The Cursed Gift

Chapter 4

Midas headed upstairs to the third floor, an area exclusive to the Alpha and Beta families, to avoid Roxie. He never really was interested in her. She was convenient, attractive, and easy to entertain himself with until he eventually found his mate. The moment he stepped into his room, he found Henry sprawled across his bed while Leo sat backward in the desk chair scrolling through his phone.

“What are you idiots doing in my room?” Midas asked, already irritated from the encounter with Evelynn in the game room.

Henry tossed the football he’d stolen from the gym into the air and caught it again with a grin. “We were waiting for you. Honestly, I figured you and Roxie would disappear for at least another hour.” He said wickedly. “Guess your d**k got weak game...”

Leo snorted quietly without looking up from his phone.

“We got interrupted,” Midas muttered as he yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it into the hamper.

“That sucks. I’d do her easily cause she’s f*****g hot,” Henry said. He stretched lazily before glancing between the two of them. “So, what’s the plan tonight? We going out to dinner or what?”

Midas disappeared briefly into his walk-in closet before returning in clean jeans and a dark polo shirt. “Nope. Family dinner. Leo and I have to be downstairs in ten minutes.”

Henry groaned dramatically. “I swear Alpha and Beta family dinners should count as torture.”

“They aren’t that bad,” Leo replied.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Henry shot back bitterly. “You aren’t stuck in a house full of dumb, whiny brats.”

The last part came out quieter, muttered more to himself than them. An awkward silence settled over the room. Neither Midas nor Leo laughed. Henry rarely talked about growing up in the pack’s foster home, but when he did, there was always bitterness slipping through.

Henry shook his head and quickly changed his expression. “How about we meet up afterwards? We can go find some willing girls and you know...” He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Leo shook his head immediately. “No thanks. I’m saving myself for my mate.”

Henry stared at him in disbelief. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am serious,” Leo replied calmly. “Besides, Dad wants to start going over some of the beta responsibilities I’ll eventually take over.”

Henry rolled his eyes. Honestly, he couldn’t stand Leo half the time. The guy was too perfect, too responsible, too easy for everyone to like. The only reason he tolerated him was because Leo was Midas’s best friend and the future Beta.

“What about you, Midas? Interested in a little fun?” Henry asked.

Midas opened his mouth to answer, but his thoughts drifted toward Evelynn instead. His chest tightened when he thought about how shocked she was to find him with someone else. The memory unsettled him in ways he didn’t understand. Why did he even care?

Henry raised an eyebrow, snapping his fingers in Midas’s face. “Earth to Midas.”

Midas blinked and shook the thoughts away. “Nah. I’m good.”

Henry shrugged and pushed himself off the bed. “Suit yourselves. See you later, fuckers.”

Leo also stood, sliding his phone into his pocket. “I’ll see you downstairs. I’m gonna change first.”

The two boys headed toward the door, but Henry paused long enough to smirk at Midas again. “Next time, lock the damn door before you start grabbing titties.”

“Get out,” Midas muttered.

Henry laughed loudly as the door shut behind them.

The room finally fell quiet.

Midas exhaled slowly and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, annoyed with himself for still thinking about Evelynn. He barely knew the girl. She was awkward and never around the pack house.

And yet somehow, she had managed to get stuck in his head all summer.

A few minutes later, Midas walked into the formal dining room to see his mom, Luna Dalia, setting up the long-polished table for dinner.

“There’s my baby.” She said, smiling at him.

Midas leaned down to kiss her cheek before taking the stack of plates from her hands. “You know the Omegas would’ve done this for you.”

“Yes, but I enjoy doing it myself sometimes,” she replied softly. “How was your first day of school?”

“Fine.”

She gave him an amused look over her shoulder. “Such detailed answers today.”

Midas smirked faintly. “Classes were boring. Football practice was annoying. Happy?”

“Much.”

She carried the glasses back toward the table while continuing casually, “Did you at least get the schedule you wanted?”

He nodded. Truthfully, he barely paid attention in school today; his mind was too full of other things. His thoughts kept circling back toward Evelynn being at the school. Why was she there? Didn’t her mother say Evelynn was homeschooled? Was Leo friends with her?

All summer, Midas had watched her from a distance more times than he cared to admit. At first, it had only been curiosity. But now Evelynn fascinated him in a way he couldn’t explain.

Her scent bothered him. There was something just below the surface that was faint and impossible to identify. No matter how many times he caught her scent in the air, he couldn’t figure it out.

But something about her felt different. One memory surfaced more clearly than the others.

Midas had been watching the cabin from the tree line while Evelynn and her father repaired the roof. Her father climbed up the ladder first before reaching down to help Evelynn up beside him. The second she touched his hand, she flinched, becoming completely still. Her father hadn’t noticed and walked toward a stack of shingles near the center of the roof, but Evelynn suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him backward hard enough to stumble. Suddenly a loud cracking sound echoed in the air and the boxes of shingles vanished through a hole in the roof.

“Mom,” Midas said suddenly, setting the last fork beside a plate, “what do you know about the new family living in the old groundskeeper’s cabin?”

Luna Dalia frowned thoughtfully. “The Cane family?”

“Yeah.”

“Not much. Beta Phillip handled their arrival personally.” Her eyes narrowed slightly with curiosity. “Why are you asking?”

Midas shrugged. “Just curious.”

