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Prologue - Part II

“Aaaaah,” I scream with the intense pain in my heart before falling to the ground and bringing my knees closer to my chest. The pain I feel is stronger than all the times I scraped my knees while playing with Josh.

I start to cry, pressing my hands against my racing heart. I can feel the weight of the curse bearing down on me.

“IAN!!” Vi bends down next to me. Her tears fall down my face as she tries to hug me. “Ian! I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!”

My eyes find the evil witch. Contrary to her satisfied, vicious smile before, she scrunched her brow, appearing confused now. “Wait, you’re an… Alpha—” Realization seems to dawn on her as she opens her eyes wide, looking unbelievably scared.

I can’t bark at her that it’s obvious I’m an Alpha because the pain I feel has become stronger.

“Break the spell! Please, Mrs. Witch!” Vi pleads, turning her head towards the witch.

“And why would I even consider such a thing??” she says with a cruel smile.

“Please!” Vi cries in fat tears. I’ve never seen her so desperate. She turns to me, “We’ll find a way, Ian. We’ll make your pain go away, and make you feel better!”

“The agony he’s enduring is just the beginning. Once the spell is cast, only I possess the power to reverse it.” The witch’s voice seems distant, but I don’t know if it’s because the pain has intensified.

I writhe on the ground. Wave after wave of pain crashed through me. It’s as if someone had cut out half my heart with a dull knife.

“I’m so sorry, Ian!” Vi cries out, trying to hug me while I squirm in pain. The dirt from the ground sticks to the tears on my face. “I shouldn’t have taken that bottle! Sorry, big bro! I’m only going to get my wolf in three years! I thought I could get the love potion to know what it’s like to have a mate,” she sobs with each word. “I wanted to see what it’s like to have a fated mate like Josh, and now you’re feeling pain because of me! Please, Mrs. Witch, remove the curse! I promise that—” she turns to the witch but stops talking. “Wait. Where did she go?”

I turn my head towards the witch, and with much effort, I open my eyes, but I don’t see her either.

Vi gets up and sprints before entering the cabin while I cry out with both hands, pressing my chest.

“Mrs. Witch!” Vi shouts for her inside the cabin. Then she leaves the cabin and runs to me, her face is more scared than when she entered. “Ian... She’s gone,” she desperately says, kneeling next to me again.

Dirt gets into my eye when I press my forehead to the ground. Goddess, why does it hurt so much?

When I turn my face to the sky, I feel the first drops of rain fall on my face, mixing with mine and Vi’s tears.

I feel an emptiness that I have never felt before, so intense that it makes my body lose all strength.

My heavy eyes hover in the direction of my crying sister, and suddenly, my desperate little sister’s face darkens, as does everything around me.

🐺 🐺 🐺

Almost a year has passed since that evil witch cursed me.

And now I’m here naked in front of the full moon, already feeling something change inside me.

I’m about to meet my wolf. I can feel it.

My family is in the forest behind me, except for Vi. Everyone has already shifted to their wolves, and they are eagerly waiting to meet my wolf.

The moon shines brightly in the starry sky, and the more I look at it, the more I feel an inexplicable pull.

Please, Moon Goddess, don’t let that curse take hold! Bless me with a fated mate!

I beg Goddess Selena, with the same mantra I’ve been saying constantly before going to sleep for the last few months.

I don’t regret getting in front of Vi that day. She’s my baby sister. I’d do anything for her.

I would never let her be cursed with something she wants most in her life, even if it is also mine.

But I also don’t want this curse for myself. Mom and Dad have been trying to break this curse ever since that day, but they haven’t found any clues on how to break it or where the old witch is.

Suddenly, I kneel on the ground, and my hand goes to my heart. I stop looking at the full moon and close my eyes, trying to focus on the voice I hear in my mind.

‘Hello?’ I think, trying to reach the voice.

Our wolves generally don’t talk to us much, only when necessary; their focus is to guide us with their wise intuition.

‘Kral.’ A harshly animalistic voice speaks inside my mind. I widen my eyes, and my heart beats faster.

‘What?’ I ask without understanding.

‘My name is Kral,’ he says, his tone is furious.

‘Nice to meet you...’ I say uncertainly, even though I have waited for this moment my whole life. ‘I’m Ethan,’ and then I go straight to the point, asking him what I truly want to know. ‘Kral... Can you tell me if—’

‘Yes,’ he interrupts me angrily. ‘Something is wrong. The curse has taken hold.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I can talk to you now, but I’ve seen and felt everything you’ve ever seen and felt,’ he explains. ‘I also thought the curse hadn’t taken hold because you hadn’t met me yet, but it was. We are cursed to never meet our fated mate! Fucking witch!’ he mutters angrily, and I think now is not the best time to tell him that my parents don’t let me curse. ‘I thought that after you begged the Moon Goddess so much, she would have filled that void in our chest.’

We stay silent for a moment, mourning our fated mate.

‘Let’s shift for the first time, human! Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to find her!’

My lips curve up into a smile at the firmness and confidence in my wolf’s promise, making hope grow in my chest again.

Unfortunately, the curse was not broken that year.

Not the following year. Not the year after that.

This curse has haunted Kral and me ever since.

It broke my heart.

I never asked Goddess Selena for anything again.

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