Chapter 16: Their Cursed

Cullen

I drove through the gates leading to the pack house grounds. We kept a fortified fence around the pack house as a precaution against attack. All women, pups, and elderly were able to take shelter within the pack house when we were being attacked so the warriors could handle things.

I had called last night to set a meeting with the Elder Council today and my father to get some answers about who Remi could be. Jamie had left in a fit last night when I refused to tell her about Remi. I am sure the elders had been notified about the issue by now anyway so I would need to calm any problems arising with that.

I parked in front of the pack house and went inside. I went straight to my room to deposit my things. I decided to shower quickly before heading downstairs. Once I was clean, I put on fresh dress clothes and set off down to the council room. I was still 15 minutes early, but everyone should begin gathering.

My father was outside the council room as I approached. "Alpha," I said in acknowledgement.

"Son," he said.

"Were you able to identify any missing wolves from our pack?" I asked.

"Yes, I was. I found a few candidates that could easily be your mates' parents, but we have no record of anyone young enough to be your mate," he said.

I cleared my throat. "Refer to her by her name please," I said.

"Son, this is preposterous. You cannot avoid the fact that you have a mate unless you intend on rejecting her! Think what it could do to the poor girl!" He argued.

"How I handle my mate, is my business father. Now if you will excuse me, the meeting will be beginning soon," I said curtly. I entered the council room to see the seats almost all full. My father followed right behind me with an irritated look on his face. The tables were arranged in a long rectangle. My father and the Head elder sat at opposite sides with everyone else in between. We took our places and waited for the meeting to begin.

Once everyone was in attendance, my father began the meeting. "Thank you all for gathering here today. We have asked you to assemble today to help us solve a problem that has been brought to our attention recently," he said.

"And what problem could that be?" Asked the Head elder.

"My sons have discovered a young she-wolf living in the Ordinary Realm. This she wolf is unaware of her heritage. When she was brought across the boundary, it caused her pain and she lost consciousness until she was brought back to the Ordinary Realm," my father explained.

"Really?" Said the head elder. Murmuring erupted down the table. "And where is this she-wolf now?"

I stood to address everyone. "She resides in the Ordinary Realm. My brother is keeping tabs on her as we speak. He is attempting to find out about her history as we speak," I said. My father raised his eyebrows at me. It wasn’t a complete lie.

"And why are we so interested in this she-wolf?" One of the elders asked.

"She did not smell of a rogue or another pack. She hails from our pack and we cannot find any record of her or a wolf living permanently in the Ordinary Realm," I said.

"It does seem odd to be interested in one specific she-wolf, young Alpha," another Elder said.

"I assure you, I am simply interested in the wellbeing of my pack," I said.

"If she was unaware of her heritage, how old is she? She must be young to not have access to her wolf," I was asked.

"She is 20 years old," my father answered.

"Then how could she possibly be unaware of her heritage. Her wolf should have emerged and forced a shift long before now," someone said.

"Yes, how is this possible?"

"She was thoroughly cloaked when we found her," I said.

"Then how were you aware that she was in fact one of us?" I was asked.

"I took her beyond the boundary to confirm my suspicions," I said.

"But you were not certain when you did this?"

"My son did not act in his best judgement and we have already discussed this at length. But I feel it is imperative that we find where this girl came from. Her reaction to crossing the boundary is abnormal at best. The circumstances around her cloaking are suspicious. Now the girl has questions that we cannot answer yet," my father said trying to take control of the room.

"We need to have her evaluated by a pack doctor," said someone.

"She has been. So far, we only have theories about the girl. We cannot evaluate her further until we can bring her over the boundary safely," my father said.

"It seems that there is a lot at stake over one she-wolf. I wonder Alpha, Cullen, is she more than a lost member of this pack?" The head Elder asked. I looked sideways at my father.

"There is a lot of stake over this particular she-wolf because she is the mate of my sons,” my father said.

Calder

Remi was damn near trembling as we drove to her parent’s house. I thought it was best just to go there. I do not know if they would recognize me. If they left to the Ordinary Realm before Remi was born, I was only a toddler at most. They may not recognize me as their soon to be Alpha. I just hoped for Remi’s sake they did not slam the door in her face.

She would not tell me why they kicked her out and I didn’t want to push her any further. I hoped she would tell me when she felt comfortable enough too. I was disappointed that the day had resulted this way. We had such a nice day. I had explained all sorts of things about werewolves, Alphas, mates, the pack, the boundary, and more. She had listened and absorbed all day. She had asked questions and I answered everything as truthfully as I could. She seemed relaxed and comfortable all day. I was hopeful about how things would turn out until I brought up her parents.

The GPS said we were two minutes away from her childhood home. Remi was pale and silent in the passenger seat. I reached over and covered her hands in mine. She peeked at me and I gave her a tight smile. I did not want to lie to her and tell her this would all be alright because I had no clue how this would go.

I could not imagine what the sweet, shy, and beautiful creature next me did to make her parents kick her out and refuse contact with her. It was almost unheard of in werewolf culture. The only instances I have ever known of something like this to happen is when the wolf committed some serious crime against the pack or if a parent lost their mate but that was entirely different.

I pulled up outside a modest 2 story house. The front window on the second floor had a star at its center and lavender curtains could be seen through it. I would bet that was her room. We sat in the car for a moment before I broke the silence. “Are you ready for this?” I asked softly, squeezing her hand.

She shook her head no. “Let’s go,” she said in a strangled whisper.

I got out of the car and came around to her door. I opened it for her and grabbed her hand to help her out. We walked slowly to the front door holding hands. We stood there for a moment before she reached a shaking hand up and knocked. We did not hear anything at first but then there was some shuffling on the other side of the door.

