Page 89 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

Her words come out of left field, throwing me for a loop.

“Are you really asking me that?” I demand. “You witnessed what he did to me!”

“I know!” she responds, frustrated. “But I’ve had my ear to the ground for a long time, Alice. And I’ve been hearing some unsettling things.”

“Unsettling things?” I question her, simmering. “Unsettling enough to make me reconsider my position?”

“Ever since Willow became queen, the white witches have had open access to the royal palace,” Mary begins. “They’ve always had a lot of influence within the kingdom, but never to this extent. It’s almost as if the minute Willow joined the royalfamily, the coven joined it along with her. Rumors are that Darian is not pleased with this.”

I frown. “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” She breaks off a piece of the bread and chews it slowly before meeting my gaze. “But I asked around, Alice. It’s very strange that Darian picked Willow, especially since he hadn’t paid any attention to her during the mating gathering events. In fact, the king tried to force them to spend time together, and Darian snubbed her. So, for him to suddenly choose her out of the blue made zero sense. Unless she had something on him. In fact, the only time he did spend time with her was after the night you two spent together, and even then”—her shoulders hunch up—“he looked uncomfortable and not very happy. Their interactions looked forced from his end, and he wouldn’t let her touch him all that much.”

Remembering those days has me stiffening. “How could you possibly know all this?”

Mary’s eyes gleam as she looks at me. “Willow’s influence within the political circles is fading. It’s becoming public knowledge that she doesn’t have the king’s favor. A lot of alphas and betas are bringing their daughters to the royal palace to encourage Darian to take a mistress and have a child. Remember how I told you that Darian was supposed to be on a family vacation? It turns out he stood Willow up. She was completely humiliated.”

Her words are painting an entirely different picture than what I imagined. I purse my lips before finally asking, “What could Willow possibly have had over Darian? He was the prince. Evenif she was threatening him with something, he could easily have dealt with it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. I know you don’t want to have anything to do with him, Alice, but the more I look at everything, the more it seems that he’s been carrying some secret around with him for the past seven years. Whatever she had on him, its strength has not faded, not even since he became king. With the white witches entering the royal palace without his consent, it has to be something that involves them, as well. My sister told me that, at the public events they attended after their engagement, Darian would not touch Willow. She’d try to take his hand, and he would rip it away. He was downright rude to her, but she put up with it. She still seems to be desperate for his attention and affection, but he refuses her both. Rumors are that, since the night they got married, Darian has slept in a separate bedroom from her. It’s not that things didn’t work out between them; he never wanted to be with Willow.”

Confusion and frustration course side by side within me. “If he didn’t want to be with her, why did he choose her? Just because she threatened him with something? What could be so important to him that—” I notice Mary raising her eyebrows at me, and I stop mid-sentence. “What?”

“Think about it,” she suggests gently. “Put your anger and hurt aside, and really consider it with that lawyer brain of yours. What was so precious to Darian that his desire to protect it would make him willingly tie himself down to someone like Willow?”

She gives me a pointed look, and I make a face. “No.”

“Yes.” Mary shakes her head. “I’m not siding with him because he means anything to me, Alice. But you cannot ignore the facts. His behavior with Willow over these past seven years, the switch in behavior during the mating gathering… Willow must have been holding something over his head, and I bet it was related to you.”

I stare at her, trying to process her words. “I’m sorry, but do have temporary amnesia, Mary? What he did to me—Have you forgotten it all? Even if… I mean, let’s say I believe what you’re suggesting. Let’s say Willow did have something on him. Then, all he had to do was choose her. Why go the extra mile to put me through that torture? And what could Willow possibly have been holding over Darian’s head that was related to me? He already knew I did not have a wolf spirit. His father also knew. It’s not like I was committing tax fraud or something!”

“What about the mark on your ankle?”

I freeze.

“Alice,” Mary sighs, “we need to talk about this, especially now.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Mira has the same mark, Alice!” my friend bursts out. “You have to be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?” I growl. “Darian framed me.”

“No, he didn’t.” Mary sinks back into her chair and looks at me with tired eyes. “At least, not in the way you think.” She reaches for her bag and brings out a book. It’s an old, faded journal. “Look at the page that I’ve folded.”

I flip through to it. “What is this?”

“I’ve been working with some white witches to produce healing potions. I have access to their archive rooms for research purposes, and I found this. I’m not allowed to remove things from there, but I snuck this out because I knew you needed proof.”

As she says this, my eyes land on the image on the folded page. It’s a drawing of the same pattern that’s on my ankle, that’s on Mira’s ankle.

“Mary, what is this?”

“It’s the mark of a dark witch, or of someone who carries the bloodline of a dark witch in them.”

The text on the page is mostly faded, but it’s still clear enough for me to read. My jaw tightens. “How could I possibly have the blood of a dark witch, Mary? I’m a wolf shifter. You’ve seen me transform. Even if my first time was later than is typical—”

“That’s probably why you were not able to shift for so long,” Mary says slowly. “The dark magic bloodline within you must have been stronger than your wolf spirit. It could’ve dominated your wolf. Dark witches were incredibly strong, Alice. They used battle magic.”

---