Llewelyn women cry out as they feel the curse break. Some fall to their knees. Others clutch at their chests like they’re having heart attacks. My mother stands frozen with tears streaming down her face. I’ve never seen her cry before. Not once in twenty-four years.
Caelan laughs. The sound is wild and uncontrolled, nothing like the reserved chuckles I’ve heard from her before. She spins in a circle with her arms spread wide, face turned up to the sky like she’s tasting freedom for the first time.
“I can feel it,” she shouts to anyone who will listen. “Everything. All of it. This is what we’ve been missing?”
Matriarch Lydia sinks onto a nearby boulder, staring at nothing. Raegan moves to her side, offering support the matriarch doesn’t seem to register. My aunt’s lips move like she’s speaking, but no sound comes out.
Even Thora looks shaken. The lines around her mouth have softened into something lost and confused. She touches her own chest with trembling fingers, apparently unable to understand what’s happening inside her.
“The binding is broken.” Evangeline’s voice rings out over the gathering. “Three centuries of magical suppression, ended by the courage of one woman and the strength of a mate bond that refused to be diminished.”
Reeyan pulls back enough to look at my face. “You did it. You actually did it.”
“We did it.” I correct him, wiping at the tears I can’t seem to stop. “I couldn’t have broken it without you.”
His thumb catches another tear before it falls. “How do you feel?”
“Free.” I laugh through the crying, which probably makes me look insane. “Everything is so much. How do people function like this all the time?”
“They get used to it. You will too.” He kisses my forehead, gentle this time. “Give yourself time to adjust.”
My mother appears beside us. Her face is wet with tears, and her hands shake as she reaches toward me before pulling back. The gesture is so unlike her that I freeze, unsure how to respond.
“I couldn’t…” she stops and tries again. “I wanted to tell you I loved you. So many times. But the words wouldn’t come. The feeling was there, trapped behind something I couldn’t break through.” Fresh tears spill over. “I thought something was wrong with me. That I was broken as a mother.”
“You’re not broken. None of us were.” I take her hand, and she squeezes so hard it hurts. “We were cursed. But not anymore.”
She pulls me into a hug. Awkward and unpracticed, like she doesn’t quite remember how. But she’s trying, and that means everything.
“I’m sorry,” she speaks against my hair. “For saying you were betraying our values. I didn’t understand what you were saving us from.”
“You couldn’t understand. The curse made sure of that.” I hug her back just as awkwardly. “But you understand now. That’s what matters.”
She releases me and turns to Reeyan. Studies him with the same assessing look she gave him earlier, but something has changed. The hostility has melted into something softer.
“Thank you. For saving my daughter. For helping her break the curse.” She inclines her head in formal acknowledgment. “Our pack owes you a debt we can never fully repay.”
“No debt,” Reeyan refutes. “Sera’s my mate. I’d do anything to keep her safe and help her achieve what she set out to do.”
My father appears next to my mother, and he nods once at Reeyan. Still a man of few words, but the gesture carries weight.
Other Llewelyn women crowd around, all of them experiencing emotions they’ve never felt before. Some are laughing. Others are crying. A few look terrified by everything flooding through them without magical dampening.
Veva pushes through the crowd with Ash and Kira following close behind. “The magical buffers are helping, but barely. This is more powerful than we anticipated.” She pulls out a small pouch of what looks like herbs and crystals. “Anyone who feels like they’re drowning, come see me. I can help ease the transition without suppressing what you’re feeling.”
Several women move toward her right away, clearly struggling with the sudden onslaught of sensations.
Lydia finally stands and makes her way to me. Her face still shows traces of tears, but she’s pulled herself together enough to speak with something resembling her usual authority.
“You were right. Everything you said about the curse. About what was stolen from us. I felt it break, and now…” she trails off, apparently lacking words to describe what she’s experiencing.
“It’s a lot,” I offer. “But it gets easier. At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling me.”
“I need to speak with my council. With all the women who are experiencing this.” Lydia looks around at her delegation, many of whom are still reeling from the sudden emotional liberation. “We’ll need to develop support systems. Ways to help our pack adjust to feeling everything without suppression.”
“Ash and the other psychics have offered to help,” Reeyan informs her. “Veva’s working on magical support. You won’t be handling this alone.”
Lydia nods slowly. “Good. Because I have no idea how to lead a pack through something like this.” She looks at me, really looks at me, and something in her face gives. “I’ve been a matriarch for forty years. I thought I understood my people. Turns out I’ve been ruling over shells of what they should have been.”
