How To Lose Your Billionaire Alpha Husband In 365 Days (Or Less)!-Chapter 79: The Curse...

JASMINE’S POV

Back inside, I showered off the sweat and embarrassment while Lyra gave me a minute-by-minute commentary on what "could have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted."

Her voice was smug, maddening, and a little too enthusiastic for someone who shared my nervous system.

I dressed in something soft and oversized: black leggings and an off-the-shoulder top, then padded barefoot into the kitchen, still towel-drying the ends of my hair.

Aiden was already there, stirring something in a pot. The scent hit me first: garlic, onion, some kind of rich broth. My mouth watered instantly, betraying me.

He looked over his shoulder when I entered. "Sit."

I did, without arguing. It was easier that way. And honestly, I didn’t have the energy to fight him on anything right now.

He served up two bowls and slid mine in front of me.

"What is this?" I asked, squinting slightly at the hearty mess.

"Venison stew."

I blinked. "Of course it is."

"Protein," he said, sitting across from me. "You need it."

"You gonna start meal prepping for all my feral moods?"

His smile was faint but warm. "I’m considering it."

We ate mostly in silence. The tension from earlier had settled into something softer, something easier to breathe in. It was still there, coiled between us, but gentler now, like it had worn itself out.

After a few bites, I glanced up at him. "You weren’t surprised. Earlier. When I started reacting like that."

"I’ve seen it before," he said. "Not with you. But I’ve trained transition wolves. It’s... intense. Especially with a strong mate bond."

"I feel like I’m vibrating."

"You are."

"I hate how much I feel."

"I don’t."

That made me pause.

He met my gaze fully. "I’d rather you feel too much than nothing at all. At least now I know you’re alive. You’re here."

I swallowed hard. "Yeah. I’m here."

For now, that was enough.

Even if I wanted more.

Even if I wanted everything.

And judging by the look in his eyes, so did he.

—

The rest of the meal passed in something resembling peace.

Not silence, exactly. But the kind of calm that didn’t need to be filled. The kind that felt like an exhale you didn’t realise you were holding.

The stew was rich and perfect, satisfying in a way only hot food after chaos could be. It grounded me.

I kept my head down, pushing my spoon through the bowl, taking one bite after another while the hum beneath my skin settled to something steady. Something quieter, but no less present. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

I didn’t say much.

Neither did he.

But every time I looked up, Aiden was watching me.

Not like before, not like the sparring match where his gaze had been laced with something hot and possessive. This was quieter. More cautious. Like he was memorising me before something shifted. Like he knew this wouldn’t last. Or maybe he just didn’t know how to keep it.

It made me nervous. Uncomfortable. And a little bit sad.

Finally, I set my spoon down. "Sorry about the G-Wagon," I said softly.

He blinked, clearly surprised. "You don’t have to apologise."

"Maybe not. But I meant it when I said it was asking for it."

Aiden’s lips twitched. "It kind of was."

I cracked a smile, barely.

But something about him shifted again, subtly, like the way gravity changes before a storm. His shoulders went straighter. His hand clenched slightly on the spoon. Tension rolled off him in slow waves, restrained but impossible to ignore.

And when he lifted his eyes to meet mine, I knew it before he even opened his mouth.

That whatever came next would change things.

"There’s something I need to tell you," he said quietly.

I didn’t flinch; I just narrowed my eyes. "Is it another secret or what?"

"No." His voice dipped low, heavier than before. "It’s... It’s the last one."

I leaned back slowly, crossing my arms over my chest. Lyra went still in my mind; her silence was sharp and sudden, like a warning.

"You sure?" I asked.

Aiden gave the smallest nod. "Yeah. I’m sure."

He set his spoon down and pushed the half-empty bowl aside, like the food couldn’t compete with the weight of what he was about to say.

"This... started a long time ago. Centuries, actually," he began in a steady voice, but beneath it, I could feel the war trembling in his bones. The storm he kept hidden from the world.

