ASHES OF THE CURSE
1544 Words
CHAPTER 14: ASHES OF THE CURSE
The truth didn’t burn. It froze.
Saelith stood in Veyran’s chamber, his confession still hanging in the air.
“I started the fire. Lyra died screaming.”
The bond between them pulsed with his guilt. Heavy. Suffocating.
“Show me,” she whispered.
Veyran’s head snapped up. Gold eyes met hers. “What?”
“Show me,” Saelith said again. Stronger this time. “The memory.
Through the bond. If I’m your mate, then let me see it.
All of it. No lies. No hiding.”
Veyran hesitated. For an Alpha who commanded armies,
fear looked strange on him.
“You won’t survive it,” he said quietly.
“Try me,” Saelith stepped closer. Took his hand.
Pressed it to the mark on her neck. “We share blood now.
Share the ash too.”
The bond flared.
And Saelith was ripped out of her body.
---
Fire. Everywhere.
Screams. Not Lyra’s. A dozen voices.
A castle hall, ten years ago. Tapestries burning. Stone cracking from heat.
Veyran— younger. Barely twenty. Eyes wild, wolf barely chained.
Stood in the center of it all, hands raised, flames pouring from his palms.
Not by choice. By loss of control.
“Veyran, stop!” A girl’s voice. Lyra.
She was beautiful. Silver hair. Eyes like moonlight.
Running toward him through the flames, not away.
“Don’t come closer!” Veyran roared. Voice breaking.
“My wolf— I can’t— I’m sorry, I can’t stop it!”
But Lyra didn’t stop. She grabbed his face.
“I know you,” she said. Calm. Even as smoke filled her lungs.
“You’re not a monster. You’re scared. Let me help you.”
The memory twisted. Shifted.
Saelith saw what Veyran couldn’t see from his angle.
Saw the figure in the shadows behind Lyra.
Darius. Seventeen years old. Smiling.
A torch in his hand. More oil at his feet.
He hadn’t been trying to save Lyra.
He’d started the fire.
To kill Veyran. To take the throne.
Lyra ran in to stop him. And got caught.
“No,” Saelith whispered in the memory. “No, Veyran didn’t—”
But the fire roared louder. Drowned her out.
Lyra collapsed into Veyran’s arms. Last words barely a breath:
“You’re not cursed, my love. You’re chosen. Don’t let them make you believe otherwise.”
Then darkness. Ash. Silence.
---
Saelith crashed back into her body, gasping, sobbing.
Veyran caught her before she hit the floor.
“Saelith! Saelith, look at me!”
She was crying. Not for Lyra. For him.
For the ten years he carried that guilt alone.
For the way he believed he was a monster.
“It wasn’t you,” she choked out, hands gripping his shirt.
“Darius started the fire. I saw him. He was seventeen. He smiled.”
Veyran froze. Every muscle in his body went rigid.
“That’s… impossible,” he said. But his voice cracked.
“I saw him that night. He pulled me out of the flames.
He said he tried to save her but it was too late.”
“Because he was the one who lit it,” Saelith said.
She pulled back, looked him in the eyes.
“Your brother murdered your mate and let you believe you did it.
For ten years, Veyran. Ten years of hell because of his lie.”
The room went silent.
Then Veyran’s wolf surged. Not in grief. In rage.
The kind of rage that breaks mountains.
The windows shattered. The torches blew out.
His roar shook the entire Blackthorn Fortress.
“DARIUS!”
The name was a death sentence.
Veyran shoved Saelith behind him, already moving to the door.
Claws out. Eyes pure gold. No Alpha left. Only the beast.
“Stay here,” he growled. “Do not follow. Do not—”
“I’m coming with you,” Saelith said. She stood. Shaking, but standing.
“He used me too. He watched my father sell me.
He let me rot for years thinking I was worthless.
This ends tonight. With both of us.”
Veyran turned. For a second, he looked like he’d argue.
Then he saw her face. Saw the mark on her neck glowing.
Saw his mate. Not his burden. His equal.
He nodded once. “Stay close. If he so much as looks at you—”
“I know,” Saelith finished. “You’ll burn the world.”
They moved through the fortress like a storm.
Warriors scattered. No one dared block their path.
The bond between them was a weapon now. Sharp. Unified.
