Chapter 45 The Curse
Emilia’s POV
I stared at the photograph of Abigail Tanner, trying to piece together the fragments of this nightmare.
"Mila, you said your maiden name was Zordon?"
She nodded, tears forming. "Yes. I came from the Zordon Pack—one of the most powerful wolf families in the region. My second-oldest brother and I were inseparable growing up. When he had a son, Damien, I loved that boy like my own."
My stomach dropped. "The man who..."
"Who stole everything from my son." Her voice cracked. "You can’t imagine the pain, Emilia. Watching the nephew I raised like a son destroy my own child’s happiness. I don’t even talk to my brother anymore. Our families have been torn apart."
I set the photo down carefully, my hands trembling.
"So Sebastian’s multiple marriages..." I began cautiously. "He thinks life is just a game now? He’s taking revenge on the woman who abandoned him?"
"That’s what it looked like at first." Mila fidgeted. "But it’s more complicated than that, Emilia. That betrayal shattered him completely. He was diagnosed with severe PTSD. For over a year, he couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her leaving. Saw Damien’s betrayal. He gave up on everything—the company, the Pack, himself."
My throat tightened. "Didn’t he see doctors?"
"The best psychologists money could buy. Your father-in-law flew in specialists from Europe, from Asia. Some helped, some didn’t. For the past two years, Sebastian seemed better. Stable. We thought..." She sobbed. "We thought he’d finally healed. But tonight proved we were wrong."
Guilt crashed over me. "Mila, I’m so sorry. If I’d known—"
"What did you say to him?" She stared at me. "Before his episode?"
I told her everything.
When I finished, Mila pulled me into her arms.
"Oh, sweetheart. It’s not your fault. We should have told you from the beginning." She stroked my hair. "You’re kind, Emilia. If you’d known what he’d been through, you never would have said those things. This is on us. On me."
I asked Mila again, "So his divorces from all those ex-wives—was that because of the psychological trauma? Does he deliberately distance himself from each wife?"
Mila hesitated. "Perhaps partly. But Emilia... you’ve heard the rumors about the curse, haven’t you?"
I nodded slowly.
"It’s real," Mila said quietly. "I consulted a seer from one of the ancient Packs. She told me that only Sebastian’s true fated mate can end his suffering. That’s why I insisted on the bride selection. Before you, Sebastian didn’t care who was chosen. He let me and Titus handle everything."
She fixed her gaze on me. "But you, Emilia—you’re the only one he chose himself."
My mind went blank. "You really believe there’s a curse?"
"I didn’t want to. But after everything that’s happened..." Mila gripped my hands. "You give me hope. Real hope. Please, I’m begging you—stay with him. Help him."
We talked for what felt like hours. By the time I got back to Sebastian’s room, I was completely drained.
I stood at his bedside, watching him. In sleep, the harsh lines of his face softened. He looked almost peaceful. Vulnerable.
It was hard to reconcile this broken man with the arrogant Alpha.
"I’m sorry," I whispered, settling into the chair beside his bed. "I didn’t know you’d been betrayed by someone you loved. What kind of person says those things to someone who’s already been hurt so badly?"
I reached out and touched his forehead—still damp with cold sweat.
I fetched a clean towel from the bathroom and gently wiped his face, careful not to wake him. His breathing stayed even, deep.
But as I sat there in the dim light, a heavier weight settled on my chest.
What was I doing?
I’d married this man for revenge. To make the Taylor family pay for years of cruelty. My plan had been cold, calculated—use Sebastian’s wealth and power, then walk away when I’d gotten what I needed.
But now I knew the truth. Sebastian wasn’t just some heartless bastard playing games with women’s lives. He was a man carrying wounds so deep they’d nearly destroyed him.
Could I really use him like this? Could I carry out my revenge knowing what it might cost him?
He had a curse. He needed a fated mate.
It sounded insane.
What if I really was meant to save him?
No. I shook my head sharply. I couldn’t be his fated mate. I was a hybrid completely powerless in the ways that mattered to people like Sebastian. There was no way the Moon Goddess would pair someone like me with an Alpha like him.
This was just Mila’s desperate hope talking.
Which meant my original plan still made sense. Use this marriage. Get my revenge. Figure out how to control my mind-reading ability. Then leave.
Exhaustion began to take over, and as I closed my eyes, I thought about the only way to keep Sebastian from getting hurt again—don’t let him fall in love with me.
If his heart stayed untouched, then when the curse fell on me, he wouldn’t be hurt.
When morning came, I jolted awake to rough hands shaking my shoulders.
"Hey, wake up. Wake up."
I blinked up at him, disoriented. When had I fallen asleep?
His green eyes blazed with irritation. "Why are you sleeping here? Don’t tell me you sleepwalked."
I was still in the chair beside his bed. I’d stayed all night.
"I... I accidentally fell asleep here," I stammered.
His laugh was cold. "Ha. What a convincing excuse. You accidentally fall asleep in my bed today—would you accidentally fall asleep in another man’s bed tomorrow?"
I glanced at my wrist, at the dark bruises his fingers had left last night. So it hadn’t been a dream. This man really had nearly lost his mind. He’d punched a hole in the wall. He’d clawed at his own skin until he bled.
And now he stood before me with no memory of it whatsoever.
"Are you all right?" I asked carefully.
"Why wouldn’t I be?"
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused.
"You really don’t remember anything?"
I chose my words delicately. "Last night, you... you couldn’t control yourself."
His expression shifted from suspicion to alarm. "Did I do anything to you last night?"
"No! It’s not—it’s not what you think—"
"As long as it’s not what I think, everything else doesn’t matter."
He threw back the covers and strode to his wardrobe, dismissing me entirely. "Get out. I need to change."
I stood, but didn’t move toward the door.
"I know everything." After hesitating, I decided to be honest with him.