DRAVEN'S POV.
My fingers hovered inches from her throat. The heat from the curse pulsed under my skin, coiling, begging…no, demanding, to be released. For a moment, I could almost see it, the faint shimmer of the dark mark that never truly fades, writhing across my hand like a living shadow.
My mother froze. Her regal poise faltered for the first time in years, her breath hitching in quiet disbelief.
"Draven," she said, voice low but trembling. "You wouldn't dare."
But I would. Gods, I almost did.
Every instinct inside me screamed to end it, to silence her, to make her pay for even thinking of harming her. The woman who raised me stood there, terrified of me for the first time, and I…didn't feel guilty. I felt relieved.
The curse surged again, a heartbeat of fire through my veins. My hand twitched forward. A whisper from the goddess herself, or maybe from my own damned conscience, snapped me back to myself.
'Not her. Not her.'
With a sharp inhale, I forced my hand to stop midair. The curse recoiled like a struck animal, fading back beneath my skin, though my pulse still thundered with fury.
My mother's eyes widened, flickering between horror and confusion. She stepped back slowly, her ornate gown whispering against the floor. "You were going to kill me…over a human?"
I said nothing. The silence was its own weapon.
She let out a bitter laugh. "So it's true then. You've lost your mind. My son, the great Alpha King, reduced to protecting a piece of mortal filth." Her gaze darkened, venom seeping into every word. "She's bewitched you."
"Careful," I growled. The word came out low and dangerous. "You speak as though you have any idea what I feel."
"Feel?" she repeated mockingly. "The only thing you ever felt was anger, Draven. Don't tell me a fragile little girl taught you compassion."
"She's under my protection," I said, stepping back, regaining composure though my chest still burned. "And if anyone…anyone, lays a hand on her, I'll make sure they never breathe again."
Her mouth fell open, disbelief overtaking fury. "You're threatening your own mother?"
"I'm warning you." My voice came out colder than I intended. "Stay away from her."
For a heartbeat, there was only silence between us. Then her expression hardened and became queenly again, composed, but the tremor in her jaw betrayed her fury. "You will regret this insolence," she hissed.
"Maybe," I muttered, turning toward the door, "but not as much as you'll regret touching her."
"Draven!" she shouted, her voice echoing down the corridor as I walked away. I didn't look back. I couldn't. If I did, I might've seen the disappointment in her eyes, or worse, the fear. And I wasn't ready to face either.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind me with a dull thud. My chest rose and fell with ragged breaths as I pressed a hand to the cold stone wall. The curse still hummed faintly in my palm, restless, and hungry. I'd never come that close before, never. I'd nearly unleashed it on my own mother.
"Alpha," came a voice from the corridor. Zayn stood there, arms crossed, expression plain but cautious. He bowed his head slightly. "I heard the shouting."
"Then you heard too much," I muttered, pushing past him.
He followed anyway, as he always did. Loyal to a fault, and annoyingly perceptive. "The queen looked…shaken."
"She should be," I replied.
Zayn let out a low whistle. "You almost touched her, didn't you?"
I froze mid-step. His tone wasn't accusatory, just…curious. Concerned, maybe.
"She was going to execute the girl," I said quietly, as if saying it aloud made it more absurd. "What was I supposed to do? Watch?"
"You were supposed to not threaten the Queen Mother," Zayn said with a half-laugh that didn't reach his eyes. "You know how this looks, right? The council's already whispering about your temper. If word gets out that you almost burned her alive with that curse of yours…"
"I didn't," I cut him off sharply. "Almost isn't the same as doing it."
"Try explaining that to your mother," he muttered.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, tension eating at me. The weight of command, the curse, the damn girl…it was all starting to blur together. "Zayn," I said quietly, "do you think I'm losing control?"
He hesitated. "Honestly?" He looked away for a moment, then back at me. "I think you already did. Just not in the way you think."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He gave a small, wry smile. "It means the moment that human touched you and lived…you stopped being the Alpha King everyone fears. You started being something else."
I frowned. "Something else?"
"Human," he said simply.
The word hit harder than any insult.
Human. The one thing I could never be. The one thing I had tried so hard to erase from myself.
Zayn must've noticed the flicker in my eyes, because he quickly added, "That's not a bad thing, Alpha. Maybe it's what you needed. Maybe she's what you needed."
"Enough," I snapped, though my voice lacked the bite I intended. "Go back to your post."
He inclined his head. "As you command. But you should know, the Queen's guards are already moving. I think she's angry enough to defy you."
My stomach tightened. I'd expected as much. My mother never let disobedience go unanswered. If she couldn't control me, she'd try to control the situation another way. And that meant—
Selin!
I turned sharply toward the corridor that led back to her chambers. "If she tries anything—"
"She will," Zayn interrupted softly. "She's your mother. She'll do what she believes is right, even if it means defying you."
"Then she'll find out how wrong she is," I said through clenched teeth.
Zayn didn't stop me this time. He just gave a small bow, his voice low and almost regretful. "Be careful, Alpha. The moment you raised your hand against her, you started a war you can't win."
"Then I'll lose," I muttered. "But I won't let her touch the girl."
And I meant it. Every word.