<h4>Chapter 296: The Choice of Wolves</h4>


    <strong>Jacob~</strong>


    I didn’t even realize I was screaming her name until Natalie grabbed my wrist, her trembling fingers digging into my skin.


    "Jacob. Jacob. Listen to me," she pleaded. But I couldn’t hear her over the sound of Easter’s ragged breaths and the smell of blood and salt that filled my senses. Her body convulsed in agony on my bed, the covers twisted around her legs as she gasped for air that seemed to refuse her lungs.


    "Mommy... mommy wake up..." Rose whimpered, her tiny fingers clutching Easter’s gown, tears dripping onto the sheets.


    "Sleep, Rose," Natalie whispered, brushing her hand gently over Rose’s head. Silver light shimmered from her palm, and within seconds, the little girl’s sobs faded as her eyelids drooped. She curled up against her mother’s side, her chest rising and falling softly in sleep.


    I swallowed hard, fighting the ache in my throat as I reached out with my mind link.


    <i>"Tiger. Eagle. Bubble. Fox. Come to me. Now." </i>


    Their responses came instantly, crashing into my mind like thunder.


    <i>"What is it, bro?" </i>


    <i>"Are you hurt?"</i>


    <i>"Jacob... what’s wrong?" </i>


    <i>"Coming." </i>


    A rush of energy swept through the room. The air rippled and blurred as golden-brown, silver-ck, snowy white, and zing red figures appeared around me. My brothers. My pirs. Tiger stood silent with his moss-green eyes glowing softly. Eagle’s long ck hair floated around him, though there was no wind. Bubble’s translucent blue eyes scanned the room, while Fox’s fiery hair shimmered like a burning torch.


    "What happened?" Tiger asked, his voice a quiet rumble as he knelt beside Easter, his hand hovering over her stomach. "Why does she reek of death and curses?"


    I clenched my jaw so hard it felt like my teeth might crack under the pressure. My chest burned with frustration as I spat out the words. "I don’t know what’s happening. And that’s what makes it so damn weird... and honestly, it’s driving me insane."


    Bubble’s eyes widened so much I thought they might pop right out of his head. His entire face twisted in disbelief as he blurted out, "No... that has to be a lie! You? Jacob, of all gods, clueless about this?"


    Fox let out a growl deep in his throat, pacing back and forth near the edge of the bed like a restless predator. His golden eyes zed with fury as they flicked to me. "Then why haven’t you healed her already, Jacob? Why are you just standing there?"


    I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could say a word, Natalie spoke up. Her voice was so soft and broken that it cut deeper than any de. "Because..." She wiped the tears that wouldn’t stop spilling down her cheeks. "Because this isn’t something that can be healed, Fox. This is definitely a curse. And curses... they can’t be healed. They have to be broken. The nature of the target has to change for the curse to lose its grip."


    The room fell into a suffocating silence. All that could be heard was Easter’s ragged, painful whimpering, and the faint flutter of Eagle’s long robes, stirred by the ghostly breeze that always seemed to follow him wherever he went.


    Finally, Eagle spoke, his voice calm and controlled, though his silver eyes burned with a fury that belied hisposed expression. "Who would dare do such a thing?"


    "Mariel," I hissed, my fists clenching so tight I felt my ws threatening to pierce my own skin. "This reeks of her. And she... she will regret this. I swear on my immortal life, she will pay for what she’s done."


    Fox stopped pacing and turned to me, his shoulders slumping with hopelessness. His anger melted into despair as he asked in a quiet, trembling voice, "Then what do we do now? We can’t just stand here and let her die, Jacob. We can’t."


    I shook my head helplessly. "I don’t know. I don’t... I don’t know..."


    Tiger reached out and pressed his massive palm against Easter’s stomach. "Then we break the curse. Together."


    His words struck me like lightning to my bones. Slowly, I nodded. "Yes. Together."


    They formed a circle around the bed. Tiger closed his eyes, summoning the deep hum of the earth beneath us. The floor trembled softly under his power. Eagle spread his arms, and a wild gust of air rushed around the room, lifting our hair and clothes. Bubble whispered something ancient under his breath, and droplets of water formed from the air itself, floating around us like glowing blue stars. Fox snapped his fingers, and flickers of gold and crimson me danced across his knuckles.


    "Now," Tiger rumbled.


