Chapter Twelve

Beast

Pain blooms across my chest, consuming me. That is all I can feel or concentrate on.

And all it has taken to upset me is the mere sight of Corbin’s lips against hers. It sets my soul on fire and nothing will ever extinguish it.

I want to howl with rage again and curse the witch who cast the spell on me to keep me in these blasted woods. But that isn’t a wise idea. Not after they already looked this way and seemed intrigued. If they had any doubts before today, I think I have settled them.

Once everyone is far enough away, I slowly edge closer to the tree line to watch from there.

She’s already in the alpha house and I dread to think about what he is doing to her.

My heart thuds in my chest so loudly I can hear it in my ears. She’s blocked off her thoughts, though I know it’s involuntary. I pick up random emotions instead, which aren’t much better.

The only one I really feel is disgust rolling through her. It makes me wonder what that sorry man has said to her or done.

Then I hear it all too clearly. It makes me so sick that I nearly wretch the rabbit I had for lunch onto the ground. Is she actually considering this as her option?

Does she not realize that there is another way if she chooses it?

I reach up with my paw and wipe it across my face. It’s not very effective, but it’s all I can do to wipe my face.

She’s going to be the death of me. Figuratively and literally.

I hear traces of her thoughts and realize she knows that there is something else, a destiny that she doesn’t know what to do with, but her thoughts don’t make sense.

Grandmother can’t tell her.

I growl as I fight back the emotions bubbling inside of me. Grandmother is bound because of the original curse that is involved because it's her ancestors that were here when this happened to me.

I wasn’t always a beast like this. Once, I was a young man of twenty and son to an alpha who didn’t exactly want to be alpha, so we lived on the outskirts in the cottage Grandmother now occupies. Her family were the alphas of my time.

Everything was great. Logan, my brother, and I had a promising future, and I was to wed Emily, the alpha’s daughter. Our fathers thought this would be the best course of action since we were both alpha born.

Then Natalia and her sister, Emmeline, came to Dark Moon territory. She claimed that their alpha had let them leave, but I had a hard time believing that an alpha would let two young witches travel alone like that through the woods to another pack. I asked for more information, but all she could say was she was once part of the pack Blue Moon to the north of us, passed the Night Walker’s pack. Apparently, she and her sister had already traveled to the southern packs below us as well.

It only took a day before there was trouble. They were like sirens to mated and unmated males. Daily, the men would gather around them, but it never worked on me. Sadly, it worked on my father and brother. Logan was only eighteen at the time.

I remember dragging them away to scold them several times before I started looking for help to end the madness. The alpha, Emily’s father, was not happy and tried to stop the madness.

Natalia feigned innocence, and they stopped. But that only brought trouble to my door.

She started to pursue me. Her sister tried to convince Logan to be with her as well. Two alpha wolves with witches for mates. They promised that it would be beautiful.

Beautiful wasn’t the word for it when we both denied them, but it didn’t stop them from trying again.

That is when Natalia grew angrier. One night after I rejected her for the fifth time, I was splitting wood for my parents when I heard that familiar siren call.

I ignored it until I heard my brother’s voice calling through the woods.

Without thinking, I ran from my parent’s place through the woods until I reached the creek. Natalia was standing there, completely covered by a dark robe.

She turned to me with a wicked smile on her face. “You will be mine.”

“Natalia, never,” I said.

She laughed under her breath as her eyes darted toward the side where another cloak lay. “My sister said I had lost my mind, but I think I found it.”

I took a step back and blinked as smog like magic escaped through her fingertips. The strands of magic hit the ground and crawled toward me quickly, wrapping around my legs and pulling me to the ground.

I asked what she had done, but all I could hear was her laughter.

“Since you refuse to be mine, then you will be forever cursed to roam these woods. There will be no escape for you. There will be no peace for your family either, but I will show them kindness and send them to my sister.”

“Where are they?” I cried out.

“Somewhere safe, with Logan by their side. The poor boy just needed a few years to mature, but you are an entirely different story,” she snapped.

Her magic tightened around me until I couldn’t breathe as she muttered words under her breath.

“This was once a blessing, but now a curse shall fall on you. I give you the gift of the beast. You are doomed to these woods, except for one new moon and one full moon. There is only one way out and that is when a solid white wolf is born.”

The words hit me like a fallen log. “What?”

I thought of Emily. She’s a solid white wolf, so she could save me.

“Don’t even think of the alpha’s daughter. You see, I already thought of it. They are cursed to never bear another white wolf. There will always be a flaw or a spot to keep them from being entirely white. Maybe if you change your mind about me, then I can free you.”

After that, everything went dark, and I woke up in this form on the ground by the creek. Natalia was gone, and so was the cloak.

I searched high and low, even stumbling all the way to my family’s house, only to find it abandoned.

Everything I knew and loved was gone in an instant.

I glance down at the scars on my paws through the fur. Those are from trying to escape my forest domain. It took a while, but eventually I gave up and now I’m left with only reminders. The only comfort I have had over the years is thinking that a white wolf will save and the dreams of Lillian since.

As I let out a deep sigh, I look at the alpha house. If only I could tell her what happened to me.

Something catches my attention between the houses. It’s only a glimpse of a cloak, but it’s dark and almost smoke in color, something like Natalia once wore.

I haven’t seen her since that night, but sometimes I swear I catch glimpses of her, like right now.

Eventually, the cloaked individual appears in between the houses again and I watch her head straight for the alpha’s house. Only then does she flick back the hood and I see Alana, Nigel’s mate.

For the first time, I see her in a new light and wonder why the sudden change.

I shake my head to dismiss the intrusive thoughts. It’s nothing. I’m only thinking of Natalia because of my trip down memory lane.