Chapter 251

Kaelen POV

"She cursed him."

The words hung between us, and for a moment, I couldn’t move. The cold underground room suddenly felt even colder as I stood there, staring at Augustus and trying to make sense of what he’d just told me.

My mind was running through everything I thought I knew about my father, but none of it was adding up anymore.

My stepmother, Elizabeth, hadn’t been the helpless, lovesick woman I’d always assumed she was.

She’d actually taken matters into her own hands and cursed him. Alpha Valerius, the most feared and ruthless man in the empire, the man everyone had been too afraid to cross, had been tortured by a curse from his own mate.

She had actually managed to break him.

The thought made my stomach twist, and I felt the blood drain from my face. My hands had started trembling before I even realized it, so I curled them into fists, trying to hide it.

"A curse that made him unable to tolerate another woman’s touch," Augustus continued, his hoarse voice cutting through my thoughts. "A curse that made him physically sick at the thought of being with anyone else. A curse that made sure he couldn’t betray her again."

My knees almost gave out.

I locked them in place and forced myself to stay standing, refusing to give Augustus the satisfaction of seeing how badly his words were getting to me.

"You’re lucky, in a way," he added, watching me closely with that dark glint in his hollow eyes. "You’ve made it this far. The curse placed on your father was much stronger. Within five years, he was already close to losing his mind. He was reaching the final stage, the one that would have completely destroyed him."

Those words made me suck in a sharp breath.

"Stages?" I repeated, my voice coming out rough. "There are... stages?"

At that, Augustus tilted his head, studying me for a few seconds before coughing.

As he did, a mouthful of dark blood spilled onto his torn shirt, and he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his bruised, chained hand before looking at me again.

"Of course there are. There are five stages to the curse." His eyes narrowed slightly. "The first is what you’ve already experienced, the inability to touch another woman without your wolf losing control and becoming dangerous."

My jaw tightened.

"And the second," he continued, "which I believe you’re experiencing now, is the emotional side of it. Rage. Fear. Stress. Strong emotions trigger the curse now, don’t they?"

I said nothing.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched my face.

"They make your wolf more unpredictable," he went on. "The stronger your emotions get, the harder it becomes to keep him under control. You’ve noticed it yourself, haven’t you? Especially when you’re angry, scared, or under too much pressure."

My fists clenched and unclenched at my sides, my short nails digging into my palms, but I said nothing.

I didn’t have to.

Whatever Augustus was looking for was already written all over my face, and judging by the faint satisfaction in his eyes, he’d gotten his answer.

"The third stage," Augustus continued, his voice taking on a darker edge, "is when the physical effects start showing even when you’re not shifted. The black veins spreading across your skin. That permanent red tint in your eyes. Your wolf starts taking control more often, and when it happens, it’s harder to pull him back. The episodes last longer, and the darkness inside you gets stronger."

I felt my stomach tighten while he paused for a moment, letting the words sink in before continuing.

"The fourth stage is worse. That’s when the voice takes full control."

My chest tightened.

"The voice of the person who cursed you won’t just whisper in your head anymore or show up when you’re at your weakest," he explained. "It’ll start giving you orders. You’ll hear it telling you what to do, and eventually, you’ll have trouble knowing which thoughts are yours and which ones belong to the curse."

His eyes stayed fixed on mine as he added, "Before long, you’ll stop fighting it altogether. You’ll just do whatever it commands you."

That sent a chill down my spine.

The fourth stage.

I was already hearing Morwenna’s dark, raspy voice in the back of my mind whenever my emotions got too intense.

I’d already had moments when I couldn’t tell whether the anger burning through me was mine or something the curse was feeding.

Thankfully, I could still control my body. I could still force myself to stop when I needed to, but knowing that control could eventually slip away from me made my heart race even faster.

"And the fifth stage?" I asked, my voice coming out rough.

Finally, Augustus’s expression changed. His bloodstained lips slowly stretched into a smile that sent another wave of unease through me.

"The fifth stage is the last one," he said quietly. "Once you reach it, there is no coming back. You lose your mind completely. You become nothing but rage and violence, a beast that can’t recognize anyone around it anymore."

He shifted slightly in the chair, the silver chains around his wrists rattling against the metal.

"You lose your memories. You stop recognizing the people you love. You stop caring about anything except destroying whatever is in front of you. At that point, you become the monster everyone has always feared you’d turn into."

His words hit harder than I wanted them to.

"And when you reach that stage," Augustus added, his voice dropping even lower, "there’s only one thing left that can stop you."

He held my gaze.

"Death."

My heart slammed against my ribs, the pounding so loud that I could hear it in my ears. I tried to keep my face steady, but there was no hiding the fear creeping through me. The word alone had been enough to make my stomach twist.

Augustus leaned forward, and the heavy silver chains wrapped around his wrists rattled against the arms of the iron chair. The sound echoed through the cold room, making the silence feel even heavier.

"Your father reached the fourth stage before he finally found the cure," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving mine. "He was already inches away from the fifth. If he had waited even a moment longer..."

He stopped there.

He didn’t need to finish.

The way he said it made the answer painfully clear, and suddenly, the room felt colder than it had a second ago.

My fingers curled tightly at my sides as I stared at him, trying to process what he had just told me. My father had gotten that close to that stage and somehow, I had never known.

But before I could ask anything else, Darius stepped forward.

His gray eyes were hard as he positioned himself between Augustus and me, his entire body tense with suspicion.

"And how exactly are we supposed to trust your word?" he coldly demanded. "How do we know you aren’t fucking making shit up?"