The Cursed Shifters - Mateless

Questions

Gathering a notebook and pen Shiloh began to write down key elements from the story, the pieces of information she hoped would help her set them all free from the Goddess’ curse.  First she wrote the riddle, sprawling across the top of her paper in her odd half cursive half print.  ‘When the fae wolf finds a mate and what was taken is returned mates will find their place.’  Then she began outlining questions and the answers she had to them.

‘Q: What was taken?  A: The Goddess’ daughter Larissa.

 Q: Who started it all? A: Alpha Jacob

 Q: What is the fairy wolf?

 Q: How does the fairy wolf find a mate if there are no mates?’

                                She realized she had very few answers to the riddle and began to outline her questions for Alpha Terry. Writing the first one out she mind linked him, “Terry, I have questions, have you read this journal?”

                                “Yes, I have, I believe every Alpha of our pack has read it since the fall.”

                                “Good, why is it that no one knows the story of the curse? Everyone knows that there is one, but no one knows what happened.” She wrote her question down as she spoke to him.

                                “That answer is born of the nature of man, Shiloh. The Royals made the decision to lock it away, no one was permitted to speak of it. To my knowledge only our pack Alpha’s have known the truth of it since and that is only because we possessed Glen’s account.” Shiloh wrote that the royals locked the information away under the answer, but it wasn’t enough information, so she pressed.

                                “Why did they lock it away Terry”

                                He sighed mentally before answering her, “Once the packs learned of the riddle it became the obsession of every member of every pack to solve it and return our mates to us. The problem was no one actually knew what it meant. There was an all out hunt for a fairy wolf, without any idea of what it was. Some believed it was a half breed but none of those existed, so they started trying to make them. Most of these attempts ended the life of the wolf involved, fae are nothing to be trifled with. Occasionally you would hear word of a wolf girl finding a fairy male and while she lived out her days never fearing the madness of a mateless male there were no children born of these unions. Others thought the fae wolf must be someone already living in the fae realm, many fae have animal forms so they believed it was a fae that could shift into a wolf as we do. The people with that idea started a war. They hunted the fae relentlessly, many wolves were lost but more always filled in, desperation drives people. Eventually the fae Queens sent word to our royals that if the attacks did not cease war would follow. The fae are beautiful and appear delicate but they’re lethal in their speed, strength, and magic, so the royals did what they could. Decrees were issued limiting contact with the fae, any attack of any kind or attempt to mate with a fae was a death sentence, then to stop future desperation from tempting people to break the rules they banned the story being told.”

                                Shiloh jotted down key information under why no one knows what happened and then wrote in the two possible answers for what the fairy wolf could be next to that question as well.  “The riddle says what was taken must be returned, her daughter was taken from her but she’s dead, turned to moon dust which is surely long gone. Do you have any ideas of what the Goddess could have meant?”

                                “That I do not know, the last Alpha of this pack speculated that it could be Larissa’s crystal heart the Goddess wants but no one knows what happened to it after it was gifted to the fairy princess.” Shiloh jotted in ‘Crystal Heart?’ next to her answer for what was taken.

                                “Thank you, Terry, I’ll be taking the team to buy clothes for your engagement party this evening. Please call the shops and let them know we will be in late and not to close. I want to go over this with them before we leave.” She closed the link and stared at her notes and the journal beside them. The riddle wasn’t all that complicated, it was just two questions that made it difficult. Finding the pieces once the questions were answered would be the hard part. Contorting her body, she snatched her phone from her boot and sent a message to the group chat for her team to come to her room, then through herself back onto her pillows and sighed. Vareese and an ancient curse and a new nuisance in her pack. A loud audible groan escaped her then a thought hit her. “Terry! How did we get the journal in the first place?”

                                “Glen was originally from this pack; his mate was Jacob’s sister, so he moved there when they mated. After the encounter with the Goddess his family fled back here and here the journal stayed. No one outside this pack knows it exists or the Royals would have already taken it.”

                                So, the person the Goddess took sympathy on and showed favor in providing a means to break the curse was of this pack. “Does he have any descendants?”

                                “I was wondering if you would ask that since the journal doesn’t say if his son sired any children. Yes Shiloh, a great however many times granddaughter.” Terry’s tone was strange.

                                “Would she know more?”

                                “No, Shiloh she knows what you know.” Again, that strange tone. Shiloh pondered it a moment.

                                “Oh! Oh, I am Glen’s descendant.”

