The Alpha's Curse The Enemy Within

I held my breath, laying still under the warm water in the tub. | just wanted some quiet and the silence lingering in the water was calming. It was enough to hush the wild drumming of my heart. It had been like this since | was shot last night and | don't know how to make it stop. | knew this was just another test of Vladimir. This wasn't the first time. He was still in doubt and wanted to be certain if | remembered anything. Anything | shouldn't.

I closed my eyes, pulling out of the water. I still couldn't believe how fast time had flown in this godforsaken place. It's been eight weeks since | was brought here, yet it felt like it was only yesterday it all happened. The attack on my pack and his death. Killian's death.

Even with the gate of my eyes jammed shut, tears burned down from my eyes. | wrapped my arms around my body as a murdering coldness enveloped the washing room, piercing my heart. And now, | couldn't stop the tears from escaping as the pain rooted deep in my soul came alive and today, | couldn't lock it away. | couldn't seem to win against my emotions since | saw the crafted object shaped like a

crescent moon. It worked. Whatever Vladimir wanted to achieve by doing that really worked and right now | was a complete mess.

But | had to get over whatever this was before Vladimir returned to Oasis. He had left at the first light of dawn, along with the imbecile, Nikolai. There was an urgent matter he had to tend to. He didn't say, but | knew it was related to the unending attacks made by the North on packs, Kingdoms, and covens affiliated with the Dark Circle.

I knew those attacks were my brothers’ doing, just hearing about it.

Everyone outside the boundaries of Oasis must be going crazy, trying to find me. And | wished Killian was too. | wished there was something | could hold on to until all of this was over. But there was nothing. My mate was dead. And | was mated to the bastard responsible for his death, sleeping with him and living a life that was a complete lie.

Trust me, | had no choice. | didn't remember much after | saw Nikolai murder Killian and held my mate's lifeless body in my arms. | had no idea what happened to me, | had lost control. The last thing | remembered was a portal and being dragged into it.

By the time | woke up, it was a few days later. | was here in Oasis, on Vladimir's bed. | had been marked by him and had been imprinted with the pyramid symbol, stripping me of my magic.

I didn't know what they had done to me, but Viadimir wasn't expecting me to remember anything I shouldn't. He had erased everything that could have reminded me, including Adie. She had been binded, no doubt by Vladimir's dog, Nikolai.

But | did remember, and Vladimir didn't like that. | was tortured, and Nikolai tried everything to manipulate my memories in a twisted way, making me believe what they all wanted. It had happened once when Lucius brainwashed me and made me forget everything. But not again. | would be a complete fool if it happened twice.

Whatever, they did. I just couldn't forget. It was like my soul itself refused too, not with the rage and resentment rooted deep in my soul. The scar made by the damned sword that killed Killian helped

me never to forget. It made me remember just who | had to make pay for his death. | was left with no choice but to surrender.

Though Vladimir didn't believe it right away. He had constantly tested me in different ways, and with this stupid mate bond, he could feel everything | was feeling. | had to lock it all away, while | figured out how to avenge Killian's death, and escape this place. Only | couldn't.

Oasis was more than just a place guarded by magic. It was a bloody prison for every magical kind. This was how he created his army.

Prisoners were tortured and forced like slaves to pledge allegiance to Vladimir and his bloody cause. I had seen it happen countless times already.

Oasis wasn't a place one could easily escape. Its boundaries were guarded and kept in place by Nikolai. With my time here, | realized he was harnessing the magic of every witch in Oasis. He was the worst kind of witch | had ever encountered, and once | had accomplished my aim, he would be the first I'd kill, in the most

excruciating way.

I pulled out of the water, tying a robe around my body. | had sent Sybil and Kali on an errand. Vladimir had placed them by my side to monitor me when he couldn't. But today, | had to take advantage of the fact that he wasn't around. | spelled myself, breaking the connection between Vladimir and me only for a few hours.

I sauntered to my chamber, getting dressed as quickly as | could. | was running out of time already. Nikolai had begun to suspect me, | could feel it from everything that had been happening, starting from the last meeting | had with the Dark Circle. That was another of Vladimir's tests. It killed me when | found out the West regions had been conquered by the Dark Circle army. It only meant Vladimir was a step closer to his ultimate plan, and that the war with the North regions was closer than | thought.

I knew there was no way Vladimir would attack North Central, at least not when the South regions hadn't been conquered by the Dark

Circle armies. He was testing me and | had to play my part.

locked the door to my chamber using my magic. | hurried to the wall beside my bed. | muttered a few chants and a small drawer appeared. There were some things | had to keep safe and couldn't let get into Vladimir's hands.

At first, all | wanted was to escape this hell hole after getting rid of Nikolai and Vladimir, but that changed when the dreams started.

1 pulled open the drawer, pulling out some items and my journal.

Initially, | didn't understand what the dreams meant, but | knew better than to consider them mere dreams. Never would | make such a mistake again. It took me a while to realize my dreams of Vladimir were visions of what was about to happen. If only | had taken them more seriously, Killian would still be alive.

Every one of my dreams was the same. It took me a while to understand what they meant. And the Council was right. Viadimir and

the Dark Circle were planning something evil, and it endangered the entire magical realm.

Vladimir took me to the Dark cave a few weeks after | had settled into my new life. He didn't have to say it, but I knew he needed my help. He told me of his plans and it was exactly what | had dreamt of.

The end of every magical being who wouldn't pledge allegiance to him. That crazy imbecile was about to unleash a darkness that would destroy us all. The Shota magic. That was why the Dark Circle needed all four of the phoenix stones and they needed my magic to unleash it.

I was given back access to my magic, but the pyramid symbol on my wrist was restricting my magic, so | had to get rid of it. | was surprised it worked, but | had my mother's blood flowing in my veins, and she was right. | had to stop limiting myself. | created a spell that lifted the effect of the pyramid magic on me without those bastards knowing.

And | undid the spell binding Adie, setting her free within the walls of

my mind.

1 had tried to send a message to Morgan and my brothers to warm them of Vladimir's plan but | couldn't. Nothing, not even a message could get out of Oasis without Nikolai and Vladimir's knowledge. So instead, | had to do everything | could to stop Nikolaf's attempt to unleash the darkness in a vessel.

We've been at it for weeks, but nothing was working, since | rewrote the spells for the ritual, that way, Vladimir would never get what he wanted, and | could protect the lives of innocent witches that were being sacrificed as fucking vessels.

Instead of ending up dead, | stop their hearts for a few hours, giving enough time to Jaskier and some witches | had befriended from the coven to save them. But | knew it was only a matter of time before Nikolai found out what was going on, and before that happened, | had to stop this darkness from unleashing and put an end to Vladimir.