Chapter 106: It Cannot Be Broken

Roiner

Roiner watched the brutal exchange from the sidelines with confusion flickering behind his crimson eyes.

He had never quite understood why the Queen harbored such a bottomless well of hatred for her fourth son.

Yes, Keali was eccentric, detached, and often considered the black sheep of the royal family and a fuck-up in the eyes of everyone, which couldn’t because Vance, Theo and Malric were also fuck-ups in the eyes of their parents and Roiner. In truth, they were all cut from the same arrogant cloth. He truly wondered why she played such blatant favorites.

Before anyone could reply to the Queen’s jab, the door to the Malric’s room clicked open.

One of the senior doctors stumbled out, pale and sweating profusely. When he saw the King standing in the hall, he immediately dropped to his knees.

"Your Majesty..." the doctor gasped out, bowing his head to the floorboards.

The King stepped forward, his voice dropping into a desperate plead. "No need for that. Please... how is my son doing?"

The doctor trembled so violently his teeth chattered. "There is... there is not much we can do, Sire. He is dying. His cells are rejecting every stitch we place."

Omen stepped forward, her green eyes blazing with urgent resolve. "We have to break the curse right now, or he won’t survive. His wolf will not heal him while the dark magic binds his spirit."

The doctor opened his mouth to protest, wanting to explain the medical impossibilities, but the King cut him off with a wild, commanding wave of his hand. "Hurry! Do whatever it takes! How do we break the curse?!"

Omen turned to the trembling physician. "Bring me a basin of Malric’s fresh blood immediately. And you—" She pointed sharply at Theo, Vance, and Keali. "Give me two follicles of hair from each of you."

The doctor scrambled backward, shouting orders to the nurse in the room, before returning moments later holding a heavy silver basin filled with Malric’s dark blood. "But I must tell you—" the doctor started, looking terrified.

"You’ll tell me later, there is no time!" Omen snapped, snatching the basin and the hair samples from the princes hands.

She turned on her heel, rushing out the front door into the forest pushing past students. The entire royal family spilled out into the open air to follow her.

Roiner lingered in the hallway, choosing not to follow the desperate procession. He crossed his broad arms over his chest, his crimson eyes narrowing. I will just stand here and keep tabs on everything, won’t be any help there.

Keali was the only one in Royal family that chose not to move, for he new his mother would not want him there and that Omen plan probably won’t work.

───

Outside, under the gray, overcast sky, Omen stood in the center of the damp earth, surrounded by the tense, anxious circle of royals.

Vance leaned heavily against Theo, whispering nervously out of the corner of his mouth, "How is this even going to work? Is she going to sacrifice a chicken or something?"

Theo hissed quietly back, wincing as a sharp pain twinged in his bandaged ribs, "How am I supposed to know, I didn’t even know we had a palace witch. I thought she was just an old myth."

King Alaric shot a lethal glare over his shoulder at his sons. "Both of you... keep quiet."

In the center of the muddy circle, Omen dropped to her knees. She placed the silver basin of Malric’s blood on the dirt, dropping the hair follicles from Theo, Vance, and Keali directly into the crimson liquid.

She dipped her bare hands into the mixture, scooping up the bloody fluid and letting it pour out over the soil in a wide, unbroken circle around her knees. Her eyes rolled back slightly as her voice rose into a swift chant.

"For will I might, I see tonight... free these souls from her fright. By earth unbound, by blood reclaimed, let darkness fall and be unnamed!"

A sudden, chilling gust of wind swept across the forest, carrying the scent of ozone and burning leaves.

Theo gasped aloud, his eyes widening in sheer disbelief. Beneath his bandages, the deep, violet bruises along his arms and chest began to rapidly fade, the torn tissue knitting itself back together in a visible flash of white light.

Vance stumbled backward, shaking his right arm out in utter shock as the heavy splint cracked and fell away from his skin.

"Oh, wow..." Vance muttered, staring at his fully healed hand, flexing his fingers over and over. "It doesn’t hurt anymore. My wolf is healing me."

A wave of palpable relief washed over the forest. The Queen let out a breathless, triumphant laugh, stepping forward with a bright smile. "It’s done! He’s saved!"

Omen slowly stood up from the mud, her face pale and drawn. She shook her head, her green eyes wide with horror.

"No," Omen whispered, her voice trembling. "It’s not."

The King froze, his triumphant expression instantly shattering. "What do you mean, it’s not?!"

"It means..." Omen swallowed hard, her chest heaving as she looked across the circle. "I cannot unbind Malric."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" the King roared, stepping into her space.

"It means I do not feel his wolf!" Omen shouted over the rising wind. "The curse is anchored too deep! The person who performed this... the person who did this to him... has his wolf!"

Absolute, dead silence blanketed the forest.

Before anyone could process the catastrophic revelation, Omen spun around, grabbing Vance violently by the shoulders. "Tell me! Did Malric lose anything during the fight?! Was his body entirely intact when they brought him back?! Did his blood... did something... did he lose a tooth, a finger, anything?!"

Vance panicked under her grip, shaking his head frantically. "No! Nothing! His body was there!"

Theo stepped forward, his face draining of all remaining color as a horrifying memory flashed behind his eyes. "Wait... he lost an eye."

Omen’s breath hitched. Her green eyes dilated in terror, looking like a woman who had just stared straight into the abyss of hell.

"The witch..." Omen breathed out, her voice dropping into a petrified whisper that chilled everyone to the bone. "The witch has performed a binding spell using his eye... Malric will not heal beacause he has been separated from his wolf..."