Page 38 of Cursed Love

“You’re mated?” he sneers, his smirk dripping with disbelief. “Don’t kid yourself, Koa. The Valla haven’t mated you. You think you’re so important? You’re not a perfect Omega. You never were. You think they’d bind themselves toyou? No. They’ve let their Alpha have you, that’s all.”

His words hit their mark, the shame coiling in my stomach like a live wire. My vision blurs, and this time, I can’t stop the tears from spilling over. But with the shame comes something else—pure unfiltered anger.

Damien’s smirk widens when he sees the tears streaming down my face. “Stop thinking you’re so important, Koa. At the end of the day, you’re still worthless. Always have been.”

I snap. “Who’s fault is that?!” My voice ricochets off the walls, trembling with fury. Damien’s smile falters for a split second and it’s all the fuel I need to keep going. “You’ve spent years tearing me down, treating me like I’m nothing. You’ve always made sure I knew exactly how worthless you think I am. But you’re wrong.” I’m shaking now, tears streaming freely down my cheeks, but I don’t care. “I’m not worthless. And even if I was, that’s onyou!You’re the one who made me believe it, over and over and over again.”

Damien opens his mouth to say something, but I don’t give him the chance. I turn to Amel, who’s been standing like a silent, deadly shadow at my side, his eyes locked on Damien with a look that promises violence.

“Take me home,” I whisper.

Amel doesn’t hesitate. He steps forward, positioning himself between me and Damien, his hand gently finding the small of my back, even as I feel like I’m falling apart. “We’re done here.”

Damien scoffs, but there’s no mistaking the flash of fear in his eyes when Amel steps closer, his towering frame radiating danger. “You think you can protect her forever?” Damien spits. “You’re nothing but a temporary distraction.”

Amel doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. He just wraps his arm around me, guiding me out of the fitting room and away from Damien and his sneering, hateful face. The farther we get, the harder it becomes to keep the sobs at bay, my chest heaving as I try to hold it together.

“Home,” I whisper again, my voice barely audible. “I just want to go home.”

He kisses the top of my head, his voice a gentle promise in my ear. “I’ve got you, sweet girl. Let’s go home.”

The car ride is quiet, suffocatingly so. I stare out the window, watching the city lights blur into streaks of gold and white, my reflection in the glass barely recognizable. Amel’s hand rests on the console between us, close enough to touch but not daring to. He doesn’t push. He just lets the oppressive silence sit there.

Then, finally, his voice breaks through. “Koa,” he starts, his tone full of something I can’t place—hesitation, maybe? Or angerburied beneath the surface. “Was it him? Those Alphas... were they the ones who hurt you?”

My throat tightens, and for a moment, I can’t breathe, let alone speak. I nod, my nails digging into my palms as I force the words out. “I didn’t know who they were at the time,” I whisper, my voice trembling. “It was all... blurry. But little bits are coming back now. Faces, voices... things I thought I’d buried. I only found out recently—years later—that Damien orchestrated everything. He just wanted me to submit. To get mated to someone who’d bring money into the family. I wasn’t... I wasn’t a person to him. I was just... something to sell.” My chest feels like it’s caving in, the words spilling out faster than I can stop them. “And in the end, he ruined me.”

Amel reaches across the console, squeezing my hand in his. “You are not worthless, Koa. You are not ruined. You are not fucking broken. Do you hear me? Koa, I need to know that you hear me.” His gaze darts to me before returning to the street and the pain in his eyes makes me want to fix everything.

Another stream of tears falls down my cheeks as I slowly nod. “I hear you, Amel. I promise, I hear you.” And I do, but it’s not that easy to forget Damien’s words and how they’ve always made me feel.

The moment we pull up to the house, I promise Amel that I’m okay before scurrying off to my bedroom and shutting the door like I always do.

“They’ll drop you... when they realize they want kids... you’re worthless.”

It’s like he’s always there, whispering poison into my ears, no matter how far away I get from him. And it doesn’t matter how much my mates have told me otherwise, how much confidence they’ve given me. It’s all crumbling down now, piece by piece, because of him. I press my face into my hands, biting back the sob that threatens to escape. I hate this. I hate that he still hasthis power over me. That he can still make me feel like I’m nothing, even after everything.

But most of all, I hate that deep down, part of me still believes him.

Amel

The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs pulls me from my thoughts, and when the basement door swings open, Hunter and Moses step through, bare-chested and glistening with sweat. The dim light from the hallway catches the sheen on their skin, and for a moment, I’m reminded just how animalistic they can be. Hunter’s side is already darkening with a bruise, and Moses has one blooming across his shoulder. Whatever sparring match they had down there wasn’t pretty, but at least they worked off the aggression.

“You good now?” I ask, crossing my arms as I lean back against the counter. They’re a mess, but the tension in their shoulders has eased, and the wild gleam in Hunter’s eyes is somewhat tempered. For now.

Hunter grins, wiping at his brow with the back of his hand. “Better,” he says, his voice a little breathless. “Got some answers, too.”

I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. Moses shuts the basement door behind them and moves to grab a glass of water. There’s an edge to both of them, something simmering just below the surface. Whatever they found, it’s not good.

Hunter leans against the counter across from me, his grin fading as he starts to explain. “We found a link between Teplone and Paula. Turns out she was passing info to them for months—client lists, payment records, all of it. She must’ve thought she was slick, but we found the paper trail.”

I nod, already knowing this much. “And?” I prompt, sensing there’s more.

Hunter’s jaw tightens and he glances at Moses, who’s still drinking his water. “I got in touch with one of the clients who left us,” he says. “Had to shovel some cash at them to get them to talk. Turns out, they signed a clause in their new contract that prohibits evenmentioningus.”

My brows knit together, confusion giving way to frustration. “That’s ridiculous,” I mutter. “What kind of company would—”

Hunter cuts me off, his grin returning, sharper and colder this time. “The kind run by someone who knows how to play dirty,” he says. “They gave me a name. Novak.”

---