The Alpha's Curse The Enemy Within

“Took you long enough, darling,” | felt the deathly chill that glazed over his words. | honestly didn't expect him to be here, and by the looks of things, he had been waiting for me. “Where have you been?” Vladimir questioned, his eyes carefully wandering over my body.

I removed the woolen cloak on my body, tossing it over the bed as | moved slowly to him. "Outside," | uttered, pressing my lips to a smile.

“Training.” “Training?” His lips curled in a smile of his. And the air around grew colder. "At such an odd hour of the night?" He was watching me closely, taking in my every movement.

I nodded, still holding my smile, pulling my lips to his briefly. "Why? Is something wrong?" | asked.

“I was worried. You couldn't be found within the Fortress, and conveniently, | couldn't seem to connect with you,” He counted his words slowly in his usual deep accented voice, snaking one hand around my waist, pressing me hard against his body.

“I was training. The Blood moon is only days away. | need my magic to be at its best,” My electric blue eyes gazed into his eyes, and | could feel his presence through the mate bond, prying deep into my soul.

“True,” He pulled his other hand to my face, his finger trailing the outline of my face. "You are completely right,” His voice was low, and still oddly calm while | held his rich gold gaze. "Do me a favor, darling, take Sybil and Kali with you the next time you go training.” “Of course, | will be sure to do that," | muttered slowly, matching his

tone without breaking apart from his piercing state.

A deep smile found his lips again, and for a heated minute, we stared at each other intensely without mumbling a word. He shifted his gaze to my lips as his finger pinned my chin, and he kissed me fiercely.

I kissed him back but it didn't last long as he pulled away, and for a second, | swear | saw a flash of rage cross his golden gaze.

“Sleep tight," He pecked my lips once more. “Mate,” he voiced before moving away. There was a certain way he said the last word that made my stomach churn. “By the way, you smell nice,” he smiled, sauntering to the door.

| remained fixed on my spot until he left my chamber. Once the door closed, | released the air that had been held in my lungs.

“He doesn't believe you,” Adie jumped to the surface and voiced slowly in my head. She was completely right. He knew.

Vladimir knew | was lying. He was no fool at all. And I had no idea if he felt anything from what had happened between Killian and me.

I sighed, falling into the nearest chair | could find. I had spelled myself, masking Killian's scent and the others on me. But that bastard somehow noticed.

I sighed again as the knot in my chest tightened. | could already feel myself in danger in the Fortress. Vladimir was incapable of killing me.

I knew that much, but only the goddess knew what he could be capable of doing to me. Now, more than ever, nothing must go wrong during the Blood moon.

It was already at the peak of the day. | was in my chamber, and | had only stepped out for breakfast. Vladimir had been present for breakfast, and the time we spent together can only be described as normal. At least, it had seemed that way, up until Nikolai arrived and left the Fortress with Vladimir.

I had no idea what they were up to, and an uneasy feeling had crept into my soul since last night, and fearfully, it only kept on growing.

1 could barely sleep a wink last night. | was up all night, working on the spell that the witches and | needed to foil Vladimir's plans for the Blood moon. | had messaged Jaskier, and unfortunately, Nikolai hasn't shared anything with the coven. To say that worried me was an understatement. It scared me.

Nikolai was up to something, and | had no idea what it was. It was like rushing into a war and having no idea what to expect. I didn't like that one bit.

Another thing that had successfully deprived me of some peace was last night's dream. | had no idea when | had dozed off, but | had jerked awake, drenched in my sweat. It was worse than the other dreams.

I shut my eyes, burying my face in my palm. | saw chaos around.

Blood soaking the earth, and death. It was a war. A bloody war. Then

my vision became dark and all | felt was a void within.

I had no idea what it meant. But deep in my soul, | knew they were visions for what was yet to come.

1 pulled my eyes open, sweeping the careless locks of my hair behind my ears. | had to be done creating the spell the soonest. Vladimir had Sybil and Kali hovering around to keep an eye on me, almost every hour. I couldn't leave the Fortress, but everything was going as planned.

I had sent word to Jaskier to convey to Killian and my brother, letting them know of my situation and other important matters. The Dark Circle army would be leaving Oasis for the attack on the South regions at tomorrow's dusk, Zena had been included as well.

I drew in a quick breath, breaking a small smile as | completed the third part of the spell, and now, | was left with the final piece.

Killian's point of view Kaiser and | were at the borders of the Oasis. We've been here for hours, hiding against the towering trees, while blending into the night, ensuring we stayed out of sight as we watched the last group of the Dark Circle army leave the Oasis through a portal created by Nikolai, himself.

I backed against the tree as Nikolai and his witches began to leave the boundaries. I shifted my gaze to Kaiser, whose attention was still on the invisible portal the army had walked right through.

I knew aside from everything that was going on he was worried for his mate. | would be too. Zena was among that army, and as of this moment, she was completely on her own. But I had my trust in her and her capabilities. She would do just fine, and lead the Council's army to Oasis.

“Kai,” | placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him from his deep thoughts. “She will be fine,” I told him honestly. He needed to be

reminded that Zena was an impressive witch that could take care of herself.

His hazel orbs turned to me, "Yeah, | know," he said, as we retreated into the woods, heading back to training camps.

1 pulled up the cloth around my neck, covering half of my face as Kai and | headed back to the training camps. There was still a lot to be done, and frankly, I preferred to be busy doing something, because all | kept thinking about was Sheila. And her situation had me going crazy, | was doing everything | could not to lose it and charged into the Fortress to find her.

I knew more than anyone else that it would be stupid, and | would only be endangering everyone's lives. But Ryker had begun to recover quickly, and the urge to have my mate near me was clouding every fucking sense of mine.

1 breathed out roughly, moving with speed in the woods. Soon, Kai and | sneaked into the camps, blending among the prisoners. We had

only tomorrow and the next before the Blood moon, and so far, we've gotten the prisoners on our side.

It wasn't really hard convincing a few, and slowly, the news began to travel among the prisoners in the camps, and to those in the village.

Many were more than willing to join the resistance. All that was left was to wait for the right moment to raid the armory, but that would have to be on the night of the Blood moon, to avoid unnecessary difficulties.

I moved to the large field where the prisoners were training under the supervision of warriors. | took shade under one of the trees, leaning against its trunk, while my eyes were fixed on the faint outline of the Fortress a long distance away from the camps.

Kaiser and | had received Sheila's message from a witch friend of hers, Jaskier. Her situation wasn't looking good at all, and it worried me greatly. That imbecile has her caged in that place and had her

watched every fucking hour. | just couldn't wait to get out of this god-damned place and take Sheila as far away from here.