A Cure For The Cursed Alpha

CHAPTER FOUR

ISABEL'S POV.

Pain hit me before I even opened my eyes. A dull, aching throb shot through my body, making me wince with each breath. My hands instinctively moved to my stomach, where the worst of the pain was. Slowly, I blinked, my vision adjusting to the darkness of the room. I soon discovered that I was back in my room—the tiny, cramped space where they’d tossed me after...

Memories flooded back like a wave—Erica’s face twisted in rage as she stormed towards me, the glint of the blade, the pain as it plunged into my stomach, my whole life flashing before my eyes before darkness claimed me.

I shifted, trying to sit up, but gasped in pain as fire shot through my abdomen. I looked down, lifting my shirt. A crude, scruffy bandage was wrapped around the wound, already soaked through with blood. They hadn’t even bothered to treat me properly. No one had. No one cared.

And why would they? I was just a slave, an inconvenience that the pack, as well as Alpha Leo, was forced to put up with, especially after what Elder Lowell said earlier about the curse. The fact that Alpha Leo might have to marry me to break the curse didn’t change anything. It didn’t change how much he and the rest of the pack despised me. I was still nothing to them.

My eyes moved to the corner of the room, and I froze.

Erica stood there, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed. Her cold eyes met mine, and a shiver ran down my spine. I recoiled, my breath quickening as I remembered the last time I had seen her—the rage in her eyes as she stabbed me.

“Finally awake, huh? Back from the dead, I see, after all that drama you put on back there," she said, her voice low and mocking. She pushed off the wall and started toward me, her steps slow and deliberate, like a predator closing in on its prey.

I scrambled back, my heart pounding in my chest. “E-E-Erica... W-what do you want?”

“What do I want?” she spat, her face twisting into a cruel smile. “I want to know why you thought you could get away with this, Isabel. I want to know why you’ve chosen to become a thorn in my side. Why you’ve decided to throw yourself to your own death by coming after what’s mine. Did you really think you could steal Leo from me, you pathetic little slave?"

I stared at her, confusion swirling with fear. “Steal? But... but I didn’t—”

“Oh, shut it! Shut your mouth, Isabel!” she screamed, cutting me off. Her hands balled into fists at her sides as she loomed over me. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Playing the victim, making him feel sorry for you, making him think he needs to be with you to break that stupid curse! Do you think I’m stupid?!"

Feel sorry for me? What is she talking about? Alpha Leo has never felt sorry for me, not even once.

I shook my head, my voice trembling. “That’s not true. I never wanted this, Erica. I never wanted him. I don’t—”

My words were cut short as her palm collided with my cheek in a harsh slap.

“Shut up! How dare you speak when I’m talking?! You don’t get to play innocent, you desperate w***e!” Her hand shot out, grabbing a fistful of my hair as she yanked me off the bed and threw me roughly to the floor. Pain exploded through my wound, and I cried out, clutching at my stomach as I hit the ground.

“You think you can take him from me? You really believe he’ll ever want you?! First you tried to seduce him, and when that didn’t work, you switched tactics, conspiring with Elder Lowell to deceive us into letting you two mate. What makes you think my Leo would ever want someone like you, Isabel? You? A pack slave?” Erica’s voice was loud and full of anger as she kicked me in the stomach with full force.

I curled into myself, trying to protect the wound, but she kept kicking, over and over again, each blow making the pain worse. “Leo belongs to me, Isabel! You hear me?! He will always belong to me! A worthless, weak little thing like you will never have him! Over my dead body!"

Tears blurred my vision as I curled up tighter, willing it to stop. My body ached, and I could feel the bandage tearing, the blood seeping through. I was going to die like this. I knew it. Erica wouldn’t stop until she’d finished what she started.

As if the Moon Goddess answered my silent prayers, a loud scream from outside caught Erica’s attention just as she raised her boot to deliver another kick.

Erica paused mid-kick, her head turning toward the door. A sound—shouts, screams—was coming from outside. She frowned, inclining her ear as she tried to listen.

