Page 154 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

She squares her shoulders. “Fine. Then I’m coming with you.” She points at two of the soldiers. “You two, watch over Mira. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Alice—” I start to argue.

“I can feel the magic in me, Darian,” my mate tells me. “It’s explosive and violent, and I can use it. I don’t know how, but I can. You’re not going back out there without me backing you up.”

“We can’t leave Mira.”

“We’ll be close by. And your soldiers will be guarding her.”

I can tell Alice doesn’t want to hear any more of my opinions. I shift into my wolf form, knowing this is not the time to try to convince my mate of anything.

The rest of my soldiers follow us into the action. Our aim is to kill. We don’t touch the white witches who are young and not taking part in the battle. They look like scared little kids, and I have a feeling that, much like the young healer who helped me, these children don’t want to be here. But the rest of the white witches are fair game.

As the other wolves and I rip flesh from bone, Serena lets out an enraged howl. She has seen Alice, who stayed in her human form to fight with the dark witches, and she launches an attack on her. Alice is able to defend herself, thwarting the coven leader’s attacks. My mate has had no training in how to use magic, but she is using her instincts to control it.

The increased attacks from all sides have the white witches faltering. Serena refuses to go down quietly, though. When she turns around, aiming an attack at me, Alice jumps forward, shifting into her wolf form. Her teeth sink into the coven leader’s neck, and she rips her head off.

Without their leader, the white witches begin to scatter. But it’s too late.

Using their battle magic, the dark witches create black chains. They capture every white witch fleeing from them and bind them with the chains. I make sure all the white witches have been secured before turning to look for Alice. She is by Mira’s side now, in her human form again.

As I join them, the air fills with howls and screams, the white witches finally beginning to realize that they overplayed their hand. The dark witches soon approach Alice, Mira, and me.

“Thank you.” Their leader is the one who speaks, the same witch who carried Mira out of the water. “It may have been fate thatallowed us to right the wrongs that have been done to our kind, but you played a role in it, and we thank you.”

Alice looks at the dark witch curiously. “All this time, you were alive?”

She smiles lightly. “No. We died a long time ago, but the injustice and the pain we suffered anchored our souls to this lake. Our spirits slept here until you appeared before us. Your powers were sealed, but we recognized your blood. It held traces of our magic. When I touched you, it woke up within you.”

Alice lets out a shuddering breath. “So, you’re ghosts.”

“Spirits, my child.” The witch looks amused. “And we will soon return to reunite with our sisters in the sky.” She turns her head to look at me. “We were told that when a king would take the throne, a king not of the royal bloodline, our time to take vengeance would arrive. With you, the royal bloodline has changed hands. And this is how it should be. There’s too much darkness and too many secrets hidden within the old royal family. Their hands are tainted with blood they can never wash off. You are not of that family. You are a new king with a new bloodline. Lead your people into a better future.”

I nod, and she smiles.

“As a parting gift,” she continues, “we will bless you with this prophecy. Your life will be happy, your children will thrive, and your kingdom will prosper. The true heir to the throne is your queen, but you are now the king, and it is your blood that will revitalize the royal family.”

The air around the dark witches begins to shimmer, and suddenly, they all look back over their shoulders. We follow theirgazes and see Nara appear from among the trees. The usually composed archive keeper looks distraught.

“Sisters!” she exclaims. The dark witch who has been speaking to us holds out her hand, and Nara runs forward to seize it. “You’re not leaving?!”

“I am happy to see you well, sister,” the dark witch tells Nara gently. “Your time is coming. We will see you soon. Till then, take care of yourself.”

The dark witches’ bodies slowly fade into tiny balls of light that float up and away, leaving Nara behind, her cheeks streaked with tears. She closes her eyes, her face lifted to the sky.

I recognize her grief, so I put my hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

She sighs before looking at me, her eyes red and tired. “You prevented the war. I was wrong; you didn’t need to step aside for the true heir. She had to step aside for you.”

Alice leans against me. “Is it all over now?”

I wrap my arms around her and meet Nara’s gaze, letting out a sigh of relief. “Yes. I think it is. You and Mira are safe.”

Chapter 31

Alice

“Mira is asleep upstairs,” I say as I enter the living room on the main floor of our wing of the palace. “Brian is sitting with her. Any word on Jimmy and Mary?”

---