Page 55 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
“Peace,” the woman calls. Then, her gloved hands move up to pull her head-wrap off to reveal a beautiful woman, her hair dark and mussed, her skin porcelain and even. She’s older than us, although I can’t tell how much.
My gaze shifts from her to the painting beside me and back, my brows rising in surprise. This woman is the spitting image of the warrior.
The woman smiles as she moves to the stairs on one side of the landing. “My ancestor,” she says, as if reading my mind. Is she like Colt? Is that why he can’t read their minds? Then again, I suppose I gave away what I was thinking.
“My name is Willow,” the woman points at herself before gesturing to the Alpha now behind her. “That is my mate, Caius.”
Caius takes that cue to also remove his hood and face cover, revealing a handsome man with mocha skin, dark eyes, and a nose as sharp as his chiseled jaw. His thin lips are set in a straight line, seeming angry, but when our gazes collide, he winks at me.
Unsettling…
“I know what you are.” Willow is on the ground floor with us now, walking slowly toward us, arms at her sides as if showing us she’s unarmed. As if that actually means something for Cursed. “We’re the same,” she continues, “called Cursed by the Deceivers, their jealousy and greed leading those with power down a path of obscurity. Of slavery.” Her gaze shifts across us, and when she looks at me, there’s pain in her blue eyes. So much sorrow that I can feel it in my chest, my eyes blur with tears.
Colt stiffens beside me, and I find his brows drawn and lips parted. His mismatched eyes look at me before he gives a weak smile and takes my hand.
“We were told to expect your arrival.”
Just as Colt has said. “By who?” I ask.
Her smile is kind. “The Rebellion is everywhere, even inside that horrid academy. And the facility of the young ones.”
I swallow. So it’s all true. Change is coming.
“Who are these ‘Deceivers’?” Rai makes his way to stand with us, his movements sluggish.
“The Betas,” Willow responds, not hiding her disgust. “Not all are our enemy. Most, like you, don’t know the truth. If they did, things may be different.” Her jaw sets. “Make no mistake, however. Every single member of the Beta Council knows the truth. Every high-ranking military official knows the truth.”
“And...what is the truth?” My voice is thin, my heart pounds in my chest.
Willow looks at me with pity in her eyes and takes a deep breath before answering. “There is no curse. All of us are supposed to be this way. Even Betas.”
Colton
After Willow dropped that bombshell about curses not being curses, she showed us to a couple of prepared bedrooms, coaxing us with promises of a good night’s rest, safe and sound. Then promised to show us things that would change our lives the next day.
No amount of information Willow could share with us would change our lives as much as one fleeting thought I’d captured.
Somehow, Caius was able to block my curse, and for one moment, he relinquished control before slamming the door in my face, just at the right time for me to hear one of Willow’s thoughts, like it was just for me.
And a request that I say nothing.
Which puts me in a really shitty position that I won’t forgive any time soon.
Rai is fast asleep, still obviously drained from overexertion. Aubrey went off with Caius to tour the grounds’ defenses, the only way he’d agree to rest tonight. After I explained that Aubrey couldn’t speak without killing him, Caius seemed pleased his company would be as quiet as he seemed to be.
Mira’s racing thoughts are a soft murmur inside my mind, too difficult to keep up with. I can feel her spiraling as I leave the bedroom assigned to us Alphas, close the door behind me, and make my way to her door, where I rap softly on the wood. An instant later, she opens the door, and I’m looking down into the face of the woman I love, those silver eyes wide and worried.
I’d do anything to take her worry away.
I swoop in and capture her lips with mine, those soft, lush pillows part in surprise, then she relaxes as I pull her close in an embrace, sweeping my tongue into her mouth. Guiding us both inside her room, I close the door behind me before breaking the kiss, my hands on either side of Mira’s face to guide her to look up at me. I grin. “I’ve been waiting to do that for hours now.”
The smile she gives in response is brilliant, sparkling, and warms my heart in ways I never imagined possible.
This curse has haunted me for half my life. I’ve never been able to escape its whims, escape the thoughts it forced into my head. And then Mira came into my life, and everything changed. Everything keeps on changing.
“I love you,” I say, earnest conviction in my voice and expression. I want her to know how real this is, how deeply it flows.
Her bare hand sweeps through my hair, and I stifle a groan at how nice it feels, having her fingertips brush my scalp.
