Cursed Crown

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Lucien's Pov

I stood at my father's grave as dawn broke over the mountains, watching color fit into the sky for the first time in my life.

Red. That was red, wasn't it? And the gold threading through the clouds, I'd read about gold in my mother's journals, in the poetry I wrote and never showed anyone. But reading about color was like reading about drowning. You never really understood until you couldn't breathe.

My hands trembled as I pressed them against the cold headstone. The pain in my bones had started an hour ago, right on schedule. It would fade by midmorning, only to return tomorrow at dawn. Each day is a little worse. Each day stealing a little more of my strength.

Six months. Maybe less now.

"I found her." My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. "The girl from the m******e. The one I pulled from the fire sixteen years ago. She's here, Father. She's alive."

The wind carried my words away. My father couldn't answer. He'd stopped answering eight years ago when the curse finally killed him, turning him into something twisted and broken that begged for death by the end.

I wouldn't beg. When my time came, I'd face it with dignity, alone, where no one would have to watch me decay.

But now there was her.

Mara.

Just thinking her name made something in my chest pull tight. The bond thrummed under my skin, insistent and demanding. Mine, it whispered. Claim her. Mark her. Keep her.

I'd spent my entire adult life learning control. As Alpha King, control was everything. Control over my wolf, my territory, my emotions. Control was what separated me from the monsters humans feared in their bedtime stories.

But control meant nothing against a mate bond.

"She doesn't remember me," I said to the grave. "And she's terrified. Of wolves. Of me. Of whatever demons chase her in her sleep."

I'd watched her through the night. Not physically, I wasn't quite that far gone, but through the bond. Her emotions bled through in waves. Fear, confusion. A bone-deep exhaustion that matched my own. And underneath it all, a rage so pure it burned.

She was going to run the moment I gave her the chance.

I couldn't let her run.

"The curse," I whispered. "Mother's journals said marriage before the Blood Moon. But she also said it requires choice. How do I give her a choice when the alternative is execution?"

The headstone offered no answers. I hadn't expected any.

I turned to leave and found Marcus waiting at the tree line, his expression carefully neutral. My Beta knew better than to interrupt me here, which meant something important had happened.

"She's awake," he said. "Your mother gave her the journal."

I closed my eyes. "And?"

"And she's pacing her room like a caged animal. Elena thinks she'll try to escape through the window within the hour."

"The window is four stories up."

"Elena's exact point was that the girl doesn't seem to care." Marcus fell into step beside me as we walked back toward the compound. "Lucien, are you sure about this? She killed a hunter. The human authorities will come looking. And if the pack finds out you're protecting her because of a mate bond….."

"They won't find out." I kept my voice level. "Not yet. Not until I understand what she is."

"What she is? She's a wolf. Untrained, but—...."

"She's more than that." I stopped walking. The surrounding colors were still too bright, too overwhelming. Green trees. Blue sky. Marcus's brown eyes studying me with concern. "When she looked at me, Marcus, just for a second, I saw something else in her eyes. Something old."

"Old how?"

I didn't answer. I didn't know how to explain the feeling that had crashed through me when our eyes met. Like recognition. Like meeting someone I'd known my entire life, even though I'd only seen her once sixteen years ago and she'd been barely conscious from smoke inhalation.

"Set up a meeting," I said finally. "After breakfast. Somewhere neutral. Not my office. Maybe the library."

"You're giving her the proposal today?"

"The longer I wait, the more time she has to convince herself she can escape." I started walking again. "And Marcus? Have the patrols double their watch on the borders. If any hunters come looking for their missing man, I want to know before they reach the territory line."

"You really think they'll come?"

I thought about the fear in Mara's eyes when she said she'd killed him. The way her hands had shaken. The blood that had covered her like war paint.

"I think she's been running from more than just hunters," I said. "And whatever she's running from is still following her."

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

I found Elena in her study, surrounded by journals and old texts. She looked up when I entered, and her expression shifted from scholarly focus to motherly concern in an instant.

"You look worse today," she said.

"Good morning to you too."

"Lucien." She stood, crossing the room to touch my face. Her hand was cool against my skin. "The curse is progressing faster than expected."

"I'm fine."

"You're dying." Her voice was gentle but firm. "Don't insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise. The bone pain started three weeks ago. That means you have five months at most, probably less."

I pulled away from her touch and moved to the window. The gardens below were a riot of colors I was still learning to name. "Tell me about the journal entry. The one about choice."

Elena sighed. "Your father and I discussed it endlessly before he died. The curse can only be broken by true marriage, but true marriage requires genuine consent. Both parties must choose it freely, without coercion."

