The Cursed Alpha's Mate

The Secrets She Won't Tell

The roar still echoed in Alexander's ears long after it had faded. A sound that wasn't just from the beast outside—but something deeper, more primal, woven into the very fabric of his bones.

Something was coming.

His wolves were already on the move, his warriors stationed at the edges of the park, but it wasn't enough. Not when he didn't know what they were truly up against. And the only person who did? She was keeping her damn mouth shut.

Alexander stood at the foot of Aria's bed, watching her. She lay curled in the tangled sheets, her breathing even, but he knew she wasn't at peace. Not when she had collapsed like that—like something had drained the life out of her.

Like something had taken its toll.

His jaw tightened as he turned away, storming out of the room. He found Elias waiting for him outside, arms crossed, face grim.

"She's not going to talk." Elias didn't bother sugarcoating it. "You saw the way she fought you the last time you tried to push her for answers."

"I don't have a choice." Alexander clenched his fists. "I need to know what's hunting her. Because whatever it is? It's here now. And I refuse to let it tear my pack apart."

Elias exhaled sharply. "Then you need the Seer."

Alexander didn't reply immediately, but the truth was already there. Lyra Moonshade—the woman the Wolf Council had cast out, the one who had warned of things no one wanted to hear. The Seer who had vanished into exile.

"Send my best trackers," he ordered. "Tell them to find her and bring her back. I don't care if she fights them. I need answers."

Elias hesitated only for a second before nodding and striding away. Alexander remained there for a moment longer, fists still clenched, staring down the darkened hall where Aria lay.

If she wouldn't tell him the truth willingly…

He'd have to make her.

---

Aria woke with a start. The room was dim, the air thick with tension, and she felt it—him—before she even opened her eyes.

Alexander was there, sitting in a chair beside the bed, his presence coiled tight like a predator ready to strike.

"You're awake." His voice was unreadable.

Aria swallowed hard. The last thing she remembered was the roar, the shaking earth, the presence of something old and dark pressing down on her until she had collapsed. And before that—Kael. His words, his threat, the truth she had tried so hard to bury.

She sat up slowly, avoiding Alexander's gaze. "I need to leave."

His scoff was sharp. "Not happening."

"Alexander—"

"No." He leaned forward, his golden eyes burning into her. "You're not leaving. Not when the things you're running from have already reached my land. Not when my people are now in danger because of you."

Guilt twisted inside her, but she shoved it down. "Then let me go. If I'm the problem—"

"You're not just the problem, Aria." His voice was a low growl. "You're the key. And I want to know why."

She clenched the sheets, her heart pounding. She had been able to keep the truth buried for this long, but now? With the darkness creeping closer, with Kael's words still poisoning her thoughts?

Her silence wouldn't last.

Alexander studied her, frustration tightening his features. "You know what's happening, don't you?"

She shook her head. "I don't—"

"Liar." His voice was steel. "You do know. And if you won't tell me—"

He stood abruptly, pacing, his energy crackling through the air like a brewing storm. "I've already sent my warriors to find Lyra."

Aria's breath hitched.

"She will tell me," Alexander continued. "She saw this coming, didn't she? She knew." He turned back to her, eyes blazing. "How much of it did she tell you?"

Aria swallowed, her throat tight. Lyra had told her enough. Enough to know that the darkness wasn't just hunting her—it was hunting him, too. And if Alexander knew the full truth?

He would never forgive her.

He might even destroy her.

A sudden knock on the door made both of them snap their heads up.

Elias stepped inside, his expression unreadable. "We have a problem."

Alexander tensed. "What?"

Elias hesitated. "It's the trackers. They… they haven't come back. And we lost contact with them."

Silence. A sharp, cold silence that made the hairs on Aria's arms rise.

"They were supposed to reach the forest's edge by now," Elias added. "But there's nothing. No scents. No howls."

A deep dread settled in Alexander's gut.

"Something got to them first," Aria whispered.

Alexander turned to her, his mind working fast, his pulse hammering.

The storm was already here.

And they were running out of time.