They found Darius in the throne room.
Sitting on Veyran’s chair like he belonged there.
Casual. Drinking wine. Like he hadn’t just been exposed.
“Brother,” Darius said, not even standing. “You look angry.
Did little sister finally learn the truth? That you’re a murderer?”
Veyran didn’t speak. He just walked. Each step cracked the marble floor.
Darius finally stood. Smiled. “You saw it, didn’t you?
Through the bond. Cute trick. But memories can be twisted, Veyran.
Maybe I was there. Maybe I had a torch.
But you were the one who lost control. You were the one—”
“Shut up,” Saelith said. Her voice cut through the room like ice.
Darius turned to her. Eyes soft. The brother mask back on.
“Saelith, sweet sister. You don’t have to do this.
Come with me. I’ll cut the bond. No more fire. No more Alpha madness.
Just peace. Just family.”
“Family?” Saelith laughed. Bitter. Broken.
“You let my father sell me for three bags of gold.
You let me sleep in the mud for five years.
You started a fire that killed an innocent girl.
You are not my family, Darius. You are ash.”
Darius’s mask slipped. Rage flashed in his eyes.
“You ungrateful— I was trying to save our bloodline!
Veyran is cursed! Everyone he touches dies!
I was protecting you from him!”
“No,” Veyran said. Finally speaking. Voice low. Dead.
“You were protecting yourself from me.
Because you knew the prophecy. The true Alpha would rise.
And it wouldn’t be the brother who hides in shadows.”
He stopped three feet from Darius. Close enough to kill.
Far enough to let Saelith speak first.
“Ten years,” Veyran said quietly. “Ten years I blamed myself.
Ten years I refused to claim a mate because I thought I’d kill her too.
You stole that time from me, brother.
You stole Lyra from me. You stole my peace.”
Darius’s smile turned ugly. “And I’d do it again.
Because the Blackthorn throne should be mine.
I’m older. I’m smarter. I’m—”
Veyran moved.
No warning. No speech.
One hand around Darius’s throat. Lifted him off the ground.
“Lyra’s last words were for me,” Veyran said. Quiet. Terrifying.
“‘You’re chosen.’ Not cursed. Chosen.
And the Moon chose Saelith for me.
So tell me, brother… who are you to argue with the Moon?”
Darius clawed at his hand, gasping. “You… won’t… kill me…
We’re blood—”
“Blood you spilled first,” Veyran said. His grip tightened.
“Goodbye, Darius. Say hello to Lyra in hell.”
“Wait!” Saelith stepped forward. Hand on Veyran’s arm.
Veyran looked at her. Waiting. The beast in him screaming to kill.
The man in him waiting for her word.
Saelith looked at Darius. At the brother she once admired.
At the male who destroyed two lives for a throne.
“Don’t kill him,” she said softly.
Veyran’s jaw clenched. “Saelith—”
“Not because he deserves mercy,” she said.
“Because you’re not him. You’re not a murderer.
You’re the male who chose to save me instead of run.
Prove it now. Be better than him.”
Veyran stared at her. For a long moment, only the sound of Darius choking.
Then slowly, his hand loosened.
Darius dropped to his knees, coughing, gasping.
Veyran looked down at him. No mercy. No forgiveness.
Just finality.
“You live,” Veyran said. “But you leave Blackthorn tonight.
Banished. If you ever step on this land again,
I won’t give Saelith the choice. I’ll end you myself.”
Guards dragged Darius away, screaming curses.
The throne room fell silent.
Saelith exhaled. Shaking. The bond between her and Veyran settled.
Warm. No more lies. No more ash. Only truth.
Veyran turned to her. Dropped to one knee.
Not as Alpha. As a male.
“Thank you,” he said. “For seeing me. Not the curse. Not the fire. Me.”
Saelith touched his face. Thumb brushed his jaw.
“You’re not cursed, Veyran. You’re chosen.
Lyra was right. And so am I.”
He closed his eyes. Pressed his forehead to her hand.
For the first time in ten years, the weight lifted.
The ash cleared.
Outside, the Blood Moon cleared the clouds.
Full. Red. Watching.
And for the first time… it didn’t look like a warning.
It looked like a blessing.
---
EPISODE END
To be continued in Chapter 15: THE MOON'S BLESSING
- Writer
