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“It was blood magic, there might have been nothing they could do,” Katarina said. “In the vision she was surrounded by Thane’s family, it looked like they helped her facilitate the spell, but Thane showed up. She knew she had been betrayed at the last minute.”
We all stayed quiet.
“Cursed until a Belladonna breaks the spell. Bound together until the curse is broken. Cursed while a daughter resides with them for a year. Bound together until the words are spoken.” Katarina repeated those words we had all heard when the spell first took place. “I feel like we are missing something, but after seeing her circle, I’m going to make a few changes.”
“What happened to her?” Zev asked.
His voice was so quiet, nothing like the dominating Alpha we all had grown accustomed to. He sounded childlike and I knew he wondered what had happened to her.
Katarina looked up at him with pain in her violet eyes.
“I can’t say for sure but… I don’t think she survived the spell,” Katarina said, with a shaky voice. “The spell required a sacrifice. I think it took her life and it’s why a Belladonna comes here for a year, then she dies. It’s all payment.”
Zev’s jaw clenched until I thought he might break his teeth.
“She… Her baby…” Zev’s voice broke.
He had his hands on his hips looking up at the ceiling like it was taking everything for him not to lose it. Katarina moved on my lap like she wanted to go to him, but I wasn’t too sure how he was going to react to her.
Give him a moment.
I projected into her mind. Our communication in each other’s minds hadn’t been reliable, but the moment she relaxed I knew she had gotten the message.
“It’s not your fault Zev, you tried to protect her. Their plan was in motion, long before you knew anything,” Aeon said, getting up. “They used her and no matter how many outcomes that come through your head, there was nothing you could have done.”
Aeon walked to Zev slowly until Zev looked at him with so much emotion in his eyes.
“I could have made her stay with me. I should have told her not to go home, but to stay with me, given her a room to stay in and she would have been safe here,” Zev growled.
“There will always be woulda, coulda, and shoulda, but you have to stop blaming yourself.” Katarina got up from my lap. “You tried and that’s more than most people would have done in your position.”
She stood in front of him unafraid by the glare he was giving her. She cupped his face with her hands. He visibly shivered until I saw the tension leave his body as he reached for her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“I’ll always feel like I could have done more,” he said, in a broken voice.
“That’s because you're a good man and a good alpha,” Katarina said, running her hands through his hair.
I got up from the floor when Aeon wrapped his arms around them, and I followed suit. His emotions were a raging storm that threatened to engulf me. How had he survived all this time with this turmoil? Zev carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I didn’t realize how much of it he had hidden away.
“It’s no longer your burden to carry anymore Zev, let us help. That’s what a pack is for, and it's time you start realizing we will always be here for you,” I said, squeezing them even tighter.
I hope this helped Zev move on, because he deserved to start our new life together with a clean slate. We all did.
20
KATARINA
Iwas exhausted. This spell had so many components that each day I had to use my magic for something. After seeing the spell Vivienne created, I had to change a few things in the hope that they counteracted some of the curse. The anxiety around this curse was consuming me.
I told myself that I was going to live life to the fullest, but it seemed this fucking curse had other plans for me. Sex was on the mostly back burner because I was always tired. Zev was lost in his own turmoil and Lucien and Aeon have been running themselves ragged gathering supplies and watching the perimeter.
Mr. Potter has noticed a few men around the perimeter, making the guys even more on edge. For some strange reason, I knew they would take care of me and keep me safe. I thought I knew what safe meant, but after bonding with Zev, that man was just a huge fucking teddy bear. His protectiveness was not only for me, but for his pack mates and it made me fall for him that much more. He was still moody and grumpy, but that man was just a big softie for those he cared about.
Said man's arm was banded around my middle, squeezing me tightly as he mumbled something in his sleep. We had allbeen tired lately, sleeping a lot, especially since last night they each took turns to see who could make me come the hardest. It was one of those rare moments that I wish I could have bottled up or taken a picture of to leave with them just in case this didn’t work out.
I bit my lip, thankful that Aeon’s back was to me, so I didn’t have to worry about a stray tear falling down my face. It seems the closer to Beltane we got, the more emotional I had become. Staring death in the face had me feeling so much, and I just had to stay strong for one more week. My chest was tight with emotion as I felt the urge to have a major meltdown. I didn’t know why, but the closer we got to the day we would break the spell, the more I felt like this wasn’t going to work.
My lip trembled, making me bite it to keep quiet. I didn’t know if it was the visions or my impeccable intuition, but I knew it was a big possibility that I was going to die.
