The curse
1394 Words
"It's time you know why you're so important around here." Ethan whispers to me right after dinner and I nod.
Everyone is ready for me to know the truth now.
"When Ethan was made crowned prince of Artea things took a change for the worse." Logan begins and I quirk my brows.
The woods which were once terrorized by rogues was taken over by a different entity." He adds.
"We tried to figure out what it was but everyone who went into those woods never came back." I swallow a bit as Ethan continues.
"So my father locked it away from the public and werewolves." I nod.
"And back in the castle especially the royal family. Things weren't also peachy." Lydia adds.
"Most of my family members were against me though I won the title fair and square. And things going bad was just the right moment for them to blame it on me, for being different." Ethan narrates the story and I can't help but realize how similar I was to him back in the past.
When I didn't know what or who I was because I was different from the normal wolf.
Now I know why he didn't push me away. Ethan knew exactly what I was going through. He understood me.
"The worst part was when in all the chaos my father was assassinated, just like Stephanie described in her vision."
I somehow feel his pain so I give his hand a light squeeze. It must be really hard for him to relive this moment.
"I had to take the throne, and on the day of my coronation something went terribly wrong again." I look at him attentively.
"A curse was placed on all werewolves, the ability to transform into our wolves was taken from us, thus the ability to find our mates." Lucas draws my attention and my eyes widen with shock.
He is kidding right? That sounds impossible.
I look around at their faces to see if they are joking but their expression says otherwise.
"You mean to tell none of you have transformed into your wolves for... how long?" I ask still in shock.
"It has been four years." Logan replies.
I stare into vacuum and begin to connect the dots.
Four years, that sounds life four years of torture, of not being able to transform or find your mate.
"How is this possible, and how have you guys been holding up?“ I ask out of utter curiosity and concern.
"What could we do, we just had to move on, and besides it used to be more chaotic" Lydia draws my attention again.
"You see this just turned the whole werewolf population against Ethan. They blamed him for cursing the kingdom with his bloodline." I glance at my mate beside me with pity.
"We began to lose our minds as werewolves. It was a national disaster." Michael adds and I see everyone going down memory lane.
"In a year it stared to kick in and we realized if something wasn't done then crystal moon would be annihilated." Ethan continues.
"My mother contacted a former witch friend of hers. She couldn't identify the source of the curse, but she owed my mom a great favor so with her last dying breath......"
"She casted the most powerful spell a witch can cast." Stephanie cuts in.
"And made everyone forget, well everyone but the Royal family and high ranking officials. Only the strongest could remember." I nod at Ethan understand things now.
I glance at Logan for a moment.
"It must be really hard for you guys." I say out of sympathy.
"It was, until Stephanie found out that Ethan was an exception." Lydia says."
"In the second year the spell started to wear off. And that's when I had a vision." Stephanie looks at me and I stare right back at her.
"I didn't actually see your face but a saw you were the key to us finally breaking this curse." I nod at her words.
"So how do we break it then?" I look at Stephanie dead serious.
"We don't know yet." I crease my forehead at Ethan's answer.
"I had a vision that you broke the curse but I don't particularly know what role you played." Stephanie adds.
I look at everyone's face and it registers in my mind that it was important to them that they find me first.
"How do we find the next phase then?" I turn to Stephanie again.
"Well I've not had any visions yet so I guess we'll have to wait."
"Wait?" I look at her dumbfounded.
"You said it yourself that the spell is wearing off, how long before things take a turn for the worse again?" I exclaim rather angrily and Ethan squeezes my hand to grab my attention.
"It's okay, we've lived with it for years, we can wait a little bit longer." I stare at Ethan not wanting to believe his words.
I know deep down that they are all hanging on a thin thread. And they need help as soon as possible.
*
I try to sleep after dinner but everything they told me goes on replay in my head and I start to feel uneasy myself.
Four years of being cursed like this is not something to wait on another day.
Now I understand why Ethan is so stressed amongst them all. He's basically the only one who can transform around here amongst a whole pack of werewolves.
Not to mention the pressure of people waiting for him to break this curse.
I continuously stir in bed before I decide to move out for some fresh air.
I make sure not to wake Ethan up as I change my clothes and exit the room quietly.
I make my way to the garden so I can be surrounded by sweet fragrant flowers to clear my mind.
The moment I enter the place I sense the presence of someone else and unfortunately for me I bump into Stephanie.
"I'm guessing you are also finding it difficult to sleep." She looks at me with a smile on her face and I nod staring at her appearance.
She's in her normal clothes and it looks like she hasn't slept a wink.
We stand alone in the silence until I clear my throat.
"I'm sorry for the way I acted during dinner." I speak up and she turns to me.
"It's nothing. I've been living with your kind for a while now so I understand when and why you get angry." She says with a smile and I also smile back.
"I actually admire the loyalty and love you guys have." She adds with a hint of sadness in her voice.
I don't know how to respond to that so I just nod.
"Can I say something?" She asks out of the blue and I just nod.
"I have a very positive feeling that you don't like me that much." Her words take me by surprise a bit.
"You speak as if you know I have a grudge against you." I say and she laughs.
"Well it depends, do you?“ She smiles again and I gaze at her.
"I don't, but I'm still wondering why you were sitting in Ethan's chair the day we first met." I watch her smile subside a bit before I look away.
"You see, I sometimes do that." At that I cross my arms over my chest totally intrigued.
"But I do it for a good reason, see when I touch a person or something of theirs I sometimes get a vision." I narrow my eyes at her.
"And that is why I also hugged you that day. Our handshake wasn't enough so I tried to get more physical contact so I could get a reading or vision." I don't really believe her words but I just decide to let it go
"Look, I did have a crush on Ethan, but there's nothing to worry about. Besides the fact that I'm with someone I also won't blow off such an opportunity to be your friend." She says with a genuine smile on her face
Lydia is right. Maybe I'm overthinking this.
"That's good to know, thanks for telling me." I give her a small smile before I excuse myself to go back to bed.
- Writer
