Chapter Thirty Five

Lillian

I stand there for a moment, completely baffled as to why he was turned into a goat. Of all the creatures out there that she could have turned him into, why a goat?

It’s too good for him.

The pig behind me oinks lightly and pushes its snout into the back of my legs, as if to ask for help in getting rid of the pesky goat. I turn to look over my shoulder, then down toward its beady black eyes.

Grandmother bursts out laughing. “Corbin, as a goat, must be a terrible thing for these poor animals. Just think of how he was to you and think of them. That pig has to be tormented to hide behind an alpha wolf without fear. Honestly, I’m not sure why he was turned into a goat, though. A pig seems to suit him so much better, considering his record.”

I snort out a laugh and look at the gray colored goat. “Very fitting indeed. But right now, I need a man, not a goat.”

Grandmother mumbles something under her breath about him being an arrogant pig, but I dismiss her ramblings and stare at the goat with an unwavering gaze. He looks like he’s up to something, but I’m not sure what.

I take a slow step forward, testing the waters, but all he does is lower his head as if he is going to ram me with his head.

“If you ram me, I hope you can run faster than me. I have sharp teeth now and don’t mind shredding you a little to get what I want.” I allow my teeth to elongate into canines and flash them at him. He stops and stares, uncertain of how to proceed. "Good little goat. I’m the alpha now.”

He snorts and shakes his head as if he doesn’t believe me.

"Can you hear him through the pack bonds?" Grandmother asks.

"No. Either they don’t work with him, or he hasn’t submitted. If he's smart, he'll choose the latter." I shoot him a stern look as he paws at the ground like he’s about to charge at me. "I take that as a sign of defiance, goat. Let’s go.”

Sighing, I stand and walk over to him. He leans back his head to look up at me and lets out a loud bleat. It sounds angry, but coming from him, I can't help but laugh.

His mouth shuts promptly as he glares at me.

The pig scurries off to where the other pigs are, which is the corner of the barn, trembling with fear. It keeps casting a glance toward me and then the goat, as if relieved he won't be a problem anymore.

"Alright Corbin, let's go. You can’t traumatize the barn animals anymore."

I turn to leave the barn, but he doesn't follow me. Looking over my shoulder, I notice he hasn't moved an inch. Instead, he is just staring at me.

"Corbin, let's go." Once again, I'm met with his stubborn resistance. It finally sinks in that he doesn't want anyone else to know what has become of him. "I get it. You don't want the pack knowing. Fine, but you're wearing a rope and coming with me."

As I scan the barn, I finally glance over at one of the barn stalls and find a rope hanging on the wall, just waiting for me. I rush over without a second thought to grab the rope off the wall and come running back to get it around his neck before he runs off. I doubt he’ll allow it any other way.

Sure enough, he catches sight of me grabbing the rope and takes off running across the barn.

"It's futile to escape, Corbin. This is the only way. Well, unless you want me to chase you as a wolf.”

He lets out a bleat and runs to the far corner of the barn where the boxes are stacked. That explains how he got up in the rafters in the first place, but this time he’s not getting up there.

When he reaches the top box, I finally grab the back of his neck like picking up a kitten and haul him down the boxes. He bleats loudly, causing all the other animals to run for cover.

He tries to turn and paw me with his hooves, but I hold him far enough away from my body to where he can't reach.

"Will you calm down? It'll be fine. I don't think they'll recognize you like this and if they ask why your scent is all over you, I'll just tell them you apparently slept here, and it rubbed off on the goat. No big deal. I’m sure it’s something you’d do anyway to throw people off. They’ll believe it.”

He bleats once more, then quietens as he stares at me with beady, black eyes.

When I sit him down, I fully expect him to run, but he just stands there with his head hung low as if he’s been defeated.

Grandmother chuckles low. "I guess he has submitted to you, but I have no idea what we are going to do with him.”

“I guess he has. Even though I don’t like him and I honestly hoped for the beast to rip his head off during the ceremony, something about seeing him as a goat makes me feel bad.”

He lets me slip the rope over his neck and we start out of the barn.

As I lead Corbin through the pack territory, all eyes shift to him as they scent the air. I give them a nod with a smile and hope they don't press this further. I promised I wouldn’t out him and I intend to keep it, even though I’m completely amused at his situation.

When we are almost on the path that leads to my grandmother’s cottage, I sigh in relief with each step we take toward it. Almost there.

Then someone from the pack calls out from behind me."Why does the goat smell like Corbin?"

Just great.