"But I'm coercing her. Marriage or execution isn't a real choice."

"No," Elena agreed. "It's not."

I turned to face her. "Then what am I supposed to do? Let her go and die in six months? Watch the curse pass to whatever heir I never had because I was too noble to force the issue?"

"I don't know." She looked suddenly old, tired. "Your father and I tried everything. Every loophole, every interpretation. The curse doesn't bend, Lucien. It's absolute."

"There has to be another way."

"There might be." She hesitated. "But you won't like it."

"Tell me."

"Make her want to stay. Not because of threats or obligation, but because she chooses you. Genuinely chooses you."

I laughed, the sound bitter even to my own ears. "She's terrified of me, Mother. She flinches every time I come near her. How am I supposed to make her want to stay?"

"I don't know. But if you can't, then the curse wins. And everything your father sacrificed, everything we've built here, dies with you."

The weight of her words settled over me like a shroud. She was right. I knew she was right. But knowing didn't make it easier.

"I need to see her," I said. "Now. Before I lose my nerve."

Elena touched my arm. "Be gentle, Lucien. Whatever she's running from, it's made her sharp. Push too hard and she'll break. Or worse, she'll break you."

Mara was standing by the window when I entered, her posture defensive like she was ready to fight or flee. She'd changed into clothes that actually fit, probably provided by one of the pack members close to her size. Her dark hair was still damp from bathing.

She looked like she belonged here. That thought was dangerous.

"Sit," I said, gesturing to the chairs by the fireplace.

"I'd rather stand."

"Mara…."

"Don't." She cut me off, her voice sharp. "Don't say my name like you know me. You don't know anything about me."

That stung more than it should have. "You're right. I don't. But I'd like to."

"Why? So you can figure out what I'm worth? Whether killing a hunter makes me useful or dangerous?" She crossed her arms. "Just tell me what you want. I'm done playing games."

I studied her for a long moment. The bond hummed between us, and I wondered if she could feel it too. If she had any idea what she was to me.

"I'm dying," I said finally.

That threw her. Her arms dropped slightly, confusion flickering across her face. "What?"

"There's a curse on my bloodline. It's killed every Alpha King in my family for the last three hundred years. My father. His father. All the way back to the beginning. And now it's killing me." I kept my voice even, factual. "I have approximately six months left. Maybe less."

She stared at me. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because there's a cure. Marriage before the Blood Moon. The curse can be broken if I marry my fated mate."

The color drained from her face. "No."

"Mara….."

"No. I don't care about your curse or your bloodline or whatever mystical bullshit you're selling. I'm not marrying you."

"You'd rather die?"

"I'd rather be free."

The word hit like a punch. Free. Something I'd never been, not really. Not with the weight of the pack on my shoulders and the curse eating me alive from the inside.

"I can offer you protection," I said. "From the hunters looking for you. From whatever you're running from. A place to stay, resources, safety….."

"In exchange for what? Becoming your Luna? Playing house while you use me to break your curse?" She laughed, and the sound was hollow. "I've been in that trade before. It doesn't end well."

Something in her voice made my wolf growl. Someone had hurt her. Used her. Made her think she was only worth what she could provide.

"This is different," I said, keeping my voice calm.

"How? How is this different from every other man who wanted to own me?"

"Because I'm asking. Not taking." I took a step closer. She held her ground, but I saw her pulse jump. "Marry me, Mara. Help me break this curse. And when it's done, when the Blood Moon passes and the curse is broken, I'll let you go. You'll have your freedom and enough resources to disappear completely. No one will ever find you again."

She searched my face, looking for the lie. "You'd really let me go?"

"I give you my word."

"The word of a dying man who needs me to survive? That's worth a lot."

"Then what do you want?" I asked. "Name it. Anything."

She was quiet for so long I thought she'd refuse. Then she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I want to know why you're really doing this. Don't tell me about curses or duty. Tell me the truth."

I met her eyes. I saw myself reflected there, desperate and dangerous and holding on by a thread.

"Because sixteen years ago, I pulled a little girl from a burning house," I said. "She had your eyes. Your face. And I've spent every day since then searching for her, wondering if she survived, if she was safe. And now you're here, and you're alive, and I can't let you go again. Even if it destroys us both."

The silence stretched between us like a bridge made of spider silk. Fragile. Deadly.

Finally, she spoke.

"I need time to think."

"The execution is scheduled for tomorrow at dawn."

Her eyes went cold. "Then I guess I don't have much choice, do I?”