Kael's POV
The pain hits me like lightning to the chest.
I'm standing in the war council room, studying maps of rebel positions, when something inside me snaps into place. Not breaks locks. Like chains I didn't know existed suddenly tightening around my heart.
I gasp and grab the edge of the table, my vision blurring.
My King! Lycan rushes to my side. What is it?
I can't answer. Can't breathe. Because suddenly I feel her. Sera. Not just sense her presence like I have for days I feel her. Her fear. Her pain. Her racing heart.
And somehow, I know exactly where she is.
The dungeons.
The bond, I manage to say, straightening. It's complete.
Lycan's eyes widen. The mate bond? You and the Queen?
I don't wait to explain. I shift mid-stride, my wolf tearing free as I race through the Keep. Guards scatter out of my way. Servants press against walls. I don't care.
Something's wrong. I can feel it through the bond like a scream I can't hear.
I burst through the dungeon entrance and shift back to human form, not bothering with clothes. The stone floor is slick with blood.
Sera kneels in the center of the carnage, Tessa beside her. They're both staring at a message written in blood on the wall.
I see the words. See the symbol beneath it. And my blood turns to ice.
Sera. I move to her, pulling her to her feet. What happened? What does this mean?
She looks up at me, and her violet eyes are filled with something I've never seen before. Not fear. Knowledge. Like she's been carrying a terrible secret.
You felt it too, she whispers. The bond. It's complete now.
Yes. I can still feel her heart beating in sync with mine, her emotions bleeding into my own. What is this curse it's talking about?
Sera pulls away from me, and I feel the distance like a physical wound through the bond.
I need to tell you something, she says quietly. Something I should have told you before. But I was afraid.
Tell me.
She takes a shaky breath. Three hundred years ago, Moon Blessed and Alpha Kings were bound by a blood curse. When a true mate bond forms between them Her voice breaks. One must die so the other can live.
The words hang in the air like a death sentence.
How long? I ask, my voice deadly calm.
Three days from when the bond completes. Tears stream down her face. I'm so sorry. I didn't want this. I tried to stop it from happening, but
You knew. The betrayal hits me harder than any physical blow. You've known this whole time?
My mother warned me after the first attack. She appeared to me in a vision and
And you said nothing. My power radiates out, making the dungeon walls shake. You let me fall for you. Let this bond form. Knowing one of us would die?
I tried to warn you without telling you! If you'd known I was Moon Blessed before the bond formed, what would you have done? Would you have trusted me? Or would you have killed me yourself to prevent this?
The accusation stings because she's right. The man I was when she arrived cold, paranoid, trusting no one would have eliminated the threat immediately.
But that doesn't make her deception hurt any less.
Get out, I say quietly.
Sera's face crumbles. Kael
I said get out! The command cracks like thunder. I need to think. And I can't do that with you here.
She flinches like I've struck her. Through the bond, I feel her heartbreak as clearly as my own.
But she straightens her spine, lifts her chin, and walks out of the dungeons with Tessa following.
The moment she's gone, I collapse against the blood-stained wall.
Three days.
One of us has to die.
And the woman I've fallen for knew all along.
Sera's POV
I make it to my chambers before the sobs tear free.
Tessa stands guard outside my door while I fall apart on the floor, clutching my chest where the mate bond pulses with Kael's hurt and rage and betrayal.
I can feel everything he's feeling. Every emotion, every thought bleeding through the connection between us. It's agony.
I should have told him sooner. Should have trusted him.
But would he have believed me? Would he have let the bond form if he'd known the cost?
A knock interrupts my breakdown.
My Queen, Tessa calls through the door. Elder Thorne is here. He says it's urgent.
I wipe my face and force myself to stand. When I open the door, Thorne's expression is grave.
The bond completed, he says. Not a question.
Yes.
And the curse?
Three days. My voice is hollow. Ravon left a message. He knows about it. He's probably been planning this from the beginning.
Thorne enters my chambers and closes the door. Show me your hands.
I hold them out. On my palms, silver marks glow faintly symbols that weren't there before the bond completed.
The binding marks, Thorne breathes. By the gods... you're not just bonded. You're bound. Completely intertwined.
What does that mean?
It means your powers are shared now. Your life forces connected. If one of you dies... He trails off, his expression turning thoughtful. Wait. This changes things.
How?
Thorne pulls a worn book from his robes. The curse requires one mate to die within three days. But it doesn't specify how. Or if that death must be permanent.
Hope flares in my chest. What are you saying?