Soon the dining room filled with the rest of the high ranks. Alpha Malcolm entered with the twins, Micah and Mateo, laughing loudly behind him, followed by Beta Phillip and his family. Omegas moved quietly around the room serving dinner while Luna Dalia thanked each of them warmly.

Conversation flowed easily at first, mostly revolving around school, training schedules, and upcoming football games.

Then Beta Phillip glanced toward Midas and Leo.

“Have either of you boys tried making friends with the new girl, Evelynn, yet?”

Both boys immediately avoided eye contact.

Dr. Mary sighed softly beside her husband. “It must be difficult moving into a new pack knowing no one,” she said gently. “I met her briefly during a checkup. She’s very sweet once you get her talking.”

Alpha Malcolm gave a low grunt of disapproval from the head of the table. “There’s something strange about that family.” He said bluntly, pointing his fork in Mary’s direction.

Luna Dalia looked toward her husband curiously. “What do you mean, dear?”

“I mean, the pack they said they came from doesn’t exist.”

Mateo’s eyes widened instantly. “Wait, what?”

Alpha Malcolm leaned back in his chair. “According to the records, some kind of illness wiped out the entire pack.”

Midas frowned. If an illness killed an entire pack, how are Evelynn and her parents still alive?

Before he could ask, Mateo blurted out, “s**t, what if they have some kind of zombie disease?”

“Mateo,” Luna Dalia warned sharply.

“But what if they do?” Mateo continued dramatically. “What if we all turn into brain-eating monsters?”

Leo looked disgusted. “That’s not how diseases work.”

“You don’t know that.”

Leo gave him a ‘you’re an i***t’ look. His mother was the pack doctor, of course he knew how diseases worked.

Alpha Malcolm rolled his eyes before smacking Mateo lightly upside the head. “If they were sick, it would have been apparent long before now, considering they left their old pack weeks before coming here.”

“So, they are lying about why they are here?” Micah asked.

Alpha Malcolm’s expression darkened slightly. “I don’t know, and that’s the problem. I think the transfer papers are forged.”

“Are you going to throw them out?” Mateo asked carefully.

Alpha Malcolm shook his head. “No. Not unless they give me a reason.” He cut into his steak before adding, “Besides, Paul is one hell of a repairman. He fixed the Omega housing AC unit without costing the pack thousands for a replacement.”

That seemed to end the conversation, but it didn’t end Midas’s endless thoughts about Evelynn.

The next morning Midas got up early for his usual run before breakfast. Except for passing the occasional warrior on patrol, his morning was free of noise and people. He liked it that way. It always helped to clear his head before school and training later.

The frosty morning air felt good against his skin while he jogged toward the lake near the back border. A thick mist hovered above the water when he arrived, making the entire shoreline look almost magical.

Then he saw her. Evelynn sat beneath a large oak tree near the edge of the lake, bundled up in oversized clothes that nearly swallowed her small frame. Her glasses were gone, and visible puffs of air escaped her lips with every breath.

For a moment, Midas couldn’t take his eyes off her until a twig snapped beneath his shoe. He closed his eyes and cursed at the sudden noise. Evelynn immediately turned her head toward him, her sea-green eyes widening slightly in surprise. The breeze lifted strands of dark hair across her face, and Midas felt his breath hitch. She really is pretty. The thought came so suddenly that it startled him.

“Aren’t you cold?” She asked suddenly, looking away quickly as a blush spread across her cheeks.

Midas frowned before glancing down at himself. He was only wearing basketball shorts and running shoes. His sweaty, muscular physique was on full display.

He shrugged. “Werewolf bodies run hotter than humans, so yeah...”

She turned to him knowingly. “So, you do have your wolf.”

He nodded once. “I got mine at thirteen.”

“That’s early.”

“Strong Alpha bloodline,” he replied, walking closer. “I won’t shift fully until I’m eighteen though.”

Evelynn launched into a rapid explanation about genetic bloodlines. She babbled on about Alpha DNA versus Beta DNA, comparing it to human DNA.

Midas stared at her while she rambled. It amused him; she talked with her hands and barely seemed aware she was talking mostly to herself.

What a nerd. He smirked at his amusement, then guilt unexpectedly crept in. He remembered calling her a freak.

“Hey,” he interrupted gently. Evelynn stopped immediately and looked at him. Midas shoved his hands through his hair awkwardly. “Sorry about yesterday.”

She blinked. “What?”

“The freak comment,” he muttered. “I’m the future Alpha, I should have known better.”

Evelynn looked back toward the lake again, sadness briefly flashing across her face before she hid it. “Don’t worry about it. It didn’t bother me.”

Madis frowned. Her lie didn’t sit well with him, but he didn’t call her on it. His mother’s voice echoed through the mind-link, reminding him breakfast was almost ready. He replied he’d be there shortly, then his eyes shifted towards the gloves.

“What’s with the gloves anyway?” he asked. “You scared of germs or something?”

Evelynn shook her head slowly. “Germs don’t bother me; people do.”

Midas frowned slightly. What the hell did that mean?

“Do you come out here often?” He asked.

She nodded again while staring across the water. “It’s quiet.”

He almost laughed at that. Her cabin was already isolated from the rest of the pack. How much quieter could she possibly need things to be? But strangely, he found himself not wanting to leave. Then an idea suddenly crossed his mind.

“Maybe I’ll see you here tomorrow,” he said casually before turning to jog away.