LOGINElena POV
I glanced at Draven, confused but his expression was even more confused. A wave of anxiety suddenly rose inside my stomach. Was something really wrong with me? What if it was something that couldn't be fixed, what would I do then? The witch doctor was muttering incantations again now. I could sense an urgency in her tone as she knelt and drew different symbols on the ground with ash. A few of them looked like animals and I almost certain the one at the far left was a wolf. She knelt for a long time, switching between incantations and singing at intervals. Her song sent shivers through me and I glanced at my arm to see goosebumps had risen on my skin. I breathed as quietly as possible so as not to disturb her. She only rose to her feet after placing the ash on her tongue. She stumbled a little while rising and I rushed to help her. “I can’t help you Alpha.” She said to Draven, her eyes still widened with fear. Draven frowned. He was displeased. I could hear it in his tone as he demanded. "What do you mean you can’t help me? My mate, your Luna is suffering from an attack. It’s your duty as witch doctor to find a solution.” The witch doctor replied softly, trying to ease his anger. “It’s not that I don’t want to help you Alpha, but I can’t. What plagues luna is a curse, an ancient curse.” She bowed her head, ashamed. “I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to counter it.” “A curse.” Draven repeated, turning to look at me. I’m as stunned as he is. “Child.” The witch doctor turned to me again, her voice warm. “Can you tell me when you started experiencing this?” I spared a quick glance at Draven. His face was blank. “I think it started not long ago witch doctor, at my old pack. When I rejected the mate bond between my previous mate and I, I suddenly felt as if something had been loosened within me. I thought it was the mate bond falling away at the time but now I think it was the curse.” I finished with a whisper. The witch doctor was pacing the room in excitement now. “I think I know what it is now. I heard of something like this before from my grandmother while I was still a child. I can’t believe I actually get to see it with my own eyes. This is incredible.” “What is it witch?” Draven asked impatiently. I kept silent but I was just as impatient as he was. If she knew what it was then she must have a way to solve it. “It’s not a curse Alpha.” The witch doctor cried out, excitedly. “Okay it’s a curse, but not one that’s meant to harm her. It acts more like a seal.” “A seal?” Draven and I asked in unison. “Yes, a seal.” The witch doctor continued “In ancient times, such curses were used to seal great power until the bearer was strong enough to wield it or until the curse weakened. They usually last at least twenty years before they need to be reinforced. How old are you child?” She asked turning to me. “Twenty six. witch doctor.” I answered grimacing. What if Draven thought I was too old and didn't want me as his mate anymore? What would I do? I couldn't go back to my old pack, not after rejecting the alpha in front of the whole pack. Going back there would be a death sentence. I shuddered, death might even be a light sentence compared to what they might do to me. I didn't need any further proof of their cruelty. Draven was looking at me. I could feel his stare. He was probably wondering why I was suddenly panicking, but he didn’t say anything. He just moved closer to me and let his pheromones wash over me. My heart rate calmed down considerably and I managed a small smile, expressing my thanks but he only responded with a nod. The witch doctor was muttering again “If you’re just twenty six then it shouldn’t be that the curse weakened, it’s more likely that the curse determined that you were strong enough to bear your power now.” I swallowed thickly but couldn’t stop myself from asking “What kind of power was it witch doctor? What did you see?" The witch doctor visibly stiffened at my question, her lips parted for a while but no sound came out. Then she let out a trembling exhale and said “I saw darkness child. It was like I had come face to face with an abyss that wanted to swallow me whole.” She shuddered and continued “Only goddess knows how much stronger it would be once the seal finally wears off completely.”Elena POVI set the teacup down noisily and leaned back into my seat. “Maybe they should have. Do you have to be so, so… disgusting?”Amusement danced in his eyes and on the corner of his lips, “you get too easily riled up Elena. You must have gotten it from your mother. But if you don’t pay attention to it now, you’ll end up getting controlled by others because of it.”“How dare you?” I asked, my voice quiet with fury, “you come in here, into my home and then try to mock me.”“Whoa,” he raised his hands up in surrender but the smile still lingered on his lips, “I’m not mocking you, just stating a fact.”“Then,” I chewed on my lower lip hard enough to taste blood, “let me state a few facts of my own.”“Be my guest,” he gestured, relaxing into his seat like I was some sort of clown performing a circus trick for him.“You’re a shameless, pitiful, excuse for a man, a mate and an Alpha king.” I raised my eyebrows, my stare burning holes into his face, “how’s that for facts?”He shrugge
