Page 131 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

Mira turns her head to look at Jimmy, momentarily distracted. “What’s ‘fuckers’?”

I glare at her. “Don’t use that word. It’s a bad word. Your mother will kill me if she hears you saying it.”

Clearly, that was the wrong thing to tell her, because she wraps her arms around my neck and bursts into tears. “I don’t want you to die!”

I pat her back, feeling like an idiot. “That’s not what I meant. I was just trying to—It’s a bad word, Mira.”

She sniffles. “Where’s Mama? I want Mama.” Her voice breaks as she clings to my neck.

“You’ll see her soon. Mary is with her.”

Fear fills my daughter’s voice. “Is Mama hurt?”

“No!” I lie. “Of course not. Why would you think—”

“Because Mary is a healer!” Mira is hysterical now. “What happened to Mama? I want to see her!”

I’m so focused on her that I don’t notice Nara approaching us. Mira suddenly slumps in my arms, and I see Nara’s finger touching her back just before she pulls it away.

“What did you do?” I snarl, pulling my daughter away from her.

“You shouldn’t expose a child to such violence,” the dark witch says calmly. “I put her to sleep for a while. When she wakes up, she won’t remember what happened. It’s for the best. Children her age are easily shaped by the experiences they undergo. This girl is a happy child, and her path in life is already set. She needs to hold onto her happiness.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The gift of prophecy is in her blood. You should not let darkness taint her.”

“Prophecy?” No matter how tightly I hold Mira now, I can feel her slipping away from me. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“Her bloodline,” Nara replies, starting to walk away. “The gift of prophecy is a rare one. One that archive keepers usually wield. Like me, this child bears that gift.”

I stare at the woman’s back. If I’m freaking out this much, Alice is going to blow a gasket. But then, the drawings and what Mira said all come back to me. We already assumed it might be a prophecy, but we were just throwing out ideas. Finding out it’s true shakes me to my core.

“I have to take her to her mother,” I tell the woman, feeling the need to see Alice.

Nara comes to a stop and turns to look at me. “A war is about to break out, King of the Wolves. To prevent this war, you will have to accept the inevitable. You will have to give up control. The true heir will have to step up.”

“The true heir?” I glance at Jimmy, who looks bewildered. “What are you saying? There is going to be a shift in power?”

Nara is watching me closely. “I cannot tell you more. If you let the war break out, the damage will be such that every world will be drawn into it. The white witches started the war before, and they made my kind suffer. They will do the same to your kind. Their greed has grown. This war is inevitable. The only way to stop is for the true heir to take control. For that to happen, the King of the Wolves has to step down. Can you do that?”

I stare at her. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She gives me a mysterious half smile. “You wish to have access to the archive room. Tomorrow night, I will come to you. I will show you the archives.”

She walks away, and I don’t stop her, trying to absorb this information.

A shift in power? Who is the true heir?

I hold Mira to me, my resolve strong.

No matter what happens, I will not let my family get hurt again.

*****

When I arrive at the royal residence, Katherine and Holly are sitting in the living room, heads together, discussing something. When they see me, Katherine gets to her feet. “Mary took Alice to one the bedrooms. She’s awake and asking for Mira.”

I nod at her and hurry up the stairs. When I find her, Alice is lying in bed, her shirt gone and bandages covering more than half her upper body. She’s propped up against the headboard, and when she sees me, she tries to sit up straighter. “Is Mira—”

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