ACE’S POV
My entire body was soaked with sweat and blood. I dragged my feet to the mirror, a sharp rasp escaped my lips when I saw my reflection staring back at me. I looked like a beast. Fresh large cuts were all over me, cach one dripping blood.
This had been going on for six years. It started a few days after I rejected Charlotte and sent her away. As first. I didn’t think it had anything to do with her. But the pain and marks didn’t stop. They just kept coming, getting worse every day,
I sought help from every pack doctor I could find, but none of them had answers or the medicines to stop it Desperation pushed me to a witch, just to know what was happening to me. That was when I learned the truth. The moon goddess had placed a curse on me for rejecting my fated mate. And there was no way out of it. The pain would continue until I die.
It made no sense to me. I wasn’t the first Alpha to reject his mate, so why did mine have to come with a curse? My former mate had done something worthy of a death sentence, I was only too kind to reject her and exile her. She killed my unborn pup. She deserved every punishment I gave her.
That was what I believed until four years ago when I found out the truth from the chef and I felt like an idiot I was so deeply in love with Moon that I hadn’t bothered to investigate the truth earlier.
“I still can’t believe I have to suffer with you for a mistake you made six years ago,” my wolf, Arix, growled inside me. “I warned you, but you wouldn’t listen. You were too busy chasing that woman you call your wife, one who isn’t even your mate.”
Arix still hasn’t forgiven me for what I did, and honestly, I don’t blame him. And he hates my wife, Moon, with everything in him. But at least he never shut me out. I’m the most dangerous Alpha in America and beyond, I can’t afford to be weak, and he knows that.
“Will you ever forgive me for that?” I asked with a dry, humorless laugh.
“Not until you find her and make it right,” he said, his tone harsh. “If she forgives you, if she takes you back, then maybe the moon goddess will forgive you and the curse will be lifted.”
I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head slowly. “She’s gone, Arix. I’ve searched for four years and there’s no trace of her.”
“If she’s dead, then that’s on you too,” Arix said quietly. “I haven’t felt Astra for six years.” His voice held a weight I couldn’t carry. “You shouldn’t have punished her like that, with wolfsbane, and the whipping. She was just nineteen, Ace. She had just gotten her wolf and barely knew how to use her powers.”
His words hit like a blade I’d long tried to ignore. The memory of her pain and screams never left me. I could hear and feel all her pain at that moment but I was too in love to act. I shut her out in my head. She deserved to suffer for what she did.
Maybe I truly deserved this curse. The moon goddess was right with her punishment.
A gentle knock came on my office door before it creaked open. I didn’t bother to look up, I already picked up
12:31 Sun, Feb 8
Chapter 4
his scent before he knocked.
“How long until Charlotte Graves lands in America?” My voice came out low, rough, almost lifeless.
200
My beta, Roman stepped in, his footsteps slowing the moment he saw me. His sharp intake of breath filled the silence. “This is getting worse,” he muttered, eyes tracing every mark on me. “The older wounds aren’t healing like before.”
I leaned back on the couch, too tired to hide the truth. “Yeah,” I murmured. “I can feel it.”
I reached for the glass of alcohol on the table and emptied it in one go. The burn down my throat was the only thing that matched the ache tearing through my body.
“At this rate,” I muttered, setting the glass down, “I might end up dead if she doesn’t see me this time.”
Roman exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ve been to London fourteen times in the past two years,” he reminded me. “She never saw us once. Said everyone had to book an appointment, and when we finally did, it turns out your turn would come in two years, you’d probably be dead by then.”
A dark chuckle rumbled from my chest. “I’m Alpha Ace. I never book appointments to see anyone.” Call it arrogance, but that’s how it is. People book to see me, not the other way around.
I didn’t know who that woman was, but her stubborn rule about appointments irritated me to no end. Even when her staff was told it was Alpha Ace, she never once let us in.
Roman shrugged. “And yet here we are. I booked an appointment for you the minute their portal opened. Even so, there are over a hundred people ahead of you.”
“Her hospital opens in two weeks,” I muttered, leaning back against the couch. “And I’ll show her why people fear my name.”
Roman sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small bottle of my regular antidote. He placed it gently on the table beside me. “I don’t want you dead before then.”
I stared at the bottle but didn’t touch it. “That thing’s useless. It stopped working months ago.” My voice was rough. My pack doctors had tried everything, every cure, every herb, every damn spell they could find around the world, but nothing worked anymore.
“For heaven’s sake, I hope that doctor is as good as they say,” I muttered, irritated. “I’d hate to have wasted my time.”
Roman’s expression didn’t change. “We’ll find out in two weeks.”
Those two weeks dragged like years. The pain clawed deeper into my body each day, the marks darkened. Every time I closed my eyes, I wondered if I’d wake up again or if this curse would finally finish what it
started.
On the day of the opening, I tugged my tux straight and ran a hand over my clean–shaven jaw. I didn’t remember the last time I’d bothered to shave. I hadn’t cared about my looks in ages, and no one dared to mention it. Tonight, though, I needed to look presentable.
12:31 Sun, Feb 8
Chapter 4
My phone buzzed against the table. I snatched it up. Moon’s name flashed across the screen.
I hadn’t spoken to her in days, heck, I hadn’t even been home for three weeks. The moment she heard I’d be at the grand opening, she’d been on my case nonstop, insisting I show up with her.
I didn’t believe that it was because she cared. It was about her need to be seen, to mingle. Every day, she flaunted her title as my Luna, my wife. She attends all the high–class gatherings, parties even without an invite, riding on my name. Just being my wife seemed enough to grant her entry anywhere.
Tonight was important to me and I didn’t want her around. I shoved the phone into my pocket. Roman joined me and we drove off.
The hall was packed with Alphas, Lunas, betas and all kinds of rich werewolves. Humans were there too.
I knew the Graves daughter was famous, the most sought after doctor in the world, but I wasn’t ready for this many people. I’d only seen crowds like this a few times in my life.
“The whole of America must have been waiting for this day,” Roman said, his voice full of awe as he looked around.
A lot of Alphas came over, shaking hands and making small talk. I nodded and replied, but my mind wasn’t on them. That wasn’t why I was here.
Most of the Lunas couldn’t hide their stares, their eyes following me even with their mates right beside them.. A few human women came forward, smiling and trying way too hard to impress me.
An hour passed, the chatter around me fading into nothing as the floor lights dimmed and the stage lights snapped on.
No. It can’t be. My heart slammed against my chest, and a cold, sharp dread ran through me.
My wolf growled so loudly I thought he was going to emerge.
田
AD
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
