74: I wear him well, don’t I?
**Kieran pov**
They stopped talking to me for good. Well, not exactly, or at least not in the literal sense of not talking. Thane still barked orders at us as if he single handedly had taken over the role of an Alpha. Samantha still glared at me like I wasn’t a part of their inner circle and Torin only grunted if I bumped into him.
None of them looked into my eyes anymore for some reason. None asked what I thought or if I even had an opinion of what should be done next.
Sometimes, I wondered if they knew something I didn’t. Was it possible for someone to know that something was coming while you had no idea? Maybe, but that didn’t make it easier. I felt like an outcast in a group I once mattered.
What they didn’t know was that there was only so long one could look at something cursed before it started creeping under one’s skin. And Goddess help me, I had looked for too long, listened too hard and stood close to the barn.
They said I was guarding him, but instead, I was losing my mind.
Every time the monster took over, I had felt how the air around the barn grew colder and I heard him whisper in madness when no one else did. Sometimes I thought it was Alpha Bane, but other times I knew better.
I was almost convinced that he wasn’t fighting the thing anymore and had made the decision to become one with the curse. So, I made a choice everyone else refused to make. It wasn’t driven by rage or fear, but rather loyalty to our Luna and to the idea that maybe if we cut out the infection fast enough, the rest of the body could heal and we could get back our Alpha.
When it started raining outside I took it as my chance and crept into the barn. The door creaked like it didn’t want to let me in and the sound was supposed to alert others before I could finish what I planned.
Alpha Bane didn’t lift his head when I approached, his wrists were still chained the same as his ankles. Now, with his body slumped like a ragdoll, he didn’t look as high and mighty anymore, but I knew better than to trust that.
“Do you remember what I said the night we had to bury Harlan?” I asked, keeping my voice calm and even as I gripped the knife and pulled it from my belt. “I said I would follow you into fire, even if you dragged hell with you.”
He tried to lift his head, failed miserably, but I still waited for a response. It never came, so I shook my head and let out a bitter chuckle. “I could say you dragged it, Alpha. But, I think we both know it’s far worse than that, right? You let it climb into your skin and let it wear you like a second coat.”
Since he still didn’t react to my words, I swallowed and stepped closer to him. All I needed was just one, quick strike. It had to be deep and fast. If I hit the heart before he shifted, before the thing inside him woke up fully - it would be mercy.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered and gripped the knife tighter. “I really fucking am.”
“You should be.” His body didn’t move, but the voice rang loud enough to echo against the barn walls.
My grip eased. That wasn’t my voice, but it also was. How was that possible? I looked up, Alpha’s head had tilted further, his face half in shadow, eyes still closed. “You should be sorry,” he spoke again, this time his voice sounded like Thane’s - distant, but unmistakable. “You came here thinking you’d be the hero, that you’d be able to end it before it could grow.”
I took a step back. “Alpha?”
“That’s not my name,” the thing in the chains said. I sucked in a sharp breath and took another step back, the hand gripping the knife trembling. “You think killing this body will kill me? You poor, stupid creature.” It chuckled.
I raised the blade and growled, “you can’t stay inside him.”
“Why not? He invited me.” The creature laughed as I watched my Alpha’s fingertips slowly turn charcoal black and ugly streaks appear on his face.
“He fought you.” I insisted.
“At first he did, they always do until they learn their lessons and give up. You’d be surprised how easy it is to wear them all down, how fast the victory comes with little amount of pressure.”
I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears as I refused to believe the monster. “He’s still somewhere in there. Our Alpha wouldn’t give up like that! I saw him fight you, I fucking saw it!”
It smirked at me, black eyes gleaming with amusement as it whispered, “you saw what you wanted to see.”
I screamed as I lunged forward. The blade was close, almost there, literal inches from his flesh when the world turned white. My body jerked mid-strike, my knees buckled and the knife flew from my hand. My mouth opened but no sound came out, my entire chest convulsed with cold, with heat, with something I had never experienced before.
“No,” I choked out, clawing at my chest. “No, this isn’t-”
“You wanted the truth?” The monster asked, still sounding amused. “Here it is, look carefully and don’t blink or you might as well miss it.”
My eyes burned as I clutched my face, and when I pulled my hands back, they were covered with my blood. The barn door slammed open behind me and the next moment, I heard footsteps approach me, but I couldn’t turn around.
“Kieran!” Thane called out in panic as he dropped to his knees right next to me. “What the fuck did you do?!”
I couldn’t answer so Thane pulled at my collar, trying to pull me upright, and froze. I felt the moment he noticed there was something wrong - my chest burned like something invisible was branding me with the fire of hell itself.
Somehow, I managed to force out a scream as I ripped my shirt open. My hands shook and Thane’s face turned paper white as both of us looked down at my chest. There, right over my heart, something was searing itself into me. I screamed again, this time without any sound as the pain became unbearable.
Agonizing seconds, minutes, fuck it, I didn’t know, maybe hours, later, I saw it - a shape of a wolf with two shadows, just like the one Samantha had mentioned before.
“No,” Thane whispered, his eyes wild with nothing but pure horror. “No, no, no. This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“Help me,” I tried to beg, the only issue was that the words never rang out. My mouth didn’t move, jaw locked in and my throat dried up completely.
Behind me, the creature sighed, sounding genuinely bored as he watched the scene. “Pathetic little fool. He was loyal to the wrong side and that’s exactly what broke him.”
Thane snarled and stood up, angrily pointing a finger at the creature. “Don’t speak. Not another fucking word!”
“But you want to know, don’t you?” You want to know how this happened, don’t you?” The creature whispered.
Thane pulled out his own knife and I wanted nothing but scream at him not to. He didn’t need to end up like I had to, but I couldn’t even warn him, just lay on the ground and watch helplessly as Thane pointed the knife at the monster in the chains and snarled, “I said shut up!”
The thing inside Alpha Bane smiled. “Oh, Thane. You don’t even know what you’re loyal to.”
I tried to scream again, to move, to do anything just to ensure Thane didn’t meet the same fate as me but every attempt was useless.
Thane was shaking with rage, I could hear it in his voice. “You’re not Alpha Bane. You’re not him.”
“But I wear him well, don’t I?” The creature laughed.
Thane didn’t acknowledge the words, thankfully, and turned to me. “We need to get you out. Now. Can you stand?”
I blinked once, hoping that was enough to let him know I couldn’t. Even my legs wouldn’t respond.
Thane swore under his breath and started dragging me towards the barn door, but the process was far too slow. My body was dead weight.
Behind us, Alpha Bane, the thing inside him, just laughed. “That’s right, run while you still can, but you’ll be back. You always come back.”
Thane didn’t look back, he dragged me out of the barn and through the rain, across the clearing, into the mud. He didn’t stop until we reached the cabin.
Samantha was the one who opened the door, as soon as her eyes landed on me, she paled the same Thane had and hissed, “what the hell happened?”
Thane didn’t answer, he dragged me inside the cabin, laid me on the floor, and ripped away the last of my shirt before he pointed to the mark.
Samantha gasped as Torin came up behind her, saw it, and swore violently.
“We need to get it off him!” Samantha shouted.
Thane shook his head and looked down at his hands, whispering, “I don’t think we can. It’s spreading itself now. I fear we might be too late.”
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