Chapter 24: Chapter 24: The Curse Is Broken.... For now
My baby cried again in my arms, small and fierce, and something inside me locked into place. She was warm against my chest, tiny fingers curling around the edge of Rylan’s cloak. I could feel her heartbeat through the bond, fast and strong, like she already knew the world was trying to take her.
The witch’s staff glowed brighter, the red light spilling across the snow. "The child is born under the full moon. The price is due. Give her to me now and the curse ends completely. Refuse and one of your kings dies before the moon sets. Those are the terms."
Darius knelt beside me, one hand on my shoulder, the other hovering over the baby like he could shield her from the whole mountain. Kane stood on my other side, knife still out, his storm-gray eyes locked on the witch. Rylan stayed at my feet, with his claws out, but his eyes were on the baby, wide and raw.
I looked up at the witch, my daughter pressed tight to my chest. "She stays with me. Take the rest of the curse from them. Take it from all of us. Or I swear on her life I will burn everything you have left."
The witch’s cracked-ice eyes narrowed. The staff flared. Pain lanced through my chest again, sharp and deep, like the mark was trying to tear itself out. The baby cried louder, as if she felt it too. The brothers moved at the same time, wolves surging forward, but the witch raised her other hand and they froze mid-step.
"Foolish girl," she shouted. "The child carries my blood now. The curse is tied to her. You can keep her, but the kings will still feel the madness until the full moon sets. One of them will turn rogue tonight unless you choose which one dies."
Darius growled, the sound low and broken. Kane’s knife trembled in his grip. Rylan’s claws dug into the snow, eyes flashing gold as he fought the shift.
I felt the bond crack under the pressure. The curse wasn’t gone. It was still there, chewing at the edges, waiting for the moon to rise fully. The baby kicked again, harder, and I knew she was the anchor now. She had bought us time, but not freedom.
The witch lowered the staff. The hold on the brothers broke. They dropped to their knees around me, breathing hard, wolves sliding back under their skin for the moment.
"Two choices remain," the witch said. "Give me the child or give me one king. The moon rises in hours. Decide."
I looked at my daughter. Her eyes were already open, dark like mine but with flecks of ice blue, storm gray, and amber. She was theirs. She was mine. She was the reason the bond had finally snapped into place.
I lifted my chin standing my grounds and repeating the same words. "No, take the rest of the curse from them or even take it from me but leave my baby alone. That’s my choice and I insist."
The witch stared at me for a long second. Then she smiled, slow and terrible. "Hahaha brave. But the price for that is higher than you think. You will carry the mark for the rest of your life. The kings will feel the curse every full moon until you die. And the child will always be tied to my blood."
She raised the staff one last time. Red light poured over me, over the baby, over the three brothers. Pain exploded through my chest, through my veins, through the bond. I screamed. The baby cried with me. The brothers roared as the curse fought back one final time.
Then it stopped.
The witch lowered the staff. The red glow faded. The mark on my chest dimmed to a faint scar, still there but no longer burning.
"The curse is broken," she said. "But not gone. It lives in the blood now. In you. In the child. In the kings. Every full moon it will test you. Fail and the madness returns."
She turned and limped back into the hut without another word. The door shut behind her with a sound like bone snapping.
I let out a sigh of relief and looked down at my daughter. She was quiet now, her eyes heavy with sleep. The bond hummed between the four of us, steady and warm for the first time since I met them. The curse was still there, a shadow at the edge, but it no longer controlled them.
Darius brushed a finger across the baby’s cheek. His voice was rough. "She’s ours."
Kane’s scarred hand joined his, gentle for once. Rylan leaned in, pressing a kiss to my forehead, then to the baby’s dark hair.
I felt the exhaustion hit all at once. The birth, the pain, the fight, the long ride. My body ached in ways I didn’t know were possible. But the flutter was gone. In its place was this tiny, warm life against my chest.
We wrapped her tighter in the cloaks. The brothers helped me back onto the horse. Darius rode with me in front of him, one arm around my waist, the other supporting the baby. Kane and Rylan flanked us as we started the long ride back to Frostfang.
The full moon rose behind us, red and heavy.
The curse was broken. The baby was born under the full moon.
But the war with my father was still waiting.
And the North was about to learn what a queen with a newborn and three feral kings looked like when she was done being nice.
