Raven

Atasha’s Point of View

It was at this moment that I felt my world slowly crumple down. My entire body, as well as my heart, felt a sting of pain all over. My lips quivered as I thought of my twin sister, Astrid.

My entire system could not seem to get a grasp of what I just learned. My soul felt a torturing pang deep inside of me.

It wasn’t true... There was no way Astrid would ever do that to me. She would never do anything that would hurt me, not even curse me. Astrid wasn't the type of a sister who would do such things...

I caught my breath. The next thing I knew, my knees fell on the ground, tears pooling in my eyes because of the throbbing pain inside my chest.

"Atasha, do you hear me? Please, get up!" Elijah called me nervously.

I could feel my body shaking so badly. My eyes fell to the ground, and I noticed what seemed to be venomous insects with strange heads and spikes crawling on the ground. Even though I was terrified of what they looked like, I was more devastated and disappointed to learn about the reality... to hear the truth from the Highest Priestess.

However, even before Diva revealed who it was, I’d thought of it numerous times in the past. I had a mental image of Astrid flashing before my eyes. I had a gut feeling that she was somehow related to this curse I lived by, and I hoped against hope that it was just mere false thoughts. I even prayed to the Moon Goddess, crossing my fingers that I was only mistaken the whole time I was getting suspicious of Astrid.

All I could do was shake my head and inhale in disbelief as I whispered to myself, "Astrid, why did you do this to me? How could you?"

I felt warm hands holding my arms. Elijah assisted me to stand, and that was the only time I was able to get to my feet. My knees felt so weak, my entire mind was clouded with thoughts, and my chest was filled with nothing but sorrow.

I looked up at Elijah as tears kept falling down my cheeks. He remained completely silent. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. I used to tell him wonderful stories about Astrid and how much I loved and admired her. I even begged him to locate my sister on my behalf. And this... this was the thing he would hear, that Astrid was the reason I was cursed in the first place.

He held my nape as he wiped my tears away. His expression hardened, became unforgivable, as if it was telling me that he would punish Astrid once their paths crossed. Deep within me, I knew I was terrified of how Elijah felt about Astrid at this point. I could see the hatred right through his eyes, something that I did not want him to feel at all.

"I know it is too difficult for you to handle the truth. You might have thought that I was only telling you lies, but there’s no way I will forget how your twin sister begged me to cast a curse on you," Diva explained, which made me and Elijah turn to her. "I will leave all of you. I will grab some important equipment from my chamber so we can start the ritual for you to be healed from that curse."

"I greatly appreciate your help," Elijah expressed to her. It was the first time I’d heard him express such gratitude to someone he didn’t know. I could feel the relief, as well as the determination, in his voice.

Diva gave him a small grin and left the altar afterward. When she left, that was the only time I was able to breathe properly. I clutched Elijah’s clothes, gripping them as if they were my lifeline. He assisted me by sitting down for a moment.

"We’re going to leave you alone for a moment," Claudette said. "Devon, let’s go."

"We will be right back, Atasha, Elijah…" Devon added.

Then I heard their footsteps as they left. I sobbed and palmed my face as I couldn’t contain my emotions anymore.

"Hey…" Elijah crouched in front of me. He then patted my back. "I am sorry you have to go through all this mess, Atasha. I am extremely mad at what your sister has done to you, but I won’t judge her yet until I understand what forced her to do such things."

Our gazes meet. Elijah brushed my tears away using his thumb. His expression softened and all that could be seen in his eyes were hope and affection.

"However, for whatever reasons she had to come up with that kind of punishment, she needs to take responsibility for what she has done to you. That’s something I would want to set aside for now until we find her." He then sighed and held my hand, slightly squeezing it, indicating to me that he would never leave me in this battle. "What matters to me is that you will be cured. After everything you’ve been through, you deserve to be freed from that curse. To live a normal life with me by your side.

"I’ve seen how you tried so hard to be deserving of becoming my Luna. Even though we started with a mere agreement. The way you stood up to my father, your countless efforts to learn everything you needed to know to be the right fit for me, your belief in me and taking my side even after you reunited with your pack, those moments we shared in the forest, meeting Devon, which allowed us to be together and quickly discovered we were mates. Without that curse, I think those memories that I shared with you won't happen."

He let out a huge sigh, then caressed my cheek. "Even though the truth is excruciatingly painful, it is the only thing that will set you free. I can’t wait to see you become the person you’ve always wanted to be. Atasha, you will become braver and stronger after this, too. You will become my powerful Luna."

