Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 481

Chapter 481

Natalia’s POV

All night, I thought about the Ome suggestion. Witches in the territories were typically known as con artists

and fakes, but in Bloodmoon? Where our people were born with unique and powerful capabilities? I couldn’t entirely rule it out.

By the next morning, I had made up my mind. I decided to give it a shot, even if it felt a little frivolous to be worrying about my marriage when the world was still recovering from a war.

The witch doctor’s tent was easy to find. It was sitting near the center of the refugee camp, marked with hanging bundles of dried herbs tied together in various shapes of effigies and charms.

I stood outside for a moment, second–guessing myself. This felt insane and like an overreaction, but after months of coldness and distance from the man I loved, maybe I needed a little insanity.

The interior of the tent was dim, lit only by a few candles scattered around the space. Herbs hung from the ceiling in thick bunches, and the air smelled like sage and incense.

An old woman was sitting in the corner on a cushion. Her hair was completely white and pulled back into a long braid, and her face was lined with deep wrinkles. But her eyes were sharp and clear when she looked up at me, and she didn’t seem surprised at all to see me.

“Natalia,” she said. “I was wondering when you would come see me.‘

>>

I stared at her. I had never met her before, not personally, at least. “How did you know I was-”

“Sit.” She gestured to another cushion across from her. “You’re here about Andrei, are you not? About your struggling marriage.”

My heart pounded, but I nodded, sat, and folded my hands in my lap. “One of the Omegas said you might be able to help.”

“Go on,” she said.

I took a deep breath. “My husband… Andrei… He has been…” I struggled with the words. “He’s been different since we got back. Distant. Acting strange, haunted. I know something is wrong, but he won’t tell me what it is, and I fear it’s putting a strain on our family.”

The woman studied me for a long moment. Then, wordlessly, she reached for a small leather pouch on the table beside her and pulled out a handful of what looked like dried leaves. She sprinkled them into a brass bowl and lit them with one of the candles. Smoke curled up, thick and white and smelling sweet and fragrant.

“Give me your hand,” she said.

I held out my hand and she took it, turning it to face palm–up. Her fingers were warm as they traced the lines on my palm. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smoke.

After a moment, she opened her eyes again. “You’ve been through darkness. Both of you. You got out, but you left parts of yourselves in those caves.” She released my hand and sat back. “The energy around you is heavy and corrupted. Like shadows clinging to your backs.”

I swallowed hard. That sounded about right. Neither of us had spoken much to anyone else about what really happened in those caves. It was too difficult.

“Can you fix it?” I blurted out.

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Chapter 491

+25 Bonus

“I can’t fix it. But you can.” She stood and hobbled over to a shelf lined with jars and bottles. She selected a few and brought them back, setting them on the table between us. “The bond between mates is powerful, but it’s also fragile when newly marked. Especially when the mark is formed under stress or trauma. The darkness you carry is putting strain on it. Creating distance where there should be closeness.”

“So what do I do?” It wasn’t as if I could go back in time and do it all over again. I wouldn’t change a thing, regardless.

“It’s actually quite simple. You have to rebuild the positive energy. Together.” She opened one of the jars, which contained a dark paste the scent of which made my nose wrinkle. “This is for cleansing. Burn it in your home. Let the smoke clear out the old energy before you do anything else.”

She handed me the jar, then opened another. This one contained dried flowers. “And this is for connection. Brew it into a tea. Drink it together before you are intimate. It will help you to relax, and put you both in the mood.”

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