Chapter 32: Their Cursed

Cullen

I sat down in the warm water of the bath and adjusted Remi over me. I sat her across my lap and let her lay against my chest. I rubbed her back in gentle circles as we sat there. That could not have been more perfect. I was a little surprised when she told Calder she was not a virgin given her timid demeanor, but it was not like I was one to judge. My mind wandered to the guy in the photograph in her apartment and unnecessary jealousy blossomed in my chest. I kissed the top of her head, trying to push it away. Her life before me was her own business and I had no reason to be jealous about it.

I put some soap on a loofah on the edge of the tub and made it suds up before gently washing my mate. She was spent in my arms, making me smile. Tonight was so much more than I had imagined it would be. I cannot wait until she can take both of us at once. We plan to mark her then. She let me wash her with no fight at all. I heard Calder come in and hop in the shower and quickly wash up.

After Calder left, the water started to cool down. I kissed the top of Remi’s head. “Come on, beautiful. Let's get ready for bed,” I said softly. She nodded her head. I threaded my arms under her legs and around her waist and stood up, letting the water drip from us.

“Grab me a towel?” I linked Calder. He was immediately in the bathroom. He grabbed a towel from the cabinet and came over. We wrapped Remi in the towel, and he took her out to the bedroom. I grabbed one for myself, quickly drying off and wrapping it around my waist.

I smirked when I walked out to see Calder showering her sleepy face with kisses. I went into the closet, quickly pulling on some shorts and grabbing Remi a shirt. When I exited, I brought the shirt to Calder and Remi. Calder helped Remi slip the shirt on. He had changed the bedsheets while we were in the bath, so the bed was clean and ready.

We all got into the bed, Remi lying between us. She snuggled herself into Calder while I held her from behind. I let myself fall asleep, satisfied with the first night with our mate here in the pack house. Before I was fully asleep, Remi spoke softly.

“I love you both,” her voice said in almost a whisper. My eyes shot open, and I looked down at Remi. She was sleeping soundly now, completely out. Calder and I locked eyes; he had a huge smile on his face. We both hugged her closer and went to sleep.

-

I woke up to pleasurable sparks trailing around my chest. I peeked an eye open to see Remi tracing her fingers around in random patterns on my bare chest. Her face was scrunched up slightly like she was thinking about something. Calder was snoring away behind her. She was wrapped in both of our arms and our legs were tangled together.

“Our mate is so cute,” Maximus purred in my head. I had to agree with him.

She continued to mindlessly move her fingers against me. I let out a soft growl. Her eyes widened and she looked up at my face. I smiled at her. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t wake you, did I?” she asked.

I nuzzled her face with mine. “You did. But I am okay with that, love” I told her. “What are you thinking about?”

“How amazing just touching you and Calder feels…” she said softly, the smallest hint of a smile on her mouth. I leaned down and kissed her soft pink lips.

“That’s because we are mates. We are meant to be together,” I told her.

“I know. I just didn’t imagine… this…” she said laying her hand flat on me. I smiled at the contact.

“And how did last night feel?” I asked her. Her cheeks blushed and she hid her face in my chest. I chuckled at her. “I will take that as a good sign.” She stayed hidden for a moment longer. I bent my head closer to her ear and whispered, “Last night was the best night of my life.”

She looked up at me with wide eyes again, disbelief written across her features. “Really?” she asked. I nodded at her.

“Me too,” Calder said softly. She turned her head to look at him. Calder kissed her softly. “Good morning, baby,” he said.

“Morning,” she said.

“How did you sleep?” he asked her.

“Perfectly,” she said. She was glowing this morning and I could not feel lighter looking at her so happy. I never wanted to leave this bed. I wanted to hold her just like this forever. There was a knock on the door interrupting our perfect little bubble.

“I’ll go,” Calder said. He kissed her cheek and untangled himself. I pulled Remi with me as I sat up. Calder came back to the bed carrying a large tray of food. “Mom thought we would miss breakfast, so she had the kitchen send something up,” he said, setting the food on the bed. He grabbed the bowl of strawberries and came over to us.

