Page 132 of Oath of Revenge

“You knew I was alive when you left. Why would you agree to become a Growler? Did they trick you?” Her hands went wide as she stepped down another step on the stairs.

He held up a hand to stop her. “No, it was no trick. I lay dying on the Southern Road, and they offered me a chance at a new life.”

“I see,” she said softly, the banging behind the library door drawing her eyes. She waved a hand and the banging stopped, then she turned back to face him. “I can’t imagine what you went through, but I know some of that feeling.”

“Feeling?” As he looked into her tear-filled eyes, he could see the weight of adulthood bearing down on her young shoulders, burdening her with emotions beyond her years. He longed to take away her hurt, but knew there was little he could do to ease it.

She smiled but there was no mirth in it. “The feeling of emptiness, sorrow, and pain. The kind where it hurts so much you’ll do anything to make it stop. Your brain knows the solution is a bad idea, but your body won’t let you say no. So you take the offered solution…and it changes everything.”

Her voice trailed off on the end, and his chest ached at the devastation he saw written on her face. She met his gaze, her own steady.

“Would you do it again? If you had to do it over, would you make the same choice again?”

He swallowed, unable to speak as he nodded. His eyes stung, whether from tears or blood, he didn’t know.

She sighed and closed her eyes, a silent tear streaking down her cheek. “Me too. Borga protect me, but I would do it all again too.”

Scarlet slammed her hands onto her hips. “You’d curse us all again? You still don’t understand what you’ve done, do you?”

Wulfric pulled Scarlet into his arms, but she pushed him off and stomped down the hall to where her cloak lay crumpled on the floor. She jerked and shook it out, muttering to herself.

Bella stepped closer, wringing her hands on her skirts. “I don’t understand what’s going on in the world, but I know how it impacted those in the castle. I didn’t do it on purpose. Surely she knows that?”

Wulfric shrugged and looked at Scarlet as she put the cloak around her shoulders to cover the tattered clothing and bared skin. Her ears twitched, and he knew she was listening. “I think she’s starting to understand that, yes. But we do need you to come with us to fix the curse.”

The knights on the landing at the base of the stairs rattled, and Bella stepped down another step as her eyes flashed. “I don’t have to listen to you, Da. I’m the Queen and quite grown up now, or did you forget?”

The gnawing pain in the pit of his stomach twisted as he nodded, stepping forward until he was only a few feet from the stairs. “Actually, I did forget. When the Growlers turned me, I was delirious with blood loss. My mind had already twisted things, and I thought you were dead. All I knew was the pain of death and losing you and your mother.”

“But you didn’t lose me. I’m right here. I’m alive,” Bella cried, the knights snapping to attention and turning to face them.

He shook his head, and Scarlet’s hand settled in the small of his back. He reached back for her hand, needing her strength to get through this. Yet, despite her presence, the weight of his failures pressed heavily on him. As he gazed at Bella’s ghostly form, conflicted emotions ripped through him. He should have been there to protect her from harm, to stop the king and prevent her death. Wulfric needed more than just Scarlet’s hand to face the truth of his actions. He pulled her into his arms and held her.

Scarlet snorted and held him tight. “But you’re not here. You’re a ghost, Bella.”

Bella’s eyes flashed and the knights formed a line in front of the stairs, standing in a battle ready stance.

Wulfric squeezed Scarlet tighter and admitted his truth. “It’s my fault, Bella. I should’ve been here to stop whatever hurt you, stop the king, stop your death.”

Bella’s lip quivered and the knights froze. Then her jaw tilted, and she glanced at Scarlet, then back to him.

“There was no stopping it. But the thing is… I’m not dead,” she said flatly, her gaze turning to Scarlet as her lips pinched. “Come see for yourselves, and I’ll explain. Scarlet knows the way, if you get lost in this big castle.” The last was sarcastic and Scarlet flinched in his arms as Bella climbed the stairs.

Scarlet groaned as the knights blocking the stairs went back to their flanking positions. “Damn it, I was hoping to avoid that room.”

“What room?” He kissed the side of her head and then breathed in her scent, trying to resettle his nerves and mentally prepare for whatever awaited upstairs.

“The room where the king died, the epicenter of the curses.” Scarlet shook in his arms, and he buried his nose in the crook of her neck. He didn’t want to let her go, needed her by his side to get through this. But he didn’t want to cause his mate pain either.

He sighed and pulled back, holding her gently by the arms. “Do you want to stay down here, bunny? I’ll follow her.”

She scoffed and tugged him by the waist to the stairs. “You won’t make it up the stairs by yourself, weak as you are. You’re healing, but you’re not there yet. No, I’ll go. I’m not some simpering miss. I’ll face it no matter how much it twists me up inside.”

A thrill of relief went through him, grateful that he didn’t have to do this alone. He’d left her outside the castle earlier, and it had been a disaster. If only they had stayed together, maybe they wouldn’t be so badly injured now.

He held onto her tightly, his grip on her shoulder almost desperate. As they climbed the stairs side by side, she fell silent and he wiped the blood from his eyes. It was in moments like these, with her by his side, that he felt truly alive again. The mate bond between them seemed to strengthen with each step they took together, providing a glimmer of hope in the midst of chaos.

Chapter 43

---