The full moon hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the forest clearing. I paced back and forth, my nerves on edge. Liam had asked to meet me here, alone, and the gravity in his voice made my stomach churn with anxiety.
When he finally appeared at the edge of the clearing, my heart skipped a beat. Even after everything we'd been through, the sight of him still affected me. But tonight, something was different. The usual confidence in his stance was gone, replaced by a weariness that seemed to weigh him down.
"Skye," he said softly, approaching me. "Thank you for coming."
I crossed my arms, trying to maintain some distance. "What's this about, Liam? The pack needs us. We don't have time for-"
"Please," he interrupted, his voice cracking slightly. "I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you a long time ago."
The desperation in his eyes made me pause. I nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
Liam took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "Do you remember the day I left? Five years ago?"
How could I forget? The day I'd rejected our mate bond, thinking it would make me a stronger alpha. The day I'd broken both our hearts.
"Of course," I whispered.
"I told you I was leaving to train, to become a better enforcer," Liam continued. "But that... that wasn't the whole truth."
A chill ran down my spine. "What do you mean?"
Liam's eyes met mine, filled with a pain so deep it took my breath away. "I left because I couldn't bear to be near you, knowing you didn't want me. I was... lost. Angry. I did things, Skye. Terrible things."
My mind raced, trying to understand what he was saying. "What kind of things?"
He turned away, staring into the darkness of the forest. "I fell in with a group of rogues. Werewolves who'd rejected pack life, who lived only for the thrill of the hunt. They... we... hunted humans, Skye."
The words hit me like a physical blow. I stumbled back, shaking my head in disbelief. "No. No, you wouldn't. You couldn't."
Liam's shoulders slumped. "I wish that were true. But the pain of our broken bond, it... it changed me. Made me into something I barely recognized."
Tears stung my eyes as the implications of his confession sank in. All those years, while I'd been leading the pack, thinking Liam was out there becoming stronger, he'd been...
"How many?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Liam flinched. "Skye, I-"
"How many, Liam?" I demanded, anger rising to combat the shock and grief.
He turned back to face me, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "I don't know. Dozens, maybe. I lost count. Lost myself."
I felt like I was going to be sick. The Liam I knew, the man I'd grown up with, who I'd loved... how could he have done this?
"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady.
Liam took a step towards me, but I backed away. Hurt flashed across his face, but he didn't try to come closer again.
"Because you deserve to know the truth," he said. "And because... because I think it might be connected to what's happening now."
That got my attention. "What do you mean?"
Liam's expression turned grim. "The curse affecting the pack, the one turning them human? I think... I think it might be my fault."
My mind reeled, trying to connect the dots. "How is that possible?"
"The last human I... hunted," Liam said, the words seeming to physically pain him. "She was different. A witch, I think. As she died, she cursed me. Said that everything I loved would turn to ash, that I'd watch as my kind withered and died."
I remembered the first time we'd noticed pack members having trouble shifting, how it had spread like a disease. Could it really all be traced back to Liam's actions?
"Why didn't the curse affect you?" I asked.
A bitter laugh escaped him. "Oh, it did. Just not in the way she intended. The guilt, the self-loathing... it's been eating me alive, Skye. And now, watching the pack suffer? Knowing it's my fault? It's a fate worse than death."
Part of me wanted to comfort him, to tell him it wasn't his fault. But a larger part was still reeling from his confession, from the horror of what he'd done.
"I don't... I don't know what to say," I admitted, wrapping my arms around myself.
Liam nodded, his expression resigned. "I understand. I don't expect forgiveness, Skye. I just... I needed you to know. And I needed to offer my help in finding a way to break the curse."
I laughed, the sound bordering on hysterical. "Your help? Liam, you just told me you spent years murdering innocent people. How am I supposed to trust you now?"
Pain flashed in his eyes, but he didn't argue. "You're right. I don't deserve your trust. But please, let me try to make this right. For the pack's sake, if nothing else."
I closed my eyes, trying to center myself. As alpha, I knew I should be thinking of the pack first. They needed a cure, and if Liam could help... But as a person, as the woman who had loved him, I was shattered.
"I need time," I said finally, opening my eyes to meet his gaze. "Time to process this, to figure out what it means for us, for the pack."
Liam nodded, relief and sorrow warring in his expression. "Of course. Whatever you need."
I turned to leave, needing to put some distance between us. But as I reached the edge of the clearing, a thought struck me. I looked back at Liam, who stood alone in the moonlight, looking more broken than I'd ever seen him.
"One more question," I said. "Why did you really come back?"
Liam's eyes met mine, and the intensity in them made me shiver. "Because no matter how far I ran, no matter what I became... I couldn't escape the truth, Skye. I love you. I always have, and I always will."
The weight of his words hung in the air between us. Before I could respond, a howl pierced the night - Jake's voice, urgent and afraid.
Liam's head snapped towards the sound. "The pack," he said, alarm clear in his voice.
I nodded, my own worry rising. "We need to go."
As we raced towards the pack house, my mind spun with everything Liam had revealed. But one thought rose above the rest, chilling me to my core:
If Liam's past was the cause of the curse... what else might he have brought back with him?