CURSED LYCAN
Two years after Helena's capture, the world had changed.
The evidence from David Chen's flash drive had exposed everything. Corporate backers. Government officials. Underground facilities across three continents. The fallout was massive. Trials were still ongoing.
Lycans and humans were talking. Actually talking. Not fighting. The council had opened diplomatic channels. Created sanctuaries where packs could live without fear.
Progress. Real progress.
Sera should've been happy about it.
Instead, she was standing in her kitchen at three in the morning, staring at a photo that had appeared on her doorstep in an unmarked envelope.
The photo showed Emma. At school. Taken yesterday. From a distance but clear enough.
And written on the back in precise handwriting:
She's grown. Beautiful. Just like her mother. We should talk. - H
Helena.
Sera's hands shook. The photo crumpled in her grip.
Through the bond, Kael woke instantly. She felt him coming before his footsteps reached the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" He saw the photo. His entire body went rigid. "When did this arrive?"
"Found it on the porch ten minutes ago. No cameras caught anyone. No scent trail. Nothing."
Kael took the photo. Read the message. His eyes flickered silver. "She's in the wind. Been off-grid for eighteen months. Why surface now?"
"Because she wants something." Sera's voice was hollow. "And she's using Emma to get my attention."
"We move Emma. Tonight. Somewhere Helena can't find."
"Where? She found David Chen's safe houses. Found council facilities. Found everything." Sera's chest tightened. "There's nowhere safe if she's hunting us."
Through the bond, she felt Kael's rage. His fear. His absolute determination to protect Emma.
"Then we don't hide," he said quietly. "We hunt."
"She wants us to hunt her. This is bait."
"I know." His silver eyes met hers. "But what choice do we have? She threatened Emma. We can't ignore that."
Sera knew he was right. Hated that he was right.
They woke Emma. Gently. The girl was thirteen now. Taller. Sharper. She took one look at their faces and understood.
"Helena," she said. Not a question.
"How did you—" Sera started.
"I'm not stupid. I know you've been watching for her. Waiting." Emma sat up. "What did she do?"
Sera showed her the photo. Emma's face went pale but her jaw set. That Blackwood stubbornness.
"So we run again."
"No," Kael said. "No more running. But you're going somewhere safe while we handle this."
"Where?"
"The Bloodmoon compound. The original territory. It's warded. Protected by magic Helena can't break." He pulled out his phone. "I'm calling in every favor I have. That place will have twenty lycans guarding it by dawn."
Emma looked at Sera. "And you?"
"We're going to end this. For real this time."
By sunrise, Emma was secured in the compound. Twenty-three lycans from five different packs formed a protective circle. Marcus was with her too. He'd gotten good at the guardian thing. Better than good.
"I don't like this," Emma said as Sera prepared to leave.
"I know."
"You could die."
"Could. Won't." Sera hugged her tight. "You're stuck with me, kid. For at least another five years."
"Five?"
"Then you can start hunting your own monsters."
Emma managed a small smile. "Deal."
Kael gave his own goodbye. Quiet words. A hand on Emma's shoulder. The girl hugged him too. They'd become family. Real family.
Then Sera and Kael left. The bond hummed between them. Steady. Strong.
"Ideas?" Sera asked as they drove.
"Helena's smart. She wouldn't surface without a reason. Without leverage."
"She has leverage. Emma."
"Not enough. She knows we'd move Emma. Protect her. There's something else." Kael pulled out a tablet. Started scrolling through intel. "The council's been tracking unusual activity. Labs shutting down. Equipment disappearing. Like someone's consolidating resources."
"Building something big."
"That's my guess."
Sera's phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
Warehouse district. Pier 42. Come alone. Just you, Sera. Or next photo won't be from a distance. - H
"Absolutely not," Kael said, reading over her shoulder. "It's a trap."
"Obviously. But she has information. About what she's planning. Why she's back." Sera looked at him. "I have to go."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"She said alone."
"I don't care what she said." His voice went dangerous. "You're not facing her without backup."
Through the bond, Sera felt his fear. His absolute refusal to let her walk into danger alone.
"Then you stay hidden," she said. "I go in. Draw her out. You come in when it goes sideways."
"When. Not if."
"Have you met my life?"
They planned quickly. Efficiently. Years of fighting together had made them synchronized even without the bond.
Pier 42 was abandoned. Old shipping containers rusting in the rain. The smell of salt and decay. Perfect place for an ambush.
Sera walked in alone. Armed but not obviously. Three blades hidden. One gun. And the bond connecting her to Kael two hundred yards away.
Helena stood in the center of the pier. Alone. No guards. No Apex subjects. Just her in a white coat, looking like she'd stepped out of a medical conference.
"Sera." Her smile was pleasant. Professional. "Thank you for coming."
"What do you want?"
"To talk. Just talk."
"You threatened my niece."
"I got your attention. Talking requires attention." Helena gestured to a container. Two chairs inside. A table. Tea set. "Shall we?"
Every instinct screamed trap. But Sera walked forward. Sat.
Helena poured tea. Actual tea. Like this was normal.
"You've done well," Helena said. "Raising Emma. Building a life with Kael. The bond between you has reached complete synchronization. Remarkable."
"Stop stalking us."
"I'm not stalking. I'm observing. There's a difference." Helena sipped her tea. "The bond interests me. Still. After all this time."
"You're not getting it. We'll die before we let you study us again."
"I don't need to study you. I figured it out. Replicated it. Perfected it." Helena's eyes gleamed. "That's what I wanted to tell you. I succeeded."
