Maggie's POV
after the abduction
The cab door slammed shut and they were gone.
I could not believe it.
The black car had. My best friend, my person was taken.
I just stood there my hands shaking, my lungs burning like I had been running.
I had not moved.
My friend had just been taken from me.
It happened fast.
"What the hell just happened?" I said loud trying to find my phone.
I had no signal.
Course I did not.
I looked around the alley.
It was just me now.
My heart was pounding in my ears as I got out of the cab.
My shopping bags were over the pavement but I did not care.
I turned around trying to find someone, anyone.
The street was quiet.
There were warehouses and shadows.
I could still hear the sound of the tires screeching away.
I finally got a signal on my phone. I dialled 911.
My fingers were shaking as I waited for someone to answer.
"911 What's your emergency?" a voice said.
"My friend was kidnapped " I said.
"Two guys took her from a taxi.
They dragged her into a car and drove off.
I think it was near the mall.
She was screaming."
The person on the phone told me to calm down.
"Are you safe now?" they asked.
"No " I said.
"I am alone.
My friend is not.
Her name is Halia.
We were shopping."
The person on the phone told me that they were sending officers to my location.
They told me to stay put.
I was already moving.
I had to tell Halia's mom what happened.
I had to tell her that her daughter was taken.
"I have to tell her mom " I said to the person on the phone.
I was already hanging up.
I started running.
It was all a blur after that.
I was running down side streets trying to find a bus.
I was out of breath. I could not stop.
I was thinking about what happened.
That cab driver was silent.
He locked the doors like it was planned.
The second car was already waiting.
This was not a thing.
It was organised.
Halia had known something was off.
I saw it in her face when we left the mall.
She was haunted.
She tried to smile. Something was bothering her.
What if that dream she mentioned was not a dream?
The bus doors. I got out.
I started running
Halia's house was a few streets down.
It was familiar.
It was safe.
At least it was supposed to be.
I banged on the door.
Her mom answered.
She was wearing a cardigan and loose joggers.
Her hair was pulled up in a bun.
She looked like she had been reading or doing laundry.
For a second I thought I had imagined everything.
"Maggie?" she asked.
"Is everything alright?"
"No " I said.
"It is Halia.
She is gone."
Her face did not change.
She did not panic.
She just paused.
Then she narrowed her eyes.
"Gone " she said slowly.
"She was kidnapped " I said.
"We got in this cab. It locked the doors.
Then two guys. There was another car.
She screamed.
She fought.
They had her.
They dragged her away."
I was out of breath.
My chest was heaving.
Her mom just stood there.
She was staring past me like she was trying to remember something.
"You called the police?" she asked.
" yes I did " I said.
". They do not know anything.
I had to tell you.
I did not know what to do."
She stepped aside.
"Come in " she said.
I hesitated.
I went in.
"Aren't you going to freak out?" I asked.
"Call someone?
I do not know—cry?
Scream?
She is your daughter."
"I am her mother " she said quietly.
"That is why I know screaming will not help."
That sent a chill down my back.
I followed her into the kitchen.
She was moving like she was on autopilot.
She was making tea.
I did not understand.
"I do not understand " I said.
She faced me.
Her eyes were sharp.
"Maggie did Halia say anything to you lately?" she asked.
"Anything strange?
About how she was feeling?
Dreams?"
"Yes " I said.
"She said she had this dream.
About some guy.
She woke up. There was blood.
She said it felt real."
Her mom nodded slowly.
"It is earlier than we thought " she said.
"I hoped for time."
"What do you mean we?" I asked.
"You knew this could happen?"
She did not answer.
She just poured the water.
The steam was rising up between us.
"She is waking up " she said finally.
"They must have sensed it.
The others."
"The what?" I asked.
Her mom looked at me.
Something was flickering in her eyes.
Something not human.
"She is not like girls, Maggie " she said.
"She was never going to be.
Now they know it too."