"My family... our bloodline, was once one of the oldest Alpha bloodlines in the Northern Courts. Pure, dominant, respected. But one of my ancestors, a male named Caelum Frost, did something... unthinkable. He rejected his mate."

I frowned.

"Rejected her?" I repeated. "Why?"

"She wasn’t what he wanted. She was powerful. Respected. A High Priestess of the old ways. But she didn’t fit the image he had in mind. She was wild, sacred, and unpredictable. And he was proud. Entitled. He wanted something clean. Obedient. Easier."

My stomach twisted.

"So he refused her," he continued, "publicly. He severed their bond at a gathering of the High Council. She was humiliated. Her power snapped inside her. And before she died, she cursed him. Not just him, but the entire Frost bloodline."

Aiden’s voice cracked, and for the first time, I saw it.

The shame.

The deep, old guilt carved into his chest like a brand he could never scrub away.

"What was the curse?" I asked, even though I already had a guess.

His eyes met mine. "That every Alpha born of the Frost line would have until their thirty-first birthday to find and bond with their true mate. If they failed, they’d go feral. Slowly. Painfully. Madness first. Then death."

I said nothing.

I couldn’t.

But Lyra whispered in my head. "That’s a cruel legacy."

"He never told anyone how the curse worked," Aiden continued. "Not in full. It was passed down through silence and records, through blood rites and private warnings. By the time I inherited the role, the truth was nearly myth."

"And it’s not a myth," I said in a flat voice, though it felt like one.

"No." He looked down at his hands. "It’s not."

"And your thirty-first birthday?"

He paused.

Then: "Seven months."

The kitchen was wrapped in silence, thick and cold, like a heavy layer of snow. Time froze. My body stilled.

I didn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

Seven months.

That was all the time he had left before he lost himself. Unless... unless I chose him back. Unless we completed the bond.

But that wasn’t what shattered me.

It was the implication behind it.

I stood slowly.

He watched me. Waiting. Braced for impact.

"You didn’t tell me," I said finally, "because you didn’t want me to feel used."

He nodded once. "Because I didn’t want you to think I chose you out of desperation."

I met his gaze fully then, jaw clenched so tight it ached. "And you did?"

"No," he said quickly. "Gods, no. Jasmine, you weren’t a plan. You weren’t some convenient solution. You were—"

"Real," I cut in, my voice sharp. "I was real to you."

"Yes."

"But this was always ticking. In your blood. In your future. This deadline. And you didn’t think to tell me?"

His expression twisted. "I was afraid."

"I can see that," I said. "But here’s the thing, Aiden. Fear doesn’t excuse silence."

He opened his mouth, but I lifted a hand to stop him.

"Don’t," I said. "Just don’t. I get it. I really do. You didn’t want me to feel trapped. But you trapped me anyway. You kept this thing curled around your ribs while asking me to trust you."

"I wanted time."

"You had time. You just didn’t use it."

His throat bobbed. "Jasmine—"

"Seven months," I said in a low and deliberate voice. "That’s what you have."

He stilled.

"To convince me," I continued, "that I wasn’t just a means to an end."

Then I turned and walked away before he could say another word. Not because I didn’t want to hear him.

But because I knew if I stayed, I might still believe him.

I might forgive him too soon.

And he didn’t deserve that. Not yet.

As I stepped into the hall, my phone buzzed on the side table.

I grabbed it absently, wiping my eyes before I looked.

A message blinked across the screen from my cousin.

Dan: We need to talk. The board’s moving. Soon.

I stared at the message.

And for the first time since the shift, the wolf in me wasn’t the one trembling.

It was the woman.

The Jasmine who still had to face the real world.

The Jasmine who’d left behind a career, a company, a fight.

And now? That fight was coming to her.

I exhaled shakily and looked down the hall, toward the kitchen.

Aiden hadn’t moved.

But everything else had.

Lyra said nothing.

And that scared me more than anything else.