CHAPTER 53: FIFTY-THREE

Moment of truth

A few hours had passed into the nighttime, the rain had stopped and the moon had come out now.

The cabin bedroom being dimly illuminated from the moonlight as the two lovers lay in the arms of each

other, the both of them wide awake, but not a sound was heard except the one from their breaths, it

was a peaceful moment, a moment Lucas wanted to savor.

Ava’s eyes wandered in his direction of her lover in whose arms she laid in, kissing him in between

intervals. At the next moment, her eyes caught something behind him on the beside table near the

lamp. It was night and one could hardly see anything in the room, but this was not a problem for a wolf

as they were known to have good night vision. She focused her gaze and got a clearer view of the

picture behind him. It was the picture of a young black-haired woman, probably in her early twenties,

and a young boy who had a striking resemblance to Lucas. She’d seen this picture that first morning

she escaped from here but hadn’t paid much attention to it. She just assumed that it was a picture of

young Lucas and his mother but now she was certain that it was the picture of Amelia and Bambi, as

she saw the small scribblings of their names at the edge of the frame. It was the last memory he kept of

her.

Lucas saw the direction his mate was looking; he knew what she was looking at but didn’t move or

say anything to stop her, just let her see what she wanted to see, it’s all right as long as the frame was

behind him where he couldn’t see. She looked up at him and saw the sadness in his eyes. It hurt to see

him like that, she knows it must be very painful, how it feels like to lose your family, she lost hers too

but it could never compare to what Lucas had to go through. After a moment, she decides to break the

silence.

“Tell me about yourself Lucas.”

He looked at her surprisingly. It was a question he did not expect her to ask, but he would give her (C) content.

the answers anyway. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, a few seconds passed before he

found the right words to say.

“I lived with mum, dad and Nani, then mum and dad died and it was only me and Nani, I was left all

alone with my nanny at the age of 4 with a huge responsibility on my shoulders, a responsibility I failed

to attend to.”

“Nani told me everything about the company Lucas, it wasn’t your fault.”

He let out another deep breath and then, “I know. It’s all in the past now and I’m over it.”

She knows the next thing she wants to say, and she has to choose her words carefully so she

wouldn’t upset him, but this is a very important part of his life, a part she wants to share with him, she

wants to share with him what Nani told her about. This was a moment of truth, and she feels the need

to be honest with him about her knowledge of his past.

She paused for a bit, and then, “Nani also told me about Susan.”

If there was any expression he was supposed to reveal upon hearing her call that name, he hid it

well. He didn’t seem surprised, maybe he already knew Nani would tell his mate whenever she came

along.

“What did she tell you about her?”

“She told me about the curse and how it all happened, but what I still don’t understand is why she

did it, and how you were able to achieve so much in such a short time.”

She is his mate, she needs to know, he’s never been this close to any woman ever since that day,

he’s never trusted anyone so much so, but Ava, there was just something about her, something in her

that drove him crazy.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to ask him about it, maybe he was upset at what she said. She had

already given up hope of him answering until the silence was once again broken by the sound of his

deep voice.

“After the curse, I had huge problems with my shifts, I couldn’t control it, so during that time, I

made sure never to show my face in public or during the day. I always moved at night, searching for

anything, any remedy that would kill Erasmus or something, to take away the curse. I had gone to

every modern sorcerer I could come across, I offered them huge fortune, all that was left of my

inheritance if they could take away Erasmus, but all of them said the same thing; there was nothing that

could be done. Susan's magic was too powerful, no other witch existed like her, none could measure

up to her power, and I was stuck like this forever, a cursed man beast, a slave to the moon who could

only find true fulfillment with his mate.

“As for the reason why Susan cursed me, I don’t know either but according to the words of the

most powerful sorcerer I met, the one who helped me control my shifts, he said that my suffering was

as a result of what I did to someone in a past life, I had offended someone, and that someone

happened to be Susan, or Susannah rather, which is her real name.”

Ava nodded against his chest; Nani had also said something similar about Susan’s reason for

cursing him. Susan was punishing Lucas for what Rabbi did to her centuries ago. Lucas continued.

“Susannah’s magic is powerful and irreversible; nothing can be done. I have already come to

terms with the fact that I am always going to have this beast living inside of me.”

The words stung her like a bee-sting. “But being a werewolf isn’t a bad thing, look at all you’ve

achieved with Erasmus.

“At what cost? To give up one good life to have another? This new life is good too but what is the

point of it if I can’t be fulfilled with my mate forever?”