Elena POV“We’ll be leaving in a few days, Draven” Noah said, still standing up, “so if you have any things you need to settle…”‘Do you have to go?’ I asked Draven through our mind link, naked desperation in my voice.He nodded his head once, a tiny nod that I would have missed if I hadn’t been looking directly at him. ‘I’ve been summoned by the order of the seven Luna. To not go would be to betray the vow I made, to betray myself.It would also give them the right to wage war on us and our people.We’ve already lost so much. We can’t lose any more people.”I tried to keep the warmth filling my eyes from spilling over, ‘then let me go with you. We could face them together.’‘Did you forget you’re the Luna?’ He chucked softly. ‘In my absence, you’re the only one left for the people to turn to. We can’t both leave.’‘Then appoint someone else,’ a salty line of tears crossed my cheek, ‘you know I’m not fit for the position anyway.’“Draven?” Noah called, looking between the both of us
Elena POVFor a long minute, only white filled my vision until I was absolutely certain that I had gone blind. My brain, in its desperate attempt to understand this bizarre situation, make some sense of it had ended up overloading itself.I cleared my throat, once, and then again for good measure before I attempted speaking.“I’m not the only one who can see him right?” I asked looking towards the man. “He is actually here?”Lucas took a small step forward to stand at my side just as the man said smoothly, “I’m here.”I wanted to scream, to run, to hide. To hit something, break something. Anything to avoid facing this nightmare that had somehow manifested into something real, breathing, tangible in front of me.I clenched my fists tightly, my fingers itching with the need to touch him. To grab him. To find out if he would disappear again. If it would be the same as all the other times.“Is this a joke?” I tried to smile but my lips wouldn’t go up. They were frozen stiff along with th
Elena POV“I’m so sorry,” Lucas said in the car as he picked out pieces of egg shell out of my hair and put them on the jacket lying between us.“It’s not your fault,” I said quietly, looking out the window. Outside, clouds gathered in large balls of grey, floating solemnly as they looked like they were about to weep for me.“When I find out who they are,” he gritted out through clenched teeth, “they’ll pay for it.”“No,” I said leaning my head against the headrest despite knowing it would make it dirty. I was beyond caring at that point.“No?” He stilled, his hand still in my hair, “why?”“You heard them.” I tried to keep the trembling out of my voice, “they’ve lost their families, it’s normal for them to be angry.”His voice was cold as he said, “that still doesn’t give them the right to attack you.” A muscle ticked in his jaw, “ for goddess’ sake you’re as much of a victim in this whole situation as they are.”I pressed my palms against my eyes and let out a shuddering breath. Tha
Elena POV I watched Poppy as she stood a step behind Cassandra. Asides from a quick glance at Lucas when she’d entered the room, she hadn’t lifted her head since.Not even to look up at me despite the claim that she was here to see me.In fact it was more likely that Cassandra had dragged her along.“Poppy,” I called, and she raised her head, letting out a small startled sound.“Yes, Luna?” “Have you been well all this time?” I asked.“Yes,” she said simply before looking back down at her feet.“Good,” I blew out a breath, feeling like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.I turned to Cassandra, “I’m giving her to you permanently. If she wishes to, she may follow you when you’re ready to go back home.”They both opened their mouths to refuse but I held up a hand to stop them, “I don’t want to hear or say anything more about that. If you’re going to argue with me, then you might as well just leave now.”Cassandra hesitated for a minute before speaking, “actually, there’s somet
Elena POVI used to love climbing trees when I was little. I climbed them every day and hid amongst the branches anytime my mother would come find me, only coming down when I was done playing.One day, when I was seven, I hid in a tree as usual and fell asleep. By the time I woke up, it was already night. I crept home quietly, only to find it empty. At first, I thought my mother had gone to attend a pack meeting and waited for her. But as the night wore on, hunger won over all the joy I’d gotten from playing to my heart’s content.I cried softly at first, then louder until I was practically wailing for my mother. Fortunately, a passing pack member heard me and entered the house to bring me out, promising me snacks if I followed him.Instead of the snacks I was promised, I was taken to the main hall where a group of mates omegas crowded around my mother, speaking softly to her.I still remember the look on her face that day, when she raised her head and caught a glimpse of me.I reme