I took a step back.
"You are saying you expected this?" I asked.
"No " she said.
"I feared it.
Bloodlines do not stay quiet forever.
Not hers.
Not his."
I did not know what she was talking about.
The way she said his made my stomach twist.
"Who is he?" I asked.
She did not answer.
*****
The city below looked really peaceful.
It seemed harmless.
I know better.
This world is full of lies.
People are blind because of these lies.
My people. The cursed. Live among them.
We are invisible.
We have to deal with a truth that's too hard to handle.
I used to think this curse was mine.
It is not. It belongs to my family.
The Moon Goddess herself put a mark on us.
It is a punishment for something I do not fully understand.
I was very young when it happened.
I was too young to know that being loyal can be bad if you are loyal to the person.
Now the curse is destroying us from the inside.
My pack and I are falling apart slowly.
We are coming undone.
We are dealing with madness, a desire for blood and a loss of control.
That is what will happen to us if we do not follow the rules of the ritual.
Tonight I can feel the curse spreading.
A wolf howls in the courtyard below.
It is not a cry.
It is not a cry of victory.
It is a cry of pain.
Another wolf howls.
Then another one does.
My wolves are restless again.
The younger ones are affected the worst.
Their bodies hurt when the moon rises.
They get very angry.
Some of them cannot stay in their form when the curse takes over.
Yesterday two of my wolves almost fought each other in the training area.
They did not even remember why they were fighting.
The curse is getting stronger.
It is not just killing me. It is killing all of us.
The rules are cruel.
Every year we have to take a girl who is becoming a woman.
The bond we form with her stops the curse from getting worse.
It gives us time.
It is a ritual that involves flesh and spirit. It is written in the blood of our ancestors.
I have done this ritual times.
I do it without feeling anything.
It is something I have to do.
Until I met her. Halia.
She was different from the others.
I knew it the moment I dreamed about her.
When our souls touched I felt something.
The dreamscape is supposed to be cold and one-sided.
She reached out to me.
She touched me back.
When I claimed her. No, when we came together. I felt something inside me break open.
It was not the ritual.
It was not the curse.
It was her.
Her fear, her confusion, the way her body moved with mine.
Her smell, the heat of her skin the defiance in her eyes.
This was not control. This was a connection.
It scared me.
For the time in centuries I felt something real.
Not lust. Not power.
Longing.
A desire I did not know I had.
The other girls were sacrifices.
Halia. She felt like fate.
Like home.
I watched her after that.
In the crowd.
Just once.
I saw her.
I should not have done that.
It was reckless.
I needed to see her eyes in the world.
I saw it. Recognition.
Just a little.
Just enough to make me question my decision.
That night I gave the order.
She was to be taken.
I hated myself for it.
If I did not do it someone else would.
The other clans watch the bloodlines.
They would have sensed her power.
They would have smelled her.
If I waited they would come.
They would not be gentle.
So I sent my men.
I did what I said I would never do again.
I took her.
Because she deserves better than to be trapped by this curse.
I am the one who put her in this situation.
When they told me she was safe I should have felt relieved.
All I felt was fear.
Because now she is mine. Bound, claimed, marked.
I cannot pretend this was my duty anymore.
The curse is old.
It is relentless.
It destroys everything it touches.
What if she is more than a way to make me feel better?
What if she is the one who can break the curse?
What if loving her is the thing that will get me in trouble?
Another wolf howls.
Closer this time.
I feel the wolves moving under their skin.
They are restless.
They are hungry.
The curse is waking up again.
I look down at the city. At the illusion of safety.
She is, in it.
With her everything I thought I knew is falling apart.
I do not know what I am anymore.
I am a monster.
I am an alpha.
I am a weapon.
I do know this:
I would burn this world to keep her alive.
Even if it means the curse will destroy me instead.
Her mom just stared at the coffee like it might give her some answers.
All she said was:
"The one who claimed her."