The Cursed Alpha’s Mute Bride Episode 2

📖 The Story Continues

The Cursed Alpha’s Mute Bride – Episode 2

The kitchen lost its warmth as Gertrude’s order settled between them. Wren stared at her stepmother, certain she had misunderstood, because the eastern creek lay deep inside Silver Pack territory. Wolves who crossed Alpha Hunter Silver’s border without permission were said to disappear without leaving bones, yet Gertrude watched her with calm expectation.

Wren pointed toward the courtyard pump and mimed washing her face. The water there was clean, and using it would spare both packs a dangerous trespass. Gertrude understood every gesture; she merely pretended otherwise whenever comprehension might require mercy. Her fingers rested on the smoky stone at her throat as her smile sharpened.

“You will not sully my courtyard or frighten our guests with that miserable face. Go to the creek,” she ordered. Behind her, music swelled in the great hall, turning Wren’s public humiliation into entertainment between courses. “Unless the cursed little mute is frightened of Alpha Hunter Silver.”

Every wolf knew his name. Hunter ruled the neighboring territory with discipline fierce enough to make his pack powerful and his enemies scarce. Rumors portrayed him as a ruthless predator who feasted on virgins beneath the full moon. Wren doubted the wildest tales, but pack borders were deadly facts, and Gertrude knew she had no wolf to defend herself.

Her stepmother dragged one finger through the cake’s frosting. “Unlike Anneliese, who has suitors fighting for her attention, you have nothing to protect. No reputation and no prospects. If Silver’s wolves find you, perhaps they will do us the favor of keeping you.” The cruelty sounded almost practical, which made its intention clearer.

Refusal would bring guards, punishment, and another public scene. Worse, Gertrude might send a younger kitchen maid in Wren’s place simply to prove her authority. Wren fastened a wool cloak over her stained dress, spared one glance for the ruined sugar roses, and left through the servants’ passage before fear could rob her of movement.

Cold night air met her in the courtyard. Through the tall windows, Anneliese turned through a dance in Nikolaus’s arms while Gertrude rejoined the celebration without looking back. Wren crossed the stable yard and took the eastern trail, each step carrying her away from torchlight and deeper beneath the forest canopy.

The woods had once comforted her. As a child, she hid among these trees whenever Wolfhart Castle became too full of watchful eyes. Tonight every rustle sounded like paws against earth, and each distant howl reminded her of the silence inside her mind where a wolf should have answered.

Her pulse beat painfully at the base of her throat, where Gertrude’s curse had lived since childhood. Wren remembered the black stone glowing in her stepmother’s hand and darkness pouring through her room like smoke. She had awakened unable to call for her father, while the bright young presence of her wolf vanished behind an invisible wall.

Gertrude had whispered the condition of freedom afterward. Only true love could break the spell: someone had to see Wren clearly, love her without coercion, and say the words I love you. Until then, silence would bind her voice and smother the wolf trapped somewhere inside her. Gertrude had laughed because she intended to make Wren impossible to love.

By the time Wren understood enough to seek help, the Eclipse Pack already believed she had been born defective. A branch cracked nearby, and she spun with her cloak clutched closed, only to see a hare vanish into the ferns. She forced herself onward. Returning without obeying would merely place her back in Gertrude’s hands.

The border appeared as claw marks carved into an ancient cedar. Silver Pack scent clung to the bark—pine, smoke, and the unmistakable warning of powerful wolves. Wren stopped with one foot near the invisible line. Crossing meant trespass; turning back meant accepting that Gertrude could direct every step she took.

She remembered the defiance she had protected in the kitchen and stepped into Hunter Silver’s territory. The forest seemed to change around her. Silence became alert rather than empty, roots twisted across the narrowing trail, and the creek’s distant murmur offered the only direction she could trust.

Mist touched her face before the clearing appeared. Moonlight silvered the water flowing over smooth black stones, and nothing moved among the trees. Wren knelt at the bank, dipped her hands into the numbing current, and scrubbed flour from her skin until pale clouds drifted away downstream.

Her reflection trembled on the surface: wide gray eyes, tangled brown hair, and a mouth that remembered speech but could no longer shape it. Silence allowed cruel people to write whatever story they wished across her face. The Eclipse Pack saw a burden because Gertrude had spent years teaching them where to look.

Wren touched her throat. Who could love the servant her own family despised? Who would choose a wolfless mute when women like Anneliese filled ballrooms with admirers? The words required to free her seemed farther away than the moon reflected in the water, beautiful and impossible to reach.

Despair rose, but she refused to bow to it. If Gertrude had made love the key, then hopelessness was part of the prison. Wren rinsed her stained outer dress, holding fast when the current tried to pull the fabric from her hands. She had survived countless battles no one witnessed; she could survive this night too.

A breeze crossed the creek carrying leather, male wolves, and the sweetness of wine from the engagement feast. Wren froze. Low laughter sounded behind her, too familiar to belong to a Silver patrol, and shadows separated from the trees around the clearing.

Moonlight flashed across a ceremonial clasp on the first man’s coat. Nikolaus had abandoned his engagement celebration and followed her with two companions. Wren gathered the wet dress against herself and backed toward the creek while the men spread out, sealing every path to the border.

She opened her mouth to call for help, though she knew the curse would give her nothing. Nikolaus stepped into the moonlight wearing the charming smile he used before witnesses. “There you are,” he said softly. “Did you really think I would let my future sister disappear before I tasted her cake?”