Alpha's Hidden Precious Luna-Chapter 158

Kai POV

Celeste was quiet for a long moment, processing this revelation. "There has to be a way to break it," she finally said. "Some kind of counter-spell or ritual."

"Maybe," I conceded. "But until we find it, I can’t risk being near Lily. The curse is designed to destroy any chance I have at happiness with my true mate. Serena made sure that even in death, she would have her revenge."

"That’s sick," Celeste spat, her wolf flashing in her eyes. "How could anyone be so cruel? What did you ever do to her?"

“I can’t say. There must have been a reason for her to do that. Plus she wasn’t always like that," I said, surprising myself with the admission. "Or maybe she was, and I was just too blind to see it. The false mate bond made everything feel real, made me ignore all the warning signs."

"Healer Odin," Celeste said suddenly. "He warned you about her from the beginning, didn’t he?"

"He did. He sensed something was wrong, that she had no wolf. I dismissed his concerns because I was so convinced by the mate bond." I laughed bitterly. "I was a fool."

"You were manipulated," Celeste corrected firmly. "By someone who used dark magic to deceive not just you, but your wolf. That’s not foolishness, Kai. That’s victimization."

Her words struck something deep within me. I had been so focused on my own guilt, my own failures, that I hadn’t considered myself a victim. But she was right. Serena had targeted me, used me, violated the sacred nature of the mate bond for her own gain.

“Well, Serena is dead right?” Celeste asked turning to me. “The curse is supposed to be broken. Right?”

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think her death broke the curse.”

Celeste’s eyes widened with disbelief.

"That’s not possible," she said, shaking her head. "Curses are supposed to break with the death of one of the partners. That’s basic magical law."

I sighed, knowing what I had to reveal next would shock her even more. "That’s what I thought too. But Serena... she didn’t die in that fire helping humans."

"What?" Celeste’s voice rose. "But grandpa and grandma said...”

"All staged," I interrupted. "The truth is far more complicated. And darker."

I shifted on the hospital bed, positioning myself to face her fully. "After I discovered Serena had me under her spell, things got... messy. Our mother was the one who caught her trying to renew the enchantment."

Celeste’s hand flew to her mouth. "Mother knew?"

"She walked in on Serena performing the ritual in our bedroom. The confrontation that followed was..." I closed my eyes, the memory still vivid. "Mother tried to make her reverse the spell. She pleaded, threatened, even offered her wealth and power if she would just release me."

"And Serena refused," Celeste guessed, her voice hollow.

"She laughed in Mother’s face. Said the curse was woven too deeply, that it was now part of my very soul. Even if she wanted to remove it—which she didn’t—she claimed it was impossible." My hands clenched into fists at the memory. "She told Mother I belonged to her, that I would never truly be free to love another."

“Why was she doing it?” Celeste asked. “There must be a reason.”

“It was never stated or at least, my memories didn’t show that part.”

"So what happened? How did we end up believing she died in a fire?"

I took a deep breath. "Mother and I made a decision. We couldn’t kill Serena—her death wouldn’t break the curse, and it might even make things worse. Some curses are designed to activate fully upon the caster’s death. So we chose another path."

"The ice coffin," Celeste whispered, understanding dawning in her eyes.

"Yes. We put her in an enchanted ice coffin, deep beneath the pack house. It keeps her in a state of suspended animation—alive but not truly living. We hoped that by removing her active influence, the curse would weaken over time."

Celeste stood abruptly, pacing the small hospital room. "All this time, she’s been beneath our feet? Alive?"

"Not alive in any meaningful sense," I clarified. "She doesn’t age, doesn’t think, doesn’t dream. She simply... exists. Frozen in time."

"And the curse?"

"It’s still here," I admitted. "Though perhaps not as strongly as when she was fully conscious. Before we put her in the ice, I couldn’t even look at another woman without feeling violent urges. Now, it only activates when I try to form a genuine emotional connection."

Celeste stopped pacing, turning to face me with horror in her eyes. "That’s why you’ve been so cold to everyone who showed interest in you. Why you pushed away every potential mate—until Lily."

"Lily is different," I said softly. "She’s my true mate. The bond between us is real, not manufactured by magic. That’s why the curse fights so hard against it. It recognizes the threat she poses to Serena’s hold over me."

"This is insane," Celeste muttered, running her hands through her hair. "Does anyone else know? The elders? The council?"

"Only Mother and I knew the full truth. We told everyone else that Serena died heroically, saving humans from a fire. It seemed kinder than revealing she was a power-hungry witch who had ensnared their Alpha."

"We’ll find a way to break this curse," Celeste declared, her voice filled with determination. "We’ll search every grimoire, consult every witch, travel to the ends of the earth if we have to. You deserve to be with your true mate, Kai. You deserve to be happy."

"And in the meantime?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"In the meantime, we keep you and Lily apart," she said reluctantly. "For her safety and yours. But we tell her the truth. She deserves to know why you’ve been acting this way."

I nodded, feeling both relief and despair. Relief that I finally understood what had been happening to me, despair that I couldn’t be with the woman I now knew was my true mate.

“But why did mother go to the extent of suppressing your memories when it is obvious both of you made the decision together? And why did this Serena do something like this? There must have been a motive.”