Loving The Alpha I Once Bullied

04 - Restitution Spell

After Graham said those words, the remaining members of the Smith family noticed it. Not only was her wolf sealed, her life force also felt embarrassingly weak.

‘Who did such a thing to this devil’s incarnate?’ They thought.

“Ahh…” Ashton trailed off as he began to think of a lie to tell his family.

Ciara spoke up before Ashton, saying, “It’s part of my punishment.”

The Smiths could clearly tell that she was lying. After all, they had all been to her trial and witnessed her get let off with a banishment alone.

They instantly knew the story of her wolf being sealed was a shameful one. Instead of sympathizing with her, they were even more enraged.

They believed that she had done something terrible to someone else which had resulted in them sealing her wolf for revenge.

They were not too far off from the truth with that belief anyway.

“Still. This family will not harbor a wicked criminal,” Graham spoke in resolve, then faced his second son. “Ashton, break the bond and take her back to wherever you found her. You deserve better.”

Ciara’s heart dropped to her stomach. She felt awful,wondering just how many times Ashton had been told that he deserved someone better than her.

Ashton was the epitome of perfection; kind, handsome, smart, powerful. Someone like him deserved an angel by his side, not a tainted devil like her.

“I can’t do that.” Ashton refused. “For two reasons. The first is that the bond is too fragile. If I break it, Ciara might lose her life. The second reason being I want to be with—”

“Don’t you dare complete that sentence, child,” Jeanette cut off her son with a deadly glare.

How could she let him utter the words that he was about to say?

For years, she had watched her son drown in sorrow and depression because of the woman standing beside him. It was only two years ago that Ashton had finally managed to gather his broken pieces and began to move on.

Now, the cause of his destruction was back and he was making reckless decisions once again. Why? Just why?

“I want to be with her,” Ashton still said. And with firm resolve, he continued, “I am the Alpha of this pack. I will act as I see fit. I only reintroduced Ciara to you guys as common courtesy. I didn’t do it to seek your approval.”

The Smith family was blanched with shock. That shock contorted to hatred directed towards Ciara.

“I will be inviting a witch to examine Ciara and unseal her wolf, so the guard wolves must be informed to act with discretion. That’ll be all.” Ashton concluded.

He didn’t wait to listen to his family’s words as he held Ciara’s hand and led her away from the dining room. The Smith family watched as their son and brother picked Ciara over them.

Ashton took Ciara back to his room and decided they would eat breakfast there. But even with the appetizing food placed in front of her, Ciara couldn’t feel bothered to eat it because of the discomforting knots in her stomach.

“Those people are your family. They were only acting as they should. You should get rid of me. Sell me to someone else and get your money back. I’ll do nothing but bring you trouble if I continue to stay here.” Ciara spoke up with a small voice, fiddling with her fingers on her lap.

Ashton wasn’t worried about his family’s opinion.

It was evident in his tone as he said, “We’re mates now. Can you at least pretend that you care about my feelings and not talk about separating from me?”

Ciara couldn’t. She had never understood his feelings. How could she care about something she couldn’t understand?

“The witch will soon arrive. Eat.” Ashton reached to feed her, but she shifted away.

“I don’t want to meet with any witch,” Ciara said.

“That decision isn’t up to you. You will meet with her whether you want to or not.” Ashton ended the discussion.

There were times when he was like this—firm towards her. Ciara hated it, but it wasn’t like she could do anything about it. She could only simmer in quiet anger.

***

“I can’t undo the curse,” said the witch, Ingrid.

She had middle-aged features and was donning a black cloak. After she arrived, she laid Ciara down on a table and set up a magic array to check her spiritual body.

“What do you mean you can’t undo the curse? Is it too powerful?” Ashton asked Ingrid as Ciara took a sitting position on the table.

Ciara didn't express any worry in relation to Ingrid being unable to undo the curse. Instead, if one looked at her face closely, they would discover that she looked slightly pleased.

“Nothing of that sort. It’s a simple Restitution Spell.” Ingrid said lightly. “Her wolf was sealed because of her evil doings. The only way to unseal her wolf is to seek forgiveness from those whom she wronged in the past.”

Ingrid continued speaking, “For each repentance, her life force will regain power. But it depends on how badly she had wronged an individual. Only after being forgiven by her victims will her wolf be unsealed.”

Ashton made a really ugly expression as he pondered on those words. Getting Ciara to seek forgiveness from everyone she wronged could take forever.

Ashton was sure that Ciara had offended 70% of the people in the Magic Realm. Almost every werewolf had a bone to pick with her. Same with witches, as her past actions had endangered them as well.

Perhaps vampires were the only creatures whom they wouldn’t need to work hard against. But still…

“I understand.” Ashton said with a grasp of the general situation. Then he raised his personal concerns. “Is there a time limit though? The curse was placed on her six years ago, should it still be as potent as it is now?”

Ingrid nodded. “Good question. Each curse has an expiration period. The one for this is ten years. Should ten years pass without making amends, she’ll die.”

A cold chill blew Ashton’s face. A ten-year expiration period. Six years had already passed. There were only four more years until…

“Are you sure?” Ashton asked to confirm.

“Yes,” Ingrid answered, then turned to Ciara. “The state of your life force is weakening daily. I’m sure it wasn’t this way when you were first cursed. Your negligence is the cause of your current state.”

Ciara looked away from Ingrid. So what, if she was going to die soon? It didn’t matter to her. She would rather die than face the people of her past.

“Hm, we understand. Thank you, Ingrid. We’ll begin working on ways to undo the curse.” Ashton said with newfound optimism and drive.

Besides him, Ciara scoffed. “No, we won’t. I’m not going to try and undo the curse.”

Ashton looked at Ciara.

“I’d rather die.”