Chapter 107

Grayson’s POV

The silence hung heavy and suffocating, Maria’s words settling over me like a death sentence.

“Cursed.”

The word echoed in my mind, sharp and jagged, scraping against my sanity with each repetition. I gripped the table’s edge, my knuckles white. My pulse thundered in my ears, drowning out all else.

“What do you mean, cursed?” I growled, my voice lower than intended, my wolf stirring restlessly beneath my skin.

Maria’s sigh crackled through the phone, hesitant and heavy. “It’s not a simple curse, Grayson. It’s old—ancient. Something binding your bloodline. It’s why your connection to your wolf has been…unstable.”

My wolf’s instincts flared, primal and raw, a caged predator sensing unseen danger.

“Why now?” I demanded, my voice clipped. A chill crept down my spine. “Why is it affecting me now?”

“Because,” Maria said quietly, “it’s tied to you finding your mate. This is bigger than you think. I need you to come here. I can explain it all face-to-face. How soon can you get here?”

I ran a hand through my hair, barely containing my frustration. “Twenty minutes.”

Without another word, I hung up and pushed myself from the chair. As I strode toward the front of the estate, my gaze fixed on the house. For a moment, I considered going back inside to Ava, to tell her where I was going, what was happening.

We were making progress. Slowly, painfully, but progress nonetheless. I didn’t like fighting with her, and part of me hated leaving like this. But I wasn’t wrong. I had been honest about my wants and needs—what I couldn’t give her. That truth hadn’t changed, and it never would.

With that thought echoing in my head, I slid into my car and sped off.

The highway blurred, my mind spinning faster than the roaring engine. Cursed. The Blackwood bloodline couldn’t be cursed. I would have known. My father—cruel as he was—wouldn’t have kept this from me.

Would he?

It didn’t matter. If a curse was to blame for my fractured connection to my wolf, then it could be broken.

A grim smile tugged at my lips. Breaking things was something I excelled at.

That thought festered as I pushed the car faster. The winding road narrowed, and Maria’s house appeared at its end. The door swung open before I even stepped out, and Maria stood waiting, her usual theatrics absent.

The moment our eyes met, a sinking feeling settled deep in my gut. Whatever this curse was—whatever I had come to hear—it wasn’t something to smile about.

“You’re not going to like it,” she said softly.

I stepped into the house, my voice steady, masking the unease gnawing at me. “When have I ever liked anything?”

The faint scent of herbs hung in the air, stronger than usual. I glanced around her cluttered living room; the mess grated on my nerves more than usual. I sank onto the couch, resisting the urge to pace. “Well?”

Maria perched on the edge of her chair, watching me carefully. “You’re calm for someone who just found out his entire bloodline is cursed. Not to mention the toll it’s taking on your wolf.”

“If it’s a curse, it can be broken. I’ll deal with whoever dared to curse me and my family,” I bit out.

Her lips curved into something halfway between a smile and a grimace. “Really? You’re going to take that up with the Moon Goddess?”

My head snapped toward her. “What?”

Maria sighed, folding her hands in her lap. “I was discreet when I started asking questions, so don’t worry about your secret getting out. What I found is…troubling.” She paused. “A very long time ago, your ancestor openly mocked the existence of the Moon Goddess. He scoffed at the idea that a ‘superficial female’ was the source of their power. The Moon Goddess didn’t let that blasphemy slide. She cursed him. She decreed that since he saw females as inferior, his entire bloodline would depend on a single female.”

My chest tightened as the pieces fell into place, sharp and unwelcome.

Maria’s voice was softer now. “From that moment on, he and his descendants would be unable to mate with anyone but their fated mate. A mate chosen solely by the Moon Goddess; and if they didn’t find her and make themselves worthy of the bond, then they would suffer dire consequences.”

The words struck something deep within me. My wolf growled in my head, restless, almost agitated.

“She can’t be,” I muttered. “She’s fated to Dylan, not me.”

Maria studied me, unflinching. “You’re repulsing the idea; I can feel it. But you’re not saying the right things, Grayson.”

“Ava is not my fated mate,” I snapped, my voice harsher than intended.

“Maybe she isn’t. Maybe she is,” she said carefully, “but the curse is real. And it affects every generation differently.”

Her words twisted into something I didn’t want to admit, something I didn’t want to see.

“Your father,” Maria continued, “had his madness. And the only person who could ever calm him was your mother.”

I stilled, surprised.

“And you,” she added, “with your…bedroom problems.”

I shot her a glare. “I don’t have any problems.”

“You reacted to Ava, didn’t you?” she replied sharply, then sighed. “Look, I know you don’t want to hear it—”

“Then don’t say it.”

Maria’s gaze bore into me. “What’s so wrong with her being your fated mate, Grayson? She’s beautiful, powerful, loyal, and kind. What’s wrong with her?”

The question hit me harder than I expected. What was wrong with her? Ava was perfect. It would explain everything—the sudden attachment. The way I’d burn the world to let her live. The way my wolf pushed me to mark her.

But something still prickled deep inside me. Something dark. Something I couldn’t understand.

“Why didn’t my father tell me this?” I asked, my voice low.

Maria tilted her head. “Do you really not know the answer to that?”

I sighed, running a hand down my face. “How do I break the curse? Why hasn’t anyone tried before?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, frustration flickering in her voice. “But I will find out. In the meantime, you need to talk to Ava. The curse centers on finding a mate. If you form the bond—”

“I marked her.”

Maria’s eyes widened. I pressed on, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “I know she has to mark me back to complete it.”

And finally, the truth clicked into place. The reason I repulsed the idea. The reason I couldn’t accept it.

If I admitted Ava was my mate—if I allowed her to complete the bond—it would be permanent. Final.

And I would ruin her.

I was too damaged. Too broken. Ava and I were inevitable, but so was our end. When it came—and it would—I couldn’t send her away shattered.

Maria’s voice broke through my thoughts, heavy with fear. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like there’s a time limit, Grayson. The curse grows stronger with every generation. If you don’t break it…”

I finished for her, my voice a rough whisper. “Then I won’t just fall. It’ll be the end of the Blackwood bloodline.”