Free Book | The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 52: Mathew's POV

I saw an image of Elizabeth and I. Gold threads started appearing between the two of us and they tied us together. However, a snake started slithering up the gold threads.

Initially the snake was small but the more it wrapped itself around the golden threads, the bigger it got and the weaker the gold threads got. The snake grew into a large black snake and cast a shadow over everything Elizabeth and I touched. The golden threads tying us together were now torn apart and they weren't even glowing anymore. The closer Elizabeth and I got to one another, the bigger and stronger the snake got. It only stopped growing when she and I were apart.

I couldn't precisely understand what I was seeing, but Orion and I knew that something evil had attached itself to Elizabeth and I.

I saw her leaving me in the vision and I wanted to scream and tell her to stay, but my voice got caught in my throat. I felt that familiar darkness starting to settle in my heart again. I was struggling to breathe. The thought of going even another day without her was sending me into a downward spiral.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the hospital room. Audrey had tears streaming down her face and looked at me like she had seen a ghost. Agatha looked horrified and immediately tore her hand out of Audrey's grasp.

"What the hell was that?", I asked Audrey.

Agatha was trembling and refusing to look at Audrey and I.

"I don't know", Audrey muttered through tears, "I think that thing has attached itself to your matebond and I think it's refusing to let go."

Agatha interrupted Audrey before she could go on. "That, King Alden, was a most unholy thing", she hissed at me. "It...That shouldn't even be possible. Nothing and no one can even touch the matebond, let alone curse it!"

"Wait!", I growled at them. "What do you mean 'matebond'? Does that mean Elizabeth is..." I trailed off as the realisation hit me.

They both looked at me and nodded their heads.

"Yes", Agatha said hesitantly, "it seems our dear Liz is your fated mated."

Orion and I were furious. If Elizabeth was our fated mate then how could Audrey keep this from us? But we also couldn't understand why we couldn't recognise her as our fated mate.

"Audrey", I growled at her, "did you know about this all this time?"

"No! Of course not", she tried to reassure me. "I only found out now with you and Agatha. I've seen different renditions of this vision before, but I never knew that there was a matebond between the two of you. This is the first time that the vision has shown itself so clearly to me."

Agatha started walking hurriedly out of the hospital room. "I don't know why you would show me that vision, Audrey", she hissed at her. "I want no business with that curse."

Audrey tried to chase after Agatha, but Jonathan stopped her from leaving the bed.

"Agatha, wait!", she yelled after her.

Agatha turned to look at Audrey. She still looked terrified.

"No!", the old woman shouted. "King Alden, I know that my sisters and I owe you our lives. However, I will not touch that curse. That...thing is not of this world and you know it Audrey. It's best to leave it as it is than risk the lives of countless people."

I grabbed Agatha's arm before she could get out of the room.

"Agatha", I looked at her with pleading eyes, "you and I both know that if Audrey showed the vision to the both us, it means we're both supposed to do something about it."

She cursed under her breath and reluctantly returned to the room and sat next to Audrey's bed.

"King Alden, you and Elizabeth are fated mates", Agatha started.

"But how-"

"Zip it and let me explain!", she reprimanded me.

"You are fated mates. However, someone or something has placed a very VERY strong curse on your matebond. Due to this curse, you and your beast will never recognise her as your fated mate. That snake that you saw is the curse. It has been feeding off your matebond for years; before you even met our dear Lizzie."

I rubbed my temples with both hands. This couldn't be happening. "Is that even possible?", I asked them. "The matebond is the purest form of magic in our world. No one can touch it."

Agatha nodded her head to agree with me. "You are absolutely right, King Alden. The matebond is the most sacred and divine magic. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can touch it."

"Then how the hell is my matebond cursed?", I roared at them.

She folded her arms as if trying to protect herself against an invisible enemy. "I am 350 years old, King Alden. I have never in my live seen a curse like this. It's so strong and so...vile. That is no normal curse. It wasn't cast by anyone in this world. I can assure you of that!"

Audrey and I looked at one another. She was obviously also relying on Agatha to have a solution.

Orion and I decided to focus on the positive. If Audrey got this vision, it means something can be done about the curse and that's what we needed to focus on.

I rubbed my eyes to try and focus on solving this problem. "Agatha, how do we break the curse?"

She looked at me like I was crazy. "Death! King Alden, the only way to break a curse that strong is for either you or Lizzie to die. There is no other way to break it."

I clenched my fists and felt my claws ripping out of me. She was already acting like there was no way out of this. She wasn't even trying to find a solution.

"Agatha", I used the voice I usually use when giving an order, "think very carefully. How do we break the curse?"

She stopped to think before answering me and nervously bit her nails.

"King Alden, that curse has eaten so much of your matebond that there's hardly anything left of it. You and our dear Lizzie weren't even supposed to notice each other walking down the street. It's been gorging itself on your bond. When you saw each other, you were just supposed to walk passed each other. There isn't supposed to be anything drawing the two of you to one another!"

The thought of Elizabeth not being a part of my life sent a shiver down my spine. Orion and I couldn't imagine anything worse than a life where we never met her. These past few years have been nothing but agony, but we wouldn't trade them for a life where we never met her.

"Agatha, think!", I ordered her again.

"Well...", she kept chewing on her nails, "I suppose I can try to blind the curse." Then she stood up and just started talking to herself.

