MOONBOUND Beauty under a curse

Breaking what left

*CHAPTER 17: BREAKING WHAT’S LEFT*

*SHADOWLAND - 3 HOURS AFTER SUNRISE*

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ANA POV*

He was hiding it.

But I could feel it through the bond.

That cold. That hollowness where Lucas used to be.

The curse didn’t leave him. It just moved house.

“Stop,” Lucian said from the desk. He was flipping through the oldest book in Shadowland’s library.

“Stop what?”

“Looking at me like I’m already dead.”

“Then stop looking like you are.”

He slammed the book shut. 22 years as Alpha and he looked exhausted.

The bond mark on his wrist was dimmer than mine.

Outside, the pack was celebrating. Bonfires. Howling.

Shadowland was saved.

And their Alpha was dying quietly.

“Okay,” I said. Pulling a chair right next to his. 0 feet. “New plan. We break this.”

“There is no ‘we’ in this, Ana.”

“There is now.” I tapped the bond mark. “You feel me. I feel you. So we do this together.”

He looked at me. Really looked. That dangerous beautiful face, but pale now.

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“I do have to.” My voice cracked. “Because you took my curse for me 3 years ago. When you kept me here.”

His jaw ticked.

I grabbed another book. _Curses and Bloodlines: Vol 1_. Dust everywhere.

“29 years ago. Day you were born. What exactly did Shadowland agree to?”

Lucian rubbed his face. “My father made a deal with Frostwood. Blood for blood. If an Alpha couldn’t produce an heir by 22, the land pays. Or a half-fae does.”

“So the curse needed a vessel.” I whispered. “First the land. Now you.”

He nodded once.

We read in silence. 0 feet. Our shoulders brushing every time we turned a page.

I could feel his pain spiking. Then easing when our hands accidentally touched.

The bond was keeping him here.

“Here.” I shoved a page at him. “Blood ritual reversal. Needs two. Bonded.”

His eyes scanned it. “Requires the life of the one who cast it.”

“Elder Rowan cast it 29 years ago.”

“So we’d have to kill him.” Lucian said it flat. No emotion.

I stared at him. “Or...”

“Or what.”

“Or we find what’s powering it. There has to be something. An anchor. A heart.”

A knock. One of the guards.

“Alpha. Elder Rowan sent a message. ‘Enjoy your borrowed time.’”

The door closed.

Lucian leaned back and closed his eyes.

“Don’t you dare sleep,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Not yet.”

His fingers squeezed mine. Weak.

“Stubborn girl,” he murmured.

“Your girl.”

*

LUCIAN POV*

The books smelled like dust and old magic.

And her. She smelled like hope.

_Lucas is gone._

The thought hit me every few minutes. Like a phantom limb.

But the bond was there. Stronger than ever.

Every time she touched me, the curse in my chest eased.

Every time she pulled away, it burned.

She was researching how to save me.

I was researching how to make sure she didn’t die trying.

“Found it,” she whispered. 0 feet. Her hair fell on my arm. “A curse anchor. It’s always an object. Something from the casting.”

“29 years ago,” I said. “There was a dagger. Frostwood’s. My father used it to sign the contract.”

“Where is it?”

“Here. Somewhere.” I gestured to the vault under the den. “If we destroy it, maybe the curse breaks.”

She turned to me. Eyes bright. “Then that’s what we do.”

“Ana—”

“No ‘Ana’.” She cut me off. “You saved Shadowland. Now let me save you.”

The bond pulsed.

_Mate. Save him._

I stood. My legs shook. “Fine. But you stay behind me.”

She rolled her eyes and stood too. 0 feet.

“Deal, Alpha.”

We headed for the vault.

Me, cursed.

Her, bonded to me.

And a dagger 29 years old waiting in the dark.

*End Ch 17*

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