I turn slowly, looking over my shoulder first to confirm who it is. My stomach rolls as I realize it's the same woman who was there when Corbin humiliated me.

"Asella, if you must know, he probably slept in the barn before disappearing and no one noticed. He’s long gone now. There is no way he’d want to stay in the territory when I’m alpha.”

She looks at the goat, eyeing it closely as she inhales the air again. "Odd. He must have snuggled it for it to smell that much like him. Just being around the animals won't make his scent that thick."

"Do you see Corbin?" Grandmother asks, her voice becoming rough. "No, so obviously he hugged this goat or something. He's a weird one and you all know it. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have business."

When Asella's gaze meets mine, she doesn't avert her eyes away like most do. A direct challenge.

"You've already submitted earlier when I claimed the pack. It would be best if you avert your gaze before something terrible happens to you," I say with a growl, my eyes changing into their red hues. “I’m not feeling kind after all the abuse I have endured.”

Her lips tremble slightly before she recovers. She quickly looks to the ground. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I am just curious, and the goat smells so much like him. Maybe one day you will understand that we only acted on Nigel and his family’s orders. Have a good day."

She walks off, her head hanging low as she goes.

Grandmother reaches over, patting me on the shoulder. "You'll be a fine alpha. You allowed her to mess up, but didn't attack right that instant. Still firm, but you have to be to keep these goofballs in line. They were following orders, even though it was wrong.”

"I think I'm getting the hang of it," I say with a smile as I look at her. Her eyes seem to shine brightly as she looks over at me. “But it’s hard to be nice when I suffer because of them. Nigel may have directed, but they didn’t stop to think about how I’d feel after.”

"Let's go before anyone else dares to ask. We can talk more about everything in a few minutes when we reach the cottage.”

We rush toward the path, almost speed walking, and finally are home free when we reach the edge of the woods. She slows with her cane and breathes a sigh of relief. Corbin trots beside us, silent for once.

Once we reach the house, Grandmother opens the door to let us inside, and I pull Corbin in when he stops and refuses to move.

Grandmother closes the door softly and sighs as she takes us in. "Now that we are here, we need to go through the books and see if there is a way to reverse this. Something tells me we're going to need him to find the beast. But he can’t like this. I don’t know if any of the books that spoke of spells are here. I’ve never seen them."

I gaze down at him, and he instantly looks up at me as if sensing something.

"I know you want out of that goat form. So, please don't eat the books. If you do, then we have no way of getting your human form back. Understand?"

He snorts as he looks at the floor and sits down on his rear end. It looks awkward, but he seems comfortable. I take that stance as he agrees to be a good little goat while we figure out how to get his human form to take over.

"Now that it's settled, let's dig into the books and see if our family left us any more information.”

I reach over and pick up one of the books from the stack on the table and sit down in the wooden chair without bothering to even take off my cloak. The hardness of the chair will help to keep me awake instead of the softness of the couch. Right now, I just need to focus on the books.

I stare at the pages, flipping them, and rereading them several times, but no information on how to break the spell can be found. It talks about the history of the packs and how they were eventually divided into six packs.

“Six packs?”

Grandmother glances up, then nods. “Remember, we said we’d talk about it at another time.”

I nod as I look down at the book again. “Six packs. All of them originated from Blue Moon to the north of us.”

Some of the wording is confusing, leaving me scratching my head.

“Not exactly, my dear. Blue Moon was a coven of witches who occasionally interacted with a wolf pack between us and them called the Night Walkers. Eventually, they spread to Dark Moon. They were the original ones, but there was an issue. Then the three to the south formed later.”

“An issue?”

She nods again. “Two witches escaped. They were sisters according to the stories, and this happened roughly eight hundred years ago. Both were headed south, but ended up getting caught. Well, one sister went to the Night Walkers, while the other made it to Dark Moon, and that is where they stayed until they were adults and there were talks of the packs having an alliance. Apparently, the sister in the Night Walker territory fell in love with the alpha’s son named Liam, I believe. But he was destined to mate with the alpha’s daughter of Dark moon.”

“Why does this sound familiar? It’s like she wanted him, but he didn’t want her.”

She only laughs and looks down at her book as she settles in. “From what I read, he wanted her, but a fated mate bond formed with the girl in Dark Moon. The witch was beside herself and tried to curse them. Her sister, even though she was younger and supposedly had less power, cast a spell to stop her own sibling’s madness.”

“That sounds insane.”

Grandmother’s eyes dart up and meet my gaze. “The younger sister lost all her powers and took her somewhere else. That is the last that they were seen.”

