Chapter 81: Their Cursed

Pip

There was more knocking at my door. I groaned and pulled my blanket over my head, trying to ignore whoever it was. Chances are, it is Gentry again. He won’t just leave me alone. The only plus side to him badgering me is that I know he hasn’t run off to Serenity Moon to punch Zeus. More knocking. I just want to wallow.

“Pip, let me in,” Remi’s voice interrupted my self-pity. My head popped up at that. I crawled out of bed, slowly moving over to the door. Sure enough, I could smell Remi’s light apple perfume on the other side. So when did she get here?

I swung the door open to her giving me a concerned scowl. Her eyes looked me up and down. She sighed. “Nope,” she said as she grabbed my hand. She pulled me down the hallway and to the bathroom that Gentry and I have always shared. She pushed me inside. “Shower,” Remi commanded me while I looked at her bewildered. “Now,” she said, pulling the door closed and leaving me no room for argument.

I rolled my eyes but turned to the mirror and grimaced. I was a mess. My hair was falling out of the bun I haphazardly pulled it into last night, and some of it was sticking up at a weird angle. My eyes were red-rimmed, and I had some dark circles cropping up underneath them. My clothes were a crumpled mess, and I just looked terrible.

“Shower. You won’t feel better until you do,” Remi linked me as if she knew I was standing there staring at myself. I grumbled but listened as I turned the water on to warm up. “Water as hot as you can get it.” Goddess, she could be bossy when she wasn’t all shy.

-

I pulled the towel around me and opened the bathroom door. Steam rushed out into the cool air of the hallway. I padded back towards my room. I walked in to see Remi stretching fresh sheets across my bed, my blanket and other sheets in a pile on the floor. “Oh, good. You look better,” she said, looking over at me with a smile.

“You’re mean,” I accused.

“No, I am helping,” she shot back, putting a hand on her hip. “Get dressed. We are getting out of this room.” She was already a Luna, and she didn’t realize it. I didn’t have the energy to argue with her, so I went over to my closet and pulled out some simple, comfortable clothes. I pulled on a worn pair of jeans and an old t-shirt that was soft from being worn. I let my wet hair just sit over my shoulders, making my shirt damp.

When she finished with my bed, she forced me to sit down at my vanity, grabbing my hairbrush. I watched her in the mirror with a concentrated look on her face as she brushed and braided my hair back. When she finished, she locked eyes with me with a satisfied expression. “Not your usual self, but much better,” she said confidently.

“Remi, what are you doing here?” I asked her.

“You are sad because of that jerk, and it’s worrying your family,” she answered. My shoulders slumped. Now I felt terrible that I was worrying them. I just wanted to wallow for a bit before I figured out what to do. “Let’s go. Fresh air will help,” she said softly.

“Okay,” I agreed.

-

Since Remi has no idea where she is going around the pack, I walked us to the park nearest the house. We sat at a picnic table watching some of the small pups running around on the playground equipment. Carefree. Happy. Loved. Wanted.

Remi grabbed my hand after we sat in silence for a few minutes. She looked at me with worried eyes. “I just don’t understand. I can’t wrap my head around it,” I confessed. How could he change his mind so abruptly?

“I don’t think it has anything to do with you,” she said softly. She sighed. “Pip, I think it has to do with the twins.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, not understanding how this could have anything to do with them. They had agreed to leave Zeus and me alone.

“They sort of, uh, embarrassed Zeus at the Summit. If I were to guess, he didn’t come to the closing ball because he was angry about what happened,” she explained.

“What do you mean? How could they embarrass him?” I pushed.

Remi scrunched her nose up for a minute, trying to decide if she was allowed to spill. “Blue Moon is going to be merging with a few small packs that Serenity Moon cut off aid to. It’s going to make Blue Moon the biggest pack in the Realm, and in the process, they made Zeus look pretty bad, I guess,” she told me.

