Page 2 of Moon Cursed

His brow twitched, hand tightening on the shovel. I struck dead-on. “My wolf will get over it,” he gritted. “You have to be stopped.”

“Badr, please, Castor wouldn’t want this—”

“Don’t you dare!” He swung the shovel at me, making me hit the ground screaming. The shovel caught on my dress and ripped it. “Don’t speak his name! You have no idea what my brother would want. You didn’t know him—”

“No one knew Castor better than me!”

Badr scoffed. “You never quit, do you? Even now you’re trying to spin more of your fairy tales about how my brother beat you and controlled you—”

“I never said that.”

“—and he made your life a living hell, but I knew him,” he roared, pounding his chest. “My father cheated on his mother with the cook and had me. That fucking hypocrite bastard hated me from the moment I was born. I was the constant proof of what a lying, honorless shit Cygnus Tahan is, and he couldn’t stand it.

“He threw me and my mother out, left us with nothing, but then one day Castor heard his parents arguing about me. Can you believe that Castor’s mother was cursing Cygnus out for ignoring and abandoning his own child? Even she thought he was a monster.” Badr kicked more dirt on me. “But Castor... When he heard he had a brother out there, he searched high and low for me.

“He brought me back into the family. He rang up the lawyers and demanded his trust fund be split half-and-half between us, andhetold our father to fuck off! He said we both had a claim to the Sun clan, and we would both run it as co-alphas. Castor was a good man—”

“I know.”

“A great man! He was good and kind to everyone—”

“I know!”

“—and he never hurt you or anyone else, so—”

“I know,” I shrieked. “That’s why I loved him!”

“—don’t you—” Badr halted, nearly choking on his tongue. “What? What did you say?”

“You don’t have to tell me how wonderful Castor was, you fucking asshole!” I grabbed a fistful of dirt and threw it right back at him. “I know how amazing he was! I loved him from the first day I met him. From the first second! He was everything to me, and now he’s gone and I have nothing!”

“What are you—?” His eyes darted around, head shaking. “What are you talking—?”

“You walk around here like you’ve got the monopoly on grief, but you’ve got no fucking idea,” I snarled, fangs trying and failing to sprout. “There is no grief like having to kill the man you love.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you saying that! You didn’t love Castor. You didn’t know him.”

“I’ve known him since I was twelve.”

“That’s a lie!” Spittle dotted the dirt. “You’re trying to confuse me again. You—”

“You don’t have to tell me Cygnus is a monster. I’ve been taking his confession for years, I know exactly what he’s like. But the day he came into the temple with Castor,” I whispered. “Everything changed.

“After Cygnus finished pouring his vileness into my ears, Castor came in and did something no one’s ever done. He spoke to me and just me.”

Badr quieted, his brows furrowing.

“He asked me if I was bored sitting around in a cold temple all day, and if I wanted half of his empanada. I didn’t answer,” I admitted. “I was just so confused that he was talking to me. So, bold as ever, Castor threw aside the curtain, climbed up next to me, and put half his food on my lap.” Amidst my pain and fear... a smile found its way on my lips. “From that moment on I was hooked.

“But you know the rules placed on the mother wolf. I wasn’t allowed to date, and I damn sure wasn’t allowed to have sex with anyone other than my fates. We had no choice but to keep our relationship secret,” I said. “The only times my guards left me in peace was when I was taking confessions in the temple, so that’s where we’d meet.

“I was supposed to be saving myself for that fateful night, but we couldn’t stop. It wasn’t long before I gave him all of me. I was completely addicted to Castor Tahan. If he asked me to set myself on fire to keep him warm, I’d have done it,” I croaked, eyes fluttering shut. “Long before Luame made him my mate, I knew he was my fate.Weknew that we belonged together. Forever.”

“That... That’s not possible.” I heard thethudof the shovel falling. “If you were so in love with him, why did you kill him? If he loved you, why didn’t he tell me about you?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” I snapped. “Our relationship was forbidden. Castor could’ve hooked up with a vampire and he wouldn’t have gotten into as much trouble as he would if anyone knew he was sleeping with the mother wolf. He wasn’t going to risk bringing you down too if we were discovered.”

“But he—!”

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