Cursed crown

Chapter Three

Mara's Pov

I said yes at midnight.

Not because I wanted to. Not because I believed his pretty words about letting me go. I said yes because dying at dawn seemed stupid when I'd spent six years fighting to stay alive.

Elena came for me an hour later. No ceremony, no fanfare. Just her standing in the doorway with a simple white dress draped over her arm and an expression that said she knew exactly what kind of deal I'd made with the devil.

"It's a private binding," she said, laying the dress on the bed. "Just you, Lucien, and myself as witness. The pack will be informed after."

"How romantic." I picked up the dress. It was softer than anything I'd owned in years. "Does he do this often? Marry women to break curses?"

"You're his first." Elena's voice was dry. "And if things go according to plan, his last."

I wanted to ask what happened if things didn't go according to plan, but I already knew. I'd be bound to a dead man and stuck in a pack that would hate me for failing to save their king.

Great. Just great.

The dress fit perfectly, which meant someone had been watching me close enough to guess my measurements. That thought made my skin crawl, but I pushed it down. Everything made my skin crawl these days.

"The binding ceremony is in the western chapel," Elena said. "It's old magic, older than the pack itself. Once it's done, you'll be connected to Lucien through the mate bond. You'll feel his emotions, his pain. He'll feel yours."

"Can't wait," I muttered.

"Mara." She waited until I looked at her. "This isn't a game. The bond will change you. Make you vulnerable in ways you can't imagine. If you're not prepared…."

"I'm never prepared. I just survive." I met her eyes. "That's what I do. I survive."

She studied me for a long moment, then nodded. "Good. You'll need that stubbornness for what comes next."

*******************

The chapel was exactly what I expected. Old stone, flickering candles, and Lucien standing at the altar looking like every dark fairy tale I'd ever been warned about. He'd changed into formal clothes, all black except for a silver chain around his neck that caught the candlelight.

He looked up when I entered, and something in his expression shifted. Softened. Like seeing me in white made this real for him in a way it hadn't been before.

I walked down the aisle alone. No music, no flowers. Just the sound of my borrowed shoes on ancient stone and my heart trying to escape through my ribs.

When I reached him, he offered his hand. I stared at it for three full seconds before taking it.

His skin was warm. The bond flared between us, that hook under my ribs pulling tighter.

"You came," he said quietly.

"Did I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice."

I wanted to laugh at that, but Elena was already beginning the ceremony. Her words were in that old language, the one I heard in my dreams. I shouldn't have understood it, but somehow I did.

“Blood to blood, bone to bone, two souls binding into one.”

Lucien's hand tightened on mine. His eyes never left my face.

“By moon's light and ancient right, I call the bond forth this night.”

Something in my chest cracked open. Not painful, exactly. More like something that had been locked away suddenly breaking free.

The voice in my head screamed.

I stumbled, and Lucien caught me. His arm around my waist was the only thing keeping me upright.

"Mara?" His voice sounded distant. "What's wrong?"

"I can't……" The chapel spun. "There's something…."

“You're remembering," the voice whispered. “Finally, you're starting to remember.”

"Remember what?" I didn't realize I'd said it out loud until Elena stopped speaking.

"Mara, look at me." Lucien's hands cupped my face, forcing me to focus on him. "Stay with me. Just a few more minutes."

I wanted to tell him I couldn't. That something inside me was waking up, and it felt like dying and being born at the same time. But Elena was already continuing, her voice rising.

“Let the bond be sealed, let the curse be healed, by love freely given and choice revealed.”

Lucien leaned down and kissed me. It was supposed to be ceremonial. Quick and meaningless.

It wasn't.

The moment his lips touched mine, the world exploded into color and sound and sensation. I felt everything. His desperation, his hope, his fear. The pain eating through his bones. The curse wrapped around his soul like barbed wire.

And underneath it all, something else. Something that recognized me.

I pulled back, gasping. "What was that?"

"The bond." His voice was rough. "It's complete now. We're married."

Married. The word should have felt like a cage door slamming shut. Instead, it felt like something clicking into place. Like a puzzle piece I didn't know was missing.

I hated it.

"I need air." I stepped away from him, breaking contact. The bond protested, a physical ache in my chest. "I need to be alone."

"Mara…."

"Please." I looked at him, really looked at him, and saw my own fear reflected back. "Just give me an hour. One hour to process this."

He hesitated, then nodded. "The gardens. No one will bother you there."

I didn't wait for permission. I just ran.

The gardens were dark except for scattered lanterns along the paths. I found a bench hidden behind a wall of roses and collapsed onto it, pressing my palms against my eyes until I saw stars.

Married. I was married to an Alpha King I barely knew. Bound to him by magic I didn't understand. And the voice in my head wouldn't stop whispering.

“You've done this before. Stood in that chapel. Spoken those vows. You've loved him before.”

"Shut up," I hissed. "I've never loved anyone."

“Liar.”

A memory slammed into me. Not mine. Someone else's. A woman with my face standing in the same chapel, speaking the same vows. But the man at the altar wasn't Lucien. He was older, crueler. And when he kissed her, she tasted poison.

I lurched off the bench and threw up in the roses.

"The first binding is always rough."

I spun around. A man stood at the edge of the garden, half-hidden in shadows. He was tall, thin, with silver hair and eyes that reflected the lantern light like an animal's.

"Who are you?" I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Someone who knows what you are." He stepped closer. "Or rather, who you were."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you? The dreams, the voice, the language you speak in your sleep. You're starting to remember her. Seraphine. The Luna who cursed the Nightborne line three hundred years ago."

My blood went cold. "That's impossible."

"Is it? You bound yourself to her magic when you died. Swore you'd return to finish what you started. And here you are, married to the last Nightborne Alpha." His smile was all teeth. "Tell me, does he know what you are? Does he know his precious mate is the reincarnation of the woman who destroyed his family?"

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. "You're lying."

"Am I? Then explain the memories. Explain why you understand the old language. Explain why the bond recognized you the moment you met." He tilted his head. "You're her, Mara. You've always been her. And when the Blood Moon rises, you'll have to choose. Break the curse and betray everything Seraphine died for. Or let it consume him and finish her revenge."

"I don't believe in past lives or curses or….."

"You don't have to believe. The magic believes in you." He started to fade back into the shadows. "The Blood Moon is in five months. I suggest you figure out which side you're on before then."

"Wait." I stepped forward. "Who are you? How do you know all this?"

He paused, turning back just enough for me to see his face clearly.

"I'm the one who helped Seraphine cast the curse," he said. "And I'm not letting three hundred years of work fall apart because you caught feelings for the enemy."

Then he was gone.

I stood alone in the garden, the bond humming in my chest and a dead woman's memories crawling through my skull.

Behind me, I heard footsteps. Lucien's voice, quiet and careful.

"

Mara? Are you alright?"

I turned to face my husband. My mate. The man I was apparently supposed to destroy.

"No," I said honestly. "I don't think I am.”