Black Moon Curse

Chapter 6: A Discovery

Calvin's P.O.V

Another few hours passed, everyone had the research papers downsized to only the month of March. We were getting quite hungry as lunch was approaching. The cooks will be all set to bring a meal for us soon. Not surprisingly, a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in," I said, knowing it was the cooks with our lunch.

The cooks had prepared cheese, milk and hot beef sandwiches for our lunch and it definitely hit the spot and warmed my belly. I'm sure everyone was happy with their meal because no one had any leftovers. Sinead had the papers organized and had made a discovery.

"Good news, I found a black moon that repeated itself on her birthday. There is a pattern that I've noticed. If I just look at the last 100 years here, it goes eight years between, then nineteen years between, eight, then nineteen again. So if I'm reading this right, Adeline will be nineteen when the next black moon falls on her birthday," Sinead grinned. "This means there is a chance we can fix it later if we can't find a solution before midnight."

"What about the fact that we get our wolves when we turn eighteen?" Amelia questioned from the rocking chair in the corner, nursing Adeline. "Will it be too late to do anything at nineteen?"

Everyone looked over at Orla to see if she had learned anything else about curses like this one.

"As far as I can see from this spellbook, there is no mention of a curse similar to this existing," Orla said. "My best guess is that her wolf will wait to join her as long as it takes. After all, our wolves want to be with us as much as we want to be with them."

"Well, let's hope that is the case. At least we have some hope now," I said.

I looked over at my Beta, Craig, he was looking a bit more relaxed now that we had a chance to do something later if nothing could be done tonight. We had been up all night and everyone had been so tense looking for a way to remove Adeline's curse or find something to help. We were all so tired but the day wasn't over yet and there was still the possibility of finding someone who could do something to get rid of this curse that had been haunting us since it was bestowed upon our pup. We still had some time before midnight, and we had to use every minute of it to see if something could be done, otherwise we would be waiting nineteen years for another chance. I walked over to Craig to let him know what my plans were for the next few hours.

"Craig, I want you to assemble the other high-ranked wolves and get an investigation started. We need to figure out who did this and have them answer for their terrible actions. Search our territory and see if anyone knows anything and make a list of anyone who may have wanted to get revenge on me." I told him.

"I'll get right to it, Alpha," Craig said, and left the room.

"Maggie, Orla, I want both of you to search the territory for someone who can do powerful magic and give Adeline a blessing to weaken the curse tonight." I instructed.

"Yes Alpha," they both responded and went straight to the task.

"Sinead, again thank you so much for coming. We owe you a great debt. "

"I'm just happy I was able to help Alpha," she replied. She started gathering all the papers to repack into the satchels.

"I'll get the housekeeper's to prepare the guest room for you and some refreshments. I'm sure you could use the rest."

"That sounds wonderful," Sinead said.

Craig's P.O.V

I mind linked the two other Beta's we had in our pack. It was not unusual for a pack to have more than one Beta. I felt like I was closest to our Alpha, but I'm sure we all felt our duty to protect our pack just as strongly as the next beta. My mate was also a beta, but she was busy with our six-month-old pup and I didn't want to disturb her.

~"Meet me in the great hall, we have a job to do and it's time sensitive"~ I projected the thought to the other high-ranked wolves in our pack.

It was too bad our Zeta was killed two years ago. She was super intelligent and no one fought like she did. She was killed protecting our Alpha during a random attack by a group of lycans similar to werewolves but different in that they are more humanoid when they transform. It was odd because normally werewolves and lycans get along just fine. No one but our Zeta saw it coming. She saved our Alpha but sacrificed herself in the process.

I sped to the great hall to meet with the other strong wolves in our pack. They were all there waiting for me.

"Welcome everyone, we have been tasked with finding information on the intruder that got in last night and cursed our Alpha's daughter." I told the small group of wolves in front of me.

"We can start by questioning those that might have a grudge against Calvin," I continued. "Anyone have any ideas who we could start with?"

They all looked at each other and shrugged. Honestly, it was just as I thought no one would want to harm the Alpha that we could think of. "Well then," I thought some more "What about that Garrett guy?, he challenged Calvin for the Alpha position a few years back and when he didn't win he left," I suggested.

