"Push!"

"Keep pushing, Olive!"

"You're doing great, keep going!"

"Just a little more now!"

"That's it! You did it, you really did it!"

I was breathing heavily as I wiped the sweat off my brow. My entire body sore from the exertion.

Amias beamed down at me, "She's beautiful Olive."

"Thank—" I jolted and quirked my eyebrow up at him, "She?"

He nodded.

"You are giving your bassinet a gender now?" I questioned from my spot on the floor.

Amias scoffed, "But of course!"

In a whirlwind decision that was so like Amias, he and Felix announced that they wanted to adopt a baby. Werewolf baby adoption was virtually unheard of as mates tended to be fiercely loyal to their pups. However, there were rare cases where a female wolf was rejected after conception to be left on her own and raise a child; this usually meant the mother was a rogue at that point.

After everything settled down Devin and Ana declined our offer to stay with us in Malice, they said it was too stinky for them. Cue the big eye roll. So instead, the pair have spent a lot of time exploring the land—partly for enjoyment and partly to find a new place to call their own I imagined.

On their travels, Devin stumbled upon a rogue wolf who was on her own and very pregnant. Her mate rejected and banished her, she'd been on her own for months now. So when Devin politely inquired about the baby and what her intentions were with it, she was almost too happy to allow Amias and Felix to adopt it.

The rogue temporarily moved to Malice for the remainder of her pregnancy—temporarily because she was obstinately determined to get back into her pack now that she wouldn't have a baby with her.

And any day now, Amias and Felix were expecting the arrival of their baby.

At first, the thought of Amias raising a kid absolutely terrified me—no one thought he was ready for such a challenge. But, he and Felix were an were undoubtedly an incredible team. They were complete opposites of each other and it completely worked, they balanced each other nicely.

He glanced around the room, "Thanks again Ollie, that was some good teamwork action we had back there."

I frowned, "Teamwork? I read the instructions, I put it together and then I pushed the damn thing all over the room because you kept changing where you wanted it to stay."

Amias popped his tongue loudly in a very Alyssa-Edwards-esque manner. "Agree to disagree." He slung an arm around my shoulders, "Regardless...Felix, baby and I are all eternally grateful for your physical labor."

I rolled my eyes and slipped out of his arm while pulling out my phone from my pocket to check the time. It was almost noon which meant I had to get back to Matteo.

Amias saw me checking the time and he patted me on the back, "Everything is going to be fine." He assured with a bright smile, "Now get going, I don't want to face the wrath of Matteo for making you late."

He was right. This was one thing I couldn't be late for. So after a quick hug, I slipped out of his house and made my way over to our place.

Normally today wouldn't have been anything special. It would probably be just like any other day at Malice. Matteo and I would be working, Fran would be out on patrol and Amias would be working in the infirmary.

But it wasn't a normal day.

Exactly a year ago today, Alpha Isabel issued a warning bounty on my head at noon on the dot. We all immediately laughed off the threat, it seemed ridiculous for a pack like her's to make such a bold threat like that. Even after it slipped from the minds of our pack, the threat hung in the air like a silent weight over me and today the anxiety returned at full force on my shoulders.

Could she have been serious? What did she want with me? Would we be prepared? What would happen if she got to me? What would happen to the pack if a fight broke out? What if—

An arm wrapped around my waist and tugged me forwards into a chest immediately as I entered the house. I breathed in the familiar foresty scent of my mate, allowing myself to be completely enveloped by his embrace.

"I could practically see on your face the internal freak out that you've got going on in your head." Matteo remarked as he rested his chin on the top of my head.

I scrunched my nose, I didn't think it had been that obvious. The last thing I wanted was for everyone to know that I was genuinely concerned for today.

That didn't mean I didn't have faith in Matteo. I believed him when he said nothing would hurt me ever again, I truly did. But that didn't mean I wasn't allowed to worry just a little bit now and again.

Ever since we returned from Lysander's complex a year ago, I have practically been living in an eternal state of bliss with Matteo.

He showed me the ways of being a werewolf, for reals this time. While I showed him how to not be a d:ck all the time, it was a work in progress. It was remarkable to see how much we both helped each other grow every single day. Having a connection with my wolf finally was inexplicable and to be able to truly feel that connection with Matteo and my wolf felt so right, it completed me entirely.

I loved him so much it sometimes physically ached which sounded corny as sh:t but it was true. I never experienced this kind of overwhelming happiness before.

Plus, the sex was amazing.

Matteo loosened his hold on me, allowing me to step back ever so slightly and stand face to face with him.

I shrugged dismissively with a sigh, "I dunno." My hand subconsciously rubbed my forearm nervously. "It's just..."

Matteo frowned and crossed his arms and I felt my heart beat race because even to this day he was still mildly intimidating when he wanted to be. "It's just what? You don't have confidence in my abilities as Alpha to protect you—as your mate?"

I quickly shook my head, truly believing I stuck a nerve in Matteo but his fast smile that followed said otherwise. "Olive, baby, you are completely safe. No one and no curse will ever change that."

An alarm rang from Matteo's phone, he glanced up at me and showed me the screen. "It's noon."

We got the message from Isabel last year at noon. She announced a curse would befall our pack if I wasn't turned over within the year. Clearly we hadn't adhered to her warning.

So this was it. We would find out if there was any truth behind her declaration or if it was just an empty threat.

He took my hand and we walked outside together. I had a sinking, sickening suspicion it was the former.

People poured into the clearing, obviously invested and interested in the outcome of today as the threat could potentially affect each and every person here.

Matteo looked completely calm, there wasn't any sign of worry on his body. I took a deep breath, maybe he was right?

A soft voice cleared their throat beside me and when I looked over I saw Fran and Amias. Amias shot me and encouraging thumbs up to which I offered a shaky smile in return.

It would be nice if Isabel would at least be punctual with her threats.

It was virtually completely silent across the entire pack, you could probably hear a pin drop or in this case, my erratic heartbeat. Matteo had his phone out to keep time, I watched as one minute went by and then another and another until almost ten minutes passed.

Amias loudly yawned, "Well this has been great." He saluted Matteo and I, "Guess you'll live to see another day." There was shaky, half hearted laughter across the clearing as people began to disperse. Isabel had been bluffing, there was nothing wrong—no curse, no trouble, just a regular day after all.

That was until Fran fell to her knees on the floor, she was clutching her head tightly as she rolled to her side moaning in agony. It almost looked like she was having a seizure, Amias rushed over to her side immediately stabilizing her neck. Suddenly Fran stopped convulsing, her head lulling to the side into the grass. A pink fog slipped out of her mouth as if she exhaled into cold hair.

Pink fog.

Isabel appeared in the clearing last year as an apparition in pink cloudy smoke, which could only mean one thing...

The curse was real.