The Slave Queen's Awakening

CHAPTER 6

Sylvia

I scrambled away from Rowan so fast that I almost fell again, but caught myself on the wall this time.

My face burned hot and I could feel my cheeks turning red like they always did when I was embarrassed.

I could not look at him because I was sure he would see how affected I was by being that close to him.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry," I said over and over, backing away to my corner of the room. "I am so clumsy. I should watch where I’m going . I did not mean to fall on you like that."

"You are always falling," He pointed out and there was something in his voice that sounded almost like he wanted to laugh, but had forgotten how. "Maybe we should wrap you in pillows to keep you safe"

That made me look up at him in surprise because it was the first time he had said anything that was not serious, dark or about death.

He was not exactly smiling, but his face looked softer somehow and less like he wanted to disappear into the shadows forever.

I handed him his plate carefully this time and made sure to stay far enough away that I could not accidentally touch him again.

I scurried back to my corner like a scared mouse. My hands still shook as I picked up my own food and started eating as fast as I could because if my mouth was full then I could not say anything stupid and embarrass myself more.

The eggs went down wrong and I started coughing. Rowan looked at me with what might have been concern on his face.

"Slow down before you choke yourself," He took a bite of his own food at normal speed like he was showing me how eating was supposed to work. "The food is not going to run away."

I forced myself to chew slower, but it was hard because my whole body still felt strange from touching him, and the mate bond kept pulling at me to go back over there.

We ate in silence after that and I tried not to watch him, but my eyes kept going to him anyway. Sometimes I caught him looking at me too and it made my stomach do weird flips.

"Thank you for the meal." He said when he finished before setting his plate aside carefully with his free hand.

"You are welcome." I answered and then we just sat there, staring at different walls. The silence got heavier and more awkward with each second that passed.

Finally I could not stand it anymore, and the question that had been burning in my mind since last night came out before I could stop it.

"What exactly is your curse and how did you get it?"

Rowan went so still that I thought he had stopped breathing. The silence stretched so long that I was sure he would not answer.

I was about to apologize for asking when he finally spoke, his voice was so quiet I had to lean forward to hear him.

"The Alpha King placed it on me years ago," Each word sounded like it hurt to say.

"My pack lived in the mountains and we kept to ourselves, never bothering anyone. Lucian wanted our land because it had silver mines and when my father refused to give it up, Lucian brought his army."

He stopped talking and stared at his chained hands. I could see his jaw working like he was grinding his teeth together.

"They killed everyone," He continued, his voice completely empty of emotion which was somehow worse than if he had been angry.

"My parents, my siblings and every single member of my pack down to the youngest pup. I was seventeen and tried to fight but there were too many of them and Lucian wanted me alive."

"Why?" I asked even though I was not sure I wanted to know the answer.

"Because I was strong and he could use me," Rowan laughed but it was bitter and sharp.

"He put the curse on me that night while I was covered in my family's blood. He told me I would serve him forever as his executioner and my punishment for defying him would be to never know love because anyone I mated would die."

My chest hurt for him and for the boy he had been who lost everything in one night. "How does the curse work exactly?"

"It makes me unstable and turns me into a beast that only knows how to kill," He finally looked at me with those ice blue eyes that held so much pain.

"And it kills my mates slowly and painfully within three days to three weeks. I have to watch them die knowing I am the reason."

Fear shot through me, cold and sharp because hearing him say it made it real in a way that it had not been before.

I was going to die soon and there was nothing anyone could do about it. I would just be another name on the list of women who died because they were mated to him.

"How do they die?" I whispered, and immediately wished I had not asked because I really did not want to know the details of my own death.

"The curse drains them," His voice cracked slightly.

"First their energy disappears. They become weak and tired all the time, then it starts draining their blood from the inside. They get paler and paler until they look like ghosts and finally, their body just gives up and stops working."

I waited for the fear to get worse, but then, something occurred to me that did not make sense.

I had been mated to him for a whole day now and I should be feeling weak, but I actually felt stronger than I ever had before.

My body felt full of energy, like I could run for miles without getting tired and that was definitely not normal for me.

"I do not feel weak," I said slowly, trying to understand what was happening. "Actually I feel stronger than before and that is weird right?"

Rowan frowned, studying me carefully. "You should be showing signs by now. Helena was already tired by the second day."

I looked down at my arms where the guards had grabbed me yesterday and the bruises were completely gone.

My skin was smooth and unmarked like I had never been hurt at all and that was impossible. Humans did not heal that fast and even wolves took longer than one night to heal from bruises.

"My bruises are gone," I whispered in awe, holding out my arms so he could see. "The guards hurt me yesterday but look, there is nothing there."

"That is impossible," Rowan leaned forward as far as his chains would allow. "Let me see."

I moved closer, but still stayed out of reach and showed him my arms.. His frown got deeper as he stared at my unmarked skin and I could see him trying to figure out what was happening.

"Maybe the mate bond is doing something different with you," He said but sounded unsure. "Or maybe you are not as human as everyone thinks."

"But I have always been human," I said even though the golden light that came from me yesterday suggested otherwise. “I grew up as a human slave and nobody ever said anything about me being different."

"The bond reacted strangely to you," Rowan seemed to be thinking out loud. "Stronger than any bond I have ever seen and you survived the initial connection which should have killed a normal human immediately."

My head spun with all this information and the room suddenly felt too small and too warm. Everything was happening too fast and I could not process it all.

I needed air before I passed out or started screaming or both.

"I need some air." I said, standing up quickly. "I just need to think, breathe and figure this out."

Rowan nodded, looking concerned. "Do not go far. Stay inside the tower where it is safe"

I practically ran from the room, down the hallway and up the stairs until I found a door that led to a balcony.

The cold mountain air hit my face and I sucked in deep breaths, trying to calm my racing thoughts but then I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned around and my blood turned to ice because standing in the doorway with a smile that made my skin crawl, was Beta Hunter.

The terror that filled me was so strong I could not even scream.