Chapter 166: Cursed Last Moments

Laurel woke up, frozen in terror in bed. The last time she’d had a vision of the moon goddess, she’d been pushed off a cliff. She wasn’t sure if hearing that her husband’s late wife put a curse on him was better or worse.
How bad was the curse now? How much longer did they have? Could she break it? If she couldn’t, what would happen to him?
Her stomach turned as she turned over to see Adolph sleeping peacefully beside her. The days of his insomnia seemed to have caught up with him all at once. The strain of the days seemed to be gone now as he slept.
His scent was just as bloody and lovely as ever, but that blood that she had once found just a bit sexy seemed tainted with danger now. It wasn’t just the scent of someone who had seen a great deal of war, but it was affecting his mind.
An alpha werewolf like Adolph could be dangerous if they lost control of their strength. She knew that Adolph was much stronger than the average wolf. Was it anything like going rogue? Would it kill him?
How long did he have before the curse was fatal? What would happen to their bond? To the kingdom?
She pressed a kiss to his cheek and slipped from the bed as quietly as possible. He murmured, turned, and grabbed her pillow, bringing it up against his chest with a contented growl.
*“Laurel…”* he murmured, turning his face into it.
It was adorable, she almost laughed, but the fear that one day he wouldn’t even recognize her pushed her to move.
She left the room with just a wrap of cloth around her shoulders until she reached the end of the hall and could pace in peace. How had Olivia managed to use magic, let alone cast a curse? Was that something that all Mirabelles could do or something she learned?
What was her goal other than to drive Adolph insane? What was that specter that went into Basil? It had to have something to do with the curse. Did Basil know? What did she mean?
*Then… Then we’ll be together forever.*
“She was crazy,” Laurel gasped, shaking her head.
Adolph was a beautiful man, but she had never imagined that he could drive someone insane enough to curse him! And what did she mean that Basil would carry all of her hopes?
She doubted that Basil knew that Olivia had used him to cast a curse on his father, but it was obvious that she had to get him back to the capital to find out what he did know.
There had to be some sort of answers somewhere in the temple or with the Wiccans. She walked down the hall to the spiraling library and started looking. Anxiety clawed at her as she searched the bookshelves, ignoring the growing pain in her lower back and her feet. She wasn’t supposed to be stressing herself out, but what else was she supposed to do with this news?
She didn’t think that there was going to be a book called *How to Undo a Dead Woman’s Curse*, but she hoped for at least one book on curses or the blood aura. From what she knew about blood auras, they were caused when werewolves killed a lot of people, so she searched for documents on war.
The temples had a lot of books recording the battles between packs and how the kingdom came to be, but none of them mentioned blood curses. She went through the books on magic next and there was only a small section in the book about curses.
*The power of a curse comes from three things:* *the emotions of the curse-layer, the inherent power of the curse-layer, and the susceptibility of the victim.* *Werewolves are not susceptible to curses.*
She growled, “Obviously, you’re *wrong*.”
She shoved the book back on the shelf and kept looking, hoping that there was something else somewhere in the library. Even if there was some kernel of truth in the passage, it wasn’t helpful. She needed to know how to break the curse not how to lay one.
Besides, the loophole was obvious. A werewolf might be susceptible to most curses, but anything that was based on a werewolf’s instincts or something integral to their survival was a weak point.
It made sense that she had cursed him so that it would get worse with every battle. He was an alpha werewolf and a king. It was in his nature to fight and defend his territory.
“Laurel?”
She stopped, hearing Adolph’s voice, standing at the end of the aisle. His eyes glowed red in the darkness, but he didn’t seem upset. He didn’t even seem alert, barely awake as if he had been pulled from sleep by a vague feeling.
How long had he been awake? Had he grown somewhat agitated while searching for her? Why hadn’t he just called for her through their bond?
Knowing what she knew now, she could almost feel the curse at the edges of his mind, irritating him and eroding his sanity. Was it doing something to their bond too?
“What’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath trying to calm herself and approached him. If she wasn’t calm, then he wouldn’t keep calm. If this was all she could do for him, she had to do it. She wrapped her arms around him and felt the tension ease in his body and mind. Her scent and closeness seemed to be helping. That was good.
Maybe she should try and get frisky with him. Would that help?
“…you’ve had a vision?” Adolph asked into her hair. “Did the goddess call you?”
Laurel nodded shakily.
“So did I.”
Laurel squeezed him tighter, “About what?”
“…it was about Olivia.” Laurel tensed; she couldn’t help herself. She held her breath waiting for him to tell her more. “Her last moments…When she gave the poison to Tina… What she said over Basil… She seemed sad and angry. I could only guess she was speaking of me.”
“What did she say?”
“That Basil would carry all of her hopes… and that she hoped I was lost in all the blood of the border.” He sighed, “I realize she was lonely, but I never imagined that she would carry such resentment towards me… if it was a vision and not just a nightmare.”
He pulled back and looked down at her, “I’ve never dreamed of her before, so it is odd. Though it’s probably just my fear about your life with the baby coming.”
Laurel looked up at him, her eyes burning with tears. She thought his instincts would have told him that it was a vision, not some nightmare. Was the curse affecting that too or was he just not sure?
She thought of him sleeping in the moon goddess’ plane. Would the moon goddess call him to stay there if he lost his mind?
Would she rather keep him there asleep forever than let her beloved black wolf lose his mind?
What about her? What was she supposed to do if that happened? If one day, he simply went to sleep and never woke up?
Tears slipped down her cheeks. He froze.
“What’s wrong, Laurel? Why are you crying?”
Could she tell him now? Would he think she was crazy? Would it just agitate him more?
“Nothing,” Laurel said. “Let’s… Let’s go back to bed.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, searching her gaze.
“You’re hiding something from me…”
“I… I can’t talk about it right now… Please, let’s just go back to bed.”
He hesitated, “We will talk about this, won’t we?”
She nodded and he sighed, taking her hand and wrapping a hand around her waist to lead her back to their room. The temple felt cold. She was almost shivering as her mind continued to spiral.
There was a story about an alpha of a pack who had gone to sleep and never woke up. He hadn’t died. He just remained in a deep sleep for years. His body deteriorated slowly and his family had no way to wake him or make sense of what happened. His luna sat at her alpha’s bedside every day. When their pack was attacked, the raiders found her clinging to his body and slipping into death after drinking poison. Their children had escaped, but she wouldn’t leave her husband.
Had that king been cursed too? Would she be the same as the queen in that story sitting by Adolph’s bedside?
Adolph pulled back the blankets and ushered her into the bed. He pulled her close, snuggling up to her with a little growl of contentment. He fell back asleep relatively quickly, but Laurel remained awake staring at the ceiling.
She had to figure out whatever she could about the curse and the blood aura. She had to contact Taliesin for help.
She had to save him somehow.