Page 77 of Cursed Beasts

“No, it’s because he hates me, but I’m making it hard to hate me,” I responded truthfully. “I know I’m up against centuries of hate and if my ancestors are anything like my current family, I know that hate runs bone deep, but I’m also not her or them.”

I still couldn’t believe my ancestor put this curse on them and thought it was the perfect punishment. It still felt like I knew only half of the story.

Lucien released a harsh breath, looking back where Aeon left.

“I know you’re not her or them, but they don’t know that. They think you’re just going to be as bad as them, or even worse.” He ran a hand over his face, and I saw the stress of this situation mirrored on his face. “I just don’t know how to make them believe that you’re different and that if we just got our shit together, we might actually be able to leave and be free.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, grabbing his hand. “I didn’t realize how stressful this might be on you.”

“I’m tired, Kit Kat. I’m ready to live life and be able to grow old like everyone else, instead of living a life alone within these walls.”

I couldn’t help myself. I crawled into his lap to hug him.

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t have to live within these walls anymore and you can live a full life and see everything that life has to offer,” I said, kissing his cheek. “I think this calls for shots.”

I got up from his lap, getting the bottle of tequila that Mr. Potter snagged from a nearby house, and poured us a hefty shot. I grabbed two limes and some salt.

“Why do shots sound ominous?” Lucien looked at the glass I set in front of him.

“Trust me, it’s better than that awful moonshine you guys drink,” I said, putting down the lime wedge next to the glass. “Alright, so we lick the salt, we take the shot, and you suck on the lime afterwards.”

“Why are there so many steps to just drink it?” he asked playfully. “Is that the only thing we can suck on?”

“Oh, shut it,” I said, before I licked the salt I put on the back of my hand, clinked our glasses together and took the shot. The tequila burned slightly and tasted even better when I took the lime wedge.

Lucien watched me with rapt attention before he grabbed me, sitting me down on his lap again, scooting the chair back as he pushed my chest. The middle of my back settled on the edge of the table.

“Lucien, what are you doing?”

He pulled down my tank to expose my breast, taking my nipple into his mouth as he rolled his tongue over it. He nipped at it before he pulled away, grabbing the salt shaker and sprinkling it on my nipple.

I clenched my thighs as he took it in his mouth again, sucking on it hard before he grabbed his shot, throwing it back like a pro. He squeezed the lime above my breast, catching the juice around my nipple.

I couldn’t contain the moan that escaped thinking this gave new meaning to a body shot and wondering where the hell this had come from. He pulled me forward as he kissed up my neck, leaving goosebumps in his wake.

A throat cleared, snapping me out of my sexual stupor as Lucien pulled my shirt up to cover my exposed breast. Aeon stood in the doorway with a blank expression.

“I thought this might help you,” he said, laying a book on the dining table close to us.

He left without another word. Lucien and I both stayed quiet as I lifted myself off his lap. I sat by the book, opening it to see it was a grimoire about blood magic by a Belladonna. It was by Vivienne Belladonna.

32

ZEV

My beast had been restless since we last chased her. It was a constant battle with him to allow me to have my one hour as a human. We were at war with each other; he wanted to be near her, and I wanted nothing to do with her.

She was causing a rift in my pack, pulling Lucien from us with her promise to try and break the spell. Who knows what else she was telling him to get him to believe her lies?

Chasing her had only pushed them together and never in all the years we had been together had Lucien stood up to me like that. If my father had trained him, he would have beaten me in less than a minute, but the only reason I didn’t get hurt more was because they did not train him like an alpha. He still got a few good hits in, but I knew it could have been much worse.

Since he was little, my father always warned me about him, that he had the possibility of taking the pack away from me. Lucien’s power had been noticeable at a young age, which was unheard of if you didn’t come from a line of Alphas.

Aeon and I watched him carefully, wondering why they would include him in our pack if he was powerful, and could challenge me, but as he grew up, we realized Lucien wasn’t like that. We worried his fathers would push him to challenge me, but as time went by; we saw that none of them wanted that, especially Lucien.

Lucien was exactly what Aeon and I needed. He balanced our dynamic. While Aeon and I were rash, Lucien was patient, charismatic and was usually the deciding factor in our group.

I don’t know how they thought it was a good idea to join three Alphas, but we worked really well together, and they were just completely fine letting me lead. That might be the reason I was the one who saw Vivienne so much or the reason she came to me.

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