Fated To The Cursed And Tainted Alpha

STIAN

rld fe

o

a long time ago and in the worst possible way. When I was still something rese

species. It didn't matter if you were human or wolf, ki

came that something,

of the hall toward me. They moved the way men moved when they had made a decision they co

arger, grotesquely evolved, and their eyes glowed a bright red. Wolves, yes, but twisted. More feral

oot of my throne, and th

nce to you, High King

d not

retch until it weigh

e I was. "Drink of my blood. What you become afterward will make every

shi

ees, shivering like pups

y understand and wouldn't until it was far too late. Artemisia, my most favoured courtesan, materialized from the edge of the room with a goblet

lphas

, and the sudden horrible understanding that everything they had be

they

belonge

e bond before anyone spoke it aloud. Youzab Grey had

servant. His presence here tonight told me everything about the current s

g werewolf existence a secret had cost them greatly over the centuries and t

esentative every century. Some made it back. Some

him or anyone else as the night was crawl

n. When my bones would shift into something neither wolf nor man. A cre

in even an ounce of control. It never worked. The locks always broke.

find my cage before the transformation began

est en

always distant, seeing everything and nothing at once. He

lock yourself tonig

y curse would take a night off?"

ted." His hand lifted, revealing a vial. "We examined the girl you brought in. The Ravenwood heir." He co

il

ed inside me

n between you both is not ordinary. It is ancient, blood-wrought, pain

d. "And you retr

d is potent. It hums with the blessing of the goddess, t

mering like captured moonlight. I uncorked it

ct was i

that moved up my spine and seized my lungs and forced them open in a way that felt obscenely

sto

onds I simply stood inside it without moving. My body remained mine. Midnight

ime in centurie

tless grinding pressure of a curse

th

t exhale

again. Softer this time. As though

d me?" The question arrived b

like liquid fire while something deep inside me surged toward her. A p

n as it requires it. Her touch burns you because the connection is too stro

her blood. Agony in her touch. A bond twisted enou

the vi

east contained then her existence serves a purpose." I turned toward the door and addressed two sp

High

"that useful and valuable are not the same thing. One ca

***

d, expanding faster than the human or werewolf governments c

g from cursed artifacts to information that governments would pay

nd of hunger catered to. The Nocturne Veil for humans. The Lunaris for werewolves. And the Cr

n light. Wine flowed freely. Men with too much money and too little restraint lounged while my courtesans attended to them, their cheeks flushed from the small doses

dness. The executives were proof of that. Their ferocity was extraordinary and their lust impossible to satisfy. Human courtesans who attende

ng through him despite the effort he made to suppress it. He was a man used to command. Use

strained smile. "Thank you f

ht to the point. "Because bodies are piling up and you fear what will happe

e are concerned

sion." I said flatly.

hift in the air. Youzab cleared his throat. "We

ight me. Not with wolves defecting to my side by the dozens. Not with your billionaires spending their fort

w tigh

" I said. "Let's speak ab

sition. The one I ha

led, slow and sharp. "A sea

eath c

ontinued. "And in return, y

ich

of the word settle. "And a steady supply of human

"You're as

said softly. "I am

wall

man laws bow to. I can give it to you with one signature. But un

you to and your heart

ssed tight

owed his head

st

rld to own. They never thought it through. They walked into arran

derstand was that I wa