Chapter 47: Their Cursed

Calder

I didn’t expect to find the scene at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as I saw Jaime standing there, fury ignited in my veins. When Jaime left, Remi was quiet. I took the girls to the kitchen and we got little Jenny a cookie. I had one of the kitchen workers get me some tea for Remi as well. Jenny was such a sweet little girl, and I was actually fond of her. She was the youngest of her siblings, Jaime being the oldest. Although she was about as head strong as her sister, Jenny didn’t have a sour attitude towards the world. As much as I disliked Jaime, it was not my place to sway her opinion of her sister. I sent a quick message to their father to let him know that Jenny and Jaime had a spat and he should come pick Jenny up from us.

Jenny and Remi sat at the island. Remi slowly sipped her tea while Jenny munched on her cookie. Jenny was asking Remi questions and Remi was patiently answering them and asking Jenny questions in return. The little girl seemed at ease now and smiled brightly at my beautiful mate. I stood behind her and rubbed gentle circles on her back.

“Remi, do you know Alpha Calder?” Jenny finally asked. Her smile was warm as she turned her head to me.

“Yes, I do. I know him very well,” she said. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you want to know a secret?” Jenny nodded enthusiastically.

“I am a good secret keeper! The best in the whole pack!” she cheered. Remi giggled.

“Alpha Calder is my mate and I like him a whole lot,” she whispered to the little girl.

“Are you serious?” squealed Jenny. “That is so cool, Remi! Does that mean you get to be Luna with sissy? She is Alpha Cullen’s mate. Does that mean you get to be my sister too?”

I felt Remi’s back stiffen under my touch. Goddess bless her, she was able to keep a smile on her face and not give Jenny any indication of the heartache she felt at those words. She gave her a small laugh.

“We will have to see about all that, okay Jenny?” I said, coming to her rescue. Luckily, Jenny’s father entered the kitchen followed by my mother at that moment.

“Jenny, there you are sweety,” he said. The little girl’s attention was quickly turned to her father. She hopped off the stool and ran to him.

“Daddy!” she jeered. She ran right into his arms. He picked her up and swung her around making the little girl giggle joyfully.

“David, thanks for coming to get her,” I said.

“No, thank you. Jaime was supposed to watch her today but of course that girl couldn’t just help her mother out for one day,” David said.

“Daddy I messed up sissy’s dress. But it was an accident. Then Remi found me and said she could fix it, but sissy was still too mad. Then Alpha Calder gave me a cookie!” Jenny recanted to her father. “And guess what! Remi is Alpha Calder’s mate! She is going to be Luna with sissy. Isn’t that cool? Remi is so nice and pretty. She will be a good Luna!”

That made me still. My eyes darted to Remi who was pale. David’s eyes scrunched up in confusion as he looked between Remi and I for a moment. Luckily, my mother swooped in. “Jenny, would you help Luna with something real quick dear? Give your dad a moment to speak to Alpha Calder?” she said opening her arms up to Jenny. She pulled the girl from her dad’s arms and left the kitchen with her. My mother could really be a saint. David was still looking between us. His eyes moved to Remi’s neck. Her scoop neck blouse did little to hide Cullen and I’s marks on her neck.

“I’m sorry David. I should have called you last week about this but there are other things going on,” I said. He shook his head.

“No Alpha, there is no need to apologize. I assume this is why my daughter has been on a rampage and moved back in with us?” he asked. I nodded. “Very well.” He turned to Remi and approached her. He stuck his hand out. “You must be Remi. I am David, Jenny and Jaime’s father. I am sorry if my daughter has caused you any trouble thus far, but I want to offer you my deepest congratulations. Finding your mate is an incredibly special thing and you happen to have two of the best. I look forward to you becoming Luna,” he told her with a smile. She reached out hesitantly and shook his hand.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I am so sorry about all this.”

“No, dear girl. Do not be sorry for finding your mate. You should not apologize for accepting the gift of the Moon Goddess,” he said with genuine sincerity. Remi blushed.

“Thank you, David. I appreciate your understanding in the matter,” I said.

