Chapter 4 | Tiberius

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Sunlight shone on her slick black hair as the ripples of the stream glistened like a beautiful dream behind her.

But the dream turned into a nightmare when her blue-green eyes widened in horror.

It was the reaction he feared most.

She'll reject him.

And why wouldn't she? She wasn't feeling the effects of the matebond. She didn't even recognize him as her mate. Instead, she woke up with another seizure.

This time, he felt it. From start to finish, he felt what was really going on within her.

She was a werewolf and for some reason her wolf was trapped within her. It was there under the surface, trying to claw its way out, seizing her body and rocking it back and forth, but could not surface. Something held it back.

When her spasming ceased and he pulled away to look at her, his blood ran cold. Her eyes gripped his as his heart twisted in a vice as the truth revealed itself to him.

He had done this to her.

His curse had struck her as well, locking her in her human form and refusing to let her wolf out. It must have afflicted him before she came of age and, thus, she never shifted. This left her with no heightened senses and completely unable to feel their bond.

It was his fault. All of this was his fault.

She didn't deserve this. It had been his mistake. Why did she have to suffer as well?

That damned witch had no right attacking his soulmate like this!

The guilt gnawed at him as he carried her to the river to cool off. She was drenched in sweat and demanded water. It was the least he could do after the years of suffering he'd put her through.

He perked up when she called him by name, a pleasant sound to his ears.

Tiberius the Rogue.

He was confused, though. When had he denounced his pack? He left to find his mate. He left to break free of this curse that bound him in this form for years. He had every intention of returning after he found her.

True, he left in a fit of rage but he had to. He had to take matters into his own hands. Time was running out and he couldn't sit idly by and wait for his mate to come.

If anything, his family had turned their backs on him. He had asked for permission to leave, but his parents refused, telling him it was too dangerous and the humans could spot him. He couldn't disobey his parents, the alpha and luna of the Rosmi Maana Pack at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. While they had invited many packs to come visit them in hopes of finding his mate, she wasn't among them.

Then, by chance, his younger brother found his mate. Jealous, his older brother went to search for his in order to reclaim his birthright as heir before his younger brother stole it from him. Laurencius had years of training ahead of him before he was fit to be alpha, but Dominius was ready, he just needed his mate.

An alpha needed his luna by his side to lead because without her, the pack would suffer.

They were all wrapped up in other matters that the middle son, Tiberius, had been pushed aside. He was the one who needed to find his mate before the next lunar eclipse, or else the curse would kill him.

He couldn't tell them that. The curse garbled his thoughts, his words, whenever he tried to explain to someone that he needed to find his mate or else he would die. They brought in a dozen healers or shamans, but it was useless.

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