She chuckles.
"You're so naive, aren't you? Do you think you can simply fight something like a curse? Without using your magic? It may be gone now, but it will come back. A Cursed One paired with a werewolf. There is no way this curse will let you off easy, child. You just wait. It will slowly consume you..."
Suddenly, I remember the nightmare. ...She's right. The curse did come back. I thought I'd be safe from it, but that nightmare was just plain horrible. I would have rather kept the voices. Don't tell me... It will happen again? How many times? I'm glad Liam was by my side to help me dissipate my doubts, but...
"I see," she chuckles. "It has begun already, hasn’t it? ...See? This is what strong curses do, and why they are so powerful. They are as insidious as poison. They consume your mind before you even realize it's there, and slowly, we all go insane... It can take any form, but I'm sure you're not free from it yet, young girl."
"H-how do I fight this curse?" I growl, getting madder as she may be right.
She shrugs.
"I wonder. You're still bent on being with werewolves, so it won't be easy for you. It's a thousand-year-old curse, how would I know how to break it? However, if I were you, I'd have started working seriously on that question, girl. Your time is limited..."
"Enough!" growls Liam. "Tell us what you know!"
Ravena's eyes immediately shift to Liam, and she glares at him.
"Don't talk to me, dog!"
"You're the one who should watch your tongue while talking to my mate," I growl.
"See? You're their slave already, little girl! Did this wolf make you feel special? You're so foolish, like all the others. Just you wait. Werewolves and witches aren't meant to be together..."
"We are!" I retort, annoyed. "I am his fated mate, chosen by the Moon Goddess herself to be his pair. You may not like werewolves, but you should know enough about the Moon Goddess if you're any kind of witch!"
This time, I'm the one to be glared at by her angry green eyes, but Moon Goddess, I don't give a damn. I won't stand back, and I won't let her ridicule my bond with Liam or use it against me. We are both marked now, we just can't be separated. I don't know how I'd stand if I wasn't so sure of that fact, but I certainly feel stronger than before. I'm almost thankful for that nightmare, as it made Liam confirm our feelings for each other.
Ravena scoffs.
"There you go again... Don't you understand yet? If you keep going against the curse, it will consume you even faster! You were bound to be a victim; as a Cursed One, there is no escaping this. Struggle all you want, child, you are just going to try and buy some time. You may not even have much left before it consumes you. You'll never be free simply because you have this wolf, and we won't leave you alone either! A witch and a werewolf? This is one lame joke."
It's impossible that there haven't been any other cases of witches also being werewolves before. It can't be that the curse acted every single time...
"Tell me what you know about the curse before I get really mad," I growl.
This time, I'm done chit-chatting, and I'm done begging for answers. I light my fire in both my hands, letting her know I'm damn serious and she's going to get roasted if she doesn't spill the beans quickly. Her eyes go down to my hands, and she puts on a sour expression.
"Don't play with me, little witch. You may be uneducated like one of those dogs, but you should at least respect your elders..."
"The elder better start talking," I retort.
Liam growls too, and steps closer. Earth Witch or not, she probably won't like having to face both me and an Alpha werewolf much. She hesitates, slowly stepping back, keeping her eyes on the two of us.
"You're one annoying little... What do you want to know, anyway? You've already unveiled quite enough by yourself, haven't you?"
"I know of the original tale. The one about Luna, the witch and the werewolf..."
"Ah, that. Another example of how those annoying beasts claimed something that wasn't theirs, isn’t it? They conveniently worshiped that she-wolf, and they let our ancestor fall into oblivion. This is why we need our magic: to remember. We keep our daughters and sisters close and teach them what we know, or what we can hold on to from the past. Yet, witches are bound to disappear because of them. Because of werewolves, growing in numbers like ants!"
I squint my eyes. I understand what she means, but... more than that, I can almost feel that fear in her eyes. Witches are scared to disappear, to be forgotten. They keep their enemies at bay, but they also keep themselves from the world. That's why they want to be in cities without any werewolves who can recognize them. Humans are generally clueless, and witches don't like to mingle with them, aside from making children...
"So you knew well about the curse and its origins."
"Of course I know," she retorts. "If you had been raised or taught by a real witch, you'd know too, and you would have kept away from werewolves..."
So this is also why witches don't want to associate themselves with wolves in the first place. To avoid the risk of being cursed like their ancestors... Moon Goddess, is that why even Sylviana was careful about Liam? I try not to glance his way, but... that would make sense. Maybe that's another reason why things never actually got serious between them.
"Well, too late for me," I sigh. "However, since we have now established that, can we move on? How do I undo this curse for real? You mentioned it before, but there's no way that thing is unbreakable, is it?"