“No problem. I guess we will have an Alpha ceremony to attend here soon, then. Well, I better collect Jenny and be on my way. I should get home and let my mate know. Thank you again for looking after her,” he said. He turned around and left the kitchen. When the door closed, I turned back and faced Remi. She was still a little pale and I couldn’t tell what she was feeling.

I reached up and cupped her face. “Baby…” I said. She blinked a couple times and looked up at me like I broke her from her thoughts. “Are you alright?”

“Yea,” she said in small voice.

“What happened before I got there?” I asked. She was quiet at first. “Baby, you need to tell me. You wouldn’t tell us before, but I can’t stop it if I don’t know,” I told her.

“It was nothing really. I found Jenny crying on the stairs after lunch. She was upset because she ruined her sister’s dress. I offered to help her fix it not knowing who her sister was. Then Jaime appeared. She wanted her sister to come with her and Jenny didn’t want to…” she explained.

“What did you tell Jaime?” I asked her.

“That Jenny didn’t want to go with her, and I would make sure she got home later,” she said. I was surprised at that. She stood up for herself.

I tilted her face up to mine and kissed her softly. “I’m proud of you,” I said when we broke apart. She just blinked at me with an adorable expression on her face. “Not only did you stand up for yourself and Jenny, but you actually told me what happened.” Remi hopped down from the stool she was still sitting on, wrapped her arms around my stomach, laying her head on my chest. I hugged her tightly. After a few minutes, my mother entered the kitchen and ended our moment.

Cullen

Calder came into my office with an irritated look on his face. I peeked up at him briefly before going back to the documents I was looking at. “Yes?” I asked as he plopped himself down in one of the chairs across from me.

“Jaime didn’t tell her parents about no longer becoming Luna,” he said. That brought me pause.

“I guess we should have called them as a courtesy, but I would imagine that they had questions when she moved out of the pack house and back to their house,” I said.

Calder nodded. “David was curious but obviously never asked us,” he told me.

“And how did this come to light?” I asked putting my pen down.

“Jaime confronted Remi when she found Jenny crying. I think Jenny spilled something on her and angered Jaime. Remi said that Jenny didn’t want to go with Jaime. When I came down, Jaime left abruptly. I had David come get Jenny,” he explained.

“Going to need a few more dots connected here…”

He sighed. “Remi told Jenny she is my mate and of course she got excited by it. She started gushing about Remi getting to be her sister because Jaime is your mate. Then of course her father shows up and she immediately tells him. I briefly explained the situation to him,” he finished.

I rolled my eyes. Wonderful. David and Melissa were good people but their eldest was turning out to be a pain in my ass. Jenny was a sweet child who idolized her monstrous sister. “How is Remi?” I asked, realizing she was once again left alone and forced to confront Jaime.

“Okay. She was more freaked out about David learning about her than Jaime. I think she actually stood up to her before I arrived. Then she told me with little argument,” he said.

“Where is she now?”

“With mother. She wants to help Remi learn as much as possible before we depart for the Summit,” he said.

“Gentry finally sent me a message. He and his mate will be joining us tomorrow and want to get to work on Voldigoad,” I told him. He half-smiled at that.

“Don’t I wish we could have just kept Remi locked up all day when we got here,” he said. “Oh well. We won’t be able to do much until after we return from the Summit. We can at least see what the witch knows and what she wants from Remi.”

“Father thinks we should tread carefully with the Council. He believes they won’t be happy with a cursed Luna and the Beta’s mate a witch,” I told him.

“Figures,” he said. “Guess we will just have to break the curse and prove the witch won’t harm the pack.” He stood up and went to leave. “I also confirmed with the renovation team earlier; they will be able to start as soon as we leave and finish by Sunday morning before our return,” he added before leaving the room.

“Don’t miss dinner. You’ll upset our mate,” I linked him not expecting a reply. I enjoyed breakfast with Remi on my own this morning, but she was visibly upset when Calder left to get started for the day. My office phone rang, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Cullen, how are you?” Doctor Charles said.

“I’m well. Yourself?” I replied.

