Cassian's POV

It was not supposed to react like this, not now... especially in front of her.

A sharp, searing heat ripped through my ribs, taking my breath away in a split second. The agony was so blinding. It felt as if a thousand white-hot needles were driving straight into my muscle, tearing through the flesh over my heart.

Ever since I made that forbidden request to rewind time, this mark had appeared on my chest. A dark, cursed tattoo of a bleeding heart wrapped tightly in jagged thorns. Every time it pulsed, it bled and every time it bled, it tge thorns became real and were covered in my blood...the pain dragged me and my wolf to the absolute edge of madness and intense pain threatening to make me pass out right there and then.

I had gone back to the coven of witches, demanding answers. They looked at the mark with wide, fearful eyes, admitting they had never seen anything like it. They warned me it was likely a punishment or a curse from the Moon Goddess for defying the natural order and rewriting fate. They promised they would try to find a cure before the curse destroyed me, but until then, I was forced to carry the secret burden alone.

My wolf was howling in agony inside my head, thrashing against my ribs as the pain tore through us both. We did not want Iris to see this and we did not want her to think we were weak.

Through my blurred vision, I saw her face. She looked frightened, her gray eyes wide as she stared at the bloody mess on my shirt, but she did not pull back and she did not run.

"Does the driver have any alcohol?" she demanded, her hands moving with fast, precise urgency.

"No," the driver stammered from the front, his voice shaking. "We are not allowed to keep any alcohol in the vehicle, Luna."

Without missing a beat, Iris reached into the top of her dress like she was searching her bra and pulled out a tiny glass vial filled with a dark, clear liquid. She reached over and brutally ripped a long strip of fabric from the hem of her expensive wedding gown.

"This is going to hurt," she whispered, her voice surprisingly steady.

She unstoppered the vial and tipped a few drops directly over the bleeding mark. The liquid hit my raw skin with a harsh, loud sizzle. I winced hard, a low groan escaping my throat as the sharp sting made my jaw tighten.

"Trust me," she said softly, looking straight into my eyes.

She poured a little more over the wound and pressed the ripped fabric against my skin, carefully cleaning around the edges of the mark. To my utter shock, as her potion touched the wound, the fresh red blood turned thick and black, sliding off my skin and the violent sizzling slowly died down.

Then, Iris leaned in close and gently blew on my chest.

She placed her warm, delicate hand flat over the center of the mark, closing her eyes and whispering a low, quiet chant under her breath.

The moment her palm settled over my heart, the burning stopped.

The sharp, agonizing pain pulled back like a retreating wave. The blood ceased seeping from the black lines of the tattoo. My wolf, who had been screaming in agony just seconds ago, went completely still, letting out a soft sigh of relief. The crushing weight on my lungs vanished, leaving me able to breathe clearly again.

I sat there in total silence, staring at her in sheer awe.

No one had ever been able to calm or tame my pain during these attacks. Not the high priestess of the coven, not my pack healers and not even the best doctors in the territory. They usually had to chain me down until the fit passed because sometimes I'd become violent... a little too voilent that my people feared me. Yet, this small woman had stopped it in a matter of seconds.

Iris ripped another piece of silk from her dress and gently reached up, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead and temples.

"Are you okay now?" she asked, her grey eyes scanning my face with genuine concern.

I was too stunned to speak. My mind was racing, trying to process what had just happened.

Iris waited a second, then let out a small breath. "I will take that as a yes."

I looked down at her hands, still stained with my dark, cursed blood. Most people in my life feared me. They bowed, they obeyed or they plotted behind my back, but no one had ever shown me this kind of quiet, gentle care. We were practically strangers in this new timeline, yet she had not flinched for a single second.

Even my wolf was stirring inside my chest, purring softly. " She is incredible, " my wolf growled in my mind, full of pride. " She saved us...we must protect her at all costs."

I was terrified at the altar when Kael showed up even though I was composed. I had been bracing myself for her to hesitate, for her to run back to the man she had loved for years. But she had rejected him with a cold, terrifying disgust, as if she remembered every terrible thing he was capable of doing.

I swallowed hard, finding my voice at last. " Thank you."

"What... what is that mark?" she asked softly, pointing her chin toward my bare chest.

I could not tell her the truth. I could not tell her that I had broken the laws of nature and traded my own health just to bring her back from the dead.

"It is a curse," I said quietly, keeping my tone plain.

I looked down at her fingers, then at the empty glass vial in her lap. "How did you do that? Where did you get something that could calm a curse like this?"

Iris set the empty vial aside and smoothed down her torn dress. "I made it myself before we left the estate. I knew I was moving to a new territory, so I prepared a few basic remedies just in case."

She looked up at me, her gaze steady and unbothered, while I sat there silently wondering what other secrets my new Queen was holding behind those clear, grey eyes.