's laughter echoed. "CHOOSE WISELY, LITTLE BLOODBANE. YOUR LIFE, OR THEIRS. TICK TOCK."
The image vanished.
I stood frozen, my mind spinning.
She'd taken the orphans. The people who raised me. The only family I'd ever known.
"This is my fault," I whispered. "I should have made sure they evacuated further away. Should have—"
Kieran pressed against my side, offering what comfort he could.
Oracle Luna touched my shoulder. "This was always going to happen, child. Morgana needs you desperate and afraid. She needs you making choices from fear instead of wisdom."
"But they're going to die if I don't—"
"They're going to die if you do exactly what she wants too," Ash said from the doorway. "Morgana is lying about something. I can feel it. The ritual isn't as simple as 'sacrifice yourself and everyone lives.' There's a trick we're not seeing."
"Then we have forty-eight hours to figure out what it is." I looked at each of them—Ash, Luna, Kieran. "And to find a way to save everyone. The orphans, Kieran, the kingdom. Everyone."
"That's impossible," Luna said softly.
"So is everything else I've done in the past two days." I touched my glowing birthmark. "I was created to be a weapon. Fine. Let's see if I can be a weapon that chooses its own target."
Kieran's eyes met mine, and I saw something in them I hadn't seen before.
Hope.
"We start tonight," I said. "We read every record in those archives. We talk to every wolf who knows anything about curse magic. And we find that third option—the one Drake and Morgana are trying to hide."
"And if we don't find it in time?" Ash asked.
I looked at the purple fire still burning in the distant sky, marking where Morgana waited with her prisoners.
"Then I go to Shadowveil Forest and do what I was made to do," I said quietly. "But on my terms. Not hers."
Oracle Luna's milky eye suddenly blazed with silver light—a vision taking her.
When she spoke, her voice was layered with power, like multiple people talking at once:
"The weapon becomes the shield. The chain becomes the key. What was made to end will instead begin. Two halves of one whole, united at last. But beware—the price of transformation is paid in pain, and the pain of love is the deepest magic of all."
She collapsed.
We caught her, and she blinked, looking confused. "What did I say?"
"Something about weapons and shields," Ash said. "And transformation."
Luna's expression turned grave. "Then the path is clear, though I don't understand it yet. You must find a way to transform yourself, Mira. Not sacrifice. Transform."
"How?"
"That," Luna said, "is what we need to figure out in the next two days."
As if to punctuate her words, my birthmark suddenly split—the crescent moon dividing into two halves that glowed even brighter.
And Kieran yelped, touching his forehead where his own matching mark had appeared.
We stared at each other, both marked now with matching split moons.
"It's starting," Luna whispered. "The final phase of the curse. In two days, you'll both be pulled to the ritual site whether you want to go or not. The magic will take over."
"Then we'd better work fast," I said.
But as I looked at Kieran—this wolf-king I'd known through dreams and just met in reality—I realized something terrifying.
I was falling in love with him.
And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.
Because love, I was learning, made you willing to sacrifice everything.
Even yourself.