The Cursed Blood novel · Chapter 26 of 32

Chapter 26: I Accept

I walked across the ring to him.

Nobody else moved.

The healer was already kneeling at his head. She looked up at me and didn't say anything.

She didn't have to.

His lips were black. His breath came in little scraped pulls with long gaps between them.

In the gaps, all of Greywater went quiet.

I knelt down on the frozen ground beside him.

Bare knees. Bare palms.

The Line hummed up into me, warm and steady, the way it had every day for a month.

It didn't reach him. It never had.

His eyes found mine.

"Don't," he whispered. "Not for this. You said."

"I know what I said."

I stood up.

I wanted every pack to see my face when I said it.

"I said no to this man once, in front of all of you," I said.

The Mardells at the back went very quiet.

I looked down at Alden.

"I'm not saying it because he's dying. I'm not saying it because anyone told me to. I'm not saying it to be kind."

My voice was steady. I was proud of that.

"I'm saying it because the truth is out. All of it. In front of everyone. That was my price, and it's paid."

I knelt again and put my hand flat on his chest, over the black.

"Alden Mardell," I said. "I accept."

The hook under my ribs let go.

It didn't tear. It didn't hurt.

It was like a knot I'd carried for a month, suddenly untied, and the rope falling slack.

My wolf sat up inside me and shook herself all over.

Under my palm, Alden's chest heaved.

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