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Merry Christmas my loves! I hope you enjoy this chapter. (Don't forget to vote my darlings)
When my eyes shot open I realised that I was back in my bed, my body feeling like a tonne of bricks. I huff out a breath and lean over to grab the bottle of water that was sat on my bedside table, cracking the lid and swirling it around my intensely dry mouth.
I push myself up from the bed and rub my eyes, peering out of the gap between the curtain and the window. The sun was high in the sky, it must have been well into the afternoon.
Clearly needing that sleep more than anything after the last few days I had endured.
The curse had somewhat settled from yesterday, talking to Nella and Kassian had calmed me. I felt like I belonged for once. They wanted me to be here and that made me feel comfortable.
That's when I knew, negative emotions made the curse worse. If I focused on the positive emotions and tried my hardest to remain optimistic, it didn't hurt as bad and I didn't want to kick off and swear for no reason.
My emotions are easily led by others, including Kassian which I have come to the realisation. So if I get a hold of my emotions, then I can grasp the curse and attempt to live life without the severe suffering.
Throwing the covers off me to get dressed into whatever I could find, a thick black hoodie so I could hide myself in it. My stomach growls harshly causing me to wince, I had barely ate the last couple days and I knew I needed some energy before I passed out.
The house seemed oddly quiet as I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. To my surprise Mace was sitting with Arlo in the high chair, feeding him some green mushy food from a plastic bowl.
His eyes catch mine instantly and he smiles. "Hey Cleo," he tells me warmly. "Glad to have you back."
I press my lips into a thin line and nod, letting the door close behind me as I move towards the kitchen table. "Thanks," I say as I look at the food spread across the kitchen island.
"Help yourself," he says as he motions his head to the counter. "We have loads left over from breakfast, Kassian hates it when food goes to waste."
A small laugh escapes my lips as I nod. "Thanks," I offer him a smile as I start placing the buttery pastries and jams onto a plate, along with some fruit and granola.
I place my bowl onto the table and sit opposite Mace, watching as Arlo gives his dad a big cheesy grin. My heart melted for about a second before I turned my attention back to my food.
"You know how fond Nella is of you?" Mace breaks the silence as I place a strawberry into my mouth.
Internally I sigh, she definitely told him what I said about not being friends yesterday. She was upset and I said some shitty things. Of course she told her mate, she was sad and distraught.
"She really aspires to be strong and determined as you are," he smiles back at me, holding the spoon to Arlo's mouth. "You're a proper role model for her."
My head shakes towards him. "Nella is strong herself, with her witch powers, her strength grows everyday and you can see it." I tell him seriously.
Mace's lips curve into a smile at my words. "That is true. But she's changed since you came into all of our lives. She seems more alive and willing to take life by the horns, I've never seen her like this before."
I lean my elbow onto the table and rest my head onto my hand, a chesty sigh escaping my lips. "I know I've been hard on her, taken my shit out on her. I've been a bitch and she doesn't deserve it." My lips purse as soon as I stop talking, the words bubbling up inside my stomach.
"She just likes to help," Mace tells me as I flick my eyes up to him.
"You can say that again," I smile. "Without her I might be dead, her determination kept me alive. That's for sure."
"She wears her heart on her sleeve," he leans over to wipe Arlo's mouth with his bib. "Some may think it's a weakness but I think it's definitely one of her best traits."
I couldn't help but smile to myself, you could tell how much Mace loves Nella. His kind tone and soft words made me want a mate more than anything, so someone could talk about me like that. Except they'd be saying how hot-headed, vile tongued and vicious I was.
"I will apologise to her again," I breathe out as I look down to the food on my plate. "She's too kind for this world and I'm just an asshole."
"Well you can't be," Mace laughs quietly and I take one glance at him. "If Nella sees good in you then it must be a lie."
"I wouldn't hold her to that just yet," I say as I bite down onto a croissant. "Wait till the curse is broken and then you can decide."
Mace's lips stretch out into a grin as he nods. "Okay fair enough, I will."
"Where is she now?"
"She's in the library with Ripley, I think." He explains.
"Okay," I nod once. "I'll go down there once I've eaten."
"You don't have to keep beating yourself up about how you act," he leans on his forearms, dropping the spoon to the table. "We know that the curse is taking over your body but once it's broken, we'll be able to see the real you. Then we can understand."
"You're right," I nod back at him. "Thanks for trying to be civil."
