THE HEALER'S CURSE

I stood in front of him in the moonlight clearing and trembled as I said, "Say it, Kieran." The only sound to break the stillness of the woodland was the distant rustling of leaves.

His golden eyes were steely and icy as he gazed at me. There was not a glimmer of warmth or a hint of the connection that was pulsing through my chest like a lifeline. I held my breath as his lips parted, hoping that something, anything, would ease the anguish.

His tone was sharp and abrupt as he said, "You're not what I need."

My lungs were robbed of breath as the words crashed into me. "What do you need?" I could hardly hear my voice when it cracked.

His eyes remained fixed. Celeste, you heard me. I need to be strong. A Luna who can lead alongside me and stand at my side. Not. He dismissed me with a sweep of his hand, like if I were a mistake. "Not a healer who uses prayers and herbs to hide."

I took a step back, feeling as if our relationship was a thread on the verge of breaking. "That is not what you mean. You are unable to.

"Yes, I do."

Tears pricked my eyes, but I fought the want to let them fall. "You're turning me away? Like that?

"Yes," he answered, his voice cutting through the darkness like a razor.

Anger rose to replace the sadness, and I gulped down the sob that stuck in my throat. And Kieran, what about the Moon Goddess? She granted us a mate connection, but what about that? Are you so conceited that you believe you can just discard it?

He clenched his jaw. "What this pack requires is unknown to the Moon Goddess. Yes, I do.

The sound of my loud, hollow chuckle was unpleasant. "Obviously. Kieran, the Alpha, is the expert. even in matters of destiny.

He didn't recoil. He remained silent. Just stood there, where my companion should have been, on a stone wall.

"All right." I pushed steel into my trembling voice. Say the words if you're that certain. Turn me away. Cut the connection.

Something flared in his eyes for the first time. Feeling sorry? Uncertainty? It didn't matter that I couldn't tell. The quintessential representation of an uncompromising Alpha, he straightened his shoulders.

"You, Celeste, are rejected as my mate and Luna by me, Kieran, Alpha of the Moonshadow Pack."

The connection broke.

I stumbled as the anguish tore through my chest like a physical blow. The world tipped around me, and I gripped at my heart, struggling to breathe. There was a glaring hole where the warmth of the connection, the kinship I'd felt when I first saw him, had been.

"Kieran..." I said in a shattered whisper.

With his back to me, he muttered, "Go, Celeste." "Go live your life as you see fit. You are now at liberty.

Free? It was an insensitive joke. I didn't feel liberated. I felt as if a part of me had been torn out and would never be put back.

I turned and staggered into the trees as the tears I had been suppressing overflowed. I felt the chilly night air on my face, but it didn't make the ache go away.

The pack's mutterings grew behind me, whispering softly through the woods. Everyone had witnessed it. Heard it. Their Alpha turned down his destined mate.

I didn't turn around.

I took off running.

I continued despite the branches tearing at my flesh and the roots threatening to trip me. I was unable to stop. Even though my legs hurt and my chest burned, I persisted because I was anxious to get away from the shame, the betrayal, and the emptiness.

It was in a little clearing far from the pack's boundaries when I eventually passed out. The world was bathed in silver light from the full, brilliant moon that hovered high above me.

I let out a yell.

It was an unadulterated, guttural cry that contained all of the hurt, rage, and heartache I was unable to control. My fists clenched in the soil, and I shed a lot of tears, which soaked the earth below me.

What was he doing? How could he disregard me as if I were unimportant?

I pictured his icy, unforgiving gaze. He had given me the impression that I was unimportant. He had said those statements in a brutal and definitive manner.

I snarled, my voice scarcely heard above my cries, "You bastard."

I remained there till my tears dried up, curled up on the woodland floor. till the agony subsided and my chest began to hurt throbbingly. Until the moon started to disappear beyond the horizon, causing the sky to become pink and gray.

Then I got up.

I cleaned my hands of the grime and my face of the tears. Despite my weak body and unstable legs, I vowed not to fall again.

It's okay if Kieran didn't want me. He wasn't necessary for me. None of them were necessary to me.

The life I had believed to be mine, the pack, and the link were all gone.

However, I remained here.

And I would live.

I turned and left the Moonshadow Pack behind, taking one final look at the waning moon.

With every step I took, the jungle got darker and I moved farther away from the spot I used to call home. Even though I was exhausted and my limbs were shaking, I continued. I was unable to. Every rustling of leaves and crack of a twig served as a reminder that I was alone in the woods, and the silence pushed on me.

Then I had a tingle at the nape of my neck.

With my heart racing, I froze. I turned slowly, looking around in the dark. Darkness enveloped the twisted outlines of the trees, which stood quiet. With the shards of our connection to the pack still fresh and sensitive, my wolf moved nervously.

"Who's there?" Fear gnawing at my throat, I yelled, my voice calm.

Quiet.

A primitive sense told me that I wasn't alone when the hair on my arms sprang up. I became more perceptive and detected the slightest movement behind the woods.

With my feet firmly planted on the woodland floor, I commanded, "Show yourself." Low in my breast, my wolf snarled, prepared to defend if necessary.

A silhouette emerged from the darkness, moving with a smooth, almost predatory gait. As I looked at the guy in front of me, my breath caught. Lean and tall, with piercing blue eyes that appeared to gleam in the low light and black hair that curled slightly at the corners. My pulse skipped a beat because of the jagged scar that went down his jaw, giving him a dangerous edge.

He continued, "You're far from home, little wolf," in a smooth but dangerously laced voice.

"Who are you?" With a harsh tone, I asked.

A little grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he cocked his head. "A person who has been anticipating this moment."

I felt a flash of confusion. "What are you discussing?"

His eyes never left mine as he took a step closer. "You no longer belong to them, do you? The group. The friend who discarded you.

I tensed up, clenching my fingers into fists. "How are you aware of that?"

His teeth, just too sharp, showed through his widening grin. "Celeste, I know more about you than you realize."

My blood became icy. "How are you aware of my name?"

His eyes brightened, and I felt like I was being held still by the intensity of his stare. "Because your narrative and mine, little wolf? Long before tonight, they were bound together.

A low, eerie wail echoed in the distance as the wind became stronger.

And I became aware for the first time that I could have encountered something far more hazardous than Kieran's rejection.