Chapter 91 - Their Cursed

Remi

Calder, Cullen, Gentry, and I were all in Calder’s office together. We were all going to head to the place they thought Sammy might be. The guys had been a little tense and distracted at dinner, but I chalked it up to being nervous about tonight. Cassius and Nicole had joined us. They had been visiting with a neighboring pack all day, leaving early this morning.

“Alright. We’ll shift and run there. It will be the fastest,” Cullen told us all. I gave him a nervous nod. Logically, I know it is no longer supposed to hurt to shift now that my body has familiarized itself with the process. That still didn’t make me completely comfortable with the idea.

“It’s alright, baby,” Calder linked me. “Your body knows what to do, and I promise it won’t hurt one bit.” I looked over at him to see a confident smile on his handsome features. I wanted to help Gentry find Sammy, but I also wanted to be with mates. Calli had been a little erratic in my head all day, and I couldn’t figure out why.

“When we get close, Remi will take the lead just in case she is there. The witch sent the note to her, so she had the intention for her to make contact. We will stay close in case this is a trap,” Cullen told the room.

“Wait, a trap?” I blurted out. Three heads nodded at me.

Calder was the one to explain, “Although the potion was authentic and helped along with your shift, we don’t know for certain that it came from Sammy. The furthest we can trace anything back to is her shop in the Ordinary Realm, but that could be something to throw us off. We have to prepare for all the possibilities.”

I looked between all of them, a little more panicked now. What was I supposed to do if this was a trap? I have only shifted once, and I am the furthest thing from a fighter possible.

“Don’t worry, Cinderella. We won’t let anything happen to you,” Gentry tried to assure me. I know he was anxious to see if we would actually find her. I just nodded my head, not trusting my voice to give them an affirmative.

“Alright, let’s go,” Cullen said. We all moved towards the door. I gravitated to Calder and intertwined our fingers. He gave my hand a gentle and reassuring squeeze.

We left the packhouse and headed towards the woods. We trudged about 200 or so yards into the woods when the guys all stopped. Gentry started pulling his clothes off immediately but was stopped by simultaneous growls from Calder and Cullen. He gave them a questioning look before realization hit him.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he hurried behind a tree. Calder rolled his eyes as I tried to suppress a giggle. Apparently, no one was allowed to be naked in front of me, even though it came with the whole shifting thing.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Calder said, pulling at his clothes. The twins quickly undressed, shoving their clothes into bags. I followed their lead. They easily shifted and then turned to me expectantly. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Just think about your wolf and let your body shift,” Calli advised. I thought about my white wolf with fury paws and a pink nose, and soon I felt that strange sensation inside my body. Moments later, I felt my hands on the ground, but now they were paws. I opened my eyes to see both of my mates. I could almost feel their pride through our bond.

“Let’s go,” Cullen ordered. Gentry’s wolf moved out from the trees, and we all took off together.

Cullen and Calder ran in front while Gentry and I followed them closely. It was still strange being in this form. I had let Calli take control the night we first shifted, so it was an adjustment. We ran for a little while before they began to slow. I looked around, and the area seemed familiar somehow. Everyone came to a halt.

“Alright, love, this is where you take the lead. Keeping going straight, and you will find the place,” Cullen linked us.

“Where are we?”

“About a quarter-mile from the treehouse,” Gentry said.

“You think she is there? But why?”

“It is the only place that fits with her note. Gentry told her about it, and we assumed she saw it in your memories,” Calder explained. I nodded. Here goes nothing. Calder and Cullen both nuzzled me as I moved past them. I didn’t want to run, so I tried to walk at an average pace. When I looked back, all three of them were out of sight.

“We can see you, my love. Keep going,” Cullen encouraged.

It only took a few minutes to cover the remaining distance before I broke out of the trees into the small clearing where the treehouse was. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it looked just as abandoned and solitary as it had when the twins brought me here.

I walked around the tree. “Smell. See if we can pick anything up,” Calli instructed. That was a good idea. I did as she suggested and started to smell all around the tree and up its trunk as far as my legs would allow me to stretch.

“It’s faint, but I smell the witch,” she said.

“You can?”

“Yes, go back…” she said. I moved back to where I just was. “There. That smell right there. It’s the witch’s scent.”

“If it’s faint, does that mean she isn’t here anymore?” I asked.