    I ced my hands over Easter’s stomach, feeling the vile hum of Mariel’s curse thrumming under her skin. We all poured our power into her, light and warmth and life flooding her body. For a moment, her breathing calmed. Her cheeks flushed pink again. Her fingers twitched.


    But then... a harsh crackling sound echoed through the room. Like ss shattering under our feet.


    Easter screamed, arching off the bed as if struck by lightning, her green eyes glowing with pain.


    "STOP!" I roared, my power bursting out and throwing my brothers back a step. My chest heaved as I stared down at her. "It’s not working... it’s not enough..."


    Fox clenched his fists, mes curling up his arms. "Then what, Jacob? We’re just supposed to watch her die?!"


    Natalie’s eyes filled with fresh tears as she sank to her knees beside the bed. "No... no... please..."


    I closed my eyes and reached deeper. Deeper than I’d ever gone before. Past theyers of my power, beyond my wolf spirit, into the very bond that tied me to creation itself.


    <i>"Mother,"</i> I called out silently into the void. <i>"Mother, please... I need you..." </i>


    The room fell silent as moonlight poured through the window, illuminating every face with a silvery glow. And then... her voice came. Soft and ancient. Loving yet terrible.


    <i>"Mist, my beloved son,"</i> she whispered, though her words shook the air like thunder. <i>"Why do you weep so bitterly tonight?"</i>


    <i>"Mother..."</i> My voice cracked. <i>"She’s dying. Mariel cursed her. None of us can heal it... please... what do I do...?"</i>


    For a moment, there was only silence. Then her voice came again, echoing from every shadow and shaft of moonlight.


    <i>"Curses cannot be healed, my son. They can only be broken by changing their target. You hold the power to do this."</i>


    <i>"How?!" </i>I cried, tears spilling down my cheeks<i>. "Tell me what to do, Mother... please..."</i>


    <i>"Make her like the moon children,"</i> she said softly.<i> "Change her nature. Make her no longer bound to the curse of man. Give her the gift of the wolf. Only then will she live... and the child too."</i>


    Her meaning sank into me with terrifying rity.


    Turning Easter... making her one of us... it would strip the curse from her instantly. Because she would no longer be human – she would be something far stronger.


    I swallowed hard, trembling as I looked at my brothers. "She wants me to turn her... and the baby."


    Fox’s eyes widened with understanding. "Of course. That breaks the curse’s hold on her."


    "But..." My voice cracked as I brushed my thumb across Easter’s sweat-soaked cheek. "Won’t she wake up... and hate me for changing her without her consent?"


    Natalie ced a gentle hand on my shoulder, her tears dripping onto my arm. "Jacob... if you pair a wolf with Easter, that wolf will be an intelligent being. Every emotion Easter feels... it will feel too. If Easter wakes up and rejects it... you’ll have to take the wolf away."


    I closed my eyes tightly, my chest tightening with agony. "And if I take it away... it dies. It’s only in very extreme situations I take a wolf from its human, and even then... if I don’t return it within five days... it will die forever, Natalie. I whispered.


    "Can you do that, Jacob?" Bubble asked softly, his blue eyes shimmering with tears. "Can you kill your own creation?"


    I shook my head, tears sliding down my cheeks, falling onto Easter’s face. "No... I don’t know if I can...and she deserves the choice too..."


    Tiger ced his massive hand on my back. "Right now, brother... there is no choice. Only life... or death."


    Before I could reply, Easter’s body convulsed violently. Her back arched so high it nearly snapped, and an unearthly scream tore from her throat – so loud it shook the windows, rattled the bookshelves, and made the air vibrate with her agony.


    "JACOB!" she screamed, her eyes wild with terror and pain, locking onto mine as if I were herst tether to the world. "JACOB, PLEASE!"


    Her scream tore through every wall I had built around my heart, leaving me raw and bleeding inside. I grabbed her trembling hands, pressing my forehead against hers as tears streamed down my face.


    "I’m here, Easter... I’m here, baby... I’m so sorry... I’m so, so sorry..."


    The room filled with the howling winds of Eagle’s grief, the flickering golden light of Fox’s sorrow, the soft glowing tears of Bubble’s heartache, and the rumbling quiet of Tiger’s mournful eptance. Natalie wept beside me, whispering prayers under her breath as the moonlight wrapped around us like a silken shroud.


    And in that moment... I knew what I had to do.


    Even if it broke her trust.


    Even if it shattered my soul.


    I would choose her life over her anger.


    Every time.


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