"We won't win if we're against each other."
"Agreed."
. . .
I place my empty bowl into the dishwasher and make my way towards the library, taking slow steps down the narrow stairs. My ears could hear Nella as she talks to Ripley, I presume. He doesn't talk much but certainly likes to listen.
My footsteps alert them as Nella's conversation comes to a close, I emerge from the door and both of their heads turn to look at me.
"Cleo," Nella says instantly, almost in shock to see me.
"Hi guys," I say as I step in and let the door close behind me.
Nella pushes herself up from the table, Ripley's eyes studying her closely. "What's up?" She questions as she stretches her cardigan over her knuckles and hugs the fabric to her body.
I huff out a breath as I look between her eyes. "I just came to say that I'm sorry," my throat croaks gently.
Her eyebrow dips at my words, waiting for me to carry on.
My lungs burned as I tried to get more out, having to push down the fury of kindness inside me. For a single minute I could spare this pain to apologise to someone who cared about me.
"I am sorry for what I said to you, I was angry and upset. It wasn't fair to challenge what you've done for me," I pause to take a breath before I started hyperventilating from the angst inside of me. "But I hope you can forgive me for being the biggest bitch known to Earth, because I know I am one."
Nella raises her head and nods for a second before laughing, she leans forward to wrap her arms around me unexpectedly. Her warmth felt strange to my cold skin but I accepted it rather than pushing her away. We both needed this.
"I know you didn't mean it," she mumbles into my ear, her curly hair tickling my face. "I forgive you Cleo."
My lips form and smile and I pull away from her. "Thank you," I tell her between breaths.
I try and concentrate on channelling the positive emotions rather than focusing on how the curse was trying to convince me to feel. My forehead creases as I try to focus and Nella stares back at me with a confused glance.
"Are you okay?" She questions as she drops her hands from my shoulders.
My head nods towards her as I take a step back. "Just trying to get used to this kind, friendship stuff." I say quietly.
Nella's lips stretch out into a bright smile, my words clearly sparking something inside her. "You're doing good," she gives me a confident nod.
"I'm going to go for a run," I tell her.
"No running off this time?"
I snort and look down to the floor. "Promise I won't."
"Okay, enjoy." She smiles back at me.
. . .
My skin burned like I'd dipped my body in boiling lava, no position in my bed was comfortable. Every toss and every turn only made everything worse. How the fuck was I meant to sleep when the curse was punishing me for trying to be nice?
I wince in my mind and move my cheek against my pillow, desperate for the cold patch on the fabric to try and cool my body down. But nothing was working and I was seconds away from bursting into tears from frustration.
My mind wanders to when Kassian traced his fingers against my bare back and that calmed me more than expected, even being near him would distract me from feeling like I'd been run over by a herd of horses.
"Fuck this shit," I grumble out as I throw the sheets from my body and stand from my bed.
The floor swayed from underneath me and I attempted to calm my movements before I ended up on my ass. I huff out a breath and force my way to my bedroom door and stumble out into the hall.
I clutch onto the wall and push myself down the corridor and straight to Kassian's room without a second thought. Pressing my hand onto his door handle and sliding myself in, his room was pitch black.
It was two in the morning, of course he would be fast asleep.
As I take a step in, his scent hits me in the face, almost giving me whiplash as I force myself to breathe. My shaky hands close the door behind me and I take slow and steady steps over to his bed, pressing a hand to the soft duvet and climbing into the vacant side.
The bed dips instantly and Kassian whips his head up from the pillow, grunting quietly. "Cleo?" His husky voice calls out.
My lips part as I lower my head down onto his pillow, then clenching my fists to try and contain all of my unwanted emotions.
"What's wrong?" He questions in his groggy sleeping voice.
His warm body slides in close to mine, heating up my cold skin yet burning heart.
Kassian sighs and slides his hand against my cheek gently, his fingers flicking over my jawline softly. "Are you hurting?" He asks after a few moments.
Words refuse to form in my mouth so I nod my head.
"Okay," he whispers as he shuffles closer and rests his head onto the same pillow as mine.
Slowly, he removes his fingers from my cheek and drops them to my waist. He hoists up my t-shirt and drags his fingertips across my spine slowly. My eyes close instantly, my stomach clenching as he glides across my skin.
"That feel good?"
"Yes."