“So, he ghosted me because his ego was bruised?” I exploded. To her credit, Remi didn’t flinch. “I sat there all night worrying! I thought something had happened or he was rejecting me. I sat there in the stupid dress he sent me like a fool! All this because he was politically outmaneuvered and was licking his wounds?”

The aching in my chest was being replaced with rage. How dare he? He stood me up because Calder and Cullen are smarter? I was sitting here crying over him when he was crying over losing? Remi let me silently seethe for a minute.

“Pip?” she finally prompted.

“I can’t even believe this! I should let my big brother go kill him,” I raged.

“No, that won’t solve this,” she said as she pulled something out of her jacket pocket. She handed me my cell phone that I had put on silent and ignored. I looked down at it for the first time since yesterday and saw all the calls and messages from him.

“I don’t want to talk to him,” I said, putting it down on the table between us. Remi frowned.

“The only way out of this is through,” she said. “You have to talk to him. I am not saying you have to forgive him, but you can’t continue like this.”

“I am not talking to him right now. I have thought this whole time I messed up. I thought his mom didn’t approve, or I did something to make him mad!” I frowned down at my phone sitting between us, trying to push away the longing I felt for him that was mixing with my anger. Stupid mate bond. I simultaneously wanted to rip his head off and be wrapped in his dumb, strong arms.

“It doesn’t have to be right now,” she told me in a soft voice. “But you should talk to him. I think he knows he hurt you, but he should also hear it from you.”

“Can we go? I think I have had enough fresh air…” I sighed, feeling defeated again.

“Sure, as long as you aren’t planning on shutting away in your room again,” she chided.

“I won’t. But do you think you can hang out for a while? I just…” I trailed off, not really having a reason for not wanting to be alone. I looked up to see her smiling sweetly at me.

“Where else would I be when my best friend is sad?” she asked.

Cullen

Gentry caught up to Calder and me as we made our way to the Council room. Calder said he took Remi with him to try and cheer Pip up. Between his sister and mate, I didn’t expect to see him today. “Where are Pip and Remi?” Calder asked him.

“Remi kicked me out. She said I needed to go with you guys and leave Pip to her,” he explained, looking forlorn.

“I am sure Pip is in good hands,” Calder told him. I nodded my head in agreement. Remi knew Pip well enough to help cheer her up.

“So, anything I should know before we go in there?” he questioned us.

I laughed, and his expression became nervous. “We will soon be the largest pack in the Realm,” Calder told him.

“What? How?” he said, his attention now entirely on pack matters.

“We pulled one over on Serenity Moon,” I said with a shrug.

“That’s not just pulling one over. That is rubbing it in their face. How did you manage that? Packs haven’t merged in at least a century,” he said. We stepped into the Council room, our voices dropping.

“We saw a demand and made it an opportunity,” Calder whispered.

“Why do I feel like this is all the result of my sister finding her mate to be that conceited twat?” he accused.

“Because it is,” I told him with a smirk. We took our seats as he rolled his eyes.

-

We had addressed all the other issues discussed and resolved at the Summit, and it was finally time to address the merger. I stood, ready to inform the Council. “The last thing we have to report from the Summit proceedings is that Blue Moon will soon be the largest pack in the Realm. We have brokered a deal with six small, failing packs to merge with Blue Moon. Their Alphas have agreed to remit their titles and pledge allegiance to Calder and me,” I said confidently.

“And how did you manage this?” someone questioned.

“Serenity Moon pulled all their support from these packs. In the next year, they would easily collapse. So instead of letting any portion of our race’s population suffer, we offered them a deal. They will become part of Blue Moon, and they will receive our support in order to flourish but as part of our pack,” I explained. There were contemplative looks and nods around the room.

“This was a bold move for your first Summit representing Blue Moon without your father,” someone commented. There were nods of agreement around the room. Calder stood.

