Chapter 1: The Cursed Kiss

Justine's POV

There was this old aphorism to the human world that says "A kiss was believed to be one of the most powerful medicines the world could offer".

Most humans believed that even a single but unadorned kiss could swallow darkness with light, reverse sadness into happiness, a remedy to all kinds of sicknesses, and most of all, this little privilege was free of charge.

Sad to say, all of those privileges prohibited me by any means when I freaking believed that my lips were cursed by the moon goddess as they darkened the light, turned everyone's happiness to madness, and worsen all kinds of illnesses.

The worst part of my case was that I could not risk offering someone a single kiss. For you to have a quick tour of my terrible and unforgettable past, everything began the second I turned eighteen two years ago.

Two years ago

"Babe... We've been together for the past three years, right?" she muttered to my ears while caressing my chest. "And today, if I am not mistaken, marked our third anniversary. The same day as your eighteenth birthday."

With her warm fingers and tickling strokes on my hairy broad chest, my wolf could not help but moan as if someone below the belt wanted to rip it open.

With every stroke from her fingertips on my chest, the sensation of the current shivered down every fiber of my muscle. And while holding onto that thought, my adrenaline rush increased my heart rate and blood flow.

"And honestly speaking, I'm already tired of just holding your hands, tapping the tip of your nose, and kissing your neck and forehead for the past three years." She continued, "You promised me that on your eighteenth birthday, you'd grant me the one thing that I have longed to get from you since then."

The lanky, brunette, and gorgeous woman, giving me a euphoric sensation was my mate for three years and the soon-to-be luna, Natasha Fisher.

Her wolf was born half-American and half-Spanish, making her one-of-a-kind beauty excel among her peers. And she was a year younger than me. Natasha's wolf was one-of-a-kind among the female wolves that I met.

She always nags me with her calls as early as before sunrise and every time the sun goes down. Aside from that, she was the only living proof that a woman's love knows no bounds.

However, my parents belonged to those conservative ones when it comes to giving up our virginity to someone. They highly advised me to offer my noble dignity to someone deserving of my love and care, and of course, at my legal age.

Lucky for me, that same day was my eighteenth birthday.

"You mean like... my kiss?" I caressed her black shiny hair while staring at her very expressive and gorgeous blue eyes. At that time, we were lying on her bed, with glasses of our favorite red wine from Spain.

Natasha cracked up sweetly as if I misunderstood her.

"Well. Would a kiss on the lips do now?" She retorted, her entire face flushed red while looking at me in the eye, allowing me to read what was running through her lecherous mind. "But I am not gonna force you unless you're ready, Justine."

At that time, it was I who couldn't help from laughing knowing my wolf was not that stupid enough to misunderstand what she meant by it. I'm a man with a gifted baton and balls. I should have been the aggressive one, not her.

"All right then," I smiled at her and leaned my face closer to her face. The distance between our faces was already a quarter of an inch before I requested, "But close your eyes first."

"Close my eyes?" She uttered.

"Of course. I believed that the sweetness of one's kiss can be felt if your eyes were closed...," Before I could finish my statement, Natasha closed her eyes without further question, excitement was carved on her face.

Before granting her wish, I stared at her innocent face for a few seconds, recollecting all the wonderful memories of being with her since we became friends until she turned out to be my girlfriend.

As soon as the panoramic view of our past ended, I gradually leaned my lips on her soft scented mouth. Who could have thought that my worst nightmare began the second I moved my face away from her?

Natasha's entire body stiffened like steel. Her heartbeat even stopped pounding from her chest. I begged her to say something or open her eyes, but she never woke up after that.

Until then, most of the wolves in the pack dubbed Natasha as the opposite version of "Sleeping Beauty".

A part of me attempted to believe that Natasha died because she had heart failure even if the fact a wolf could never have one.

There was this part of me who also believed that she was simply dreaming because of too much happiness after getting my kiss and that one day she would wake up. That someone could wake her up like in the story of the sleeping beauty.

Unfortunately, my "Sleeping Beauty" kind of story ended when her parents burned her wolf's body and sent her into the middle of the wide blue ocean.

Her parents and the entire pack were mourning for a year when Natasha was their only daughter and the sole heir of the Crescent Moon pack.

A year after that, I opened myself to a new relationship. This time, to an omega like me. Unfortunately, our relationship did not last long when I decided to offer my kiss even during our first anniversary. She died with a smile on her face.

At that time, all the wolves, young and old, in the village started getting terrified of me. They were afraid that even a single drop of my saliva, a whooshing of my breath, and even a slight skin contact could destroy our pack.

Could kill everyone, weak or strong.

For that same reason, the majority of the wolves gave me two options. Either to get hung and turn me into ashes or leave the pack and leave the village for good.

So, even if it pained me excruciatingly, I chose to live, left my homeland, and surrounded myself with a bunch of humans. But I promised myself that I should never be in an intimate affair with someone. Never will be.