“Possibly. Or she is cloaked. We should go up into the treehouse to find out,” Calli concluded.

“What do you smell, baby?” Calder asked.

“I smell Sammy, but faintly,” I told him. “Calli thinks we should go up.”

“We don’t want you going alone. We can’t get to as quickly,” Cullen said quickly. I turned around to see them all coming out of the tree line from different spots.

“But I thought you wanted me to make contact first?” I asked.

“If she were up there, she would know you were here by now,” Calder said. I looked back at the tree, wondering how we were supposed to climb in wolf form. Cullen came over and stood by me. “Shift, love,” he said before he did just that.

I closed my eyes, this time thinking about my human form and walking on two legs. I hoped that it would work the same as shifting into a wolf but in reverse. When I opened my eyes, Cullen was pulling on shorts, and Calder blocked Gentry’s view of me.

“Oh, come on. Like I would look!” he linked us all. I grabbed my clothes from my bag quickly, hastily pulling them on. When I was dressed, I looked at Cullen, who was scanning the area scrutinizingly.

“Should we go?” I asked quietly. He nodded. I led the way hesitantly towards the tree. Without words, Cullen picked me up by my waist and lifted me right up to the ladder rungs. I grabbed on and climbed up with him right behind me.

When I was inside, the only thing that was different was a small box in the center of the room. I looked at Cullen, who was eyeing it carefully. I went to step forward and grab the box, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

“Let me,” he said. He moved forward and bent down next to it. He carefully lifted the lid, and I held my breath waiting for something to happen. He paused for a moment, probably waiting for the same. “Alright, I think we are okay.”

I came over next to him, kneeling. The noise behind us told me he had linked Calder and Gentry to join us. I looked inside the box. There was a tiny velvet pouch, similar to the one the potion had come in, along with two envelopes. I could see my name written on the top one. I reached inside and grabbed the pouch and the envelope with my name. Under it, the second envelope had Gentry’s name on it. Cullen picked up that one, turning to his best friend. Gentry’s eyes went wide when he saw what it was. Calder took the pouch from me and began examining the outside. I opened the letter to read its contents.

Remi,

I am glad you got the potion and trusted me. I hope this means you have forgiven my previous behavior. There are a few things that I want to tell you in this letter.

First, I may have a way to weaken Voldigoad and better our chances of getting rid of him. I know you want to break the curse, but the truth is: I think giving the ashes may break the curse but also anger him. I am sure your mates have thought of this possibility, but I am not sure they would have told you. In order for my plan to work, I need time. I need to prepare some things and work on increasing my own magical power. If all goes right, I will be ready before your birthday.

Next, I need you and your mates to work on becoming as strong as you can. If you haven’t yet, you need to mark both of them. You carry their mark, and that probably already made them stronger. If you mark them, they will be almost unrivaled among your species. I don’t know why, but they are extraordinary among Alphas, from what I can sense. But it would help if you gave them the best possible chance at defeating Voldigoad. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to have some training as well.

Last, I have left you something that I want you to wear at all times. It is a broach, but I have imbued it with a protection spell. It should help to hide you in case Voldigoad comes looking for you. If he catches wind of what I am trying to do, that is a real possibility. This will help hide your identity and should ward off most magical spells that someone may try to place on you. It is not full proof, but I am confident it will help keep you safe.

I have one last thing to ask of you: please watch over my Gentry. I need to make up for my mistake before I can come back to him. I can feel our bond weakening, and I do not want to be without him. I want to be a worthy mate for him, and to do that I need to help get rid of Voldigoad. Please make sure he stays safe.

I will come to you when it is time and tell you everything. Get strong, be safe. -Sammy

When I finished the letter, I read it another time to make sure I got everything. I looked up at the twins, who were looking at me expectantly. I handed the note to Cullen first. I looked at Calder, who still held the small, velvet pouch. “Can I see that?” I asked. He handed it to me, and I opened it, gently dumping the contents into my hand. It was a small broach, no more than 2 inches in length. It was an oval stone that looked purple in color. The metal around it was a tarnished silver, and some small, clear stones were bordering one side of it. It looked old but beautiful.

Cullen passed Calder the letter as I looked at the item. How could you even tell if there was magic on it? I looked over at Gentry, wondering what his letter said. I didn’t have the heart to ask as I saw a lone tear rolling down his cheek.