I bite down onto my bottom lip as he reaches my shoulder blades and weaves in and out of the outline of my ribcage. Through the middle of my spine and then over my shoulders. My body physically shudders at the sensation.
No matter how much the curse was trying to push us apart, he was the only person that could make me feel better right now. I could detach my thoughts from the curse and accept what I actually wanted, even if it would hurt me in the long run.
"Can I do anything else?"
I hum instantly as I shuffle closer to his face. "Just kiss me."
Kassian's fingers stop directly in the centre of my spine, then he removes them and places them against my cheek again. My eyes could just about make out the outline of his face, merely inches apart.
He breathes out through his nose slowly before leaning in and pressing his lips to mine gently.
The heat that was building up inside me began to ease. Kassian's mouth opens to claim my bottom lip, the kiss was sweet, everything that made my stomach turn to mush as he holds my face closer to his.
I could taste toothpaste on his tongue. My throat releases a tiny groan as he kisses me harder, taking my breath away completely.
After a few moments the kiss slows and we break apart, our lips still touching gently.
"Is that what you needed?" Kassian's deep voice made my core clench.
"Badly," I admit.
Kassian grins against my lips before placing another soft kiss on them. He pulls back and looks at me through the sheer darkness, his hand bushing my hair over my ear softly.
"So I've been thinking," he says out of the blue.
"About what?"
"I want you to help train the pack with me." His voice was determined, like he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
The corners of my lip twitch. "Finally come to your senses then?" I challenge him.
Kassian inhales deeply. "Maybe I didn't want to admit that I needed the help, but you were right the other day. You should have been up there with Mace and Alfie, helping with the training."
"Well..." I trail off slowly. "I feel honoured."
"You'd be a good leader Cleo," his tone made my heart ache painfully.
I was ignoring every vibration of the curse completely so I could focus on this conversation.
"That's a bit of a stretch," I chuckle out a dry laugh.
"I'm being serious." Kassian cuts over me. "You could easily run your own pack."
My eyes blink back at his silhouette and feel my pride burn through me like no other. "Well that's very honest of you to say," I breathe out quietly.
Kassian doesn't say anything for a few moments, my breathing becomes uneven as I attempt to keep all my emotions under control.
"How are you feeling now?" He asks.
"You're the only person that I can touch without wanting to kill something. I thought that the curse would destroy me but now I can control it, it makes things slightly more bearable." I find myself saying before I shut my mouth and curse my brain for being so soft.
"How much pain are you in?"
"So much pain," I strain out. "Everything hurts all the time. A constant headache, brain fog. But I refuse to let it defeat me. We're so close now."
"You won't be like this forever," Kassian whispers to me as he presses a delicate kiss to the edge of my jaw. "Not if I rip out your mothers throat for you."
"I'm glad you hate her as much as I do," I chuckle quietly to myself.
"You never told me why she cursed you?"
I hum in confusion. "Really?"
"Think we were too busy despising each other." Kassian comments.
"True," I snort silently. "She cursed me because she was jealous of the relationship I had with my dad. I don't even think she meant to fall pregnant with me, she just wanted my father all to herself. So when I came around and my dad would spend time painting with me, staying up when I had bad insomnia. She hit the roof."
"You had bad insomnia?" He questions with a hint of shock.
I nod my head, humming quietly. "I never really felt welcome there, the pack would drop like flies because of Pandora. She pushed everyone away, hurt them, betrayed them. I guess I always had something to think about, maybe I was scared of what she'd do to me."
Kassian shuffles closer and brushes a kiss over my forehead gently, my skin burning against his lips. "Well I'm glad that you're free of her," he tells me gently.
"Me too," I nod. "I just wish I didn't have to be fucking cursed. I'd never wish this on anyone except her."
He smiles and nods. "I agree," he says deeply. "She deserves that but a million times over."
"I just want to get this over and done with," I sigh.
"Couple weeks and we will take her down. It will be over soon."
"It can't come soon enough."
. . .
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Hello my huns. What did you guys think?
Cleo really out here not letting the curse defeat her and instead continuing to build her friendships and relationships, trying to fit in like an ordinary wolf.
Also Kassian is very cute, I love seeing this side to him because it's rare, very fucking rare hahah
What do you guys want to see happen now?
I hope those who celebrate Christmas have a fabulous day and those who don't, have a wonderful Saturday regardless!
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See you on the next one, love Sav x
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