~ Talon's POV~
It'd been three months since the night we all left the pride house, things had relatively gone back to normal, at least as normal as they could be when your parents and friends avoided you like the plague, I understood they were disappointed in me, they had every right to be, I was disappointed in myself as well, however I forced those feelings away reminding myself once again that this was better.
As I walked through the woods, I heard a rustle and I came to a stop, looking around.
"who's there?" I asked in a deadly voice and I heard a scoff before Skylar walked out, I growled lowly, an intense desire to kill her taking over me as I recalled the last time I had seen her, in my mates bed, she rolled her eyes at me.
"You cheated first remember? So cut out the bullshit, you have no right to act wronged." She told me coldly and I sighed,my heart aching at the fact that she was right.
"What do you want?" I asked tiredly, continuing on my way knowing she would follow.
"Nothing much, just really curious about something, I'm sure it's not a secret to you that I am in love with your mate, have been for a very long time actually." She stated and I chuckled darkly at her words.
"I'm not here to seek trouble, it's just, I don't know about you but this past month without her has been hell for me, I do not believe I can live without her, at least not while knowing she hates me, so I decided to go after her, earn back her trust and in the process try to win her love." She said, my wolf growled dangerously within me at her words but I blocked him out.
"Are you asking for my blessings right now?, cause if so you came to the wrong person." I said sarcastically and she scoffed.
"I don't need anyones blessing, like I said I'm just curious, and I'm here to satisfy my curiosity, so I can go ahead with my intentions without looking back." She said.
"What are you curious about ?" I asked.
"How is it that you keep pushing away two amazing mates that you obviously don't deserve but was lucky enough to be blessed with, constantly inflicting them with so much hurt when it's obvious you love them both? I just can't understand it, it's either you're stupid or crazy or even both, I mean honestly have you seen your mates, their every sane person's dream, both men and women, they're so amazing it should be illegal, Ana for example is just too perfect, how do you even bear to hurt someone like that, if she was mine, I'd give her the whole world and then some." She stated honestly confused, I frowned, unable to deny the truth of her words.
"I'm not obligated to explain myself to anyone, not Ana, not Jay and most especially not you." I informed her matter of factly, my voice cold and emotionless. She laughed softly before her features hardened and her eyes glowed gold, something I knew happened when witches used their powers, before I could react she was right in front of me.
"The thing is.... I wasn't asking." She said coldly, before placing a hand on my forehead, I growled at my inability to move my body, even as an intense pain surfaced in my head and I felt a presence infiltrating my mind, sifting through my memories, unable to stop her, I felt myself succumbing to her powers as I went down memory lane.
~flashback~
(Ist Arc)
"It's the only way Lon, please." Kyle said and I sighed, unable to deny his request, I had promised I'd do anything to help him, I couldn't go back on my words, perhaps just one breach of the laws wouldn't hurt much, besides, even if it did, Kyle was worth the risk.
"Fine, we'll do as you say, I will speak with my parents about letting him join the pack, you do the same with James, once he agrees, I will begin preparations for the ritual, he won't be suspicious as he should be aware that this ritual is the only way to bind someone of another specie to the pack, this will in turn bring him under my leadership, as such my Alpha command would have equal effect on him as it does on every other pack member, once this is done, I will command him to break the bond." I said giving in to him and his defeated eyes sparked to life with new found hope as he gave me a bright smile.
"Thanks Lon, I know this goes against everything you stand for as an Alpha, I'm sorry that I have to make you go through with this, if there was another way, I would never ask this from you, I won't forget this, you're a true friend." he said to me, pulling me into a grateful hug, I sighed patting his back slightly.
(2nd Arc)
"This is wrong." James yelled in a strained voice as he tried to fight off my command, unwilling to say the words that would break the bond on the basis of consent from both parties.
"Talon, you can't do this to me, I trusted you, accepted you as my Alpha, you promised me your protection, you can't do this!" he said in a pleading voice and I turned my face away from him, even as Kyle came into the clearing, glaring harshly at James who was still fighting the order.
"I don't love you James, this is wrong?, you deceiving me, making me tie myself to you and then refusing to let me go is more wrong, break the bond James, I deserve to meet my true mate." Kyle shouted angrily at him and I could see Kyle's words had hurt him, but he knew they were true.
