Gavriel’s eyes narrowed, his tone sharp and cutting. “Speak.”
Simon swallowed hard.
“The n we secured in the infirmary, the ones hurt at the southern breach... they’re not themselves anymore. Their wounds should’ve been healing, but instead they grew restless, violent. So of them...” he hesitated, his throat working, “...they began tearing into flesh like beasts. Not just at, Alpha. Human flesh.”
Althea’s eyes widened, horror washing over her. Her stomach turned.
Gavriel’s growl rumbled low, vibrating through the room. “What are you saying? That my n turned into monsters?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Simon answered, his voice barely steady. “It’s spreading. The healers tried to restrain them, but two have already been bitten. We don’t know if it’s a curse, a sickness, or... sothing worse. But it feels unnatural.”
Althea whispered under her breath, almost to herself, “Black magic.”
Both n turned to her. Gavriel’s eyes burned with a storm of questions, but Simon’s panic demanded his focus.
“Show ,” Gavriel commanded to Simon coldly, his voice slicing through the tense air as he strode forward win a hurry.
Althea imdiately followed, keeping close at his side, but Gavriel halted and turned sharply toward Rudy and the others. His tone left no room for argunt. “Get Althea settled in the nearby inn. She stays there until I return.”
Althea blinked, startled. “What? No—”
But Gavriel had already shifted his attention, ignoring her protest. His gaze locked on Gustav, “You’re with .”
Gustav bowed slightly, already moving to keep pace.
Althea’s heart clenched as she watched Gavriel’s broad back disappear into the night.
Rudy gave her a small nod, then motioned for them to move. “This way, My Lady. The nearest inn is just past the southern road.”
Althea said nothing, simply following with lva at her side and Trudis and Ben walking behind them like shadows.
Once they reached the inn, Rudy secured the rooms quickly. The innkeeper bowed deeply, clearly nervous to host the Alpha King’s breeder. They were given the top floor, far from the noisy tavern below.
Inside the room, lva helped Althea remove her cloak. Her friend’s face was pale, her worry poorly hidden. At last she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“My Lady... what exactly happened back there? The Alpha King looked so serious. And now he ordered us to bring you here... I’m scared.”
Althea sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers brushing the hem of her sleeve. She kept her voice calm for lva’s sake. “Sothing’s wrong with the wounded guards. I don’t know the details, but... I can guess.”
Her thoughts drifted back to her mother’s teachings, to the nights when she would whisper forbidden knowledge by candlelight. Dark spells don’t always kill outright, her mother had warned. Sotis they linger, twisting the flesh, corrupting the mind. And once it begins... it spreads.
Althea swallowed hard, recalling the exact words: “When a body consus flesh, whether by hunger or madness, the spell will take root and spread to all nearby. It multiplies like fire in dry grass. The only way to stop it is to purify it before it grows.”
She pressed her hands together, steadying herself. She had sworn she’d once heard ntion of man-eating curses—how the afflicted lost their sanity and turned into monsters.
If that was what Simon had reported, then this wasn’t a simple wound infection. It was a dark spell, and a dangerous one.
lva sat beside her, clutching her hand tightly. “So... the rumors are true then? Black magic is at work? My Lady, will this spread to the others?”
Althea t her gaze, firm yet gentle. “If what I rember is correct... yes. It will spread fast.”
Trudis, who had been leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, finally snapped. Her voice cut through the silence like a blade.
“Don’t play smart here. The Alpha King is with Mage Gustav—everything will be sorted out soon. You sound as if you know better than our mages.”
“You’re always harsh,” lva scoffed at Trudis. She turned to Althea, softening her tone. “My Lady, if danger cos, I beg you, leave Trudis to her fate. Do not waste a finger trying to save her!”
“You—!” Trudis growled, pushing off the wall.
“What?!” lva shot back without hesitation. “Would you rather be rescued by My Lady after showing her no respect at all?”
The room crackled with their bickering, words sharp as knives. Althea almost let out a laugh at the absurdity, but instead, she turned away. Their voices faded into the background as her eyes fell on the open window.
Slowly, she walked toward it. The cool air brushed against her face as she closed her eyes, steadying her breath.
She closed her eyes as she tried to recall everything... her mother’s voice, soft but firm, echoing in her mind.
“Dark spells feed on fear, pain, and flesh,” her mother once told her during one of their quiet lessons by the fire. “When such curses are unleashed, they do not just wound the body, they spread like hunger, biting through one soul to the next.”
Althea gripped the window fra tighter. The faint whispers of her mory brought shivers down her spine. She rembered sothing about flesh-eating blight, about wounds that could never heal on their own. Her heart pounded. ‘Could this be the sa?’
She swore she heard her mother ntion once—how if the dark spell was not purified in ti, it would grow like wildfire, leaping from one body to another until none were spared.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “No... this can’t be,” she whispered to herself.
Behind her, lva tilted her head. “My Lady? What is it? You rembered sothing?”
Althea opened her eyes and looked back at her companions. “Yes,” she said quietly, though the weight in her tone carried across the room. “If what I fear is true, this curse won’t stop with the wounded guards. It will spread fast... faster than anyone expects.”
The room fell silent. Even Trudis, ready to argue again, froze where she stood.
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