"I might be low-level, but I know curses when I feel them." Elena pressed the charm into his hand. "This won’t break it. Nothing I have is strong enough for that. But it might slow it down. Give you a little more time."
Nicholas looked down at the crystal and felt something loosen in his chest. "Thank you."
"It’s the least I can do." Elena stepped back. "Good luck. I hope you save her."
"So do I," Nicholas said quietly.
They left her there and drove back down the mountain in silence. The moment they had cell service, Nicholas sent a text to Silas confirming Elena’s safe arrival.
The response came within seconds.
Confirmed. The witch’s name is Morgana Ashford. Her location: 47.2° N, 121.8° W. Deep in the Cascade wilderness. She’s expecting you.
Sebastian read the coordinates over Nicholas’s shoulder. "That’s at least three hours from here."
"Then we need to move." Nicholas was already pulling up a map on his phone. "We shift and run. It’ll be faster than driving."
"And we’re down to...." Sebastian checked his phone. ".....eighteen hours before Victoria’s deadline."
"I know." Nicholas opened the car door. "Which is why we’re not wasting any more time here."
They stripped in the parking lot of an abandoned gas station, shifted into Kael and Rhen, and ran.
***
*Three hours later*
The Cascade wilderness was exactly as remote as Silas had implied.
Dense forest stretched for miles in every direction, the trees so thick that sunlight barely penetrated to the forest floor. The underbrush was wild and untamed, and Nicholas could feel old magic humming through the ground beneath his paws.
This was a place humans did not come. A place even most supernaturals avoided.
Perfect for a witch who did not want to be found.
Kael followed the coordinates to a clearing deep in the heart of the wilderness and stopped at the edge, his massive body going still.
In the center of the clearing sat a cabin.
But calling it a cabin did not do it justice. The structure looked like it had grown directly out of the earth.....walls made of living wood still connected to the roots below, a roof woven from branches and vines that shifted gently in the breeze. Flowers bloomed across the exterior in patterns that should not exist in nature, and the air around it shimmered with protective wards so powerful Nicholas could see them with his naked eye.
"She’s here," Rhen said through the mindlink.
"I know," Kael responded.
They shifted back to human form and dressed quickly in the clothes they had carried. Nicholas felt exposed standing naked in the wilderness but there was no help for it. They could not exactly knock on a witch’s door as wolves.
"Ready?" Sebastian asked.
"No," Nicholas admitted. "But we’re out of time to be anything else."
They walked across the clearing together, and the moment they crossed the threshold of the wards Nicholas felt magic slide across his skin like oil. Testing. Assessing. Deciding whether to let them through or burn them to ash.
The door to the cabin opened slowly before they reached it.
A woman stood in the doorway, and Nicholas recognized her immediately even though seven years had changed her.
Morgana Ashford.
She had been ancient seven years ago....white hair, weathered skin, eyes that had seen centuries pass. Now she looked even older, like time had accelerated for her in a way it did not for normal people. But her eyes were the same. Sharp. All-knowing. Completely unsurprised to see them standing on her doorstep.
"Alpha Nicholas," she said, her voice like dry leaves rustling. "And Alpha Sebastian. I’ve been expecting you."
Nicholas felt Kael stir at the back of his mind. "You knew we were coming?"
"I saw it seven years ago," Morgana said. "The moment your father brought you to me. I saw this moment. Saw you standing here desperate and afraid, looking for answers I should have given you then."
"Why didn’t you?" Sebastian demanded.
"Because some truths are too terrible to speak aloud until the moment they’re needed." Morgana stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. "Come. We have much to discuss and very little time to discuss it."
Nicholas and Sebastian exchanged a glance and then stepped inside.
***
The interior of the cabin was nothing like the exterior. Where the outside was wild and organic, the inside was precise and ordered. Shelves lined every wall, filled with bottles and jars and books that looked older than civilization. A large table dominated the center of the room, covered in star charts and crystal formations and what looked like the remains of a recently completed ritual.
"Sit," Morgana said, gesturing to chairs at the table.
They sat.
Morgana remained standing, moving to a cabinet and pulling out a teapot and three cups. She poured tea with steady hands despite her age and set a cup in front of each of them.
"Drink," she said. "You’ll need your strength for what comes next."
Nicholas looked down at the tea. It was dark and steaming and smelled like herbs he could not identify. "What is it?"
"Clarity tea. It will help you understand what I’m about to tell you." Morgana sat down across from them and wrapped her gnarled hands around her own cup. "You came here looking for answers about the curse. About whether your mate must die to break it."
"Yes," Nicholas said.
"And you want me to tell you there’s another way. A loophole. Some secret knowledge that will let you save her without sacrifice."
"Is there?" Sebastian asked.
Morgana was quiet for a long moment, her ancient eyes studying both of them with an intensity that made Nicholas want to look away.
"Drink your tea," she said finally. "And I will tell you everything. The full prophecy. The parts I hid from your father. The truth about what the Moon Goddess demands."
Nicholas picked up the cup and drank.
The tea was bitter and burned going down, but the moment it hit his stomach he felt something shift. His mind sharpened. His senses heightened. And when he looked at Morgana again, he could see the magic radiating off her in waves....old power, ancient knowledge, and underneath it all, profound sadness.
"I’m ready," Nicholas said.
Sebastian drank his tea and nodded. "So am I."
Morgana set down her cup and folded her hands on the table.
"Very well," she said. "Let me tell you about the curse the Moon Goddess placed on your bloodline. Let me tell you about the price that must be paid to break it. And let me tell you why I have been hiding in these woods for seven years waiting for this moment."
She took a breath.
"The curse began with your great-great-grandfather, Aleric Blackwood..."
Nicholas leaned forward, every nerve in his body focused on the witch’s next words.
Outside, the sun climbed higher in the sky.
And the countdown continued.
Fifteen hours until Victoria’s deadline.
Fifteen hours to find out if there was any hope left.
Or if they had already lost before they even began.
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