“Coming,” a male’s voice called.

Remi’s head dipped and she stared at the ground. The door swung open and an older man who looked just like Remi stood there. He stilled as he laid his eyes on his daughter. A woman’s voice came quickly behind him. “Who is it dear-” she stopped as she too saw who was standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” the woman said. Her voice was harsh. Remi shrank slightly.

“We told you that you were not welcome here. We do not care who you bring here, you need to leave,” her father said.

“Mom, dad…” she said softly.

“We told you we wanted nothing to do with you anymore,” her mother said.

“Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson,” I tried.

“We don’t know who you are and frankly we are not interested. This will only end up the same way as before and we want no part of this,” her father said. He began to shut the door.

“Wait,” I said in my Alpha tone. As I suspected, her parents both froze but Remi seemed entirely unaffected. She was my fated mate if my Alpha tone didn’t work on her.

“A-alpha?” her mother stammered.

I nodded my head. “My name is Calder Carlisle. Along with my brother, I will be the next Alpha of Blue Moon Pack,” I said. “Remi and I need to speak with you. I would much prefer to do this in the privacy of your home.” I was not giving them a choice. Remi’s mother looked at her father. He simply nodded at me and opened the door. They stepped back to let us in. I looked down at Remi who still was not making eye contact with anyone. I wished I could link her and reassure her. Instead, I could only squeeze her hand.

We stepped inside the house and followed the couple to the living room. “Please, make yourselves comfortable,” Remi’s father said. I sat us down on the love seat, keeping Remi close to my side. Remi’s parents sat on the couch next to ours. Her mother continually looked between us and her father.

“Not to be rude, Alpha, but why are you here with my daughter?” her father said.

“Well, Mr. Anderson. I have recently discovered that your daughter is my mate,” I said. Both of their mouths dropped open.

“How?” her mother whispered.

“You must reject her immediately,” her father said. I let out a growl.

“I will do no such thing. How dare you suggest I reject my mate, your own daughter!” I roared. They cowered slightly.

“You don’t understand,” her father said.

“Then I suggest you find a way to explain it quickly. Starting with why your daughter was cloaked so entirely and was unaware of what she is,” I said in a hard tone.

Her father swallowed hard. “Our family is cursed. Remi is the last of our bloodline. Once we all die, the curse will cease to haunt us. We made the decision long ago to protect her and each other by coming to the Ordinary Realm. This was the only way we could live out our lives and eventually end the curse,” he explained.

I raised an eyebrow. “Curse? Why are you cursed?”

“Many years ago, one of our ancestors fell in love with a warlock. He practiced light magic and they were madly in love. But he was not her mate. They were engaged to be married when she found her fated mate. She left the warlock and mated with her fated immediately. That union produced a pup. When the warlock found out that she was pregnant, he insisted the pup was his child. She claimed otherwise. When she refused to hand over the pup, he cursed our bloodline,” he said.

I nodded my head. “And how was the curse supposed to be broken?”

“By giving over the first-born child of the bloodline. For generations now, my family has only been able to conceive a singular pup. This is also due to the curse. No parent would want to give up their pup. So, we have continued to be cursed. My mate and I decided to leave the Supernatural Realm when we found she was pregnant. It was an attempt to protect our daughter. We thought if we suppressed her wolf and she was raised and lived as a human, she may be free of the curse. And if not, her cloaking would prevent her from finding her mate. We thought that would prevent her from conceiving as well,” he explained. There was venom in his final sentence. Remi shrunk next to me but continued to avoid eye contact with her parents.

“This cloaking you placed upon her, what exactly is it?” I asked.

“It was meant to keep her wolf completely dormant. She was given the potion at birth then again at age 13 to ensure her wolf would not emerge in the Ordinary Realm. She has never shown any sign of its emergence. How could you have possibly undone this?” her father asked.

“That is of no consequence now,” I said. “When you were given this potion, were you told of the effects should she cross the boundary?”

“The witch said that it would not kill her wolf, that it would simply lie dormant. If she were to be taken across the boundary, that suppression would begin to lift and eventually her wolf would come forward,” her father said. “I see,” I said. So, the suppression began to lift. Charles was probably correct. She was feeling the effect of getting her wolf all at once and it was painful as her body did not grow into it for 13 years. “I appreciate your candor. I think that is all the questions I have. Remi?” I said directing the conversation to her.

She looked up at me and shook her head. I don’t know why her parents kicked her out, but it was obviously something serious. She looked almost scared to be sitting in her own childhood home.

“We will be going then,” I said as I stood. Remi stood with me, now clutching my arm. Without waiting for any formalities, I led us to the front door and outside. I took Remi to the car, opening her door and letting her get in.

“Wait,” came a voice behind me. It was her father again. I shut her door before turning around to address him.

“Yes?” I said.

“Alpha, please. You should reject our daughter. If you can identify her as your mate, then our plan did not work. She will not be able to produce you an heir, so she is useless to an Alpha. The warlock will come for her eventually. Save yourself, reject my daughter and leave her here in the Ordinary Realm,” he said.

“I believe she has faced enough rejection,” I said. I turned on my heel and went straight to the car. I climbed in, ignoring the couple standing on the walkway. They watched us with worried faces as we drove away.

After we were a few minutes away from her parent’s house, I looked over at Remi. Tears were streaming down her face. I reached over and grasped her hands that were sitting in her lap. “Remi, I am sorry…” I said. She just shook her head and looked out the window and the tears silently flowed down her cheeks.