“Serenity Moon’s next Alpha has his own ideas and opinions on how best to manage his pack. But those ideas were not solely going to affect Serenity Moon. He failed to understand the importance of Serenity Moon’s position as the Realm’s leading pack. We simply think we can better fulfill that role,” he stated.

“This certainly presents an interesting opportunity for Blue Moon,” someone said. “We would like to see what becomes of this.”

The meeting concluded with almost no more issues. Calder, Gentry, and I left and headed to my office. Once inside, Gentry slumped into a chair, dropping his head into his hands. I gave Calder a look, trying to figure out what this was about.

“It’s probably Sammy and Pip,” he linked me. I sighed, sitting in my chair. I didn’t currently have the patience for this; Remi is shifting in two days. We need to break this curse. And now, we had to meet with all these packs to begin these mergers.

Gentry looked down at his arm where his witch’s markings had been before we left. They were barely visible now. “It just keeps fading away,” he muttered.

“I’m sure we can figure out where she is, Gen,” Calder tried to tell him. He just shook his head.

“I’m starting to think she is gone for good. I messed up…” he said, hanging his head again.

“She didn’t disappear. She bears your mark, so she isn’t gone,” I pointed out.

“I can’t feel her, though. Either can my wolf. It’s like she’s just vanished…” he said.

“Go home and check on your sister and Remi. We’ll come to get Remi here shortly. Let us think about it and see if we can come up with anything. We are going to help you find her, Gen,” Calder tried. He nodded his head and dragged himself up.

Gentry left the office wordlessly. I looked over at Calder, who was staring at the door with a concerned expression. “So?” I broke the silence. “Where do you think she is?”

“I think she is trying to find a way to break the curse without the ashes…” he said slowly.

“And why would you think that? She all but demanded Remi hand them over immediately,” I argued.

“She isn’t heartless. She was angry because she is very aware of the danger we’re all in facing Voldigoad. It was made worse by the fact that her mate is involved. This clearly put a rift between them as well. I think she left to redeem herself by finding another solution,” he explained.

“I’m not convinced,” I told him. He just frowned at me.

Remi

Pip and I sat on the couch in her living room. She wanted to watch a movie, so I let her pick. Of course, she chose some tear-jerking romance movie. I made us a bowl of popcorn, trying to encourage her to eat. She had a few bites before pushing it away. Eventually, she leaned herself against me, and I cuddled her. Earlier, when I saw what state she was in, I knew this whole thing was depressing her. I could sort of commiserate with how she felt. I was just as lost when Jeremy rejected me. I hoped cleaning her up and getting her out of the house would pull her out of her head. She was still fuming when we got back to her house, but she was easing back into sadness as time dragged along.

I thought about the phone in my pocket. I wondered if I should tell her what that last message said. I hadn’t read it intentionally, but her cellphone previews unopened messages on the screen. She hadn’t even given her phone much of a glare when she pushed it away from her earlier.

I looked down to see her eyes fluttering closed. I figured it would be best to let her sleep for just a bit. I can’t imagine how her body felt with all this mate bond push and pull going on. I know that being away from your mate can put stress on a wolf. The book I was reading said that it could make you weak and lethargic, causing symptoms similar to depression. I didn’t want her to go through all this. I was not too fond of Zeus, but she was, and that was what mattered. I was holding out hope that once they marked each other, he would drop his stupid rivalry with Cullen and stop being such a creep.

The front door opened quietly then closed. I looked over the back of the couch to see Gentry coming in. He looked down at Pip slumped against me. “She’s out of her room,” he linked.

I nodded. “I got her to go out for a bit,” I told him.

“How is she feeling?” he asked.

I mulled on that for a minute before answering, “conflicted. She’s upset and angry with him.”

“How long has she been asleep?”

“Not long. But there is something I should probably tell you….”

The doorbell rang, interrupting us and catching his attention. He knitted his eyebrows as he moved back towards the door. “Gentry, wait!” I tried to whisper-yell at him. I attempted to shift Pip off me gently when I heard a growl.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”