I leaned down and wrapped my arms around him. I didn’t say anything, as I knew there wasn’t much to say at this point. I only embraced him while sobbing into his shoulders.

"Now that we have access to the truth. Do you want to know the reason why Astrid treated you in such a cruel manner?" After a few minutes of deafening silence, Elijah asked.

My tears have dried already. I distanced myself from him as I gathered my thoughts after being a shambles.

"I'm not sure where things will go from here. I'm not sure if I'm ready to hear her explanations or how she would defend herself. But, whatever it is, I hope it will justify her actions," I responded to Elijah. "Damn it. I am so curious as to how she sleeps at night knowing she cursed her sister," I expressed, before continuing." I took a deep breath as I clutched my chest.

It didn’t take that long before the Highest Priestess came back with her magic crystals.

"Follow me," she instructed us.

Elijah and I nodded to each other, then we rose to our feet and followed her.

We entered a room that was surrounded by many statues and paintings depicting humans being devoured by giant snakes. There were weeping babies too, among other things. On the other hand, a goat head was depicted on a human body in the painting.

"Come here, my daughter, I need a hand," Diva ordered, directing Devon to come closer with her.

Devon was then instructed to create a hug circle, and she assisted her mother in preparing the chains that, I guess, would be used for this ritual. The handcuffs were tied around my wrists together. After that, Diva tied both of my feet simultaneously. The chains were long and connected to each other on either side of the room.

I was in the center of the huge circle, and I could feel the tension building inside me as Diva was presented with a new cloak by Claudette. It was a combination of gold and red, and screamed nothing but power. It was a stark contrast to the black robe she wore earlier.

Her eyes were starting to turn crimson. Elijah was then led to a corner of the room and told not to get in the way of the circle while it was being made.

Before he settled himself, he kissed me on the forehead. When I turned around, he was smiling at me.

"Be strong, mate…" he said, and gave me a nod.

"In order to keep you aware, I'd like you to know that once I relieve you of your curse, there is one thing that will happen to your twin sister, Astrid…" Diva intoned.

My eyes widened upon hearing her statement.

"Can you explain what you mean?"

"We can't just curse someone and expect to receive nothing in return. Your twin sister was completely devoid of anything to offer," she responded, while looking straight into my eyes. "However, I thought her eyes were wonderful, much like yours…"

I got shivers down my spine when I listened to her. Swallowing was even difficult at this point. I could feel the anxiety creeping into my body.

"So I inquired as to whether she would be willing to offer it to me in exchange for something else," Diva stated. "And she agreed. I gave her the ugly eyes from my collection in return for her. It had been a difficult process for Astrid, but she went so far as to curse you," she continued with a chuckle in her voice. "However, she didn't provide enough value for what she gave me, since she wanted you to be wolf-less and weak, and wanted the curse to be passed on to your offspring…"

My tears began to pool once more. Hearing all this from the witch who helped my twin sister cast a curse on me felt like I was being tortured. I felt like I was being smacked in the face, not by a cold fist but by the harsh truth...

"And so I told Astrid that if you, her twin sister, found that you were cursed and sought help from a witch to heal you, something bad would happen to her." Diva walked toward me after saying those words that completely hurt me to the core. "If you wish to be cured, Atasha, it will punish Astrid. Unless you do something stupid and decide not to continue this ritual. I will tell you that she is going to be blind. I had told her that the eyes I had given her would stop seeing the light. The curse will then be passed on to her descendants and onto the next generation following that. It’s an endless curse that she wouldn’t be getting away," she exclaimed, hysterically laughing. "Now, after hearing all of these things and how your twin sister sought to destroy you, would you prefer to continue and end your misery?"

I knelt on the ground and felt a stinging ache in the back of my head as I did so. I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth with a slight grin. Diva burst into tears of laughter.

"Atasha, take a step forward. Think. Your sister has gone to such lengths as to curse you," she said and continued, "Now is your chance to take revenge on her, and for her to experience the consequences of her actions!"

I inhaled sharply and swallowed hard as I contemplated. Silence engulfed the whole room, and everyone waited for my decision.

"I've come to a conclusion, Highest Priestess," I said as I rose to my feet and glanced at Diva. She raised her eyebrow, and I returned a grin. "Thanks a lot. Here is my decision…"