Chapter 455: Chapter 455 The Curse And The Truth

It made him feel both elated and wretched, torn between the joy of seeing her and the dread of what he might bring near her.

“Yes… I am Chase.”

Chase answered slowly, his voice hoarse as his throat tightened. After all this time, he was finally answering Addison’s question, finally giving her his name. It felt strangely important, as though this was how it was supposed to begin.

Hearing his name fall from her lips sent a shiver through him. Her voice reached his ears and traveled straight through his body, leaving a faint tremor in every corner of his body. His lashes fluttered as he savored the feeling. Even in his current state, restrained like a filthy prisoner, just being in her presence made his body react against his will.

Perhaps it was because he had suppressed himself for so long. As an Alpha, his instincts and sex drive had always run strong, yet he had never indulged them carelessly. Like his parents, devoted to one another as fated mates, he had learned restraint. Desire alone had never been reason enough to act.

But now she was here. His mate. Standing right in front of him.

Her scent, her presence, her pheromones overwhelmed his senses, and the control he had honed over the years began to unravel. His body responded before his mind could catch up, instincts surging wildly as though they had been waiting for this very moment.

“Then… can you tell me why you attacked us, fled, and then came back to surrender?” Addison asked softly. “Were you trying to kill me?”

She didn’t notice how her voice had unconsciously gentled as the words left her mouth.

Truthfully, this wasn’t the kind of question she should have been asking. She knew better than anyone that enemies rarely answered honestly, if they answered at all. Under normal circumstances, the question itself would have been pointless.

But their circumstances were no longer normal.

Now that she knew Chase was her fourth fated mate, a part of her hoped — quietly, cautiously — that he might tell her the truth. That he might choose honesty over hostility. Perhaps even change his allegiance. The thought flickered through her mind unbidden: if he truly was her mate, could he become an ally? A spy within their enemies’ ranks?

The possibility made her heart stir for just a brief moment.

Addison quickly reined in the thought. Hope, especially unfounded hope, was dangerous. She needed to face reality, not fantasies. Still, she asked the question anyway, if only to test where Chase truly stood.

If there truly was a chance for Chase to work with her, perhaps even become her informant, then that would be ideal. It would change everything.

But what if he didn’t?

What if Chase continued down the path of being her enemy?

The thought sent a chill through her. Would that mean she would one day have to fight her own mate, to the death? And if it came to that… what would happen to their mate bond?

The darker possibilities crept into her mind, heavy and unsettling. Addison immediately cut them off. She refused to let herself spiral. Thinking too far ahead, especially into the worst outcomes, would only poison her resolve.

Still, preparation was not the same as pessimism.

She needed to be ready, to understand what might await her, what the mate bond between her and Chase could become, whether it would be salvation… or something far more cruel.

After a long moment, Chase’s hoarse voice finally broke the silence. “I…” He then stopped.

His jaw clenched hard, teeth grinding as if he were wrestling with something unseen. The tension in his face deepened, every muscle drawn tight, as though an invisible weight pressed down on him. Seeing his struggle, Addison’s nerves tightened as well, her heart sinking with uneasy anticipation.

Levi, on the other hand, almost snorted.

What did she expect from their enemy? A confession? The truth laid bare? Levi harbored no such illusions. He remained on full alert, every instinct screaming at him to stay guarded, to trust nothing that came from Chase’s mouth.

Only after a long pause did Chase speak again.

“I can’t say much,” he admitted at last, his voice rough. “I’m bound by a curse.”

Then, lifting his gaze, he added quietly but firmly, “But all I can say is this, I am not your enemy.”

Hearing Chase’s words, Addison hadn’t even had the chance to respond before Levi let out a sharp snort, this time it was unmistakably mocking.

“Not our enemy?” Levi said coldly. “Then why did you attack us in the first place?”

He took a step forward, his aura pressing in like a drawn blade. “And if you’re truly under a curse, explain it to me, how were you able to disobey your master? How could you act against their orders at all?”

His golden eyes narrowed as his wolf peered from his eyes to stare down on Chase, voice turning razor-sharp. “If a curse like that really binds you, the mere thought of betrayal should’ve killed you long ago. So who exactly do you think you’re fooling?” He scoffed. “A three-year-old child?”

The barrage of questions stunned Addison.

Levi had always been sharp-tongued when needed, but never like this, never so relentless, hurling barbed words one after another. It sounded less like an interrogation and more like a challenge from a jealous, territorial mate.

Was he truly this suspicious… or was his wolf lashing out because Chase existed, because Levi couldn’t tear him apart physically, so he was doing it with words instead?

Hearing Levi’s sharp retorts, Chase didn’t get angry. He understood why Levi was so guarded, why he refused to believe a single word coming from his mouth. If their positions were reversed, if he were the one standing between Addison and a potential threat, he would have reacted the same way, even if it meant staking his life on it.

If anything, Levi’s vigilance reassured him.

It meant Addison was well protected. It meant she wouldn’t be easily fooled or cornered, even if Chase was forced to remain deep within their enemy’s territory. Knowing that eased the tightness in his chest.

“I know this is hard to understand,” Chase said calmly. “And I know you don’t trust me.”

His gaze remained steady as he continued, “But you’ve already uncovered parts of the truth yourselves. You’ve killed several people from our side. You’ve learned that the one pulling the strings has close ties to the Dark Witches.” A brief pause followed. “That much,” he admitted quietly, “is true.”

The moment Chase fell silent, he suddenly coughed violently.

Blood spilled from his lips, splattering against the stone floor. He turned his head and spat, as if it were nothing more than an inconvenience, though fresh blood still trickled down his chin. With his hands bound behind him by silver cuffs, he couldn’t even wipe it away.

At the sight, Addison’s heart leapt straight into her throat. “What’s wrong?” she blurted, panic rising as she instinctively moved toward him.

She barely took a step before Levi stopped her, his arm coming up in front of her. His grip was firm, unyielding. He couldn’t afford to let her get closer.

Levi knew better.

Mate recognition had already taken hold. Addison’s emotions were still raw, tangled, and there was a strong pull of the mate bond that might affect her thoughts and feelings. He remembered that feeling all too well, the way logic drowned beneath instinct, how the heart rushed in before the mind could catch up.

If this were an act, and if Chase was trying to earn her sympathy, Levi wouldn’t allow it to work. Not when Addison was vulnerable, and not when the man behind those bars was still their enemy.

But in truth, Addison wasn’t as overwhelmed as Levi believed.

Without a connection to her wolf, the mate bond didn’t completely drown her instinct. The initial rush from the recognition had been intense, yes, but once she forced herself to breathe and steady her thoughts, she regained control. Her emotions hadn’t overridden her judgment.

What unsettled her wasn’t infatuation.

It was the timing.

Chase had coughed up blood the moment he tried to explain himself, to push against whatever bound him. And the instant it happened, her heart tightened painfully in her chest because of their connection, and she felt her heart breaking. And it was not because of desire that she was worried about him, but because she feared the cause.

He wasn’t putting on an act.

He was resisting the curse.

And that realization frightened her far more than any manipulation ever could.

Chase shook his head, but Addison could see the weariness etched across his features, as if some invisible force was clawing at him from within, sapping his strength.

“Although I was indeed cursed by the Dark Witch with a Subordination Spell, one that shouldn’t allow me to think or act against my master, my Alpha Blood weakened its hold against me.”

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