Page 127 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

I hold up my hands, growling, “Enough. This is not about you; this is about me. I still haven’t managed to initiate contact with the archive keeper. After Mira’s drawings this morning, Alice is properly freaked out. And I don’t want my daughter around white witches. For all I know—”

My words get stuck in my throat as I feel a spasm of pain pass through me. I clutch my heart, finding it hard to breathe.

What was that?

Jimmy immediately notices, as does Mary.

“Are you okay?” Mary puts a hand on my shoulder and runs healing energy through me. She frowns. “Nothing’s wrong with you.”

The next wave has me gasping. “Something is wrong.”

With Alice. Something’s wrong with Alice.

Just then, my phone begins ringing. Without a moment’s hesitation, I grab it from my pocket and answer it, only to hear screaming on the other end. Then, a growling sound and loud thuds, as if a fight is taking place.

Katherine’s voice comes through. “Darian, your ex-wife is here! She’s trying to kill Alice!”

I don’t know how Katherine knows about Willow, but my blood turns to ice.

“Where?” I demand, already on my feet.

“Alice’s office! Hurry! She’s really trying to kill her!”

I run over to Mira, pluck her off the jungle gym, and shove her into Jimmy’s arms. “Watch her. Guard her with your life. Mary, with me.”

I run to the building closest to us and, ducking into the alleyway, out of sight of everyone, I shift. Quickly, I grab the startled healer with my teeth and swing her onto my back. Her fingers dig into my fur, and I leap. Getting to the roof isn’t the hard part. I have to stay out of sight.

I jump from one rooftop to the next, needing to get to Alice as fast as possible. How did Willow find her? Jimmy and I were certain that nobody could figure out where she was, even after looking at her picture. We were sure that magic was involved somehow. Were we wrong? What changed? And if Willow knows, what about the white witches?

As I run, I try to ignore the sharp pain in my shoulder that keeps getting worse. It’s not my pain; it’s Alice’s. She is in agony, and our mate bond is fading. I don’t know what that means, and I’m not going to wait around to find out. As soon as I reach the top of Alice’s building, I shift back.

“Hold onto me,” I instruct the white-faced healer. She clings to my back, and grabbing the ledge, I swing down. The first window looks into Alice’s office, and the scene before me is horrific enough for me to feel a wave of fury.

Katherine is on the ground beside the desk, holding Alice in her arms, and Willow is lying on the ground a few feet away. Alice’s assistant is by the door. She sees me and screams before covering her mouth. To my surprise, instead of running away, she hurries over and opens the window. I don’t ask questions; I jump inside.

“Mary” is all I have to say, and the healer scrambles toward Alice. She drops by her side and immediately starts running healing magic through her.

I don’t approach my mate yet, knowing that the healer needs to look after her first. Instead, I go to where Willow is lying unconscious on the floor. Picking her up by the neck carelessly, I sniff her. She’s still alive.

Pity. Alice should’ve killed her.

“What happened?” I demand, looking at Katherine.

“She”—Katherine’s face is pale as she points at Willow—“she came in here and shouted at Alice. She tried to attack her, but Alice stopped her. And then she—she changed into a beast. She became a wolf!”

I stare at Katherine, cursing Willow silently. She let humans see her in her wolf form? It’s the law of the Wolf Kingdom that if a human discovers our existence, and they are not linked to our world in any way, they have to be executed to keep our secret. I look between Katherine and Holly. I don’t think Alice will want me to touch them. Our relationship is fragile enough as it is.

“Then,” Holly adds, shaking, “when this woman tried to attack me, Alice also changed into a wolf. She saved my life.”

“Mary?” I look at the healer, who shakes her head.

“She’s done a lot of damage, Your Majesty. I need time. It’s a good thing we got here when we did. Any later, we would not have been able to save her.”

My jaw tightens. The bond between Alice and me is flickering, but it’s no longer fading away, which is a good sign.

“Is there a way to clear this building?” I ask Holly. “The fewer people who find out about this, the fewer I have to get rid of.”

The color drains from her face when she realizes what I mean. She staggers backward. “Are you going to kill us?”

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