My jaw drops open as I suck in a breath. “How long can a witch live?”

I don’t know what makes me think that the two sisters that began the beast’s curse two hundred years ago might be them.

“Normal life spans. Unless they mate with a wolf shifter, then they might live a bit longer. You also have to consider they can cast curses that affect lifespans.”

My eyes widen as I start connecting the dots. “Are the two sisters listed in the history books anywhere?”

“Some of the witch’s history is in there. I’m not sure which book.”

Over the next few hours, I sort through each book and try to find something about the history of the witches and the packs. Most are one or the other, but I can’t find anything about what happened eight hundred years ago.

“This is getting me nowhere real fast. I need to know their names and see if it’s them.”

Grandmother sighs as she sets her book down on the table. "I had hoped this would help you learn more about your history and then maybe the answers would come to you."

Then I glance down and see one book I haven’t looked through yet. As my fingers flip it open and gently touch the pages, I realize it’s about the beginning of our history. “It’s here. The family lines.”

“Liam mated with Adela of Dark Moon.” As I scan further down the book, I see the family name Ryan. “They’re direct descendants of Liam. It has to be Natalia.”

Grandmother glances up at me again, a smile beaming on her face. “I think you finally figured it out and I’m so glad.”

My eyes flip over to the next page and I see a name that leads right down to my family. “Titus is our ancestor. It shows all the packs and how each one was formed, except it doesn’t say much about the ones to the south of us. So Blue Moon was a coven. Liam and Adela ruled over the Night Walkers. Titus was the son of the beta, but had alpha abilities. To keep the peace, he moved to Dark Moon and mated with Octavia to become the new alphas.”

I keep scanning further, then see where Liam’s family line moved to Dark Moon and out of the Night Walker’s territory. Though I’m not sure why, I have a feeling it has to do with the curses that have been cast.

“And now you know how we came to be.”

I gulp when I see where Nigel’s name is written down at the bottom of the Dark Moon’s page. He and his family are the last entrants on the page. I’m not even listed with my family. “How are Corbin’s family in this book if it has been here the entire time?”

“He must have come and entered it when no one was watching. They did things like that because they knew.”

“Orange eyes. Where did the orange alpha eyes come from?”

Grandmother looks up at me as she swallows hard. “He came from the south and that is all we know. He married Alana, who was born and raised in Dark Moon.”

“If Corbin is Natalia’s descendant through Alana, then how is Nigel resistant to silver as well?”

Grandmother leans completely across the table, gripping my hands in hers. “This goes beyond what has happened here in the pack and I fear what may come after the curse is broken. There is something stirring in the south, though it isn’t known. Promise me that you will always be careful.”

“I will.” Sadness floods through me as I think about everything. All these years and there are so many secrets that I don’t even know where to begin. There’s a small splash on my hand, which causes me to look down. I didn’t even realize I was crying. “Oh, Grandmother. I don’t know what I’m doing. The beast is my mate and I know that. Our past is a tangled web. Then if you look at me, I’m nothing.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m the granddaughter of the old Alpha. No one has ever respected me. They went along with whatever Nigel wanted and all I could think of was setting things right. Now, I’m standing here with all this before me and realize we’re all messed up. The packs, the people, and what has been done. But the most important question is, how am I going to save him when I couldn’t even save myself?”

She scoffs as she stands up from the table and comes around to my side to sit down. “Look at me. Did you not save yourself in the end? Think about it. You defeated the witch, who has hidden amongst us undetected for years. All you need is a little guidance because this is new to you and you weren’t trained as an alpha normally would be. You are going to be the greatest alpha of all time. But please, give yourself a little grace as you learn how.”

Before I can even respond, Corbin lets out a loud bleat, causing us both to turn and look at him.

“What do you want, Corbin?” I start to turn away, shaking my head, but then he gets up and wiggles around enough to capture my attention again. “What is wrong with you?”

He rams his head against my thigh, which I quickly smack him for.

Then I realize he might want to see the book I’ve been looking through. Instead of looking at it, he goes into a daze and leans forward, his teeth locking onto the book. I jerk it back and hit him over the head with the book.

“What do you want? I don’t understand goat. Stop trying to eat what might help us.”

He stomps his feet against the wooden floorboards as he comes out of his daze, drawing my attention there. His hooves are glowing.

“Grandmother, why are his hooves glowing?” I ask, my eyes widening as I take them in.

“Well, he is a descendant of Natalia’s and has witch blood.”

“You have magic, don’t you?” I glance up into his eyes, but he looks just as surprised as I feel. “But you’ve never been able to use it.”