The Alpha's Last Choice.

Kael's POV

"You reek of human."

Damon's accusation hits me the moment I step into the stronghold's main hall. My beta stands with arms crossed, his dark eyes scanning the healing marks on my chest, faint silver lines that shouldn't exist after what the Bloodfangs did to me tonight.

"Good morning to you too," I mutter, heading straight for the stairs. I need a shower, clean clothes, and about twelve hours of sleep before I deal with pack politics.

"Kael." Elder Thorne's voice stops me cold. "We need to talk."

The council chamber feels smaller when it's filled with disapproving faces. Thorne sits at the head of the ancient oak table, flanked by the other elders, Marcus, Helena, and old Samuel who's been questioning my leadership since before I took the Alpha position. Damon takes his place at my right, but even he looks uncertain.

And in the corner, wrapped in shadows and mystery, stands Elara.

The pack's witch never attends council meetings. The fact that she's here, her silver hair gleaming in the candlelight and her pale eyes fixed on me with knowing intensity, means this is about more than a simple reprimand.

"Sit," Thorne commands.

I remain standing. "If you have something to say, say it."

"The human." Helena's voice drips disgust. "Damon says you let one treat your wounds."

"A doctor found me bleeding in an alley. She helped. End of story."

"Is it?" Elara steps forward, and the temperature in the room seems to drop. "Because your scent tells a different tale, young Alpha."

I keep my expression neutral, but inside, my wolf is pacing. Elara sees too much, knows too much. She was ancient when my grandfather was Alpha, and she's the only one alive who remembers the original curse.

"The bond flickered." It's not a question. Elara's pale eyes bore into mine. "You felt it."

Damon straightens in his chair. "What bond? Kael, what is she talking about?"

I want to lie, but Elara will smell the deception. She always does.

"There was... a connection," I admit. "Brief. Meaningless."

"Meaningless?" Elara laughs, a sound like wind through dead leaves. "The first woman in over a century who can touch you without dying, and you call it meaningless?"

The room goes dead silent. Even Samuel stops his perpetual grumbling to stare at me with wide eyes.

"She healed you," Elara continues. "Completely. I can smell the magic on you, the way her life force mingled with yours. Tell me, Alpha... what did you feel when she touched you?"

Heat. Fire racing through my veins. The sensation of coming home after a lifetime of wandering. But I can't say that. Won't give them that weapon to use against me.

"Nothing important."

"Liar." The witch's smile is sharp as a blade. "You felt the prophecy awakening. The curse recognizes its key."

Thorne slams his fist on the table. "Enough riddles, witch. Speak plainly."

Elara turns to address the council, but her words feel aimed at me. "The bloodline curse that has plagued the Arden line for three centuries can only be broken by a human woman. Not just any human... one destined for this purpose. One whose life force can merge with our Alpha's without being consumed by it."

"And you think this... doctor... is that woman?" Damon's voice carries careful skepticism.

"I don't think anything," Elara replies. "The curse itself has chosen. The bond that formed between them is proof enough."

My chest tightens. I think of Clara's eyes, wide with shock as my wounds closed under her touch. The way she didn't run, or scream. The way she said my name like a prayer.

"This is madness," Samuel declares. "We cannot allow a human into our world. The risks..."

"The risks of ignoring the prophecy are greater," Elara interrupts. "How many more Alphas will die unfulfilled? How many more women will perish attempting to bond with a cursed bloodline?"

The memories hit me like physical blows. Catherine, my first attempt at bonding, wasting away over three agonizing weeks as the curse consumed her from the inside. Maria, who lasted only days before the madness took her. And Jessica... sweet Jessica who loved me enough to try, knowing the others' fates. I can still see her choosing the cliff over the slow death the curse promised.

"Enough." My voice comes out rougher than intended. "I won't put another innocent woman at risk. Human or otherwise."

"But this one is different..." Elara starts.

"No." I turn toward the door. "I don't care what the prophecy says. I won't be responsible for another death."

"Kael, wait." Damon rises. "If this human can truly break the curse, think what that means for the pack. For all of us."

I pause, my hand on the door handle. "And if she can't? If she dies like all the others? Can you live with that blood on your hands?"

The silence that follows is answer enough.

"She's already involved," Elara says softly. "The bond has been awakened. Ignoring it won't make it disappear. The curse will call to her now, draw her deeper into our world whether you will it or not."

"Then I'll make sure she can't find me."

"You can try." The witch's voice follows me toward the door. "But destiny is not so easily denied, Alpha. The prophecy has waited three centuries for this woman. Do you really think it will let you walk away?"

I don't answer. Can't answer. Because deep down, I know she's right.

As I climb the stairs to my chambers, Clara's face haunts every step. The trust in her eyes as she tended my wounds. The courage she showed, kneeling in that alley despite the danger. The way the bond flared between us, right and inevitable as sunrise.

She's everything the prophecy promised. Everything I've been waiting for without knowing it.

And that's exactly why I have to stay away.

I've buried three women already. Three bright, beautiful souls who thought they could love a cursed Alpha and live to tell about it. I won't add Clara to that list, no matter what the witch says about destiny and prophecies.

She's human. She has a life, a career, probably family who love her. People who won't understand if she disappears into the supernatural world and never comes back.

I think of her ruined dress, the pain in her voice when she told me about her fiancé's betrayal. She's already been hurt enough. She doesn't need a monster like me making it worse.

The bond pulls at me, a constant ache in my chest that grows stronger with each hour that passes. My wolf wants to go to her, to claim what destiny has offered. But I'm more than just instinct and hunger.

I'm a man who's learned that some prices are too high to pay.

Even if it costs me everything, I'll keep Clara safe. From the pack, from the curse, from the prophecy.

From me.

The decision should bring relief. Instead, it feels like ripping my own heart out.

But that's the price of being Alpha. The pack's safety comes first, even before my own happiness.

Even before a doctor who makes me believe in impossible things.