Page 5 of Cursed By Fate

“I don’t question your right to lead,” Ewan said, his words edged with caution but no less direct. “But I question the choice you’ve made. You brought a curse into these tunnels. Acurse, Tristan—and for what? Leverage? You’ve dealt a blow to Silver Ridge before. We could’ve crushed them—”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” I snapped, sharper than I intended. “The decision wasn’t up for debate.”

“It should’ve been.”

My wolf surged toward the surface, ears back, tail high. It hated being questioned. Hated the smell of doubt pouring off Ewan like sweat. The chamber bristled. At least three nearby wolves stiffened visibly in their seats, and I caught the faint metallic tang of restless adrenaline in their sweat. I shifted my eyes just long enough to acknowledge their unease before returning to Ewan, refusing to drop my voice any lower than necessary.

“You’ve stood beside me long enough to know what a battlefield looks like. Decisions don’t wait, not when the stakesare set in blood. And this one? This was about more than a border skirmish.”

I let the weight of the sentence linger, my gaze sweeping across the room for emphasis. “Serena isn’t just leverage. She’s tied to something bigger than this war, and until I figure outwhat, she stays here. Any objections?”

Ewan snorted softly, his expression grim. “You’re saying you risked the pack foranswers, Tristan? Stormvale's strength runs through these very stones,” he growled. “You start shaking the foundation with prophecy and curses, and it’s not just your title on the line. You risk the blood-rite bond we swore under the full moon.”

“I’m saying I risked the pack for certainty,” I snapped, finally letting my words edge with command. “If any of you think Serena is the reason we’re at war, you’re more ignorant than I thought. This curse, thisprophecy—it doesn’t end with one pack over the other. Not if tonight was any indication.”

Ewan stepped forward, his shoulders squaring until he was barely a foot away. “You think the pack gives a shit about curses?” he murmured, his gaze low and sharp beneath the torchlight. He wasn’t raising his voice, but he didn’t need to. Ewan’s anger cut colder when it was quiet. “They see a rogue with a mark—and they see you hesitating for the first time since you’ve held this title. This isn’t like you... and it’s putting cracks where there shouldn’t be any.”

He hesitated for the smallest beat, his jaw clenching before continuing. “I don’t want cracks, Tristan. I want survival.”

I took two steps forward, closing the remaining distance between us. “Iknowwhat happened tonight. I know where the lines were. I know what could have spilled over onto this stone if I’d let it. But I made a call—one your position demands you either accept or challenge. Which will it be?”

Ewan’s gaze flickered briefly, his teeth locked audibly before he dropped them with a slight tilt of his head. Submission, barely.

Good.

But a half-step away from rebellion.

The pack dispersed begrudgingly after I assured them of further answers tomorrow during committees—a political formality if nothing else. But Ewan lingered behind, and though tension still hung like smoke between us, I didn’t send him away.

Ewan and I had history too deep to ignore, even when he grated against me. He’d stood by my shoulder when we were both too young to wield authority—teenagers climbing a mountain we shouldn’t have had to scale alone. It was Ewan who’d gathered the pack in my father’s absence, handed me the wolves’ loyalty, and bound himself to me when no one else would. That kind of camaraderie didn’t dissolve in a single night. But it cracked around the edges, sharp and dangerous, every time resentment reared its head.

“You never let anyone close,” he said finally, pacing as his heels scuffed the stone floor. “So why her?”

I leaned my hands against the oak table in the center of the chamber, turning my head just slightly to glance at him. My reflection stared back faintly in the maps spread across the surface—just shadows against parchment. I didn’t answer immediately.

His frustration boiled over. “Tristan, damn it—”

“Because there’s somethingdifferent,” I said, my voice low but clipped, steady. “Something tied to the curse she carries—the one she doesn’t even fully understand. And with the prophecy Morrigan warned of, I have to be sure.”

Ewan flinched, inhaling sharply through clenched teeth. I didn’t owe him details, but he wasn’t someone I could leave in the dark about everything. He wouldn’t use her, not so long asthe question of her importance remained unanswered, but his doubt would spread to the pack quickly if I wasn't honest about—at least—half of what I knew.

“What kind of ‘different?’” He crossed his arms but lowered his tone.

I hesitated before speaking evenly: “Her mark. It’s the same as mine. The same as the trail of runes carved through these chambers. I saw it when you were tying her up.”

Ewan swore under his breath, the heat of his anger briefly traded with shock, followed by dawning concern. “We bled for this pack,” Ewan muttered, eyes flashing. “I watched your father burn, and I made sure you didn’t fall with him. I just... I don’t want to lose you too. You sure it’s not some kind of—”

“Trick?” I cut him off, shaking my head. “No. It’s real. And she noticed mine, too.” My voice tightened as the memory flashed in my mind—her sharp intake of breath, the way her eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Whatever this is, it’s not coincidence.”

Ewan slammed a fist against the table. The dull thud echoed through the chamber, his frustration crackling like firelight. “You’re gambling with the pack, Tristan. If the elders catch wind of this—or worse, if she’s some kind of weapon Silver Ridge planted—”

“She’s not a plant,” I snapped, standing straight. The words came out faster than I intended, too charged. I inhaled, refusing to meet Ewan’s eyes as realization settled dense and suffocating in my chest. Why was I so sure? What was it about her that stripped away my detachment, leaving me raw and defensive in ways I’d never allowed myself to be before? Besides, I recalled the last elder meeting and they’re already circling. ‘Stormvale should act like Stormvale,’ one had hissed. As if they were waiting for an excuse to unseat me.

Ewan caught my hesitation and pounced on it. “You don’t know that. For all we know, she’s bait. A curse-touched wolf who could unravel everything we’ve built. You’re letting emotions cloud your judgment—”

“Watch your tone,” I growled, the warning clear in the low rumble of my voice. My wolf edged closer to the surface, demanding submission, but Ewan didn’t back down entirely.

“What tone should I use when my alpha might be risking the pack for one she-wolf who doesn’t belong here?” He glared, fists clenched at his sides. “She’s dangerous. You know it. I know it. And keeping her here doesn’t just endanger our lives—it calls everything into question. You’ve worked too damn hard to let a mistake unravel it.”

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