“Hungry, beautiful?” he asked her. She shook her head at him. He sat on the other side of us. He picked a strawberry from the bowl and pushed it to her lips. She opened up and let him push the berry into mouth. She bit down and closed her eyes. She chewed with a smile on her face. I chuckled.

“Good?” I asked her.

“Mmhmm,” she said nodding. She grabbed a strawberry and held it up to my mouth. “Try,” she said. I opened my mouth and bit the strawberry.

“Hmm. Good but,” I said, licking my lips. “You taste better.” I smiled at her. She blushed deeply and we both chuckled at her. I leaned forward and pulled the tray over to us. “As much as I would love nothing more than to stay in bed with you all day, Calder and I have a meeting in a bit,” I told her. Confusion and sadness overtook her soft features.

“Pip is still here. She wanted to hang out with you while we were busy,” Calder said.

“Okay,” she said. She looked a little sad. Calder turned her face to him.

“We will rush back to you, baby,” he said. She nodded. He ran his nose along hers earning him a smile. “Then I will show you the whole pack house, my soon-to-be Luna.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

Remi

Pip came to Cullen’s room about an hour after we ate breakfast. The guys had gotten dressed like they were going to the office. I guess their meeting was probably important. When they were getting dressed, I pulled on my jeans from yesterday and tied up the slack in Cullen’s over large shirt so that it was not hanging almost to my knees. When Pip barged in the room, I was sitting on the end of the bed with Cullen standing in front of me, giving me sweet kisses. He turned and gave her a death glare.

“Ever heard of knocking, Pip?” he said in a flat tone.

“Nope,” she said, giving him a mischievous smile. He rolled his eyes and turned back to me. Amanda’s antics made me laugh a little. Calder came out of the bathroom.

“We need to go, love,” he said softly. He was always so gentle with me and so cold with other people.

“He only loves us,” Calli said in my head. Cullen gave me one last kiss before stepping away and Calder took his place.

“Have fun,” he said softly. He too kissed me sweetly. They both exited leaving me with a bouncy Amanda. She had a bag in her hand. I hopped off the bed and came over to her as the door closed. She turned to me with a big smile on her face.

“First, this whole boyfriend-shirt-sort-of-sheek thing, okay but I got you something better!” she said, shoving the bag at me. I was slightly relieved being handed clean clothes. “And there is clean underwear in there as well. Which leads me into my second point: you mated with them!” she screeched.

“Wait, how do you know?” I asked her.

“Uh, I can smell them all over you. It is pretty obvious,” she said matter of factly.

“Is everyone going to know?” I asked worried. Amanda just giggled at me.

“Yea, everyone is going to know but it is not like anyone is going to care,” she said. “I bet Alpha and Luna are relieved the twins are finally with their mate honestly. Plus, Cullen seems a little more tolerant of everyone else.”

I swallowed. “Are you sure? I mean we haven’t been together very long…”

“Yea, I am very sure. Most wolves mate like immediately when they find each other. It is pretty amazing that Cully and Caldy were able to resist so long as Alphas,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, generally speaking, Alphas have a strong bond to their mates. Everything is even more heightened than normal wolves. Their need to protect you, their need to be with you, their need to mate you. Once you complete the mating process and they mark you, your bond is supposed to be stronger too than that of normal wolves.”

“Wow,” I said, a little amazed.

“Go get changed,” she said pushing me towards the bathroom. I went to the bathroom and closed the door. Looking in the bag I was relieved to see a pair of jeans and a simple blouse. Nothing flashy. Like she promised, Amanda had also brought me clean underwear. Everything looked new although it had no tags. I changed quickly and then piled my wild hair into a messy bun on top of my head.

When I exited the bathroom, Amanda was sitting on the couch, flipping through her phone. She looked over at me. “Awww, that looks really nice. Suits you,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks. Where did you get it?” I asked her. She gave me a large smile. She made a pinching motion at her lips, turning her fingers and pretending to throw away an imaginary key. I crossed my arms and she just laughed.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” she said smiling. I rolled my eyes but gave her a playful smile. She hopped up and I followed her out of the room. She led us down to the bottom floor of the pack house. “Gentry went with the twins to meet with the Council, so we don’t have anyone to bug. Have they shown you around yet?” she said.

