Cursed
1317 Words
Chapter Two
Jarek's POV
"That'll be all for tonight. We meet again in a week's time to discuss further."
I wait as chairs scrape the marbled floor, the pack's council—my pack's council—bow in unison at me before they leave the meeting room. Leaving me with Dave, my Beta.
"How'd it go this time?" I ask, resting against my plush chair at the center of the large mahogany desk.
It felt nice to finally be done with the meeting. Although, it's held once every month, it can be draining and frustrating.
"Well," Dave shrugged as he walked closer from the other side of the desk to where I sat. "They are old grumbling wolves that aren't willing to let go of the old ways but at least, you scare them into action.
I laugh at that.
"Scare them into action."
"Yeah, you really do. Old Marduk won't speak unless you call upon him for fear of being growled at." Dave grins as he sits on the desk in front of me.
He's been my best friend since we were kids. We ate, played, hunted together. We were more than brothers and I trusted him as much as he trusted me.
"They need to learn. Someone has to keep them in line." I say as I stand from my chair, ready to leave the room. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dave." I pat his shoulder.
Just as I'm about to walk out of the door, he calls me. "Alpha."
I turn to find him walking towards me with something in his hand. A present.
I growl as he gets closer and stretches it towards me. "Dave..."
"Happy birthday, Alpha. You didn't think I'd forget, did you?" He smiles but I don't share in his happiness.
"Keep it." I say, turning towards the door.
"But—" he starts but I interrupt.
"No 'buts', Dave. I do not celebrate my birthdays and you know that."
"I do, but—"
I cut him off again as I turn to face him. "Why do I not celebrate my birthdays?" He looks to the ground, his hands falling beside him.
"Answer me." I growl at him.
It takes him a few seconds to answer but he finally does. "Because they remind you that you're mateless."
"Good. Keep the gift and give me on another day." I turn from him but he stops me again.
"But what does that even matter to me." He says as he walks in front of me. "You're my best friend. Forget the fact that you're Alpha, Jarek, you're my best friend! And I choose to celebrate your birthday as a way of being grateful for the gift of friendship." He extends the present to me once again. "Are you going to refuse me, Jarek?"
I stare into his brown eyes and he stares back into mine defiantly. I could alpha-command him out of the room but that would be extreme.
I sigh, extending my hand to take the gift. "Thank you."
He nods once and walks out of the room. I look at the gift and although I'm happy for it, it makes me mad. It's just another reminder. Another call to memory that I have no one in my life to share this day with.
I stuff the present in my pocket as I also storm out of the room, heading to the forest.
The forest seems to be alive tonight.
Leaves rustle above me as the wind cuts through the trees. I storm through the underbrush, my boots crushing twigs and fallen leaves.
It has become a ritual. One I dread doing but can't seem to stop.
Alpha of the Shadowbane Pack. Feared. Respected. And yet—mateless.
Still mateless after 21 years. You did your mate at the age of 18 but look at me, 21 years after and still mateless.
The word tastes like ash in my mouth. Like failure. Like a curse I can't run from.
I clench my fists at my sides as I reach the heart of the forest, a clearing I know too well. It's sacred land, untouched by blade or brick, where the trees form a protective ring around a wide, grassy glade. The full moon is just starting to break through the shroud of clouds.
I look up, breathing hard, jaw tight. My body vibrates with rage I can no longer contain.
"You mock me," I growl up at her. "You watch me year after year, giving mates to the undeserving—traitors, liars, cowards—and still, you leave me alone!"
My voice echoes through the clearing, sharp and raw. The moon glows brighter, casting her pale light across my skin, as if in silent judgment.
I rip off my coat and toss it aside, pacing like a caged beast. My wolf is on edge beneath my skin, snarling and restless. He’s tired of this pain. Tired of the hole that’s been carved in our chest since we were eighteen.
"I'm the Alpha!" I bellow. "I've given you everything. My blood. My strength. My loyalty. I’ve protected the pack. I’ve bled for them."
My voice cracks with the last word. I close my eyes, inhale the sharp scent of pine and earth, and try to calm the storm brewing inside me.
But there is no peace. Only silence.
A bitter laugh slips from my lips. "You let Cassian find his mate? Cassian? That arrogant bastard doesn’t even believe in you. He rejects the mate bond in front of hundreds, and yet you still gifted him one."
My voice turns cold.
"You gave him a f*****g mate."
I don’t know her name, but I saw the broadcast a few months back. Every Alpha did. The entire region was summoned to witness the Red Crescent’s ceremony.
Something in me snapped as watched her beg, kneel and weep, clinging to the hem of Cassian Locke’s trousers like her soul was being ripped from her body.
But I couldn't do anything cause she wasn’t mine. She was his.
And he rejected her.
"What did I do wrong?" I whisper. The question comes quieter now, laced with pain instead of fury. "Why am I the only Alpha without a mate?"
A gust of cold wind swirls through the clearing. My wolf presses against the inside of my skin, restless and pacing.
"I see the others with their mates. Laughing. Touching. Healing." I grit my teeth. "And here I am. Cold. Empty. Growing more monstrous by the year."
The moon doesn't answer.
Of course she doesn't.
My knees hit the ground before I realize I'm falling. The grass is cold and damp beneath me, and I let my head fall back, arms limp at my sides. For a moment, I let myself feel it. All of it. The frustration. The isolation. The deep, gnawing ache that has lived in my chest since I came of age and never felt that spark. Never saw that golden string of fate everyone talks about. Never heard her voice in my soul.
"You’ve cursed me,” I whisper. “That’s what they say. That I was born wrong. That the Moon Goddess turned her face from me.”
I close my eyes.
"And now… I don't know if I'm meant to lead—or to destroy."
Silence stretches.
Then…
Something.
A pulse. Faint. Like the echo of a heartbeat—but not mine.
My eyes fly open.
Far off, deeper in the woods, light blooms. Bright. Unnatural. Not fire. Not moonlight. Something… strange.
I rise slowly to my feet, breath caught in my throat. Every instinct in me screams to go. To investigate.
But then...
I shake my head. No. It must be nothing, a ruse. A trick of the mind. That’s all. No need for false hopes.
I stand to my feet, heading back the same way I came.
Till next year.
- Writer
