The words left a chill in the air.Willow’s fingers clenched tighter between theirs and Liam felt Jacob’s pulse leap beneath his skin.
“No,” Jacob whispered.“He tied it to all shifters.If the curse holds, every future generation—” His voice cracked, fury and horror tangled in his tone.“No more wolves.No more bears.Lions?Nothing.”
Liam’s stomach twisted.He imagined a world stripped bare of the animal spirits that had guided his kind for centuries.Whole species severed from their essence, men born empty of what made them whole.The thought hollowed him out.“It wouldn’t just end us,” he said.“It would end everyone like us.Forever.”
Jacob swallowed hard, then asked the question neither of them wanted to voice.“Have there...have there been any shifters since we died?”
Ursula’s eyes shimmered, tears threatening to fall.Her voice was raw when she answered.“No.That’s why you can’t just fight for yourselves.This curse is bigger than the three of you.It was meant to strangle your bond and, through it, the entire shifter world.”
Silence pressed down on them.Willow’s voice finally broke it, soft but fierce.“Then we have to win.For you, for us, for everyone.”
Jacob nodded, his jaw tight.“The fates didn’t bind us to her for nothing.We were chosen.We will break this.”
Liam turned to Ursula.“How?If no mortal hand can end him, then who can?”
For the first time since she’d started speaking, Ursula’s lips curved into something almost mischievous.She tilted her head toward the window sill.“There’s someone in this room who can answer that.”
Liam frowned, scanning the apartment.No one new had entered.Just Ursula, Willow, Jacob, himself—
And Hugo.
The little cat had turned from the window, ears pinned flat, eyes blazing.Ursula lifted her brows at him.“Well?Are you going to help, or glare at me until your fur catches fire?”
Willow blinked.“Wait.What?”She looked between Ursula and her cat.“You’re...talking to Hugo?”
Jacob stiffened, his senses sharpening.He couldn’t hear the other half of the conversation, but the air thrummed with power.Ursula rolled her eyes.“Oh, don’t give me that, you stubborn ass.You’ve been hiding long enough.”She threw her hands out in exasperation.“Fine.Have it your way.”
Ursula threw her fingers in Hugo’s direction, then the lights flickered.The air thickened.And Hugo—sweet, purring Hugo—stretched, shimmered, and vanished in a ripple of heat.
In his place stood a woman.And not just any woman.Willow's lawyer Saffie.
Curly black hair cascaded around a sharp, gorgeous face.Her heels clicked against the hardwood as though she’d been born in them.Dark polish gleamed on her nails as she crossed her arms, her gaze flashing with heterochromia—one green eye, one gold.And every line of her body screamed power and irritation.
“Well,” she drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm.“So much for subtlety.”
Ursula sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.“Liam, Jacob, Willow—meet Saffron Burrows.Coven leader.Head witch.”
Saffie smirked, eyes narrowing on them.She let her gaze sweep over the two brothers, lingering a moment too long before flicking to Willow.“Two wolves and their fated mate.Cute.Let’s hope you’re worth all the chaos.”
Ursula rolled her eyes and shot back, “You could at least try to make a dignified entrance for once.”
Saffie arched a brow, lips curving into a sharp smile.“And deprive you of the chance to scold me?Not a chance.”
The two women exchanged a look that was half rivalry, half familiarity—the kind that spoke of battles fought side by side and arguments that would probably last lifetimes.Liam recognized the tension for what it was: not true anger, but the snap and spark of two powerful women who knew each other too well.
Jacob leaned closer to Willow and murmured, “They argue like sisters.”
Willow, still wide-eyed, whispered back, “Or like they’ve done this dance a thousand times before.”