Sera's blood went cold. "Succeeded how?"
"I've created bonded Apex subjects. Pairs connected through artificial blood magic. They share thoughts. Sensations. Perfect synchronization without the messy emotional component." She leaned forward. "They're faster than you and Kael. Stronger. More efficient. And I have fifty pairs ready to deploy."
One hundred bonded super soldiers. The nightmare Sera thought they'd stopped.
"Where?" Sera's hand moved toward her blade.
"Somewhere you'll never find them. Not in time." Helena stood. "I came here as a courtesy. To give you a choice."
"What choice?"
"Join me. You and Kael. Help me refine the process. In exchange, I leave Emma alone. Forever. She lives a normal life while we change the world."
"Change it into what?"
"Something better. Humans and lycans are obsolete. The bonded Apex represents the next stage of evolution. Stronger. Smarter. Connected in ways that eliminate conflict." Helena's voice took on that fervent quality. "Imagine a world without war. Without misunderstanding. Where everyone is linked. United."
"That's not unity. That's slavery."
"It's progress."
"It's insanity."
Helena's smile faded. "Then we have nothing more to discuss."
She pulled something from her coat. A detonator.
"The warehouse three buildings down. I've placed charges. Emma's location was leaked to a very interested party thirty minutes ago. They're moving on the compound now. You have twenty minutes to reach her before the charges blow and collapse the tunnels leading in."
Sera lunged. Helena pressed the button.
Explosions rocked the pier. Not here. Distant. Exactly where Helena said.
"Clock's ticking," Helena said. Then she vanished. Literally. Some kind of teleportation tech.
Sera ran. Through the bond, she felt Kael's alarm. He'd heard the explosions too.
Emma! Sera thought at him.
I'm going! he thought back. You stop Helena!
She's gone! Teleported!
Then we get Emma and regroup!
They ran. Sera toward their vehicle. Kael was already moving toward the compound. The bond stretched between them. Guiding. Connecting.
But something felt wrong.
Through the bond, Sera felt Kael's confusion. His alarm.
Something's blocking me, he thought. Can't shift. Can't—
The connection cut.
Not broke. Cut. Like someone had severed it.
Sera's heart stopped. "Kael!"
Nothing. The bond was silent. Empty. For the first time in two years, she couldn't feel him.
She changed direction. Ran toward where she'd last felt him. Her chest ached. Wrong. This was wrong.
She found him three blocks from the pier. Collapsed. Convulsing. His eyes flickering between silver and gold and black.
"No no no." Sera dropped beside him. "Kael, stay with me!"
"Can't—" His voice was strangled. "Something in the air. Drug. Attacks the bond. Attacks—"
His body seized. Started changing. But wrong. Incomplete. Like the curse was back.
But the curse was broken. The bond had broken it.
Unless someone had found a way to reactivate it.
Helena.
"Fight it!" Sera grabbed his face. "Kael, you're stronger than this!"
Through the incomplete bond, she felt his agony. His mind fracturing. The curse eating him alive.
Then vehicles surrounded them. Black. Unmarked. Doors opened.
Figures emerged. Moving in perfect sync. Enhanced humans. But not Apex subjects.
These were different. Their eyes glowed faintly blue. And they moved as one. Like a hive mind.
"Sera Blackwood," one said. They all said it. Same voice. Same tone. "You're coming with us."
"Like hell."
She drew her blade. Charged. The figures moved together. Blocked. Countered. Every move she made, they anticipated.
Because they were linked. Bonded. Just like Helena said.
Sera fought anyway. Took down three. Four. But there were too many. And they kept coming.
A needle pierced her neck. Cold flooded her system.
The world tilted. She fell.
The last thing she saw was Kael. Still convulsing. Still fighting the curse.
Then nothing.
Sera woke in a cell. White walls. No windows. Medical equipment humming.
Her head pounded. Her body ached. And the bond. The bond was there but muted. Like someone had wrapped it in cotton.
She could feel Kael. Barely. A whisper instead of a connection.
But he was alive.
The door opened. Helena entered. Still wearing that white coat. Still smiling.
"Welcome to Project Unity," she said. "Let me show you the future."
She led Sera—restrained, guards on either side—through corridors. Into a massive chamber.
One hundred pods lined the walls. Each one held two people. Connected by tubes. By wires. By magic that made Sera's skin crawl.
"Bonded pairs," Helena explained. "Connected through artificial blood magic and technological enhancement. They think together. Act together. Are together in ways you and Kael could never achieve naturally."
"This is wrong."
"This is evolution." Helena stopped at a pod. Inside, two figures. Young. Maybe early twenties. Their eyes were open but vacant. "They volunteered. Wanted to be part of something greater than themselves."
"They're not alive. They're puppets."
"They're transcendent. Free from individual weakness. Free from the isolation that plagues humanity." Helena turned to Sera. "And you're going to help me prove it."
"Never."
"You don't have a choice." Helena gestured. Guards grabbed Sera. Dragged her toward an empty pod. "You and Kael will be my proof of concept. Natural bond enhanced by my technology. The perfect synthesis."
"We'll die first."
"Maybe. But I doubt it. Your bond is too strong. Too instinctive. You won't let Kael die. And he won't let you." Helena's smile widened. "That's the beauty of love. It makes you predictable."
They strapped Sera into the pod. She fought. Useless.
Through the bond, she felt Kael waking. Feeling her fear. Her location.
Don't come, she thought desperately. It's a trap. Don't—
Too late. She felt him moving. Fighting. Coming for her.
Because that's what they did. They saved each other.
And Helena was counting on it.