“Good, good. How is your mate doing? I tried calling Calder, but his phone is going straight to voicemail at the moment,” he said.

“She is doing better than expected, I would say,” I told him.

“That is wonderful to hear. Has she been marked?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said with no other explanation.

“That is good news. Would it be possible for me to see her this afternoon? I know it is short notice but your father mention that you all will be attending the Summit in his stead this year and I would like to just check up on her before you leave,” he said.

“I am sure that can be arranged,” I said looking at my clock. Remi was with my mother so I could go retrieve her and take her to the clinic. If I took some of these things back to our room this evening after dinner, I could finish up then.

“Wonderful. Just tell the receptionist that she is here to see me directly,” he said. It was safe of him to assume at least one of us would accompany her.

“We will see you shortly,” I said before hanging up the phone. This worked out nicely as I was wanting to ask him a few questions about her first shift. Even as an Alpha, my first shift was painful and took a long time. I am aware that it can be even worse for those without Alpha heritage. I didn’t know how she would be affected shifting as an adult.

I organized my work, leaving a pile to be taken up to our bedroom for later. I left my office and made my way down the hall to my mother’s office. I knocked on the door. The door swung open and Remi was standing there smiling brightly.

“Hello, love,” I said.

“Hi,” she said happily.

“Hello darling,” my mother said from behind her. She was sitting on the couch. They had clearly just been talking together. “Come to take her away?” my mother laughed. I just nodded.

“Doctor Charles asked if he could see you before we depart for the Summit,” I looked down and told her.

“Okay,” she agreed. She turned around to my mother. “Thank you so much, Nicole. We’ll see you at dinner,” she said brightly.

“See you then, darling girl,” my mother said warmly to her and waved. Remi turned back around to me and nodded that she was ready. I reached forward and grabbed her hand and we set off towards the front doors.

“How has your day been?” she asked as we walked.

“Dull since breakfast,” I said. The best part of my day was always my time with her. Breakfast had been exceptional this morning. She giggled.

“Breakfast was delicious this morning,” she said with a coy smile on her face. Her fingers wrapped themselves around my forearm as we walked. She seemed to enjoy holding onto me with more than just one hand.

“I heard you met Jenny?” I tried to probe.

She was quiet for a moment before she answered. “Yes. I adore her. She was really adorable,” she said.

“She is quite the energetic thing,” I said.

“And very good at keeping secrets,” she laughed a little. I looked down at her and raised my eyebrow in question and she just shook her head. “I was surprised that Jaime had a sister so young, actually,” she said.

“It isn’t uncommon. Werewolves are… promiscuous creatures by nature and many mated pairs have multiple children,” I explained.

“You only have one younger brother though?” she observed.

“Yes. My mother found us to be enough of a headache in addition to her Luna duties that she was happy after Carson was born,” I told her. We exited the pack house and made our way out of the gate. The clinic was only a short distance from the pack house.

“What is Carson like?” she asked. I was surprised by her question. “He doesn’t really ever talk at meals, tries to leave early a lot, and I don’t know that I have ever seen him outside of a meal.”

“Well, he is still in school for one,” I told her. “He is simply disinterested in being part of the pack leadership.”

“Oh,” she said. Her face was scrunched up slightly indicating that she was thinking about something. “Do you want lots of children?” she asked quietly.

“As Alpha, it is my responsibility to produce an heir,” I told her.

“That isn’t a real answer, Cullen,” she said in mock irritation. I didn’t give her any other answer for the moment. The truth was, I couldn’t wait to put a pup inside of her. I couldn’t wait to see her pregnant with my pup. But she had not even shifted yet. We would have pups when she was ready.

We were approaching the clinic now, but she didn’t seem to want to drop it. She pulled my arm slightly making me look down at her. She looked up at me, her eyes looked a little hurt by my non-answer. I sighed. “It is something for the three of us to discuss later,” I told her. This was not something I cared to discuss openly. The matters and affairs of our lives were not for broadcast across the pack. I opened the door and led us inside the clinic. Remi seemed to take the hint because she was now quiet although I knew the matter was not resolved.