Luna - Beasts of Beauty Series - Book 1

Chapter Nine

Asher and Connor watch me curiously as I begin the spell. 

I take a deep breath to gather my thoughts and settle my nerves. The spell I have created is incredibly powerful; I truly don't know if my magic is strong enough to pull it off without practice, but I don't have that kind of time. And if I can do it, this spell is going to take a lot of energy out of me. Fear and uncertainty creep into my mind, but I force it away with another deep breath.  

I sprinkle in the clover, mumbling the spell as I stir the liquid slowly, causing a light purple glow to emit from the bowl. It's working. Out of the corner of my eyes I notice Marianne walking into the room.

"What is causing Evander to act uncharacteristically towards me?" I question aloud, internally praying that it will be succinct enough to get the answer I need, or any answer at all. I was very specific in asking about his behavior towards me since I'm the only one he's treating differently.

Blue and purple smoke rise from the bowl and on the glassy milk's surface I clearly see gloved hands preparing a spell in a pot. The liquid in the pot is a deep purple; the only conjurings I know that produce that color come from dark magic. I never get to see the person's face, but I watch as the vile of potion is passed off to a man. I recognize his face as one of the omega wolves working around the royal house. The spell continues to show me that he poured the vile of liquid into a goblet before serving it to Evander.

"It's a curse!" I exclaim after the image disappears. I was right. I look at Asher, my eyes wide. "He was cursed." I've never seen any curse like this. Almost instantly, the feeling of fatigue hits me but I push it down.

"There's a curse powerful enough to make him hate his ma-" Asher cuts himself off when he realizes what he's about to say. He must not know that I know that I'm Evander's mate. But he is right, I've never seen a curse powerful enough to overpower the bond between two wolves meant for each other.

We don't even know for sure how the curse affects his mind, just that it does and only towards me. But is he supposed to hate me, Evelyn Maccabee, or just his mate, whoever that may be?

Or, is he supposed to hate his mate, Evelyn Maccabee?

Does it even matter? Whoever did this is incredibly powerful. Fear continues to try and overpower my mind without warning. What are we really up against?

All of this thinking is making me tired. 

Actually, doing that spell made me tired.

"Plenty of curses can alter a person's behavior or how they see someone. Someone must have cursed him to hate me and want to hurt me," I tell him, ignoring my fatigue once again. None of this explains how it overpowers the mate bond, though. "But this curse is mysteriously dark and powerful. We need to talk to that omega wolf and find out who is behind this."

"That was Adam," Asher informs me, incredibly confused. "He really gave the curse to Evander? Why would he do that?"

"He was paid by someone. A powerful wizard by the looks of it. I couldn't see his face. Whoever he is...I have a bad feeling we've only seen the beginning of this."

"Can you figure out how to break it?" Marianne asks me, worry laced in her tone. "It breaks my heart whenever I see him treat you with such disrespect. He truly isn't like this. I want you to meet the true him."

Marianne is near tears at this point. I can tell that she can no longer bear to see her son treat me so terribly, especially now that I've told her I know he is my mate. 

"She's going to be the only person who can break it," Asher tells Marianne before I can say anything. He watches at me with a weird look in his eyes. "Evelyn, what do you know about mates?"