My wolf already learned her lesson. To be in an intimate relationship requires a kiss on the lips. I don't have the luxury for my third affair to die right in front of my eyes again.

With my one-of-a-kind beau, most of the women I met in the human world already expressed their interest in me. However, I rejected each of them as much as possible even if they haven't said a word.

I'm a natural-born werewolf. That made me different from the humans. I could sense and easily read their minds about what they were up to, especially those who wanted to make love with me.

Three years later.

"Come on, Justine. Join me. Drink. Dude, you need alcohol in your system before our surprise gift will arrive. A bottle of beer will certainly boost your confidence later on."

The man talking, seated next to me was my best friend, Christian. One friend was enough for me considering the curse that ran through my veins.

I chose to befriend a male human instead of a woman to avoid getting into conflicts. The good thing about being friends with Christian was that he already knew that I hated being surrounded by a bunch of humans.

So, on my 21st birthday, Christian invited me to spend the night in one of the resorts in Ibiza. Just the two of us. Today marked my first year working part-time in a not-so-well-known fast-food chain in Spain.

And I focused on my entire day and night as busy as hell to avoid being acquainted with women. Study in the morning and work in the evening. And vice-versa.

Speaking of women, I choose to study at an all-male school to avoid meeting women for that same reason. But I thought my life would be perfectly fine according to plan.

"Surprise gift?" The balls of my eyes remained wide open as I expected nothing more for my 21st birthday. "Dude, inviting and spending the night with my best friend was already a huge gift I received from you. And besides, from the two of us, you were more broke compared to me."

"Jus... Jus... Jus... Could you be just supportive of me for once? I'm doing this for you, all right?" He then grabbed another bottle of beer and offered it to me.

Christian was already drunk when he could barely stand straight anymore. His entire face was red all over. And I kept hearing him talking nonsense.

Good thing a werewolf's blood runs through my veins. My blood was more dauntless compared to alcohol.

"All right. Fine. What should I expect? Should I close my eyes then?" I teasingly said back as I took a sip of the bottled beer.

Christian reached out to his wristwatch and studied the time. "They should be here by now. What could have caused them to be that late?" he muttered.

It was at that moment someone knocked on the door. When I attempted to drag my werewolf senses to the door, I was taken aback when I could barely recognize the person standing from behind. My wolf assumed that was because of the alcohol that was mixed into my werewolf system.

"There they are. You may now close your eyes." Christian couldn't hold his excitement as he blinked at me and bolted to the door. "Don't you dare open your eyes if I hadn't said so, do you understand?"

I didn't want to ruin his night so, I obeyed his command for once. Even prohibited me from using my werewolf senses so I could not know what his surprise gift for me was.

And my ears could not stop hearing a few giggles. Their footsteps were approaching in my direction.

"All right. You may now open your eyes, Jus." He added.

The moment I opened my eyes, indeed I was caught by surprise by his gift. Right in front of my feeble eyes were two naked gorgeous and hot women.

I gulped and was tempted. One of them was carrying a bottle of wine I hadn't seen in my one year of staying in Spain.

"Happy birthday, baby boy!" says the two women in unison.

Shit. I forgot Spain was one of the places on Earth where uninhibited sex existed. The worst part was that I omitted to inform Christian that I had a cursed kiss.

Making love without kissing someone on any part of their body, especially the lips was completely tedious. I was worried at that time that If I had sex with one of the ladies, I was afraid she could not see the next sunrise.

But what else does my wolf could do? Christian or the ladies will simply laugh at me once I confess to them about the curse that befallen me. Humans barely believe in those kinds of ridiculous things.

"Okay. Let's have a drink first. What's that drink you guys brought for us?" Christian asked before he snatched the bottle from the woman.

The two lanky ladies seated next to us respectively. Could not help but gulp a bulk of water down to my throat when her shoulder touched my skin.

"It's called the witch's drink. One of the strongest drinks ever discovered through the years. The first to drink a glass of that should be the birthday celebrant." one of the ladies suggested.

"Of course, my Lady." Christian grabbed an empty glass and poured the wine. Then he offered it to me.

And while looking into the glass, I came up with a plan. So I let them drink as much as possible for them to get drunk. With that, believed, I could avoid myself from getting sex with one of the ladies.

The next morning, I woke up a bit lightheaded. Last night was a blast for me. I felt at ease when my wolf sensed nothing from the two ladies' scents inside the room. For what was worth, I remembered not having sex from any of them.

Unfortunately, that's not what my naked baton and balls told me right after removing the blanket from my body. Right next to me was someone entirely wrapped up with another blanket, not moving.

"Shit. What have I done?" I attempted to dig into the deepest part of my brain to have the slightest idea about what exactly happened last night. But no matter how hard I tried to remember, everything was dim and uncertain.

So I slowly removed the blanket from the person's body. To my surprise, the person neither the two ladies' faces landed right through my worried eyes - Christian.

Then, my broken memories started to get assembled while looking at Christian - panoramic pictures of what exactly happened last night. Christian and I kissed and had sex.

"Christian's dead."