A Curse of Shadows

Now, seeing Isobella in perfect health, stating she doesn’t know me, I feel I have no choice other than to finally believe the words my father told me all that time ago.

My mate chose to leave me and have her memory stripped of our love.

The words are like acid on my mind, enraging me further yet breathing life back into me unlike anything has since her departure. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t remember me. Isobella’s soul is still the other half of mine, a siren’s call I can’t ignore.

My rage pulses within me regardless of this knowledge. I’ve envisioned our reunion countless times, vivid fantasies that only grew with the passing years. I wasn’t prepared for her rejection of my existence, for her to look at me as if I were a stranger to her heart. She’s changed in ways I can’t yet comprehend, but having seen a glimmer of the fire within her has my lips curving upward.

I inhale deeply and close my eyes, picturing my mate in her room, furious with the world for the predicament she’s found herself in. The desire to go to her, to make her listen, is strong, but I couldn’t make my Isobella do anything before and I don’t believe that’s changed.

Shedding my hastily thrown-on clothes, I consider going back to bed, but the notion feels impossible even at this late hour and knowing how close yet out of reach my mate remains.

Five hundred years ago, there was nothing that would keep us apart. She shouldn’t have even lived in the castle with me until our souls were properly bound together by the gods, but tradition was no match for the magnitude of our love.

The bond we share—or shared—was crafted in the stars, a destiny created by the very fabric of Lunara. Her laughter was the balm that soothed my aches, her joy the light that guided my every step.

With her absence, I did my best to be the king our people deserve, yet nothing has been the same since I lost her.

Beneath my stoic exterior, the faint embers of hope flicker from my wolf, but I know better. Too much time has passed for me to allow my walls to come down so soon. Not that I don’t still love our mate—because I do, more than my own life. It’s more that regardless of what I’ve been told and what I’ve now seen, I can’t ignore that Isobella chose to forget me, to shatter us.

Now, she’s here, and according to Cain, believing her name is Isla, requesting to go back to Earth. The only world I didn’t search because magic doesn’t exist there. Our souls don’t belong on that plane of existence, yet as I stand on my balcony, I’m back to wondering if it’s truly possible that’s where she chose to be.

My mate sometimes spoke of running away from our responsibilities so that we could be together, no longer living for our kingdom. Yet when I revealed my father’s illness, terrified I’d lose her, I never felt closer to my Issie in those moments. During our last conversation, she made me believe there was nothing we couldn’t accomplish together. Now, I’m wondering if I never really knew her at all.

Our lives were intertwined since the moment we took our first breaths. Two new souls, born on the same day, over five hundred years ago. She was supposed to be my forever and, looking back, maybe I took advantage of that knowledge.

My jaw tightens and I take a shuddering breath. I don’t want to be angry, but everything about this situation is frustrating. So many unanswered questions, so many things I would have done differently if given the chance. Yet going back in time is one thing that’s not possible with magic. I must face whatever this is and find a way to do so without fury clouding my judgment.

A grumble sounds from within me—my wolf letting me know he’d like to run.

I almost ignore him, but maybe he’s right. A bit of time in our true form, under the moons, could do me some good.

Not wanting to waste time by traversing back down the stairs, tempting myself by getting too close to Isobella’s room, I step over the railing of my balcony and leap from the fourth level of the castle. Energy builds from within my chest, pushing outward and covering my exposed skin as my body hurtles through the night air toward the ground beneath.

Wind whips around me and my stomach churns from the freefall, but halfway down, I call my wolf forward. My human form curls in on itself for the briefest of seconds before exploding with the power of my inner animal. He appears in all his glory, his large form landing on the grass with a barely audible thud.

He shakes out his midnight-colored coat and howls toward the moons, a sorrowful sound I haven’t heard in years.

Our front paws scratch at the earth before he takes off at full speed for the forest beyond the castle. His strength fills me, but when he comes to an abrupt stop just before the trees, tension seeps deep within.

An invisible tether draws our gaze back to the castle and my wolf’s powerful stare captures the most stunning creature.

There she is. The woman who should be my mate stands on her own balcony, watching us. The distance between us might as well be an ocean, but that doesn’t lessen the pain lancing through my heart at knowing I can’t run to her like I so often did before.

Her bright-blue eyes start to widen as our gazes remain locked. I take a step forward, wondering if maybe she’s ready to talk, but her hand covers her mouth as she stumbles back into the darkness of her room.

I can’t sense her emotions from this far away, but is it possible that my mate is frightened? The woman I once knew and loved was never afraid of anything.

A rabid storm of questions assaults my mind and their answers are as elusive as the shadows that hang between the trees of the forest, but one thing is crystal clear: I’ve been granted a second chance. Whatever the truth may be, I won’t rest until I know exactly what happened all those years ago. I didn’t just get my Issie back only to lose her again, at least not without a fair fight this time.

If Isobella left me on purpose, then she can do so again, but not without explaining herself first.

I’ll give her tonight to get settled, but tomorrow, I’ll do whatever it takes to find the answers I seek. Even if that means going to find someone whose only wish was to be left alone last time we spoke.

CHAPTER FOUR

ISLA

Sleep eludes me like sand sifting through grasping fingers. The ceiling—a blank, cream expanse—mocks me with its stillness, offering no solace to the storm within. Hours have passed since I stood on the balcony of my room and I’ve spent every minute after trying to convince myself that the giant wolf racing toward the forest wasn’t real. That he didn’t stop abruptly, turning around to look right into my soul.