Page 68 of Cursed Beasts

“You think she wants to break the spell?” Aeon asked, sounding skeptical. “Her family left us here, why would she all of a sudden want to free us?”

“She has her reasons and if you want to know I think you need to speak with her. If we all banded together, we might have a fighting chance at breaking the curse.” His anger had dissipated. “Just give her a chance.”

Aeon looked like he might be ready to give in, but we couldn’t.

“Vivienne wanted us to come together to protect her and look what happened,” I snarled, hating that I had to say her name.

“Not everyone is Vivienne.” Lucien rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you tired of being angry all the time?”

“You’re right, not everyone is Vivienne, but she is still a Belladonna and look where trusting one got us,” I snapped.

“He’s right Lu, we can’t fucking trust her no matter how much we want this curse to be over,” Aeon looked frustrated. “She could be weaving something bigger, maybe to get rid of us for good.”

Lucien’s gaze on Aeon made me uneasy. I was worried their foundation was crumbling and all I did was encourage it.

“I wasn’t the one who fell in love with a Belladonna, I was just doing my duty to make sure we had an heir to continue our treaty. I wasn’t the idiot who trusted her in the first place.” Lucien’s words cut deeper than I had expected.

“Yeah, you were the boy who was in love with his pack member who wanted nothing to do with you, but used you to make himself forget about his own problems,” I said, wanting a fight to ensue. I needed chaos.

“Zev,” Aeon growled. “Don’t drag me into your mess.”

“Yeah, I was in love with him but at least I can admit it, instead of running away like a coward.” he said, with fury in his eyes. “You couldn’t admit your feelings for her and look where that got us.”

“At least I’m not so desperate for love that I’ll take it from anyone, even from a person who is willing to whore herself out,” I laughed. “You think you're the only one she is trying to get cozy with? She was on her knees begging for me—”

He transformed in mid-air tackling me to the floor. I shifted quickly, hoping he caused enough pain, so I could bury the pain of betrayal I lived with everyday.

29

KATARINA

The sound of fighting woke me up. I got out of bed ready to go defend Lucien if I needed to, but the sounds of snarling and growling had me frozen. There was no way I would be able to help him in his wolf’s form. I would be a liability instead of an asset.

I began pacing in my room until I heard a howl that had shivers peppering my body.

Was Lucien ok? Were all of them ok?

Guilt settled in me; they were fighting over me. When Lucien found me running back to my room last night, he was livid. I had to convince him to stay and tend to me because I didn’t want to think about what would happen, especially since Aeon was siding with Zev. Would they both attack him?

Just thinking about it again had me pacing, hoping he would come to my room so that I knew he was ok. There was silence that had me worried enough to open my door to listen a little better.

This room was closer to the stairs meaning I could almost see straight to the front door that was opened if I walked a few steps out of my room. It was almost too silent.

“Fuck you, Aeon,” Lucien snarled.

I may have been a little proud that he used fuck in the right way.

“Can’t you see she’s dangerous?” he snapped. “Her family put us here.”

“Aren’t you tired of being here?” They sounded like they were by the dining room. “I want to be free, I want to live my life and I miss the sun!”

My heart ached for them even more. As wolves, I knew they loved the moon, but they also loved the sun. The balance of day and night. Living without the sun hurt me and I got to experience it in small quantities a day.

A few tears fell down my cheeks.

“You think I don’t miss that too?” Aeon yelled.

“I know you do, you forget I know you Aeon. I see you struggle, but just give her a chance,” Lucien pleaded.

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