                                “Yes, that is why I gave you the journal, I believe it must be you that breaks this curse because you are directly related to the man the Goddess took sympathy on. I could be wrong but at the very least the Journal belongs with his family, and you will be the next Alpha anyway, there are no other options when I am gone. Your team is headed for you, I hear them in the hall, and I have a meeting. Goodbye.”

                                Sure, enough a minute latter the group barreled in through the door, Dre leading them in. Shiloh did not get up from her lazy spot on the bed, so they all piled on and looked at her expectantly. “You can read the journal outlining the entire story or read my notes and key points of what we have figured out. Then we will discuss it and see if you all can find any more pieces. If you read the journal read the notes too, there is information from Terry that isn’t in the journal.” She knew who would read both, Bex and Michael, Lennon and Dre would look over her notes on it. Lennon grabbed the notebook first so Dre just sat waiting. “Dre, run and grab me some aspirin, I’ve got a serious headache setting in.” He groaned but stood up to leave, “You should have grabbed the notebook first, then it would have been Lennon.” Shiloh chuckled. Bex and Michael were reading together so neither had to wait for the information, they may very well be done before Dre got back and he would have to wait for the notebook. Shiloh watched the faces of her team; Lennon was not reacting at all as per usual. Bex, you could practically read the story from her face, Michael looked like a historian studying an ancient document, which, Shiloh supposed, was pretty accurate.

                                Dre returned with the medicine and an Ale8, he knew Shiloh well to know what she would want to take it with. He handed her both and plopped back down on the bed scooping up the notebook Lennon was finished with. Shiloh tossed the two pills in her mouth, twisted the cap off the bottle, and took a swig before leaning back on her pillows again. Michael and Bex finished the journal and scooted in around Dre trying to read Shiloh’s notes around his broad shoulders. Shi didn’t think Bex’s eyes could get any bigger, they were taking up half her face they were so big. As they finished up Shiloh sat up again.

                                “One more thing guys, I am apparently the last descendant of Glenn. This was his home pack before he mated to Alpha Jacob’s sister.” She was in fact wrong about Bex’s eyes, they got bigger. Everyone seemed to be in shock for a moment, then they erupted, questions flying, proposed answers to questions, ideas about what they should do, all just flying around in an incoherent babble of voices. After a could of minutes they calmed down and discussion began in earnest. “Michael, you are the most studious of the group, what do you think?”

                                “I agree that the thing that must be returned is the crystal heart of Larissa but if we can even find it how do we return something to the Goddess? She does not reside on this Earth.”

                                Bex rolled her now normal sized eyes, “She’s the Goddess, Michael, she obviously has a way for it to be returned, that part is just going to require faith once everything else is done. I think the real question we need to answer here is about this fairy wolf because everything starts with him or her.”

                                “The idea of a fairy wolf hybrid gives me the creeps, some of those fae look like aliens.” Dre, ever helpful.

                                “Terry told you that there are never offspring from the fae wolf couplings, right? IF they are incapable of producing children a hybrid seems unlikely. That being said, it is common knowledge that there is no other species that can shift into a wolf, even they Lycans aren’t considered wolves so the idea of a fae that can shift to a wolf also seems impossible.” Michael would know if there was another race that could shift into a wolf, the boy knew everything, he was basically the Hermione Granger of the group.

                                Bex chimed in again, “Perhaps the Goddess had a plan there as well, if it were as easy as breeding the solution into existence it wouldn’t be much of a curse. Perhaps she put stipulations into place and kept them to herself, like only the mating of certain types of fae to wolves, or a certain rank of wolf. That would mean a hybrid is possible but not likely.”

                                “That makes sense. The Goddess is a woman scorned in this, setting those kinds of restrictions would definitely be possible. Hell, hath no fury…” Lennon had not spoken through the entire meeting, if he voiced this opinion, he must agree with it. “I don’t think it would be restricted to the type of fae though, maybe the court or even a specific member. Maybe a child of one of the offending families must be included.”

                                “Alpha Jacobs line died with him unless there are some illegitimate children that never came forward and Haru was stricken barren for her part, but she may have siblings.” Shiloh pondered this, the fae were long lived, all of the fae that witnessed the atrocity could very well be alive. “Our journey may take us into fae lands, we may encounter Haru or others who were present at the time of the fall. Are you all still comfortable with this?”

                                “It’s worth it.” They said in unison.

                                “Well in that case I have other bad news.”  Shiloh paused for dramatic effect and all four of her family held their breath. “We are on guard duty, undercover, in the party.” They loosed their breaths. “And it is a formal affair.” Audible groans from the lot of them, Bex even tossed herself to the floor dramatically. Shiloh busted our laughing and through her laughter managed to get out, “We are going shopping. Get to the cars.”