“But you didn’t kill Celeste or Luna, so why curse you?” I ask.
“I was one of her coven elders before I became a Lycan. Even after I still had power. Celeste asked for my help to protect her daughter. Luna was my mate, so I helped her create the one thing that could kill a god. And in turn, it killed both of them,” he sighs.
“When Hades came for my son, Celeste came down from her realm. She was already too weak, she was dying already, having given her power to Seline. When Hades tried to kill me for what my son did, he threw the dagger. I should have died, but Celeste stopped it. Hades killed her with the knife she created when he threw it at me. Celeste took my place, trapping her in the shadow realm.”
“She sacrificed herself,” I ask, watching Kaif. He growls, but nods his head.
“She was already dying, so she did it to save her grandson,” Kaif states.
“When he realized what he had killed, he placed the curse on us, and said the only love her monsters deserved was the pain of losing it. So when another Octavian has been born, the mother has always died, and the child has always grown up, never knowing a mother’s love. Raised like how my son was, and the men always lost their mates, just like Hades lost Celeste, except every twelfth generation when I return.”
“Why twelve?” Asks Jonah.
“Because it symbolizes how long he had Luna before Kage killed her, twelve years he had her for. So every twelve generations’ host has been strong enough to hold me. It is a loophole. If I can break the curse and set Luna and Celeste free of the shadows, the Octavian bloodline will be freed as well.”
“So, how do you break the curse?” I ask.
“No idea. We have been trying to figure it out since, unfortunately, I have a bad habit of killing every mate I have,” Kaif says.
“How has your bloodline continued when you kill them when you find them?” I raise an eyebrow.
“I don’t kill them when I find them. I kill them when I mark them,” Kaif says. His face scrunches up and he looks down at the table. “It does something to me. I can’t control it…” He whispers, looking at his hands.
“What do you mean?” I ask, suddenly petrified at the thought.
“They aren’t strong enough. They can’t fight me off, and history repeats. I am forced to raise my son to adulthood, and watch him endure the same thing until my vessel dies and it starts all over again.” He shakes his head as if he’s trying to rid himself of the memories.
“Then why mark them?”
“Because I have no choice. If I don’t mark you, my host will die. If my host dies, the entire Octavian bloodline will be trapped in the shadows for eternity. I am the only one that can free them, so usually, after I find my mate, I mate them before I mark them, to continue the bloodline in case. Then I mark them. My mates are the only ones that don’t die during childbirth. They die after I mark them.” Kaif explains.
“So you kill them?”
“I give it to them,” Kaif says.
“Give what to them?”
“All of it, everything. When I mark you, I give you the shadows of my past. They never forgive me, and they can’t live with it.” He shudders.
“I don’t understand?”
Jonah goes to ask another question when Lucas taps on the door but doesn’t enter. I look over at him, and so does Kaif and Jonah.
“Marabella, your mother is downstairs waiting to see you,” Lucas says, while glancing nervously at Kaif. I wonder why he is like that with him. I know Kaif has hurt him in the past, yet Kaif has done nothing to make him nervous, and I am finding his fear of him odd.
“I will be right down,” I tell Lucas, getting up.
Kaif grabs my arm as I pass him, stopping me. “You don’t leave with her,” he tells me.
“I will be right back. I am not going anywhere unless Kyan wants me to,” I reassure him. He looks over at Jonah.
“You go with her; I may kill her brother if I go,” he mutters.
“My brother is here?”
“Yes, I can feel his aura,” Kaif answers, and Jonah also gets up.
Marabella
“What are you doing here?” I ask my mother as I walk into the living room. She stands up and embraces me, but to be honest, I’m kind of pissed off she is even here.
“I wanted to check on you,” Mom says while giving me a squeeze.
Wow, she wants to check on me now, but she couldn’t be bothered the day of the incident. Eziah sits on one chair at the table with his arms folded across his chest, and I can feel his aura. I raise an eyebrow at him when he turns and looks at me with a scowl on his face.
Jonah walks in behind me, and my mother smiles fondly at him as she pulls back away, giving him a hug. Eziah sighs, unfolding his arms. It is incredibly awkward as we all just stand here. No one knows what to say.
“I wanted to apologize about the Alpha challenge,” my mother says as she shoots my brother a look, and he drops his head, averting his gaze.
“Exactly what was Eziah doing there?” I ask her, knowing she was meant to keep an eye on him. And he was meant to be with her. Eziah blew up when he found out about Kyan and me. Everyone agreed he wasn’t to go and would remain with mom.
“I was called to the Moon Goddess realm, and he was meant to go with me, but let my hand go as I phased over,” she says, glaring at him, then returning her gaze back to me. “You know I can’t control that part; if I am needed there, I am stuck until I finish what needs doing,” she says, sitting down in the chair. She rubs her eyes; she does look tired.
“So, Dad told you what happened?”
“Yes, he said you used dark magic against your brother, that you freaked out,” she mutters.
“Freaked out? Is that what we are going to call it now?” I ask her, leaning against the counter. Jonah reaches for me, but I am pissed off. Everyone treats me like a monster, yet Eziah started it. I am sick of the double standards.
“You should have stayed out of it,” Eziah snaps at me.
“He is my mate. You should stay the fuck out of it. My relationships have nothing to do with you!” I snap back.
“I was standing up for you!” he argues.