Page 80 of Cursed Beasts

Meeting at the Lowell Manor was a scary thing. This was the first time so many wolves had surrounded me and my family. We had had small interactions with the leader before, but this was their whole pack with a scant few from our coven.

I walked through the front door, following my father with his advisors to a big room that looked to be a ballroom. Two wooden tables were facing each other. We all sat down, staring at each other, when I noticed a younger man amongst the adults. He looked to be in his early twenties.

We locked eyes, my blue eyes with his yellow ones. I expected to see anger or disgust, but he looked just as curious about me as I was about him. His yellow eyes were alarming, but they suited him with his dark hair and olive skin tone.

I gave him a smile, hoping this might not be as bad as I thought it was going to be. He was stoic, but he gave me a nod. Maybe these three days wouldn’t be so bad, and I had just made a friend.

Vivienne was fourteen when she wrote that passage, and this grimoire would go until she was eighteen. She wrote a lot while she was at the manor, mostly about the negotiations. They took years for them to be completed since the war had broken out, delaying their agreement. But her fascination with blood magic was almost down-right obsessive.

She wrote incantations, but gave no description of what they were for or what they did. I hadn’t read the entire thing, but so far only one spell, when she was sixteen, looked to have been successful. It was a spell that required the sacrifice of an animal to give her or someone else extra power.

There was someone else’s handwriting mixed in with hers, which led me to believe that she was working with someone. The handwriting didn’t show up until she was sixteen, making me wonder who she had started working with. The handwriting looked feminine, so it could have been an aunt, a cousin or even her mother.

I skimmed the last few pages when Zev’s name caught my eye.

I can’t believe I was such an idiot. Why did I think he would return my feelings? The treaty said we would all be together, but the others didn’t look at me or attempt to get to know me. Zev was the only one I hung out with regularly. He was leaving to aid another pack, and I didn’t know if he would be back.

We were both unhappy about our situation; I thought we were bonding over it. I’m such a fool to admit that I loved him. He looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“Vi, you know I care for you.” As soon as he said those words, I knew that any chance I had at a loving marriage was out the door. I thought all he needed was time to fall in love with me. I’ve made myself available for him, but all he could see was the girl he first met. I’m a woman now and if he can’t see that, then I’ll have to make him.

I ran my hand over the page at the sloppy handwriting and the small blotches where it looked like she had cried onto the page. She had loved Zev, and it sounded like he didn’t love her.

My heart ached for Vivienne, did he not love her because he was hoping for his mate? I wish I could just ask Zev about it because it felt like I was missing a lot of the story.

A knock sounded before Mr. Potter came through the door.

I quickly shut the book, rubbing my temples from the headache that had started to build.

“Good morning, Ms. Katarina,” he said, coming in with coffee and a pastry.

“Mr. Potter, you are everything,” I said, hopping off the bed towards the tray he left on the dresser.

A sunflower crown sat on the side, and I couldn’t help but smile. My dress would look perfect with it.

“Aeon said you might like the sunflowers best, and they would complement your eyes.” He smiled as I picked it up to look at it.

“Aeon?” I asked, thinking I heard incorrectly, but when I looked around, Mr. Potter was nowhere to be found.

Sneaky man. I wouldn’t doubt he knew what he was doing by name dropping, then bouncing on me.

Mr. Potter totally gave meddling vibes like he was the village grandma, pairing up everyone because he thought they would work well together. He also wasn’t afraid to call out anyone's shit, and he took care of you like you were family.

I set the crown down to take a sip of my coffee and grabbed the plate with the pastry, to take back to my bed. Before I got ready, I wanted to read a little more of the grimoire and see what happened after Vivienne told Zev she loved him.

I think I had overdressed for the holiday. The yellow floral dress was short but felt way too dressed up compared to my usual shorts and t-shirt. As I walked to the library, I took my time, hoping I would see Aeon or he would at least see me with the crown on. Nerves bubbled up in my stomach the closer I got to the library.

“Wow.” I quickly turned around to see Lucien behind me, holding a tray. “Kit Kat you look—”

He didn’t finish his sentence as he leered at me up and down with a look that made my stomach clench with need.

“You look perfect.” His voice was husky as he ran a hand across my skirt.

I blushed at seeing the need in his eyes.

“Thanks,” I said, as all these inappropriate thoughts went through my brain.

“Come on, I grabbed a loaf from Mr. Potter. I figured we could break bread together to honor the harvest.” He gave me a small smile when I realized he had dressed up, too.

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