“Lynette,” I beg her, trying to get closer. “Look into my soul. See the love of my wolf for me. We have to break your curse—don’t you see? You led us here. You didn’t want to curse all the wolves to die.”
“He killed my witches,” she wailed. “My beautiful girls. He locked me in here. He deserves his fate, and his descendants, too.”
“Are you the same as him?” I ask.
She turns to face me, and the dark countenance comes over her. Shadows pour into her eyes, and her mouth opens wider than a human being’s could as she screams at me.
“Why shouldn’t I be?” she wails. “Why shouldn’t I match his evil?”
“Lynette,” a soft voice speaks behind me.
Shocked, I turn around slowly to see a tall, handsome man walking towards us. His eyes glow a deep, reflective amber, and long black hair flows down his neck almost like a pelt. When he draws close, he touches my shoulder gently.
“Thank you, descendant of my beloved,” he says. “I couldn’t find this place until now.”
“Darian?” Lynette cries, the ugly countenance flickering as light grows within her once more.
“Lynette,” Darian answers, going towards her.
The black clouds pull back, hissing menacingly. Darian reaches the center of the circle and reaches out his hands.
“You still love me,” he says. “That’s why you left a keystone in the curse—so your ancestors could break it. You didn’t want all the wolves to die.”
“You trapped me here!” Lynette cries. “You killed my witches. I did you no wrong, Darian, and you betrayed me.”
“I know that now,” he says, pained. “A message was given to me, and it was from you to a lover. It was signed by your hand.”
“I had no other lover. It was a fake.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “But I went mad when I saw it. I locked you up. I went after your witches—but I had no stomach for the killing. I ordered the wolves back. I tried to return for you.”
“Lies,” Lynette hisses, but it comes out as more of a sob.
“Look into my soul,” Darian says. “See the truth. I was coming for you when my trusted counselor stabbed me in the back.”
“What?” she whispers. “No.”
“Yes.” He reaches for her, and the light inside her glows even brighter, pushing the shadows back. “I was coming to save you. I couldn’t live without you, and I knew it. My beta killed me, dumped my body in the woods, and sent the rest of the wolves after your witches.”
Lynette shakes her head, and the bright glow around her increases.
“You had every right to curse me,” Darian says. “I don’t blame you for that. But I must thank you for loving me enough that you built a failsafe into the curse. We can save them, Lynette. We can save everyone, even ourselves.”
Finally, she reaches for him, and I see their hands touch. White light glows between them, and the shadows recede even further.
“I’ve killed so many,” she says. “All around us, dead and sick wolves, and they are innocent. This blood is on my hands.”
“No,” Darian says. “The blame lies in the council. The family line that murdered me went after all the witches and created an arrogance in the packs that shunned all others as weak. Those souls perpetuated the curse. If they had not, your descendants would have found mine long before now, and I would have been able to find my way to you.”
Lynette turns to look at me. She is radiant, surrounded by white light. The shadows increase around us, spitting and hissing as they fight to take over.
“Beloved daughter,” Lynette says. “You must return and link my energy to the others. But hear me on this—if we succeed and break the curse, you must find Darian’s bones, and mine, and lay us in a grave together. It will seal this curse so it can never return.”
“I will,” I reply. “But what now?”
“Return to your body. The energy from the heart of the curse goes with you. If the love between my witches and their mates is true, then the curse will be broken. Go now, little one. There isn’t much time.”
I watch them for a few moments longer. Darian takes Lynette into his arms and kisses her. The bright white lightengulfs them both, and I pray with my entire heart and soul that the two of them will now be together for eternity, just as they were always meant to be.