"That doesn't make any sense, he lost and left the pack most likely to start his own pack. That's how it has been for centuries. I can't see it being him" said Keon. He was a lot older than me and would know about things like that.

"Well, then let's get started on questioning the entire pack. We will start at the homes furthest away and then work our way back to the castle and meet here. We can each take one quadrant of the territory," I instructed, and delegated each quadrant to them. "Any questions?"

No one had any questions, so everyone was ready to head out. I shifted into wolf form so I could get to the outer territory of my quadrant faster. Shifting was never really painful, it was just a feeling of muscle and bone changing shape. I felt my wolf take over and run to the furthest house in my assigned quadrant.

Maggie's P.O.V

"Orla, hurry up" I said, waving my hand in a beckoning motion.

"I'm just thinking about all that's happening" she replied to me.

"Well, move faster, you can think and walk at the same time, we have to get started on this" I urged her to get moving. "We should start with my mate, the other healer in our pack. He might know some magical beings."

"Alright, Alright, I'm moving" Orla said.

We picked up our pace and ran to my home just inside the castle walls. I threw open the door to find my mate getting ready to stitch up a gash on a little boy's arm.

"What happened?" I queried.

"He fell out of a tree and cut his arm on one of the branches when he was falling. Nearly scared the life out of me." The woman holding him said.

"Your lucky it's just a cut little man," I said to the boy. "No more climbing things" I ordered the little guy.

"When you are done I need to talk to you Phillip." I said to my mate. "Orla and I will be waiting outside." Phillip just nodded and got to work on the boy's arm.

I could hear the little boy cry out when the stitching started. After a few minutes, the boy and woman came out of the house. The stitching had been covered to keep it clean, he would be fine.

"Alright, Maggie, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Phillip drawled, he wasn't really a big talker.

"You know, pretty much everyone in this pack and more, do you know anyone with magic?" I asked him.

"Can't say as I do, the last person to have magic around here that I knew of left twenty or so years ago." He answered.

"Well, thanks anyway, I love you Phillip." I stood up on my tiptoes and pulled his face to mine and pressed my lips to his. Phillip deepened the kiss and pulled me closer to him. He might not talk a lot, but he was passionate. I was almost ready just to take him inside the house and leave Orla to the search. I pressed my hands flatly against Phillip's chest and pulled away.

"I've got to find someone with magic for the Alpha, but I'll be back later." I would have kissed him again but didn't think I would have had the will power to stop it from escalating further if I did.

"Good luck," he said.

"Come on Orla, let's get going" I said.

Calvin's P.O.V.

For the rest of the day, I spent time holding my baby girl and just talking to her. I helped Amelia as much as I could, it was great to have some time to bond together as a family. I had been waiting to hear from Craig, Maggie and Orla for hours but hadn't heard anything from any of them. At the moment I had Adeline cradled against my chest, she was fast asleep with her little lips puckered up. I sighed, letting the air slowly out of my lungs.

"Well, little one, it'll soon be midnight and I haven't heard from anyone. I'm sorry Adeline, I guess we will be waiting till your nineteenth birthday to remove this curse so you can get your wolf." I patted Adeline's back hoping for a burp, because Amelia had just been breastfeeding her. I bounced her a little and she let out a huge burp even in her sleep. I smiled at her when she startled a bit from the burp, but she instantly fell back to sleep. I handed over our pup to Amelia again and we both got settled into bed.

~"Alpha I'm sorry to report that all quadrants of the territory were searched and questioned and no one knows anything."~ The mind link came through from Craig.

~ "Thanks for your efforts Craig" ~ I projected back to him.

Not long after Craig's report, Orla and Maggie also got back to me and they had come up empty-handed as well. Everyone had tried their best and there was nothing else we could do. Midnight came and went and the curse was sealed at least for the next nineteen years.

"I love you, my girls," I said to Amelia and Adeline, who were both asleep.

Tomorrow I will start a personal search to get the information I need so we can be ready when the time comes.