Page 3 of Cursed By Fate

The clearing fell deadly quiet when he stepped into the fray, his massive black-furred body radiating an aura that made my hackles rise. This was no soldier. No second-in-command. This was him.

The Stormvale alpha.

He stepped into the clearing like the storm had summoned him—massive, black-furred, and pulsing with dominance. His eyes—ice-blue, ancient, and too intelligent—collided with mine. My breath hitched. Not out of fear. Something worse. Something primal. Something that made my wolf whimper and bare herthroat. I didn’t want to, didn’tmeanto, but there was something in the weight of his stare that pinned me in place.

For the first time, I felt my wolf falter. Not out of fear, but something more dangerous: instinctive submission.

I shook my head, angry and defiant, and lunged for him.

Bad move.

His packmates rushed me from behind, one snapping at my hind leg while the others pinned my sides. I squirmed and fought as teeth sunk shallow into my shoulder, but a single, commanding growl from the alpha stilled me instantly.

I shifted back, panting and furious as mud and blood smeared my skin. The alpha’s pack mates shifted back and held my arms pinned with a bruising grip. My human body felt exposed here, but I refused to show weakness—not to my enemy, and certainly not tohim.

“You’re a long way from home, alpha,” I spat, my voice laced with venom.

The Stormvale alpha tilted his head as he shifted to stand before me, his black fur giving way to broad, muscled flesh. His body was built like the mountain he ruled—tall, broad-chested, scarred from battles he’d clearly won. Intricate tattoos told the stories of those battles, his pack’s history, his life. The alpha’s hair was dark and unruly, like night caught in a storm, and his eyes were colder than a glacier’s edge. Every inch of him said danger. And yet, my mark burned under my skin like it wanted him anyway. He crossed his arms over his scarred chest and tattered flannel, looking down on me with infuriating calm, as if I were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

“Serena.” He said my name with deliberate cruelty, letting it settle into the air between us.

“How—”

“We make it a habit to know our enemies,” he interrupted, his voice low and sharp as a blade. “And you, little wolf, are very interesting.”

When I growled and lunged, he took a step back as a low chuckle escaped his throat, as if I had amused him somehow.

“Careful,” he warned, voice calm but thick with authority. “You don’t want to make this worse for yourself.”

“Go to hell.”

His lips twitched, a glimmer of amusement flickering across them before disappearing. “Bind her,” he ordered. The two men holding me hostage complied, snapping crude ropes around my wrists as their gloved hands worked quickly.

The second the wolfsbane-laced rope bit into my skin, a scream shot through my veins. It wasn’t pain—it was suppression. Like something holy was being strangled inside me. I fought, snarling and writhing, but it was no use.

“You’ll regret this,” I spat as they dragged me back to my feet.

“Quiet,” the alpha snapped, his expression unreadable. But just before he turned away, I saw something unusual: a mark.

It was a pale, faint crescent moon near his shoulder, peeking out from a tear in his shirt.

The air sucked from my lungs. My mark itched at the sight of his, a faint warmth rippling across my wrist where the crescent moon and stars were burned into my skin.

Impossible.

It couldn’t be.

It sparked under the moonlight like a glinting blade, and everything I knew about curses shifted beneath my feet. A Stormvale alpha with the same mark? That wasn’t just dangerous—it was heresy. Treason.

“What the hell are you?” I whispered, my mind tangled in a thousand questions no one could answer.

He glanced back at me then, his gaze narrowing briefly. The corners of his mouth twitched, but not into a smile.

“Your survival just got interesting,” he muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.

And damned if my cursed heart didn’t stutter.

But in the midst of my fury and panic as the Stormvale alpha led me deeper into unfamiliar forest, one thought took root in my mind and refused to let go:

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