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The Cursed Alpha’s Mute Bride – Episode 05
Wren ran until branches blurred around her and each breath scraped her throat raw. Hunter’s coat streamed behind her, far too large for her frame, carrying the scent of pine and smoke with every stride. She should have dropped it. Instead, she clutched the collar closed as if it were the only safe thing in the forest.
One word followed her through the dark.
Mate.
Hunter had spoken it softly, almost to himself, but Wren had seen the certainty transform his face. Wolves did not mistake the pull of a fated bond. It was supposed to be the Moon Goddess’s most sacred gift, a connection deeper than rank, choice, or blood.
For Wren, it felt impossible. No one had ever looked at her the way Hunter had, as though her silence did not make her less human. No one had ever held her injured wrist with care or waited patiently for an answer she could not speak.
Kindness should have eased her. Instead, it opened a painful space inside her chest where hope tried to take root. Hope was dangerous in Wolfhart Castle. Gertrude had taught her that anything precious would eventually be used against her.
Wren crossed the border without slowing. The familiar woods of Eclipse territory closed around her, but they no longer felt like home. Behind her stood a feared Alpha who had protected her. Ahead waited a family that had sent her into danger and would likely blame her for surviving it.
How could Hunter Silver be destined for someone like her? He commanded one of the strongest packs in the region. She slept beside a kitchen, wore discarded dresses, and could not summon the wolf buried beneath Gertrude’s spell.
The bond must have been damaged. Perhaps the curse had confused his senses, or perhaps the violence in the clearing had stirred his protective instincts. Once he had time to think, he would see what everyone else saw—a mute, powerless girl with nothing to offer an Alpha.
Yet the warmth inside her refused to disappear. It pulsed beneath her ribs each time she remembered his voice shaping her name. Deeper still, behind the wall of the curse, the presence she had felt in the clearing shifted as if listening for him.
Wren stumbled to a stop beneath an old oak. She pressed one hand to its trunk and fought for air. If her wolf had truly awakened, then the mate bond was not a mistake. It might even be strong enough to touch what Gertrude had sealed away.
That possibility frightened her more than despair. The curse could be broken only by true love and the words I love you. A mate bond might draw Hunter to her, but fate was not love. No spell could force a man to cherish the woman chosen for him.
She pictured disappointment replacing the gentleness in his eyes. Alpha Silver might accept a beautiful Luna, a warrior who could stand beside him and strengthen his pack. He could not want a wife who needed her own voice rescued.
Voices sounded faintly from the direction of the castle. Searchers might already be looking for Nikolaus, and Wren could not risk being found in Hunter’s coat. She gathered the dark fabric around herself and took a narrow servants’ path, unaware that she carried proof no lie could easily erase.
Back at the creek, Hunter stood where she had left him. The bond stretched through the forest, delicate but unmistakable, pulling his attention toward the border. Every instinct demanded that he follow. Years of command were the only reason he remained still.
Clay returned after confirming the Eclipse wolves had left Silver territory. He found his Alpha staring into the trees with an expression he had never seen after a fight. “Who was she?” he asked, though Hunter had barely seemed capable of seeing anyone else from the moment he entered the clearing.
Hunter glanced down. Near the creek lay a small piece of crushed sugar, probably caught in Wren’s clothes after the feast. He picked it up, and a familiar sweetness rose above the damp earth—vanilla, caramel, and warm flour.
Clay tested the air. “What is that smell?”
“Cake.” The corner of Hunter’s mouth moved, not quite becoming a smile. It was an absurd detail to notice after an attack, yet the scent belonged to her. It softened the sharp edge of his wolf and awakened an ache Hunter had not allowed himself to name in years.
He had lived beneath his own curse for so long that most of the pack mistook his control for coldness. Each shift brought the threat of losing himself to the savage force inside him. One day the beast might overwhelm the man completely, leaving his Beta with the duty of killing his Alpha.
