"I'm cursed," Nate says, once we're sitting in our bedroom.

"You're cursed, with what?"

"My mate will die if I mark her."

"What?" I say, shocked.

"A witch cursed whoever my mate is to die once I mark her."

"Why?"

"Because my mother killed her mate."

He must be talking about Leonardo's mate.

"How did you find out you were cursed?"

"You're not my first mate." He swallows hard.

"Oh, I'm not," I say, surprised. I shouldn't be because, if I remember correctly, I heard women talking about me being his second mate.

"My first mate died when I marked her."

"How did you know it was because you were cursed?"

"Before my mate died, the witch used her body to tell me. She carved the message on her belly."

"That must have been horrific. I'm so sorry, Nate. How old were you?" I'm guessing he was young since it's not a lot of people who know he had a mate before.

"Eighteen. I had recently ascended to the throne."

"You were so young. I can't imagine what you went through," I say, imagining the horrors young Nate must've faced after seeing his mate die because of such a primal and natural part of their relationship. The carving on her stomach must have scared him too.

"You can't imagine."

"Did you try finding the witch to break the curse?"

"She's dead."

"Can another witch break the curse?"

"No, only her or anyone from her bloodline."

"Oh," I say, despondent.

"Yes. I'll understand if you don't want to be with me because of it."

"Why would you think I wouldn't want to be with you because you're cursed?"

"Because I can never give you pups. And you can never bear my mark."

"Even without those things, I still want to be with you."

"Why?" he asks, surprised.

"Because the reason I won't have those things isn't because you don't want me. It's because we haven't found a way to break the curse."

"What if I'm not able to break the curse?"

"I won't leave you, regardless."

"Really, you'll stay with me?"

"Yes, I will."

"I really mean that much to you?" he asks surprised.

"Yes, you do," I say, smiling as I realize I'm starting to have even stronger feelings for Nate.

"Thank you," Nate says, pulling me in for a hug.

"You don't have to thank me," I say into his chest.

"I do. A lot of she-wolves won't stay with a mate who can't provide them with a pup or mark them."

"I can't imagine my life without you in it, Nate."

"Nor I, you," Nate says and kisses me.

As we release from our kiss, I think about telling Nate that I'm a hybrid but decide not to. He's cursed because a vampire killed his father, and his mother took revenge for her mate. Nate must hate vampires a lot, but not witches since he's friends with Ekaterina. I don't think I should ever have to tell Nate. My werewolf side is stronger than my vampire side. I can pretend I'm not part vampire and be happy in my life with him.

***

Later at night, while sleeping, I feel Nate's hands fall from around my waist. I turn over to see him dressing and I wonder where he's going this late.

"Nate, is something wrong?" I ask, sitting up on the bed.

"Yes, but don't worry about it. Go back to sleep. I'll be back soon," he says and kisses my forehead before he walks out.

What could be so wrong to make Nate leave the house this late at night? I don't go back to sleep as he asked, waiting for him to come back instead.

I hear someone wailing outside. Is someone crying? I rush to the window to see what's going on. Nate and Dan are standing in front of a group of people. They look like they just came from a fight. Did something bad happen? I quickly change out of my sleeping clothes and walk downstairs to investigate.

"Nate, what is going on?" I ask once I reach them outside

There looks to be about fifty people here, all covered in blood. Their clothes have been ripped to pieces. What they have on is barely covering them. I quickly take the shawl on my body and cover a lady whose clothes were barely covering her. Most of them are women and children. Before Nate can speak to me, the woman who is in front of him crawls to me.

"Please, my Queen, save us. Please save us. Don't send us back there. We'll die if we go back there."

"Save you from what?" I ask, lifting her off the ground. She almost falls, but I quickly use my body to support her.

"The vampire king. He's killed everyone. We're all that is left of our pack. Please save us, my !ueen," she says, and my eyes widen as I realize what's happening.

They must have run away from a fight between their pack and the vampire king. I look at their bodies, and they're covered in blood that I'm sure doesn't belong to them, but to the people they've lost.

"Dan, ask the pack doctors to come immediately."

"The King has already sent for them"

"Good, and how about rooms? Have you arranged rooms for them?"

"We have a little problem."

"What's wrong?"

"We don't have space in the packhouse."

"How is that possible?"

"This isn't the first pack to arrive because of the vampire king."

"This has been happening a lot?" I ask, shocked. I can't believe this has been happening, and Nate didn't tell me.

"Yes."

"Put them in our house. We have a lot of space to accommodate all of them," I say and look at Nate for approval. I should've asked him first, but I'm focused primarily on where these kids can sleep tonight. He gives me approval with his eyes, and I'm happy he doesn't have a problem with it.

"I'll take them there once they get treated."

"Thank you, Dan."

"You're welcome, My Queen."

I help the pack doctors with treating the wounded pack members. I'm not a doctor, but I know how to use a first aid kit. I make sure everyone gets food and blankets to sleep with before going to bed. I walk into our bathroom to take a shower before going to bed. There's blood and sweat all over me.

I walk out of the bathroom to find Nate sitting on the bed waiting for me. He went to the lake in the woods to wash. He can't use any of the other bathrooms in the house because they're all occupied.

I ignore him at the edge of the bed and get under the covers. I'm angry with him. Something so big has been happening to our kind, and he didn't tell me about it. I feel like he doesn't see me as his equal. He doesn't trust me.

I feel him get under the covers beside me. I pretend not to notice and continue to face the opposite side. His arms go around my waist, and he pulls me closer to him.

"I'm sorry," he says, burying his face in my neck. His voice is a little muffled because he's speaking into my hair. I use that to pretend like I didn't hear him.

"Are you talking to me?"

"I'm sorry," he says a little clearer and louder this time.

"For what?" I ask, forcing him to spell it out.

"For keeping such a big problem from you."

"I may forgive you, if you tell me why you did it," I say, turning around to face him.

"I didn't think there was any need to worry you."

"You didn't think there was any need to tell your mate that the vampire king who kidnapped her mother is killing packs," I say, angry.

"When you put it like that, it makes sense that I should have told you. I'm sorry I didn't. I promise to never to keep such an important thing from you again."

"Better. Do you know if he's killing packs because we rescued my Mom" I ask, worried that might be why he's been on a killing spree. If that's why. I'd feel responsible. It would mean he's doing it to get me, and if he's killing them, I'll have to give myself up.

"I don't know if it's because of that, but it started a few weeks later."

"Of course, it's because we rescued her. You don't want me to feel guilty about it and that's why you didn't tell me," I say, realizing it's not because he doesn't see me as his equal. He was protecting me.

"No, I didn't tell you about it because I didn't see a need to, not because I didn't want you to feel guilty," Nate says, trying to make me feel better, but it doesn't work. I know why the vampire king is killing a lot of werewolves, and it's because of me.

"Okay, if you say so. What are you going to do about it?" I say so he'd think I'm not feeling guilty about it.

"I'm preparing for war. He's wiped out more packs in the last weeks than my fingers in total. It's an outright decree of war."