Chapter 38

MISTY

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I was so jealous that I could barely think.

“Are you telling me that no one was faithful centuries ago?” I said stiffly, purposely misunderstanding him.

I was so furious last night that I ran home in a huff, determined not to ask him about it. However, when I woke up this morning, it was the first thing on my mind.

I wandered around the house and made the sandwiches to pass the time, but the thoughts kept swirling, and I had to know the truth.

Lloyd threw up his hands and sighed. “No, that’s not what I said. Mates have always been faithful.” He paused. “When a she-wolf reached a certain age and hadn’t found her mate, she made a conscious choice.

“Lou-Anne wasn’t a prostitute and chose who she wanted to sleep with, but unmated males could approach her, and it was up to her to say yay or nay. She took precautions not to bear pups for obvious reasons.”

“How old was she?”

“Thirtyish.”

“And you were sixteen? That’s…” I trailed off, exasperated. “And she obviously didn’t say no to ~you~…”

He shrugged apologetically. “It was something my brothers arranged, and I was so young and stupid then—and horribly drunk. And I had them egging me on and didn’t want to disappoint them.”

I didn’t know what to say, but I understood peer pressure or family pressure. Deep down, I knew I was being petulant and stupid. “How many brothers did you have?” I asked.

“Five and one sister.”

He fidgeted with the sandwich, his fingers nervously peeling away the plastic wrapper. When he finally took a bite, it was more mechanical than hungry, as if he were going through the motions just to avoid looking at me.

The sandwich disappeared in seconds, and he cleared his throat. “Misty, all I can do is apologize… I don’t know how else I can make this right.”

I found myself struggling to picture seven siblings. The idea of such a large family was foreign to me. “Were you chosen to serve the monarchy because you were the eldest?”

He looked up, surprised by the shift in conversation. “No, I was the youngest. But I had the gift of shadows. I was more imposing and taller than even my father.”

I realized how little I knew about him, and maybe he was right—this happened centuries ago. I had never experienced jealousy, but I knew it was misplaced. Instead of focusing on the past, I should learn more about him.

“Were you invulnerable back then too?”

He shook his head. “No, that came with the curse.”

“And what about masking your scent?” I asked, genuinely curious now.

He smiled, and I couldn’t help but notice how his facial hair, the same steel gray as the hair on his head, gave him an aura of timeless strength. “That’s an alpha trait, though it’s not as common in this century.”

“When did your hair turn gray?”

“It’s always been gray,” he replied, a hint of a wry smile tugging at his lips. “I was teased mercilessly because of it, but my father explained it has to do with the gift of shadows.”

“All of this happened because your father challenged the king? Why did he?”

Lloyd sat in thought for a moment before asking. “I’ll tell you, but does that mean I’m forgiven?”

“We’ll see,” I said vaguely but couldn’t suppress a giggle.

A smile lit up his face, and he knew I’d forgiven him.

“King Finn wiped out the Crescent Moon Pack—our neighboring pack,” he began, his voice heavy with old memories. “They had a warrior, Osian, who bested all the palace guards in the trials but refused the invitation to join them.

“King Finn took it as an insult. Osian was mated to my sister Caitrin, and my mother was visiting her at the time as she had just found out she was pregnant.” He paused reflectively, a sad expression on his face.

“My father lost his mate, daughter, and grandchild in one terrible moment. He went a little crazy after that and challenged King Finn, as was his right, but Finn had fled when we arrived at the palace.

“We hunted him down, only to be ambushed in a binding circle similar to this one. The rest, as they say, is history.”

I remembered reading about Alpha Dōnal of the Shadow Moon Pack in the journal, but not the reason why King Finn was challenged.

The realization hit me hard: he’d lost his entire family in a single, devastating blow, and here I was, fixating on something as trivial as his past relationships.

“I’m sorry I trapped you in the same manner,” I said, my voice soft with guilt. “But it was either this or putting you to sleep, and I felt guilty about that too.”

My throat was thick with emotion, and I blinked back tears, so thankful my parents had survived. An apology didn’t really cut it in the face of such immense loss.

“You have nothing to apologize for, but if you want to, you could always move a little closer, and we could eat these wonderful sandwiches,” he suggested.

I grinned and shifted closer to him so our knees touched, enjoying the tingles that rushed up my legs. Goddess, I couldn’t wait to mark him. “I made them, you know…”

“Delicious,” he complimented, grabbing another one.

We sat in companionable silence as we ate. Lloyd twisted the cap off a water bottle before handing it to me. Every so often, his hand wandered closer, and he’d squeeze my thigh gently or rub my arm, and I realized how much he meant to me.

A thought struck me, and I almost choked while drinking. He thumped my back gently until I could speak.

“Lloyd, besides the fact that we don’t know what item binds you, how do we know that age won’t play catch-up once I break the curse?” I asked anxiously.

