Verveville's Curse

Chapter44

The courtroom was loud when I walked in. Voices carried, some deep, some sharp, all mixing together like a storm. I walked through the doors, shoulders squared, but every step felt heavy.

I knew I looked pale. I could feel it. The blood that had left me in the night hadn’t returned. My chest still ached with the memory of it. My throat was raw, my veins sore.

And everyone noticed.

Eyes turned. Heads leaned closer. Whispers started.

I ignored them and kept walking toward my place at the front.

“Kael.”

Her voice pulled me. Kaida was already moving from her seat, pushing through a line of pack members to get to me. She reached me fast, her hand catching my arm before I could turn away.

“You don’t look well.” Her eyes searched me, sharp but worried. She stood close, too close, like a sister who wouldn’t let me lie to her.

“I’m fine,” I said, but my voice was rougher than I meant it to be. I cleared my throat and forced a smile, though it didn’t reach my eyes. “You don’t have to worry, Kaida.”

“You’re pale,” she pressed, her fingers tightening. “This isn’t nothing. What happened?”

I shook my head and looked away. “I said I’m fine. Just tired.”

She didn’t believe me. I could see it in her face, the crease in her brow, the way her mouth pulled down. But I didn’t give her more. I couldn’t. Not with this curse pressing on me like chains.

I patted her hand and pulled my arm free. “Don’t worry. It’ll pass.”

Her lips parted, like she wanted to argue, but a movement at the doorway stopped her.

“And Kaida, I’m sorry for yelling at you” i said to her genuinely.

“I know Kael” she said.

Willow had walked in.

She moved with quiet steps, her head high but her eyes searching the room as if she felt the weight of every stare. She found us quickly, her gaze softening when it landed on me.

Something inside me eased.

Kaida glanced between us, and I saw the moment she let me go, stepping back as Willow came near.

“Is everything alright?” Willow asked, looking between me and Kaida.

“Fine,” I said quickly, too quickly. I could see the question in her face, the way she tilted her head at me, but she didn’t push. Not here. Not in front of all these eyes.

Kaida let out a quiet breath, then gave Willow a small smile. “It’s nothing. He just doesn’t look like himself.”

Willow’s hand brushed mine, a touch no one else would notice, light but steady. “We’ll talk later,” she whispered under her breath.

I gave a small nod. Then I pulled away from them both and walked to the front. To my place.

The voices in the room dimmed as I stood there. Every pair of eyes fixed on me.

I took a breath, straightened my shoulders, and let my voice carry.

“I have an announcement.”

The room went silent.

“This woman,” I said, turning slightly toward Willow where she stood, her red dress glowing like flame in the torchlight, “is not only my chosen mate, but she is your Luna.”

Gasps rippled. Some clapped, voices rising in approval, relief. Others did not. I saw the anger in their faces, the disgust that tightened jaws and narrowed eyes.

“She’s an outsider.”

“She’s not even one of us.”

“We cannot have a Luna like that.”

The mutters rose, bitter and sharp.

But I also heard the voices of those who cheered. Who shouted my name. Who called her Luna already.

The room was split.

I stood firm. My voice cut through them all. “She is mine. And because she is mine, she is yours. That is final.”

The noise did not stop, but no one challenged me openly. Not yet.

Willow’s eyes stayed on me, steady, like she carried the weight of those stares with me.

Then a shadow moved from the side of the room.

Thorne.

He stepped forward slowly, his eyes fixed on Willow.

I tensed, though I did not move yet. His face was calm, but his eyes…his eyes were sharp, glinting with something no one else seemed to notice.

He came close, close enough to bow slightly before Willow.

“Luna,” he said, his voice smooth. “It is an honor.”

Willow’s head tilted as she looked at him. For a moment, her eyes narrowed, studying his face. Then her expression smoothed, calm and polite.

“Do I know you?” she asked softly.

The words hit like a blow.

Thorne’s smile was faint, controlled. “No,” he said after a pause that lasted too long. “No, you do not.”

And Willow nodded, accepting that as truth.

But I watched him. I saw the way his hand twitched at his side, the way his jaw clenched and released. He hid it well, but not from me.

I sat slowly in my chair, my body aching, my chest tight, and looked out at them all, my pack divided, Willow at my side, Thorne watching with eyes that promised something I couldn’t yet see.

The courtroom was alive with voices again. Praise, anger, questions.

And under it all, the curse burned in my blood.