Moon Blessed were known for one ability above all others resurrection. Not of others. Of themselves. He opens the book to a marked page. A Moon Blessed who dies under the full moon can be reborn if their mate calls them back before the moon sets.
My heart pounds. You're saying I could die to satisfy the curse, and Kael could bring me back?
Theoretically. But Sera, this ritual has never been tested. The texts are vague. And if it fails...
I'd be dead. Really dead.
Yes.
I look down at my hands, at the silver marks binding me to Kael. Through the bond, I can still feel his anger fading into exhaustion, his fear for me he's trying to hide.
I love him. The realization hits me like a tidal wave.
I love the ruthless Alpha King who's learning to trust. Who defended me to his court. Who looks at me like I'm his equal, not his possession?
And I'll die a thousand times before I let the curse take him.
When is the next full moon? I ask.
Two nights from now, Thorne says carefully. The night of the celebration. The night the rebels are supposed to attack.
Everything is converging. Ravon's poisoning plot. The rebel attack. The curse deadline. All on the same night.
Teach me the ritual, I say.
Sera
Please. My voice breaks. I need to know there's a way. Even if it's dangerous. Even if it might not work.
Thorne studies me for a long moment, then nods. The Moon Blessed must die willingly. The mate must call their soul back before the moon sets. The bond must be strong enough to anchor the spirit. He pauses. And there's one more requirement. The mate must truly love them. Love strong enough to defy death itself.
I touch my chest where the bond pulses. Even angry at me, even hurt, Kael's love bleeds through the connection.
It might be enough.
It has to be.
Kael's POV
I don't go to Sera that night.
I throw myself into preparing for war instead. The rebel army will reach our borders tomorrow. Ravon is hiding somewhere in my Keep, planning to poison everyone. My wife has a death sentence hanging over her head.
And I can't think about any of it without feeling the bond pulse with Sera's heartbreak.
My King. Lycan enters my study without knocking. We need to talk.
Not now.
Yes, now. He sits across from me, ignoring my glare. You can't avoid her forever.
She lied to me.
She protected herself. There's a difference. Lycan leans forward. You would have killed her if she'd told you the truth three weeks ago. We both know it.
I want to argue, but I can't. He's right.
What am I supposed to do? I ask quietly. One of us has to die in three days. How do I fix that?
You find another way. Lycan stands. But you can't do it alone. And you can't do it while punishing her for trying to survive.
He leaves me with that.
I sit in my study, staring at war maps I'm not really seeing.
Through the bond, I feel Sera awake, reading something, her determination mixed with fear. She's planning something. I can feel it.
Before I can stop myself, I'm walking toward her chambers.
The guards let me pass without question. I stand outside her door for a long moment, my hand raised to knock.
Then I hear voices inside. Sera and Thorne.
must die willingly, Thorne is saying. The mate must call their soul back before the moon sets.
My blood runs cold.
What if it doesn't work? Sera asks.
Then you stay dead.
I burst through the door. Absolutely not.
Sera jumps, spinning to face me. Her eyes are red from crying, and guilt flashes across her face.
Kael
You're planning to die. I cross to her. Some resurrection ritual that might not even work?
It's the only way
No. My voice is absolute. I won't allow it.
Her power flares, silver light crackling around her fingers. You don't get to allow or not allow. It's my choice.
Your choice? My own power rises to match hers. You'll gamble your life on a ritual that's never been tested?
Yes! Because I'm not letting you die! She steps closer, her eyes blazing. You've already lost everyone you loved. Your parents. Your sister. I won't make you watch another person die.
And what about me watching you die? The words tear out of me. You think that's better?
Sera's face crumbles. I don't have another answer, Kael. If you do, tell me. Please.
I don't. And we both know it.
The anger drains out of me, leaving only fear. Raw, terrible fear.
I pull her into my arms, and she comes willingly, burying her face against my chest.
I can't lose you, I whisper into her hair.
You won't. I promise. But her voice wavers with doubt.
Thorne clears his throat. There's still time. Two more days. We focus on stopping Ravon and the rebels first. The curse can wait.
No, Sera says, pulling back to look at me. We handle everything at once. We catch Ravon. We stop the rebels. And when the full moon rises on the celebration night...
She doesn't finish, but I know what she's thinking.
The resurrection ritual.
Her death and rebirth.
If it works.
I meet her violet eyes and see my own fear reflected back at me.
But I also see determination. Love. Trust.
She's willing to die for me.
The least I can do is trust her enough to bring her back.
Teach me the ritual, I tell Thorne. Every detail. Every word. I won't fail.
Because failure means losing her forever.
And I've lost enough.