When they reached the packhouse, Zarina was waiting for them in the main hall. A grim expression was etched on her face as if she was already aware of the reason for their visit. Without uttering a word, she led them to the study room, where his father and grandma were engaged in a serious conversation. Their voices were hushed and grave, filling the air with a sense of impending doom. They stopped talking the moment their eyes fell on Icarus. His heart sank when he realized they had been discussing him. Nicholas had to stop playing the role of undercover spy, he thought and stared back at them, trying to understand their intentions, but it only made him burn with rage.

"Why do I turn into the beast every night?" His voice was barely above a whisper, but the question reverberated through the room like a thunderstorm, swallowing them whole.

"It's a curse," his grandma said, her tone laced with sorrow. Zarina and Louis exchanged worried glances, but they remained silent, giving Icarus space to process the truth.

The knot in his stomach tightened, and his hands trembled as he struggled to find the strength to speak. "I don't understand."

"Do you remember the first Queen of werewolves?"

"Meredith Vasilios?" he asked, trying to piece together the puzzle. "How is she related to my curse?"

"Meredith's mate was a vampire, but she couldn't let go of her animosity and resentment towards his kind. She slept with many werewolves in an attempt to resist their matebond and became pregnant. She deceived him into believing the baby was theirs. When he discovered the truth, he left her but not before seeking the help of a sorceress to curse the unborn child. He was betrayed, so he wanted the child to betray his own kind by killing them. Meredith cried and apologized, begging him every day. As her mate, he eventually forgave her, but the curse could not be undone. The only solution was to pass it down to the firstborn of Vasilios when they first shifted. One will be spared from the curse while another will bear it, and the cycle will continue."

"She should have killed him before he was born," he gritted out with a bitterness that belied his pain.

His grandma shook her head. "No mother can kill her own child."

"But she could watch him kill the pack members."

"Her son, Neaus, was also a healer." She tried to console him. "Every firstborn has the capability to save lives."

"I have killed more than I have saved."

"You don't know that—"

"How could you let me live freely? You should have chained and imprisoned me!" Icarus cut her off, his desperation tearing at their hearts.

"It doesn't work. The beast is exceedingly strong."

"We have to do something about it," he insisted, his voice growing louder with each passing second. The shame and guilt he carried were too much for him to bear. "There has to be a way to break the curse or at least suppress it temporarily."

Anaya found it easier to breathe once again when she realized Icarus hadn't overheard her full conversation with Nick. She sensed someone's gaze on her and lifted her head to see his grandmother staring at her. She couldn't decipher her expression, but there was something in the way the older woman looked at her that made her think she knew more than she was letting on.

"The secluded cottage you inherited after ascending the throne was given by the sorceress to Meredith. It is surrounded by powerful enchantments that suppress the curse, but staying there for an extended period of time can drain the magic and cause the curse to take effect."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He wanted to scream at them, his emotions raging like wildfire. "We won't know for sure if I don't stay there."

"No!" Zarina objected, tears welling up in her eyes. "You can't confine yourself to one place."

"I will," he said firmly. "Don't try to stop me."

"Icarus, this is not how—"

"Please, Mum. You have no idea how I am feeling right now."

She opened her mouth to persuade him, but Louis wrapped his arm around her shoulders, silently signaling her to let him go. Being the target of the curse before his son, he very well understood the need to atone for his mistakes even if none of this was their fault as the beast was beyond their control.

"Do you have the pendant I gave you?" Grandma asked just when Anaya was about to follow Icarus out.

She froze, then slowly nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. "What is it for? Does it have something to do with his curse?" 

She'd thrown it away in anger but later found it and stored it in a small box in her closet. 

"You will know when the time is right."

The cryptic response bothered Anaya the whole way to the cottage, her mind whirling with questions. What was Grandma trying to tell her?

❃❃❃

"I don't know who I am anymore," he said in a defeated tone, his face buried in his hands. His shoulders shook under the weight of the truth crashing down on him. "I feel like everything I thought I knew was a lie."

She stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and wrapped her arms around his hunched form. "Nothing has changed, Icarus. You are who you have always been."

"How could they keep me in the dark?" he asked, looking up at her with tear-soaked eyes. It made her heart clench, and she was overcome by the urge to shield him from the world. "I was worried sick trying to find ways to protect the pack members. I collected every piece of evidence available to look for clues. If I had known the truth, I would have stayed here every night so that they could go about their lives without fear."

"I am so sorry," she whispered, gently combing her fingers through his hair. Each gentle stroke melted away the tension coursing through him until he drifted off into a slumber, his breathing slow and even. As she watched him relax, she too found herself being pulled into the land of sleep.

Suddenly, the bed moved, and the windows and door creaked and groaned as the area began to quiver. With a start, they woke up, disoriented and confused, struggling to comprehend the chaos that was unfolding around them.

The walls of their wooden cottage cracked and crumbled like a house of cards in a gust of wind. Shards of wood rained down on them, and dust obscured their vision.

They stumbled from the bed, almost falling to the ground. He grabbed her hand and led her outside the door. They were met with a sight of complete destruction. Trees that had once stood tall and proud now lay strewn about like discarded toys, with branches fractured and leaves trampled and withered. The gentle trickle of the waterfall had transformed into a deafening roar as if it were possessed by some unseen force.

Their hearts dropped when they saw the entrance wall had also collapsed, and the bridge that connected the cottage to the outside world was nothing but a pile of rubble, leaving them stranded.

They looked at each other, uncertainty and fear written on their faces. Before he could come up with a plan, she squeezed his hand and whispered,  "Close your eyes."

"What?" he asked, taken aback by the sudden shift in her demeanor.

"Trust me," she said, her tone unwavering. She knew she couldn't let her secret remain hidden forever as the truth always had a way of revealing itself. She only hoped that Icarus would understand her.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what was about to happen. But realizing that time was of the essence, he closed his eyes and unblocked his mind, ready to mind-link Nicholas. He felt her wrap his arms around her waist, her lithe frame pressed against his, and then, with a graceful movement, she lifted them off the ground.

His eyes snapped open at once in disbelief. As they soared through the air, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before. The wind whooshed past them, tousling their hair and filling their lungs with a sense of freedom.

Her wings, which he had never seen before, were like gossamer, white as snow with intricate patterns, spanning almost twice her height. Each feather seemed to catch the light of the setting sun and twinkle like stars.

As they reached the front porch of their house, he backed away, reality finally sinking in and shocking him to his core.

"What the—"

"Let me explain," she pleaded, her wings folding in on themselves into her back.

He shook his head, his eyes reflecting the hurt rolling through him in waves.

"Listen, please—"

"You lied to me." With those words, he turned and stormed inside, leaving her heart heavy like there was a bag of stone upon her chest.

"Icarus!" she called after him, her panic mounting.

"Leave me alone!" His voice echoed through the empty halls as he retreated upstairs.

Lisa walked out of the kitchen, her eyes filled with worry as she watched the exchange between them. "Is everything okay?"

"It will be."