The Alpha's Curse The Enemy Within

I kept staring at the mirror, watching my very own reflection. | could hardly get any sleep last night, especially after my time with Vladimir.

1 could feel it in the depths of my soul, something was happening.

Nikolai was getting to Vladimir. He had begun to suspect the process of the ritual; he must know | was doing it wrong. And now, just when I had to be involved, they were trying to cut me off.

The Blood moon was a few days away and we were supposed to have found the right vessel by then. A vessel that had enough energy to contain the Shota's magic before we had it transferred to Vladimir on the night of the Blood moon. That has been Vladimir's plan all along.

He wanted the Shota's magic. That would be terrible for all of us.

Vladimir was a mixed breed, being a wolf and a vampire. The last thing we needed was him getting his claws on the Shota's magic. | couldn't let that happen. That would make him a step closer to his plan.

The Shota’s magic was the darkest kind of magic that existed

thousands of years ago. It was darkness without form or origin and was destroyed, or rather, imprisoned away by the ancient Council. It was erased from existence and history, but through the years, Vladimir somehow learned of it, and his coven of witches made a crack within its prison walls, giving him access to it.

The only way the ancient Council was able to bind and imprison this dark magic was through a blood ritual that was anchored thousands of years ago by the Council witches, and now, Vladimir and his witches plan to anchor another blood ritual to unbind the Shota's magic, setting it free, and this was his end game.

The Dark Circle is preparing for a war with the North, right after the South regions were conquered. That war was only a disguise to achieve his goal, and with the blood of so many lives that would be sacrificed, a blood ritual would be anchored to set free the greatest darkness that would consume every one of us. No one would be spared.

I drew in a deep breath, remembering my constant dreams. It scared me, for all | could see was darkness and death.

Oh, goddess! I placed my fingers on both sides of my temples. I had only until the blood moon to get everything in motion and ensure that dark magic never finds a vessel.

I shot up from my chair, hearing distant voices from outside the Fortress. | went to the window, took a peek outside, and it was some members of the Dark Circle. They had begun to arrive for today’s meeting.

| connected to Vladimir through our mate bond. “They are here," | fixed my dress and left for the Dragon's court.

I met with Vladimir on the way to the Court. We entered the Court and | took my seat right next to him. Many members of the Council had turned up for the meeting.

In a few more minutes, the Court was filled, and everyone was seated round the crystal table and we began.

“The South has joined forces with the Northern regions and they've cleared almost every pack, kingdom, and coven affiliated with the Dark Circle," one of the members spoke up, and several more began to air their views.

“We must attack the North the soonest before the Council conquers every one of our alliances outside the walls of Oasis,” another said.

I sent a glance at Vladimir, he was deep in his thoughts, and even with the mate bond, | didn't have an inkling about his thoughts. He remained silent as everyone kept mumbling nonsense.

“Silence! Vlad's deep voice sounded. "It's true that the Council has targeted almost all our forces outside the Oasis. But it would be ridiculous to rush into things. The North must have absolutely no idea what's coming their way. Not until | have access to Shota's magic, there will be no bloody war,” he said, pulling his hands under his chin, and just then, the doors were pushed open, revealing Nikolai.

He wasn't alone, he was with a man, and behind them was Ren. He was the commanding head warrior of the Circle's army. He came with a few warriors, and they positioned themselves at the doors with their faces covered as usual.

“My apologies for keeping you all waiting,” The man apologized, taking his seat along with Nikolai. He looked vaguely familiar, but | couldn't tell where exactly | had seen him. But it had to be from the Crescent North Pack, even though | couldn't remember.

He nodded his head to me, as | caught his stare on me. He knew me.

“What is going on, Felix?" Vladimir asked and the Court became quiet.

“There's a reason why you are among them, the least you could do was warn us of the attacks.” “Again, | apologize, but things have been crazy since the Circle ambushed the Crescent North Pack, and rescued the queen,” He paused, glancing my way. “That wretch, Amelie, has been having visions and the Council is aware. They are aware of the Shota’s magic, and right now, their priority is locating the White wolf."

I expelled every thought that attempted to graze my mind at the moment and tried concentrating on everything they were saying, but somehow, | couldn't. | kept getting distracted.

At first, | thought it was all in my head, but | wasn't. The hairs on my skin stood as | felt a piercing heated gaze on me. | shifted my eyes to the warriors guarding the doors. But | couldn't tell exactly who it was.

After a while, the meeting was adjourned. | left the Dragon Court, taking the hallways back to my chamber. My thoughts were filled with that man, Felix, as | tried to remember where | had seen him from. But | couldn't. | could have seen him once, but what worried me more was the fact that he was an internal spy in North Central and was working for Dark Circle. That was not good at all.

I wished | could send a warning out to my brothers, but | couldn't, especially now | couldn't leave the Fortress.

“Sheila,” | stopped walking, hearing Vladimir's instant call. | tumed to

find him a short distance away from me.

“I'am sorry, Vlad. | didn't hear you,” I went to him, embracing him tightly. | brought my gaze to him. I don't know why, but | have a bad feeling about all of this. Can that man, Felix, be trusted? If the Council knows about Shota's magic, then they know exactly what we are up to. And you know what that means, they'll stop at nothing to stop us.” “Rest assured, Felix can be trusted. | placed him in the Council for a reason, he hasn't disappointed, never,” he muttered, kissing me.

“Take a rest today. You need it." linhaled, smiling. “I guess | do. You were right. These past few days have been too much. Nikolai should take care of the preparations while | get prepared for the night of the blood moon.” “That's it, my little witch,” he leaned closer, kissing me softly as his hands wandered on my body. “I will join you shortly,” a smirk grew on his lips and | knew what he had in mind. He kissed me once more,

before leaving. oo 1 made my way to my chamber hurriedly. | shut the door the second | was in. Now | remembered where | had seen him. I met him at my Luna coronation. Felix was a member of the Council. He was Vladimir's spy in the Council.

Leonardo was absolutely right. He had always suspected a traitor within the Council. And that traitor was Felix. He has been leaking every piece of information from the Council to the Dark Circle. That was how the Dark Circle knew of the prophecy fourteen years ago, and that was how they knew the identity of the white wolf. No wonder the Dark Circle managed to get their hands on the phoenix stones.

Holy goddess, | must find some kind of way to get word out of Oasis, before the Council and everyone falls into Felix and the Dark Circle's trap.

I blocked my thoughts and rushed to the hidden drawer beside my drawer. | grabbed my journal and pen. I slit my palm and used my blood to send a message to Jaskier and the few witches | had on my side. We had to hasten things up.

When | was done, I pulled out the remaining items from the drawer.

When my dreams started, | made a promise | would do anything to stop Vladimir from achieving his goal and gaining access to the dark magic. But just in case my plans didn't work out, | had to have another plan. The Vortex.

My mother had mentioned it in one of her Grimoires | had gone through at the Black Blood Pack. It was both dangerous and powerful and made from onyx stones. Jaskier has been helping me out with it, but it was far from complete.

The sharp knock on the door startled me. Quickly, | placed the items back in the drawer, concealing them.

I rushed to the door and unlocked it. Before | could pull it open, the door pushed open, and one of the warriors hurried in, locking the door behind me.

“What the hell is the meaning of this?" | was gripped by the waist before | could take a step further. Almost immediately, he dragged down the cloth covering his face, and once more, | froze.

“It's me, Killian," he rushed on, and before I could react as much, | felt the familiar taste of his lips on mine, and tingling sparks shot through my body, awakening something | thought had died.

It couldn't be.