"I love you Kyle, is that so wrong, that I love you so much I can't live without you, so much that I can't let you go, even when I know I'm not your true mate, I promise to love you and care for you more than whoever he is ever could, please Kyle, don't let this happen." James pleaded and Kyle closed his eyes tightly.
"You don't get it do you, the problem isn't that you don't love me enough, you've been so good to me and I'm grateful, but you're not mine James and I can never be yours." Kyle stated with finality, I watched the exchange silently even as I observed James slowly loosing the battle against my command pressing down on him, tears fell freely down his eyes even as he painfully said the words, breaking the bond.
After it was over, James gasped, struggling to his feet but crumbling back down to the floor, blood flowing out his mouth, I rushed to his side, gripping his shoulders, looking over him in confusion, he beared no physical injuries and yet I could feel his life force slowly leaving him, panicked I yelled at Kyle to go get the pack doctor while doing my best to keep him conscious.
"Alpha Talon, what you did today will come back to haunt you in the future, should you meet your mate and choose to have a happy life with them, a life you ripped away from me, then bear in mind that you will be your mate's curse, you will bring him/her nothing but pain and misery, for your mate's, never meeting you would be their salvation." he said in a pain filled voice, I froze at his words staring at him in horror as he gasped for air, struggling to take in breaths.
Kyle arrived with the doctor, rushing to us, James reached for him and he grabbed his hands, silent tears running down his cheeks, James smiled sadly at him.
"Don't cry my love, I'm grateful I was able to have you by my side if only for a short while, forgive me for my selfishness, you were my salvation, I wanted you to myself, it was wrong of me to do this to you and yet, I don't regret anything, I told you, I could never live without you, the spell it took in order to make you fall for me came with a price to pay if I failed to keep you by my side, I failed so now I must pay the price, again forgive me, my only crime was loving you too much I let myself go down the wrong part." he said to Kyle before his eyes shut tiredly and his head lolled to the side, the doctor checked his pulse before turning to me and shaking his head.
I remained still in shock, Kyle turned to me a look of guilt on his face.
"What have we done?" I asked him horrified and he sobbed, leaning his head down to the ground even as James corpse disintegrated into ashes as it happened with witches and warlocks when they died.
~flashback over~
I gasped as the foreign presence left my head, recovering my bearings, I noticed tears were flowing out my eyes. Sky stared at me for a while, before shaking her head a hint of sympathy in her eyes, I wanted to kill her for what she just did but I didn't even have enough strength for that right now, I lowered myself to a sitting position, leaning my head against a tree.
"You're a fool." She said after a while and I didn't reply.
"You didn't kill him, a spell that triggers false feelings of love in a fellow supernatural comes with the price of death should you fail to keep the person in question by your side." She told me, I sighed.
"It doesn't matter, it happened because of me, I abused my Alpha privileges." I said turning away, she scoffed.
"So you would rather have Kyle remain in that bondage till now?" She asked and I frowned at her words but knew the answer.
"No, I would still choose to save him even if given another chance." I replied with certainty, she nodded in approval.
"You're a better man than I originally thought, I admire you, due to this, I will give you a hint, you're not cursed like you seem to believe." She told me seriously and I frowned.
"You heard his words, he's a warlock, laying curses is easy for your species, it's practically all you do." I said angrily and she stared at me amusedly before her face turned serious.
"I heard his words alright, I practically lived your memories, I heard it clearly enough to know with my experience that there was no curse there, just pained words of a dying man, he knew well enough who was actually in the wrong to throw curses around like that, what happened was his fault, he didn't lay a curse on you but that doesn't matter now does it, you already brought the so called curse to manifestation, bringing nothing but hurt to your mates." She said, I stared at her shocked.
"What you're telling me right now, is it true?" I asked hesitantly my voice quivering and she shrugged.
"Well considering I'm a very powerful witch in my own right, I would know, but hey, who am I to tell you what you should and shouldn't believe, curse or not, you've done your damage, now that my curiosity is satisfied, I've also given you a gift so the playing field is now levelled, I will go after Ana, if you choose to do the same, make sure you and Jaylen sort yourselves out first, she doesn't need anymore of your stress, in the meantime I will make use of this time to try everything I possibly can to win her heart, whatever happens, may the best man...or woman win." She said before turning around and disappearing into the woods.