Chapter 592: The Witch

"I was wrong, and I’ve come to let you know that if you help me with my problem, you’ll be allowed to continue practising your craft within the pack," he told the woman.

Margaret’s eyes widened with delight. She closed her book and finally gave him her full attention.

"What is it you need my help with?" she asked, without offering him a seat. Sebastian, however, pulled up a stool and sat down in front of her.

"My mate gave birth to a premature baby boy, and I need him to become healthy. I’ve heard witches have the ability to do such things."

Margaret’s eyes twinkled as she rose from her chair, carefully setting her book aside.

"You haven’t allowed me to practise in twenty years, and now you’re asking me to take on such a tricky task. That will require more than a simple spell and more than a quarter of your effort," she said, walking towards one of the walls in the room. "As you know, witchcraft doesn’t come for free, especially when it comes to something like what you’re asking."

Sebastian turned to look at her. "What do you want?" he asked, hating everything that had to do with witchcraft but knowing he had no choice. "I’ll give you anything you want, as long as you help my little one."

The witch looked at him with an expression of surprise she couldn’t quite conceal. She had never thought she would hear such words from the Alpha who had so heartlessly banished her from the city. So, he had a son he was willing to give anything to save? Margaret thought with interest.

"First of all, make yourself useful and help me peel back this wallpaper. My things are hidden behind it, and I’ll need them," Margaret said, pointing towards a section of the wall.

Few people ordered Sebastian around, but Margaret didn’t care. If he wanted something from her after he had denied her everything she loved to do, he would work for it, and by the moon, she would make him work today.

Sebastian got up and went to peel it off, but he soon realized the wallpaper was firmly stuck to the wall. He extended his claws and ripped at one side, tearing it down. It took him a while to get it all off, with dust falling into his eyes and stinging so badly that he cursed, rubbing them while the witch snickered in amusement. But by the time he finished, Margaret exclaimed,

"Dear Moon, I believe that’s the wrong wall. Come and try this one here."

Sebastian tried not to glare at her and did as he was told, rubbing his eyes with his arm to remove the dust.

Sebastian ended up pulling down all the wallpaper in the living room because Margaret kept "realizing" she had pointed him to the wrong wall. It was only when his frustration began to mount that the sneaky old witch finally pointed out the right one. After peeling it off, he revealed a black wall covered in triangular markings.

"I forbade spells, but you still kept all this here," Sebastian remarked, staring at the wall.

Margaret scoffed. "I abide by my promises. I never used them because your father was a good man, unlike you. Now, step aside."

She nudged him out of the way and stepped forward. "If I hadn’t kept all my things, you wouldn’t have had anyone to run to. Ungrateful brat," she muttered under her breath.

She pricked the tip of her finger and used the blood to draw a spell in the middle of the triangle. Just like that, the wall dissolved, revealing a dark, dusty room.

Inside the room, she reached out and lit six candles that brightened the space, where everything was covered in stick layers of dust, and she stood staring at it all.

"I never thought I would ever see this room again," she said, reaching out to caress her belongings longingly before turning to the little devil who had kept her away from this paradise.

"Take the broom behind you and get to work. I can’t concentrate in a dirty place."

"Now, Margaret, who the hell—"

"Hold your horses. I can choose not to help you, you know. Sweep and clean, or nothing. I’m not the one in need of help here, and I know you can’t kill me for putting you to work."

Sebastian thought he could wring her old neck right where she stood, but where would that get him? He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been put to work, especially sweeping such a dirty, dusty place. But when he remembered how tiny the baby looked and how his wife had wanted to go to the sea, he grabbed the broom and duster and got to work, sneezing and coughing as the dust filled the air.

"Be careful with my doll shelves," she warned when he began dusting them, and Sebastian shot her a glare.

Not being used to cleaning, it took Sebastian some time to finish, especially since Margret kept making him reclean surfaces she deemed insufficiently clean. By the time he was done, she was sitting on the floor, drawing circles on the now-clean surface.

"Come sit here," she gestured to the spot in front of her circle without looking away from what she was doing.

Sebastian flexed his aching shoulders and neck, then turned to inspect his handiwork before sitting down cross-legged, doing his best to resist the urge to strangle the woman. He was still thinking of ways to do just that when the she-wolf suddenly blew a dust-like powder into his face. Sebastian coughed, and a sharp pain pricked his chest, making him clutch it tightly.

He covered his mouth as he coughed up blood into his palm, then glared at her.

"What was that?"

"Don’t worry. I was just checking your health. It turns out you’re not healthy yourself, Alpha Sebastian. Though I’m surprised you’re still cursed, even after it was said you’d found your prophesied mate. How is it that you still carry that disease in your heart?"

Margaret looked up at him curiously. "Haven’t you found her yet?"

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. "What disease?" he asked, and he watched the witch click her tongue.

"I see your father never told you before his death," Margaret said, realizing that if the brat hadn’t banned her from practising witchcraft, she would have been the one to explain it to him much sooner. "Your father and those before him were all born with the disease of corruption, and with each generation, it grew stronger. Your bloodline curse works hand in hand with the corruption. Only, it was manipulated so that the moon triggers it more. I’d thought you’d be cured by now, with your prophecy found and fulfilled," she said.