Bride of the Cursed Alpha - Chapter 65: Chapter 65

Auren POV
I was so nervous ever since I warned Dr. Brown about work ethics in his hospital that I was expecting some kind of backlash from Lucien. However, Lucien told me that what I did was right, and that made me feel better. He didn’t reprimand me for how I talked to the doctor. I just needed his approval. Everyone else could go to hell.
As he drove back to the pack, silence lingered between us. His kiss—it had helped me settle. Tension dissipated and I felt lighter.
When he got food packed on the way, my gaze flickered to them. The smell of roasted meat and warm bread filled my senses. What was he up to? When instead of taking the direct road back to the pack, he veered off the main path and steered us through the thick woods, surprise washed over me. My heart quickened wondering where we were going. When he said, “Surprise”, I was thrilled. This was a new side of Lucien—one that I loved. One that I wished stayed forever.
Moon Goddess, please don’t let me die.
He parked the car and stepped out, grabbing the bags before I could offer help. He took out a picnic basket and a small bag. “Come, let’s go,” he said, extending his hand to me. With heat rising to my cheeks, I took his hand. He guided me toward a spot where the trees parted to reveal a river.
When we reached there, I couldn’t stop staring at the breathtaking view. The afternoon sun glistened on the surface. The golden ripples danced over the lazy current of water. A gentle breeze rustled through the tall reeds that were near the river’s edge. Sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees, casting dappled patterns on the bank.
“Over there,” he said, pointing where the wildflowers swayed lazily. Upon reaching there, he spread out the blanket on the grass near the river’s edge.
The side of his lips lifted slightly. “Sit,” he said.
Warmth bloomed in my chest as I sat down. He sat down behind me with his legs spread out wide around me. And in that moment, all that mattered was us. I heard the sound of birds chirping and an occasional splash of a fish when it broke the surface. The world here was serene. I could live here forever with him.
“Thanks,” I murmured, and on instinct, I rested my back on his chest. He kissed the crown of my head and inhaled my scent. I pretended not to notice the way my pulse jumped. For a while we sat in comfortable silence, listening to the world around us. It felt… natural.
“Hungry?” he asked after a while.
I nodded and reached the picnic basket to take out food, but he stopped me. He opened it, took out the containers and handed me a plate before fixing one for himself.
This was the most beautiful gesture anyone had ever done for me. To say that I was overwhelmed was an understatement — I was beyond joyous, my heart overflowing with gratitude. If only I could freeze this time forever.
He watched me intensely as I ate food. While eating, my mind went to his last name. “Lucien…” I hesitated, unsure of how to bring up what I saw in the Eldermere Temple.
His brows slightly furrowed as he sensed my hesitation. “What is it?” he asked.
I exhaled. “It’s about the time when I was at the Eldermere ruins.”
He stiffened beside me. “You are not going back there.”
I shook my head. “No, I am not saying that. But—” I bit my bottom lip, my eyes going to the river. “At the temple ruins, I saw something.” I turned to him. “It was like a vision.” I hesitated before adding, “In my vision, I saw a wolf named Vaslof, who came to meet the High Priests of Elderemere. They offered him his moon-mate, a priestess called Naqia. He—he rejected her.”
Lucien’s face darkened and I recoiled in fear. The playfulness in his features that I saw only a few moments ago, vanished. “Vaslof you say?” he gritted. “What else did you see?”
I swallowed hard. “When he rejected Naqia, she was so heartbroken, that she turned into a Shadow Wolf. And along with her all the priests got sucked in an abyss of darkness. The moonstone altar cracked right in the middle and they all disappeared into it. And then—”
His jaw ticked. “And then what?”
I took a ragged breath. “Then she cursed Vaslof… some Bride Bane’s curse…”
“Bride’s Bane curse?” he rasped, his eyes wide in surprise. “Are you sure you heard that?”
I nodded. After I revealed it all to him, my heart felt lighter, like I had shed millennia of weight. But I knew that he wouldn’t believe me. “I don’t know what it means, but when the shadows wrapped around me, I felt… trapped in it. Like I would never get out of there. Like I would become a part of shadow wolves.”
“Goddess!” Immediately Lucien reached out to me. He pulled me in his lap and grabbed me around my waist. He leaned his forehead over mine and said, “Don’t ever go back there. That place is prohibited.”
I curled my hands around his neck. “I won’t.”
“I don’t know what to make out of your vision, Auren.” Looking straight into my eyes, he said, “But the first Alpha wolf of my bloodline was called Vaslof. Honestly, I don’t know about his history. I mean that is not there in our archives. But if he rejected his moon-mate and that’s what you saw—” His let out a rough breath. “That’s something serious. Maybe that’s the puzzle missing in my bloodline. I don’t know… We always heard about shadow wolves, but never saw them. Our ancestors have forbidden us from going to the ruins.”
A shudder ran down my spine and I rested my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes against his nape.
“I’ll find out about it. Maybe the Shaman knows… I can’t believe that you actually encountered shadow wolves. What was it like?”
“Lucien…” I hesitated. I explained everything to him and he heard it with rapt attention.
“Dear Lord!” His breath rasped in his throat. “You went through so much!” His hand slid to the back of my neck as his fingers threaded through my hair and pulled me in front of him. “Because of me.” He stared into my eyes and then our lips met, slow at first. He let out a deep, primal growl. My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer. His tongue traced the seam of my lips, coaxing them apart. I let him in. The kiss deepened as heat unfurled between us. His other hand went to my waist where he gripped me tight, grounding me against him.
A deep ache developed between my thighs. All I wanted was to do something. I didn’t know what. As if understanding my predicament, Lucien slipped his hand between us and cupped my sex. I gasped at the new sensation but he didn’t let me pull away. The emotion that crashed through me was fiery. On instinct I started grinding myself in his hand, needing some kind of relief. He knew exactly what I wanted, so he pressed and rubbed on the apex of my sex. I mewled in his mouth, needing more, grinding more.
His nostrils flared and he growled deeply. “Come for me, Auren,” he said in a rough voice.