Chapter 63
A month has passed.
These weeks have been quiet, uneventful in the grand scheme of things, yet they have unfolded into the best days of my life.
My gaze falls upon the ring on my left ring finger. Memories of that night when Ethan proposed floods my mind and a content smile spreads across my face. I cannot be more grateful that the Goddess grants me Ethan Sterling as my second chance mate.
A pair of strong arms encircle my waist, and Ethan’s soothing voice hums gently in my ear. “It’s too late. You should get some sleep. The wedding is in two days, and we have an entire day of ceremony rehearsal tomorrow”
“I just want to finish my meditation, I tell him. My wolf and I have been pushing our limits, and there have been moments when it felt like we were on the verge of shattering the curse. We are getting close.
Ethan’s embrace tightens but then he lets go. “All right, just don’t over do it.”
“I won’t,” I give him an assuring smile and start my routine
I take a deep breath and focus on calming my mind and regulating my breathing, just as Maya instructed me to do before she left.
In and out. In and out
After what feels like an hour, I open my eyes again. I’m soaked in sweat and my wolf is exhausted.
“That’s enough for today,” Ethan pulls me over to his chest, gently wipes the sweat off me and demands, “You’ll get there eventually, but now it’s time to sleep”
“You’re right” Yawning. I murmur as I close my eyes. “We are getting very close though. I just know i
My wolf.
I see her. Or feel her. It’s hard to explain but I can sense her tossing and turning like she’s having a bad dream.
‘Shhhh, I try to sooth her, “It’s all right, you’re not alone anymore!
I reach out to caress her fur. It feels all too real..too real for it to just be my imagination.
And then flashes appear. I see rain and thunder! I hear the howling of a wolf and nightmarish laughter.
My wolf whimpers and growls in her slumber. I throw my arms around her and hold her close. This is it. The curse is so weak that it no longer can hide our memories from us.
However, my instinct warns me of those memories.
“Let it in, let us remember. I encourage my wolf
She nuzzles her head against my neck, and together, we walk into the memories that have been locked away for five years.
ninac
I am eighteen years old. I am in a car. The road is bumpy and rain begins to patter on the car roof.
There is a man and a woman sitting on either side of me, I know them. These are my parents.
“How much longer until we reach the border?” My mother asks, she sounds anxious,
“Just another hour, Your Grace,” chimes the driver.
“Why so anxious, Joslyn! You alright?” my
y father inquires.
“I’m fine. Fred” she smiles quickly, hiding her worry, T’m just missing home is all.”
My eighteen year old mind doesn’t think much of my mother’s behavior at all. However I want to go home as well, the trip to Everstone has been boning. Only the old king was there to greet us. His son and step–daughter were off visiting some relatives in another town.
I was looking forward to meeting the prince, who was said to be one of the most prominent young men amongst royal families.
Suddenly the car stops. The engine cuts dead.
Kain pours down more violently.
Chapter 63
“Mike, what is going on?” My father asks the driver.
“It’s the car, Sire, it just died. I can’t get it to start.” Mike puts on his jacket and opens the door. “I’ll check the engine.”
“No, Mike, just wait a moment,” my mother tries to stop him. I don’t understand why, it is his jobs to make sure the car is working
Before Mike can respond, something unseen rips him from the car into the swirl of the storm
“Mike!” My father yells and opens the door, attempting to go to the driver’s aid.
My mother reaches over me and grabs his coat.
“Fredrick, don’t…It’s her. She’s here.”
My father’s eyes are stark with fear. Then he too is suddenly ripped out of the vehicle.
I scream. “Dad!”
My mother jumps out and nuns after him. I follow her but she pushes me back.
“Stay here, sweetie!” she orders before bolting after my father. She snaps her fingers and the car door closes magically behind her.
What did she just do? Was that magic!
However, it isn’t the time for me to question if my mom is a witch. All I know is that I don’t want to stay here. I want to make sure my parents are alright
I pull at my seat belt. My mom has fastened in with some spell. I growl and use my wolf’s strength to rip it before I jump out and follow them.
I am running through the rain and wind, barely able to see anything. I can hardly pick out my father’s scent, he has shifted. This can’t be good.
The metallic smell of blood fills my nose as I get closer. Panic fills me. And fear sets in when I reach them.
My father is on the ground in wolf form. His front leg is missing and he’s bleeding heavily from his side.
Mother stands in front of him, a green healing light aimed at my father while she faces a woman I have never seen before.
The wo
woman is smiling maniacally, she wields a blade made out of pure darkness. I know she is a witch like mom.
No, she’s not like mom. She’s more dangerous.
“Leave us alone, Evelyn!” my mom yells at her over the storm, “We have already settled this
“It’s over when I say it is over,” the woman called Evelyn snarls.
It’s over
Her evil smile widens when she notices me. “There she is, the reason 1 came all this way to greet you.”
Mom notices me as well and panics. “Not Ariella, get back! Run now!”
And leave my parents? No. my wolf tells me to shift and help my mom fight the evil witch. I begin to shift when suddenly it feels like my veins are filled with acid. I scream in pain.
“Leave her alone, Evelyn! She has nothing to do with thist
My mother shoots a ball of raging fire at Evelyn, but she conjures a shield which dissipates the flames
“Your little bitch has just as much involvement as you do, Joslyn!” Evelyn waves her hands and dark tendrils shoot up from the ground, twisting themselves around my mom.
“This is all your fault, Joslyn,” the dark witch sauntered over to my mother who was struggling to break free. “I was in love with Frederick and you
took him from me.”
“You betrayed him!”
They like
“He was mine!” Evelyn shrieks. “But I let it go.and when I wanted to make amends by offering my son to your daughter–you turned me away
din
“You wanted power, not to mend tirs. You wanted your blond in the throne of Crystal River.” Mom gritted her teeth.
Evelyn points her finger at me and my body raises into the air against my will.
“Mom!” I want to whimper in fear, “Mom, I’m scared!” but my mouth is tied shut by her magic.
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55 AM
Chapter 63
You should have accepted my offer, Joslyn, because Marcus will have her hand anyway,” she snaps her fingers and the pain spreads to my brain. T vill remove all her memories and make her wolf dormant and give her to my son as a gift. He will impregnate her and then my blood will sit on our precious throne.”
My father tries to get up and charge Evelyn but is flung into a rock by an invisible force. I hear a crack and a cry from my mother.
can’t bear to look but I know my father is dead.
She won’t bear his children, my mother yells and begins to chant a spell of her own
feel a warmth around me that conjoins with the foul darkness of Evelyn’s magic.
He won’t be able to touch her no matter how much he desires!”
“No! What did you do, you bitch!” Evelyn screams.
My mother gives me one last smile as a tendril of darkness wraps itself around her neck.
“He brave, my little wolf,” a single tear runs down her cheek
With a crack, the tendril snaps her neck and she stares at me with lifeless eyes.
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