“What the hell is going on out there? Is the pack under attack or is there an earthquake?” she muttered, almost to herself. She suddenly let go of my hair, throwing my head against the cold cement ground as she turned around and stormed toward the door, yanking it open to peer outside.

I heard Erica curse under her breath as she fully stepped out. I waited until the sound of her footsteps disappeared completely, just to make sure she was gone.

I struggled to sit up, clutching my stomach. My head spun, and it took all my strength just to get back to my feet. I needed to get to the pack hospital. I needed help. Erica had ripped my bandage and reopened my wounds, and I wouldn’t be able to heal properly without medical help since I didn’t have a wolf.

As I limped out of my room and down the stairs, the sound of chaos grew louder and louder, causing me to frown in worry.

"What is happening out there? What’s going on?" I muttered to myself, but with no one to provide me answers, I continued limping toward the main door, hoping that whatever it was wouldn’t stop me from getting to the hospital and getting my wound tended to.

As soon as I stepped out of the main door of the pack house, I froze in place, my feet rooted to the spot as I stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of me.

There, in the middle of the compound, stood Alpha Leo. And at his feet... laid bodies. Pack guards torn apart, blood staining the ground beneath him. His body was changing—fur sprouting from his skin, claws and fangs extending, his eyes fully black. He was growling, low and feral, like an animal. A beast.

Oh no. The dark shift. It was happening again. He was partially shifted, and I could tell by his look and behavior that he was already deep into the shift. It was only a matter of time before he was fully shifted, and when that happened, he wouldn’t be able to turn back. Which meant we were all done for. He was going to kill us all.

Panic gripped me as I watched him, realizing what was happening. Alpha Leo was seconds away from losing control completely, from being stuck in that monstrous form forever.

Around him, pack members and guards ran in every direction, screaming and trying to escape. They had no chance. He was killing them—anyone who got too close. I saw Erica, her face pale as she hid behind one of the large pillars of the pack house. Elder Lowell stood watching from a distance, his eyes full of worry as we watched Alpha Leo grab another guard, ripping his head clean off his shoulders. I gasped as I watched the headless body drop to the ground, blood spurting from the hole where his head used to be.

And then, out of pure shock, I suddenly found myself stumbling forward, only to trip over my own feet. I fell to the ground with a sharp cry as pain shot through my body all over again. I gasped, clutching my wound as I struggled to get back up, only to pause when I noticed the sudden silence. It was as if everyone had suddenly stopped screaming.

My eyes moved slowly as I looked up, and my heart lodged in my throat as I found Alpha Leo’s eyes on me. He turned toward me, his black eyes locking onto mine, and my body froze as I gulped heavily in panic. This was it. I was going to die. He was going to tear me apart, just like the others.

To my shock, his eyes softened. His growling stopped, and for a moment, the entire compound went silent. Slowly, almost painfully, Alpha Leo’s fur began to disappear back into his body. His claws retracted, his fangs disappeared. I watched in disbelief as he shifted back into his human form, breathing heavily as his body trembled from exhaustion.

And then, as soon as he was fully human again, he collapsed, falling to the floor unconscious.

Guards rushed forward, scooping him up and carrying him inside, but no one could take their eyes off me. I felt them watching, whispers starting through the crowd, and I suddenly wanted to disappear.

“She did it,” I heard someone say. “It’s really her, Isabel. She stopped the shift.”

Elder Lowell stepped forward, his eyes wide with awe and something that looked suspiciously like pride as he spoke. “The prophecy… it’s true. The Black Bloods can break the curse.”

Before I could process what had just happened, I felt someone burning a hole in the side of my head, causing me to slowly turn in that direction. I was not surprised when my eyes landed on Erica. Her face was twisted with fury, her eyes narrowing as she glared daggers at me in pure hatred, making me shrink into myself.

She wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

I was still suffering from the knife wound she gave me, and now this happened. I can't help but worry—what would happen next? What would become of me?