CURSED BY BLOOD, CLAIMED BY LOVE

Wow

CHAPTER THREE

Moana’s POV

In the morning, I woke up on my straw bed in the cellar.

The morning sun did not feel warm, it felt like a cold weight pressing against my eyes.

I didn't feel like myself, my chest felt like it was filled with broken glass. Every time I took a breath, a sharp pain shot through my ribs. This was the Bond Sickness. My wolf was silent and cold in the back of my mind. She was mourning the mate who had thrown us away.

"Get up, rat!"

The voice was loud and mean. I opened my eyes and saw a guard standing at the top of the cellar stairs. He was kicking the wooden door.

"The Alpha wants to have his breakfast, and the floors in the main hall are filthy," the guard shouted. "Do not make him wait. He is in a very bad mood today."

I tried to sit up, but my head spun. My stomach felt sick. I wanted to stay in the dark and cry, but I knew what would happen if I stayed. If I didn't work, I wouldn't eat, and they would throw me out of the pack lands, and the wild rogues would kill me.

I stood up slowly and put on my old, torn boots and walked up the stone steps.

The Pack House was busy. Wolves were talking about the ceremony from last night. They were laughing about how lucky the Alpha was to escape a mate like me.

I kept my head down. I didn't want them to see the red burn mark on my chest or that I was dying inside.

I went to the kitchen, grabbed a bucket of water and a heavy scrub brush. My hands were already shaking.

"The Alpha is in the grand dining hall," the cook said. She didn't look at me. Nobody wanted to look at a rejected mate. It was like I was a bad omen.

"He is waiting. Go."

I walked to the dining hall. The doors were large and made of dark wood. I pushed them open and stepped inside.

The room was huge, and a long table sat in the middle, filled with meat, bread, and fruits. Eldrick was sitting at the head of the table, while Kaelen was sitting next to him.

The moment I entered the room, the air changed.

The bond… even though it was broken, was still there like a ghost. As I got closer to Eldrick, the pain in my chest changed. It stopped being sharp and started to feel like something dull. My wolf moved just a little bit. She wanted to be near him. She was a fool.

Eldrick looked up.

And I noticed he looked terrible. His golden eyes had dark circles under them, his hair was messy, and his skin looked pale.

He was holding a cup of coffee, but his hand was shaking. The rejection was hurting him, too. The Moon Goddess was punishing him for what he did to me.

"You're late," Eldrick growled. His voice was deeper and more jagged than yesterday.

I didn't look at him. I dropped to my knees near the door and started to scrub the floor.

"I am sorry, Alpha," I whispered.

"Speak louder!" he snapped, slamming his cup onto the table. The sound made me jump.

"I cannot hear you when you mumble into the dirt like a fool."

I swallowed hard. "I am sorry, Alpha. I was slow to wake."

Kaelen looked at Eldrick.

"Eldrick, take it easy. She looks sick. We all feel the weight of the broken bond. You can't tell me you aren't feeling it, too."

"I feel nothing!" Eldrick shouted. He stood up so fast his chair fell over and walked toward me.

I stayed on my knees. I stared at the bucket of soapy water, but I could feel his heat as he stood over me. He was so big, so powerful. My body wanted to lean into him, but my mind remembered the look of hate in his eyes.

He reached down. His large hand grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him.

His touch felt like fire. It burned, but in a way that made the Bond Sickness go away for a second.

My heart beat faster. For a tiny moment our eyes met. I saw a flash of pain in his golden gaze. I saw a flicker of something that wasn't hate. It was a soul-deep hunger.

But then, he saw the red mark on my chest, the mark he gave me, and his face suddenly turned hard again. He let go of my chin like I was made of poison.

"You look like a corpse, Moana," he said, sounding disgusted.

"Is this how you plan to serve me? By dropping like a weakling in my hall?

"I am doing my work," I said, but I noticed my voice was getting stronger, it felt like his presence was giving me energy. That was the cruelest part of the bond. I needed the man who hated me just to stay alive.

"You are doing it poorly," Eldrick said.

He turned to Kaelen. "Why is she still here? Why hasn't she been moved to the outer borders?"

“Huh?” Kaelen breathed.

“Yes! I need this piece of dirt to be sent out of my territory immediately… and now. I don't want to see her anymore!”

“But you know that’s impossible… Alpha.”

“Why?”

"Because she is the only one who knows how to manage the old records," Kaelen said calmly. He stood up and walked over to us.

"And because if you send her away now, the bond will snap. You’ll both die of a broken heart before the week is out. You know the laws, Eldrick. A rejected mate must stay within the pack walls for one month to let the soul settle."

Eldrick growled. It was a sound of pure frustration. He hated that he was tied to me.

"Fine," Eldrick spat. He looked at me again.

"Clean the floor. Then go to the library. I want all the maps of the North border cleaned and organized by tonight. If you miss one speck of dust, you will sleep in the stables with the horses."

"Yes, Alpha," I said calmly.

He turned and walked out of the room, his steps heavy. He looked like he was carrying a mountain on his back.

Kaelen stayed behind. He looked down at me, not with hate, but with a question in his eyes.

"Moana," he said softly.

I kept scrubbing.

"Yes, Beta?"

"I saw what you did last night," he said. "When the light connected you to him. You didn't look like a traitor. You looked like you were finally coming home."

I stopped scrubbing. I looked at the gray water in my bucket.

"It doesn't matter what I looked like. He rejected me. The home is gone."

Kaelen knelt down on one knee. He was being much kinder than an Alpha’s Beta should be to an Omega.

"Eldrick is a man of rules, he thinks your father’s blood is in your veins, but the moon does not give an Alpha a mate that will destroy him. She gives him a mate that will complete him."

"He doesn't want to be complete," I said. "He wants to be alone."

"He is in pain, Moana," Kaelen said. "The rejection is eating his wolf alive. He is trying to be strong, but he is breaking."

"So am I," I whispered.

Kaelen reached out and touched my shoulder. It was a friendly touch, not a mate touch. "Go to the library when you are done here. It is quiet there. I will send some bread and tea. You need to eat."

"Thank you, Beta," I said.

Kaelen left, and I was alone in the big hall.

Just then, someone kicked my bucket over, making grey water from it to splash all over me. I looked up, and it was Sela, Elara, and Ava.

“You filthy thing…” Sela hissed, and the others burst into cruel laughter.

I gripped the scrubbing brush so tight my knuckles turned white. My heart pounded as my breaths came in quick, shallow bursts.

“What do you want?” I managed to speak out, my voice trembling.

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