My Mate Broke Our Bond, So the Northern Alpha Claimed Me novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Wasting

The healer worked on Brogan for three hours, and Sorcha sat on the floor outside the door with her back against the wall.

Her father brought her tea. She did not drink it.

When the door finally opened, it was the Beta who came out, not the healer.

He looked ten years older than he had the day before.

"He is asleep," he said. "The veins have stopped spreading. For tonight."

"For tonight," Sorcha said.

"Come in. There is something I should have told you a week ago."

She stood up.

The Beta shut the door behind them and sat on a chair beside the bed.

Brogan lay on his back with his eyes shut, bare to the waist, and the black lines ran up his throat to his jaw.

Sorcha kept her eyes on the Beta's face.

"Tell me."

"It is called the Wasting," the Beta said. "It takes the Alphas of Blackmere's line in their thirties. Brogan's father went at thirty-four. His grandfather at thirty-three."

"How old is Brogan?"

"Thirty-two. Thirty-three at midwinter."

Something cold slid down Sorcha's back.

"The wolf burns out," the Beta went on. "First the strength, then the heat, then the mind. The land goes with him. That is why the orchards died. They were dying with him."

"Is there a cure?"

"There is one." The Beta's voice was very tired. "The Chronicle of Blackmere says a Graced Luna, freely given, can hold the Wasting back. She stands beside the Alpha, and her light feeds him."

Sorcha said nothing.

"Freely given," the Beta said again. "If it is taken, or pushed, or tricked out of her, it does not work. That is the oldest rule."

"So he found one."

"For two years he sent riders to every border. He did not leave this mountain because the walk down it nearly killed him. Then, a few weeks ago, he woke in the night and said he felt silver on the wind."

← Chapter 11 · All chapters · Chapter 13 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend