“That’s your choice to make,” Reeyan concedes. “But remember what the vision warned. Someone in Llewelyn might try to stop you if they learn what you’re doing.”
“Caelan wouldn’t,” I say it with complete confidence. “Whatever else the curse has done to us, it hasn’t destroyed the bond between sisters. She’ll understand once I explain everything.”
“We’ll figure something out after the council meeting tomorrow.” He pulls onto the road leading to his house. “But Sera? If you’re going to tell her, you need to tell her everything. The curse, the mate bond, what you’re planning to do. Half-truths will only make things worse.”
Everything. Including that I’ve bonded with a Grayhide wolf. That I’ve violated every principle of Llewelynindependence. That I’m planning to break the magic our ancestor commissioned, thinking it would protect us.
My sister is either going to understand, or she’s going to think I’ve lost my mind.
“I’ll tell her everything.” I lean back against the seat and close my eyes. “After the council meeting. Once we have a concrete plan for breaking the curse. She deserves to hear it all at once instead of in pieces.”
The truck slows as we approach his house. Home, my brain supplies unhelpfully. Not his house anymore. Home.
I open my eyes and look at the familiar structure. The cluttered interior full of books and research materials. The guest room I’ve been retreating to when things get too real. The bedroom where he showed me what pleasure feels like without curse suppression.
The weight of it settles on my shoulders like a physical thing. Heavy and inescapable and terrifying.
But I’m not carrying everything alone anymore. Reeyan will be there. Raegan and the other psychics who understand what I’m seeing. The Hysopp Coven with their magical expertise. Maybe even Caelan, once I tell her the truth.
For the first time since that initial vision, I feel something besides fear when I think about breaking the curse.
Hope. Small and fragile, but there.
Maybe hardy vegetation in hostile terrain doesn’t just survive.
Maybe it actually thrives.
Chapter 18 - Reeyan
Oren’s conference room feels smaller than usual with every seat filled.
I stand at the head of the long table, surrounded by the most powerful shifters in Grayhide territory. Oren sits at the far end with Ash beside him, her hands folded on the table. Wyn and Raegan occupy seats to my left, already looking like they know this meeting won’t be pleasant. Axle and several other senior pack members fill the remaining chairs. All eyes are on me, waiting for an explanation of why I called an emergency council meeting.
Sera isn’t here. She’s back at my house, exhausted from the emotional toll of visiting Isla and learning the full truth about her pack’s history. When I suggested she rest instead of facing another interrogation from Grayhide leadership, the relief on her face told me I made the right call. She needs time to work through everything without being subjected to questions from wolves who don’t understand what she’s going through.
Besides, some of what I need to discuss with the council involves her. Better to have those conversations without her present so I can be completely honest about the challenges we’re facing.
“Thank you all for coming on short notice.” I pull out my notes and spread them across the table. “What I’m about to share has significant implications for regional security and interpack relations.”
“This is about the Llewelyn curse.” Oren doesn’t make it a question. “What you and Sera have been researching.”
I lay out everything we've discovered—Moira Ashwood's revenge plot, how she wove the curse into what the Llewelynmatriarch believed was protective magic, the three-hundred-year timeline of emotional suppression passed from mother to daughter. I organize the documents so everyone can see the connections, watching comprehension dawn on their faces as they realize the implications.
Silence fills the room.
“An entire pack compromised by magic.” Dorian, the alpha of Ambersky, speaks first. “For three centuries. And they don’t know?”
“They think the emotional distance is natural. Part of their cultural identity rather than supernatural manipulation.” I pull out the documentation from Evangeline showing the spell structure. “The curse was designed to be self-perpetuating, passed from mother to daughter, deepening with time. The oral histories Isla shared describe it as protection that grows stronger with each generation. Eventually, if left unchecked, Llewelyn women will become completely unable to feel or connect with their wolves.”
When she speaks, Raegan’s voice comes out quiet. “That’s horrifying. Living your whole life unable to love properly. Unable to trust. Thinking something’s wrong with you when really you’re just cursed.”
“It gets worse.” I move to the next set of documents, the ones showing Thornridge surveillance patterns. “I now know without a doubt that Thornridge knows about the curse. Their targeting of Sera wasn’t random. They’ve figured out that she is the only one who can stop them.”
Oren stands and moves to the map I’ve pinned to the wall. His finger traces the marked positions where we’ve detected Thornridge operatives. “They’re positioning for an attack on Llewelyn territory.”
“That’s my assessment. They’ve been conducting systematic surveillance, gathering intelligence about defenses and patrol patterns.” I join him at the map. “A pack whose members can’t effectively work together because of magical suppression would fall quickly to a coordinated assault. And once Thornridge controls Llewelyn territory…”
“They use it as a staging ground for operations against our Amanzite reserves,” Oren finishes the thought. “Attack from the north, where we’re less defended, using conquered territory as a base of operations.”