“Uh, no. Calder said he wanted to later this afternoon,” I told her.

She gave me a knowing look. “Of course he does,” she laughed. “I bet Caldy will come find you right after they are done and whisk you away while Cully finishes working before coming to smuggle you away in his room again.”

“Have they always been so different?” I asked her.

“My boys are the farthest thing from identical as you can be,” came a voice behind us. We stopped and turned to see the twin’s mother coming towards us. “Remi, don’t you look pretty! Goddess, my darling sons are so lucky!” she gushed.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Hey Luna!” Amanda said happily.

“What are you ladies up to?” she asked.

“The boys are all in the Elder Council meeting. So, we are killing time,” Amanda told her.

“Oh yes. You have caused quite the stir around here,” she said with an oddly calm look at me.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked confused.

“Let’s just say that not everyone is as happy as my mate and I that our sons found their mate,” she said with a soft smile.

“You don’t have to worry, though!” Amanda said quickly. “They aren’t going to reject you or anything!” She looked at me with a little worry in her face. I had admitted to her that it had upset me how determined Cullen was to reject me before when we went to the art exhibit and hung out.

“Oh, dear, no! Everything will get worked out. The council will come around. Would you ladies like to join me in the kitchen? I thought it might be nice to make some fresh pies for dinner tonight!” she asked excitedly.

Amanda looked at me. “Sure,” I said.

“Yes! Pie!” Amanda said. We followed Nicole to the kitchen. It was massive. There were a few people working around a countertop. It looked like they were assembling sandwiches. They stopped and bowed when we came in.

“Good afternoon, Luna,” one of them said.

“Hello,” Nicole said sweetly. “The girls and I were going to make some pies.”

“Of course, Luna. Would you like us to get the ingredients for you?” the same person said.

“Oh, no need for that, Lila. We can manage,” Nicole told her. The girl turned and went back to work with the others. Nicole went over to a large pantry and started pulling out ingredients.

“So, Remi, do you bake?”

-

Amanda, Nicole, and I were sitting down on stools eating some of the pie we had just finished making. We were given some sandwiches by the kitchen workers which we had already eaten. We had made a bunch of pies so there would be enough to feed the multitude of people that ate their meals at the packhouse. I had learned that the dining room we ate dinner in last night was usually full. The Alpha and Luna had arranged for us to have a later dinner so that I would not be so overwhelmed which I appreciated.

I was learning a lot about how a pack works from Amanda and Nicole. I had also gotten to learn about Calder and Cullen which was amazing. I could tell how proud Nicole was of them as she spoke. Her voice was full of love and adoration for her children and mate. I could not help but feel the same way about Calder and Cullen.

Calder came into the kitchen, spotting us right away. I smelled him as he came up behind me and I turned to see him smiling at me although his shoulders were tense. “Darling, there you are. Where is Cullen?” Nicole asked him.

“He is speaking with father,” he told her. “I came to find you,” he said looking at me.

“Awwww,” Amanda cooed at us.

He shot her a look. “Pip,” he said in warning. I giggled at him.

“It’s not my fault that you three are too adorable. I can’t even stand it,” she said with a smile. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to me.

“I hope she didn’t annoy you all day,” he said.

“Not at all. We made pies with your mom,” I told him. His eyebrows shot up.

“You can bake?” he said.

“Does it surprise you?” I said. He already knew I could cook. Baking was not that much of a stretch. Granted, I had only made one pie in my life one year when I had a little extra money at Thanksgiving and decided to try to make a pumpkin pie like my mom.

“I guess not,” he said with a warm smile. “Can I take you away now?” I knew he was asking but not really. And I am sure he knew I was going to go with him. I nodded my head and he smiled even larger. He grabbed my hands and pulled me off the stool and into his chest. He seemed to relax as he wrapped his arms around me. He turned to his mom and Amanda. “We will see you at dinner,” he said with a smile.

“Have fun, darling,” Nicole said. Calder pulled us toward the door and out of the kitchen.