The Alpha's Curse The Enemy Within

I moved as fast as | could with my wolf's speed, racing out of the castle to find the disaster that had covered the pack. Dark smoke filled the air, and the smell of death invaded my nostrils. | tried to connect once more to Killian or anyone, but it wasn't working.

1 left the castle grounds and headed for the Packhouse. The pack was filled with chaos as the Dark Circle army had already attacked.

1 lifted my gaze to the sky to find a black veil hovering on the earth, covering the entire pack. My blue eyes widened as fear rose within me at the sight. That was the work of dark magic and has been placed on the pack to prevent the use of magic. And from it, several balls of flames fell, scattering around the pack. And several balls of flames were heading to the witches’ quarters.

Fear and panic kicked into my bones as | began heading to the quarters instead. Everyone at the quarters was in grave danger, and that included my brother.

I shared control with Adie and we moved at great speed. We were almost at the quarters when right before my eyes the witches’ quarters exploded. The force from the explosion attempted to throw me away. | blocked its harsh impact using my magic, racing further to the quarters or what was left of it. The whole place was destroyed and covered with a cloud of suffocating smoke.

1 dispersed the smoke with my magic, finding a clear view of several lifeless bodies destroyed by the explosion while some were badly wounded.

I reached for the nearest witch | could find. Terra. She was badly wounded. | placed my hand on her, attempting to heal her when | felt a murdering sensation in my neck that sent a jolt of immense pain around my body.

My fingers found the spot on my neck and I realized | was wounded and black fluid rushed out from my neck. I had no idea how that happened.

| paused on that thought as a realization kicked in. He had somehow done this to me. The small injury kept enlarging as | healed Terra, It was as though the more | used my magic, it became worse.

“Where's Kai?" | questioned Terra, fighting the pain that had begun to spread around my body.

She glanced around. “I don't know. He was here when it all happened.” My heart jammed as | began to look for him among the several bodies that covered the ground. And even though | tried to, | couldn't stop the fearful feeling in my chest.

Kaiser's point of view

just arrived at the witches’ quarters. Immediately, | hurried into the courts, took off my mask, and headed inside in search of Valerie and Lorenzo.

1 was moving with immense quickness, eager to find those two. There was an unexplainable tightness within my chest, and it all started when I met Sheila and heard everything she had to say. She was worried, and her soul was troubled. I could feel it, and frankly, | was glad I was here. 1 had to find Valerie and Enzo and find out what in god's name was going on.

I heaved a sigh, barging into one of the spell rooms where Valerie and Lorenzo usually dwelt. Unfortunately, | couldn't find them but found Gwen instead.

As soon as her eyes found me, she lowered her head and began walking towards me. “Alpha,” she called, surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?"

“I can't seem to find Valerie and Lorenzo; do you know where they might be?" | queried her, and she shook her head.

“I haven't seen Valerie all day, and Lorenzo should be at the castle,” she responded.

“He isn't there," | said, and her brows crippled, and she was about to say something before the loud and disturbing mutters from outside gained our attention as the chaos outside found its way in.

Gwen and | exchange quick glances before hastening outside into the witch's courtyard. Many witches from the coven dashed outside into the surrounding darkness.

One of the witches rushed to Gwen and me as we joined the large crowd. "Terra, what's going on?" Gwen asked her as | stepped deeper into the darkness. My eyes lifted up, following the gazes of the witches.

| froze as my deep hazel orbs rounded. “Bloody fuck!” My enlarged crystals scanned the large black veil that covered the entire witches’ quarters and most probably the entire pack.

Fuck.

“This is fucking bad." Terra began, and | turned to face both her and Gwen.

“It's a barrier veil," | said quickly, shocked.

“What?!” Gwen moved deeper into the shadows, her eyes now raised.

My heart began to hammer hard against my chest. This wasn't good.

This was a barrier spell, meant to impede the use of magic.

1 was about to say something when, out of nowhere, several balls of bright flames broke through the veil, heading for the quarters in a hurry and causing great explosions around them. The intensity of its

explosion flung me away, and | collapsed against a hard surface, feeling pain over my body.

1 groaned weakly as my breathing came out short. | couldn't feel my body, and every attempt | made to move it created an unbearable pain, eating through my flesh and aching my bones. The explosion had badly wounded me, and | wasn't healing.

Oh, goddess, Sheila. | had to get to her. I tried connecting to Leonardo through our pack's mind link, but I couldn't.

The entire witches’ quarters were covered with smoke and the stench of burning flesh. This was the work of witches, and they attacked the quarters first in order to get rid of the witches.

1 tried connecting with my wolf. He was injured as well but was in a much better state. | gave my wolf full control. I had to find my sister.

couldn't stop the fear that kept stabbing my chest at the thought of harm coming to her. | wouldn't be able to bear it.

I began to shift into my gargantuan gray wolf. | groaned at the murderous pain that had begun to pierce my very soul, as my transformation was slow and agonizing because of my wounded state.

The pain lasted for a few minutes, and | was able to shift into my wolf. Through the sharp sight of my wolf, I could see several bodies of witches lying on the earth, while some were alive but badly wounded as well.

Without wasting time, my wolf and I sprinted off, heading to the castle. The entire pack was covered with smoke from explosions. The fear within me grew more intense as | realized a war had broken out.

My wolf sniffed the air, and all we could smell was the stench of burning corpses and deaths. Also... | paused, completely frozen on the spot. | recognized another familiar but unsettling odor; it was that of vampires and rogues. Plenty of them. My blood tured cold. The Dark Circle. I could never be mistaken.

Why were they here? Oh no! As much as | hated the sudden realization, | knew why they were there.

They were here for Sheila. More than ever, | had to find her.

I fought the pain and drowsiness clouding my vision. | was losing a lot of blood, but | kept running faster, moving past the chaos and fighting going on around me. Even some of the guests that had attended the party had joined the fight. | was almost at the castle when a thundering growl echoed into the air, rippling through the trees and causing a tremble against the earth.

| approached the castle gates, and just then, | noticed Killian burst through the doors in a frenzy.

“Find Sheila!" He growled loudly in his half-beastly form. He was sharing full control with his wolf, and his eyes were a terrifying pair of

bloodshot irises.

He dashed off in a different direction, moving quickly in the darkness.

He seemed to be trailing something. Sheila's scent. I followed him right away.

He was on his way to the packhouse, which was about a mile away.

My wolf moved faster on its paws. Instead of stopping at the packhouse, Killian moved past it, heading into the woods.

I kept on following him into the woods. He took a short route and burst out in a large meadow that covered a wide distance between the packhouse and the witches’ quarters.

Killian stopped abruptly, causing my wolf to halt instantly. | moved my eyes past him to the large meadow where another fight was going on.

“Sheila,” My voice echoed weakly in the corners of my wolf's mind.

She was surrounded by the Dark Circle's army of feral wolves and vampires. But she wasn't alone. She was fighting alongside some of Killian's warriors, including Morgan.

1 joined the fight, regardless of the unusual weakness in my bones, and it had started to affect my wolf as well. | moved closer to where she was, but before | could get to her, Killian did. It was then that | noticed something was wrong with my sister; she was wounded in her neck and bleeding profusely. She wasn't healing. Another careful look and | realized it wasn't just a wound. It was something far worse than that, something that made both Killian's and my blood tum cold.