“We don’t. I hoped you’d find some information in the grimoire…” He trailed off.

I shook my head dejectedly. The binding spell was for a circle, but nothing mentioned Lloyd’s curse. Even though we had so little time together, I couldn’t contemplate a life without him.

“Chelsea’s Grandpa, David, says that witches and werewolves were mortal enemies, so they were hunted to extinction. But if they were so powerful, why did they not retaliate?” It made no sense. I could only imagine how powerful a coven could be. “And reading the grimoire, I don’t think Kiralah was evil.”

“I cannot answer that. In my day, witches were known as evil and duplicitous, and after what happened, I believed that.” Lloyd stopped thoughtfully. “My father would have killed King Finn if there’d been a straight challenge, but once we were bound in the circle, I learned that the witches had agreed to help him in exchange for their freedom.”

“Freedom?” I interrupted.

“They’ve always been persecuted. After my father was beheaded…”

“I used to have nightmares about that and endlessly saw your father’s head rolling to my feet. And, of course, we unearthed your father’s skull and the pentagram right there,” I interrupted and pointed to the spot behind him.

Lloyd twisted around and sighed heavily. I felt instant remorse for my insensitivity.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

He shook his head and continued. “The witches agreed to help King Finn, but once they did, he invited them to the palace to celebrate this new era. The reality was a little different. After Kiralah cursed me, he poisoned them during the celebrations.

“I heard their screams and didn’t know why Kiralah wasn’t poisoned, but I suspect he wanted to ensure the curse worked. I was brought to the throne room and ordered to kill her. I didn’t hesitate for one second. I wanted to kill her for what she’d done, and strangely, she never fought or ran.”

“Oh, if I can magic a protective barrier, she could too. Why didn’t she?”

“I don’t know.”

I looked up when I smelled my parents and watched them walk hand in hand toward the circle. Lloyd sat upright and swallowed. It was funny that he felt intimidated by my parents now that they knew he was my mate.

Marking would have to wait…

“We thought we’d drop by and see how things were going. Misty was in a mood this morning,” my dad said with a grin.

I shot him a dirty look, but he ignored me and fished the last sandwich out of the cooler before sitting down.

“Hmm,” my mom said, bending forward to inspect Lloyd’s forehead. “Those stitches look perfect if I say so myself.”

“Harris, Charlotte, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Lloyd replied formally. He touched the stitches with a fingertip. “Is this your handiwork?”

My mom nodded, grinning. “If I’d let Misty stitch you up, you’d be sporting a jagged, monstrous scar.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

Lloyd’s gaze shifted between us, amusement sparking in his eyes. “So, Misty’s not much of a seamstress?”

“Definitely not,” my mom confirmed with a laugh.

Lloyd’s chest shook as he tried to suppress his laughter.

“I can do magic,” I said, pouting as I smacked his thigh lightly. “And for the record, I’m a great cook too!” I added, glancing at my mom, who blushed to the roots.

“Children,” my dad said with a chuckle. “We came to officially welcome you to the family, Lloyd. But I still owe you for that punch, even if it was to save us. I’ve never been knocked out before—it doesn’t exactly complement my alpha status.”

There was a brief pause as Lloyd’s expression shifted, unsure whether my dad was joking.

“I—I’m honored to be part of this family,” Lloyd finally responded, his voice earnest. “And I’ve learned a valuable lesson.”

“Oh? What’s that?” my dad asked, intrigued.

“I should have been transparent from the start,” Lloyd admitted. “But in truth, I’ve never been sent to spy on a pack before, and I’ve always kept my own counsel because I trusted no one.”

“That’s understandable,” my mom said softly, placing her hand over his. “No one has gone through as much pain and suffering as you have, and no words or apologies can make that right.”

“It’s in the past,” Lloyd said gravely. “I fervently hope I have a future with Misty and her family.”

“Okay, stop! I can’t handle all of this right now,” I blurted out, feeling overwhelmed. “Aren’t you supposed to be planning the attack in Alpha Martin’s office?”

“It’s been pushed to this evening. Tanner is setting up a command tent. There’s not enough space in Alpha Martin’s office, what with all the visiting alphas,” my dad clarified.

Lloyd stiffened. I knew he wanted to be part of this, but with the alpha command, that was impossible.

~“You should tell him,”~ Cammy advised.

~“I will, later…”~

Tanner had made a list of all the items that could have been used to bind Lloyd. This morning, we discussed my part, and he paired me with Adam not only because we made a good team but also because he knew his way around the palace. We would retrieve the object and leave immediately.

Neither Tanner’s nor Adam’s link had broken, and the only way to force a break was to accept another pack link.

I knew the plan was to strike quickly, and my dad had intimated it would probably be tomorrow night. He also pressured me to accept one of the pack links, but I remained stubborn and refused.

Before I left for the palace, I had every intention of mating and marking Lloyd just in case I died tomorrow.