"Yes, yes", she said while pacing up and down. "Only death can break the curse, but all curses can be blinded. I ...I can direct the curse's attention elsewhere. It wants power so I have to make it look at something that is as powerful and as sacred as the matebond. If successful, the curse will momentarily stop seeking out your matebond. It will be focused on the decoy!"

Audrey and I didn't precisely understand what Agatha was talking about, but it sounded like good news so we would go with whatever she suggested.

"Okay uhm, what do you need us to do?", I asked her.

"King Alden, you take for granted that silver and wolfsbane has no effect on you." Agatha was now standing still infront of me and Audrey. "I would have told you this earlier, but you've always acted like there's a stake in your heart so I did not want to burden you."

I gestured for her to quickly go on.

"You have powerful and very pure magic coursing through your veins. That is why your magic was strong enough to awaken that...that darn warlock." She hissed when she said that last part.

"I can use your magic as a decoy for the curse", she continued. "You will still have your strength. However, silver and wolfsbane will be lethal to you."

She looked at me as if waiting for my approval.

"Agatha, I don't care what you have to do. I just want Elizabeth back with me. If we do this, will she be able to come back?"

A small smile appeared on her face. "Yes-"

I lifted her up in the air and started spinning her around before she could say anything else. All that mattered was that Elizabeth was finally coming back.

"However!", the woman shouted. I stopped spinning her around and waited for her to go on. "You will not be able to mate and mark each other AND I can only blind the curse for a few days. It will soon realise that I played a trick on it and will return to the matebond. If you and Lizzie are close to each other when the curse returns, all hell will break loose."

I furrowed my brows as I put her on the ground. "If I can't mark or mate her then what can I do?"

She raised an eyebrow as if she was annoyed with me."You can hold hands, hug each other, kiss each other BUT absolutely no kissing on the mouth! And you cannot do all those things you young people do to please each other. You can ONLY do the things I just listed."

I wanted to argue with her. This was nowhere close to all the things I wanted to do with Elizabeth. I wanted to mate and mark her over and over again. I wanted everyone to know she's mine. I wanted her and Phoenix to know how much I needed them.

"But-", I tried to protest, but she wasn't having any of it.

"I'm serious, King Alden!", she warned me. "This is a very strong curse so the spell to blind it, no matter how strong, will be very fragile. The slightest mistake can make the curse realise what I have done."

I let out a deep sigh. This was a temporary solution and I would still not be able to mark or mate her, but at least I'd have her close by. I couldn't help but smile when I thought about the fact that she's my fated mate. I should have known. But I was also angered that someone had cursed our matebond.

"How do we find the person who cursed our matebond?", I asked her. "And how do we find a permanent solution? There must be a way to break the curse without one of us dying, Agatha!" I had so many questions milling through my mind.

"Slow down, King Alden", she held both of her hands up to stop my many questions. She gave me a look filled with so much pity. "I don't understand why you and poor Lizzie must go through all these difficulties just to love each other, King Alden. This truly is a shame."

Then she took a deep breath. "To answer your questions, whatever cursed your matebond is not of this world. Even if we find it, we will be powerless against it. It would be like waging war against Selene herself." She hesitated before continuing. "Death is the only permanent solution, King Alden. If one of you dies, the curse will disappear. It is only after the death of one of you that the other will recognise them as their fated mate."

That thought alone was enought to send a stabbing pain through my heart.

"I will watch the curse while the two of you spend time together", Agatha continued, "but after a few days you will have to be apart again."

A growl ripped out of me. I wasn't going to let Elizabeth leave my side again. I wouldn't live like that again.

"This is a temporary solution, Agatha. You need to find another solution before the curse realises what you've done. I am not letting Elizabeth leave my side again ."

She nervously nodded her head.

"What do you need me to do?", I asked her.

"I won't just need you, King Alden. I will also need two more seers and five of my strongest witches. This is a very strong spell so I'll need all hands on deck."

I looked at Keyon and I didn't even have to say anything to him. He left the room and returned a few minutes later with Alexander and Esther and five of the strongest witches in my kingdom. Since Audrey was kidnapped, most of the witches were already here to help us search for her. Alexander and Esther are the two seers who live in my territory.

Agatha briefly explained the situation to everyone. They were all just as scared and horrified as Agatha when she told them about Audrey's vision.

"Luna Audrey, you will need to get out of bed in order to help us with the spell", Agatha instructed her.

Jonathan hesitated letting go of her, but he eventually let her go when I gave him a stern look.

Agatha and the witches took out herbs and chalks out of their purses. They drew a small circle and a bigger circle around it. Then they spread all kinds of herbs around and inside the two circles.

They put me in the middle of the smaller circle and Esther, Audrey and Alexander stood around me while holding hands. The six witches stood around us on the bigger circle. They were also holding hands.

"We will use the seers to help us see the curse", Agatha explained to me. "The clearer the curse is to us, the better we will be able to blind it. As soon as we have a clear image of it, my sisters and I will separate your sacred powers from you and lure the curse to it. The curse will temporarily leave the matebond to follow your sacred powers."

I nodded my head as I prepared for the spell.

"I would like to remind you that this will only work for a few days, King Alden", Agatha cautioned. "The curse will realise that your sacred powers are not really up for grabs and will run back to feed on your matebond."

I hurriedly nodded my head again. I just wanted to get this over and done with so that I could go get Elizabeth. "I understand, Agatha. Let's do this!"

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