Chapter : 868

Levi paused for a moment so he could clear his thoughts. After clearing his throat and taking a deep breath, he continued.

“So naturally, he butt heads with my father, who was the Alpha in charge at the time, and turned into this rivalry. I was rivals with him before I was rivals with Gavin. It wasn’t until the Blackwells went into hiding that I became rivals with Gavin. But our families didn’t get along, and we would fight back and forth for years. And then after an incident, the eldest Blackwell woman… Zachary’s mother… put a curse on the entire family.”

My heart stopped in my chest. Esme Blackwell put a curse on the Churchill’s? She must have had a good reason to do so. My stomach knotted at the thought; what could the Churchill’s have done to them to cause this?

“She linked the Churchill bloodline with Meg. So, if she dies…we all die.”

My mouth fell open.

“What?” I gasped.

He nodded and rolled his eyes.

“She was a reckless child… always getting herself into trouble. We had to keep her in line most of the time, but she was always running off. I was only a kid at the time, but I remembered how my father would yell at her whenever she ran off, and he would often lock her in her room. He was worried that she’d end up getting herself killed, and if that happened-“

“Your entire family dies,” I whispered, my eyes wide with realization. “She gave your family an expiration date. No matter what, if she dies of old age, your whole family will end up dead.”

“Exactly,” he muttered. “We still aren’t sure why she chose Meg of all people to link us to, but that was her choice. Then she ended up falling for a rogue boy, and my father went ballistic. He kept having her brought back to the manor and locked in her room, but she kept finding a way to escape and be with that boy. So, eventually, my father had the boy killed. Meg found out she was pregnant, and she took off; I’m sure you already know that part of the story, though.”

“And then your family went after her because if she ends up getting herself killed…. Your entire line will die,” I whispered, my eyes wide. “That explains almost everything. The reason you all treated her the way you did… the reason she ran….. the reason you went after her in the first place. That’s why she was so scared…” I paused for a moment, and then I lifted my gaze to meet Levi’s. “She doesn’t know…”

It wasn’t a question.

The corner of Levi’s lips twitched, and I could tell he was fighting back a smile.

“No, she doesn’t,” he murmured. “If she did… she’d probably end her life

to end ours. That was the kind of o person she was… the kind of person she’s always been. She was unselfish, and I truly hate to admit it. But it’s the truth. If she thought that ending her life would end ours… she would have done it in a heartbeat. So, we tried to keep her from finding out.”

“You treated her so badly…” I said, shaking my head. “Or at least that’s what I’ve heard. She was terrified of you all.”

“This is true,” he confessed. “She didn’t have an easy life.”

Y

I was quiet for a long moment, letting that sink in; this information was a lot opened my mouth to finally say something, but Gavin walked in at that moment, and could already feet his energy, was charged.

“You’ve spent enough time with my mate, and I can feel her unease. If you said something to upset her—” He started to say, but I stood up quickly.

“Where is she?” I asked, my eyes never leaving Levi’s.

The corner of his mouth twitched again, like he was fighting back a laugh.

“Yellowstone hospital,” he replied. “It’s in a town called Yellowstone, neutral territory… mostly made up of humans. It’s west from here, a couple of hours at least.”

Without another word, I turned and walked towards Gavin. I took his hand and started to pull him along with me towards the door where the guards stood Gavin went with me. willingly, and by the time we were outside, he had me wrapped in his arms.

“What happened?” He asked, his lips pressing against my temple. “What did he say

to you?”

“I’ll tell you about it later, but we need to go to Yellowstone,” I told him.

“What’s in Yellowstone?” He asked, raising his brows.

After a beat, I looked up at him.

“Megan Churchill.”