The Angel's Curse

Chapter Six

Everything was going according to plan. They had found each other after over a hundred years apart. If they hadn’t, Alpha Trey would not have been there to save the crane. The crane is the key to ending this game, to see whether the curse will continue or die. If I had done my job correctly, things would go in my favor for once. To mark a new course for our future and finally lay this pain to rest. However, if I’m wrong…the curse will have a new target to feast off of.

“Just which way will it go?” I asked myself. Gripping the edge of the cement bird bath before me. Its pristine surface reveals to me what I can not physically see with my own eyes. A battle was taking place, with the black winged crane at its center. The poor thing was still very alive, just in pain. Laying at the base of the hill, just out of reach of the fighting on the hill. Not that it needed to fight in the first place, but it chose to. It couldn’t see that it’s protector was only a few paces away, searching for it. When he had found it however, he could only taste blood. Biting into the side of the one that dared threaten its fated partner. The wolf with raven fur and steel blue eyes, leader of the bordering pack, was the one to claim the crane.

“Two pairings?” I asked, in astonishment. Nothing in the scriptures spoke of this being a possibility of their return. Could the crane harbor a larger part in this than the dove? I needed to know more. No, I had to know more. Had the curse evolved in strength since the last angel or was there more to this than we knew? But how?

“ Alpha Damien don’t!” Voices cried out from the water's surface, drawing me back to the fighting. Blood had been sprayed over the greenery of the hillside. Stained crimson, illuminating the dangers that had been there and thus snuffed out as quickly as it came. Two wolves are still snapping and growling at each other, preventing the other from moving on. A copper wolf stood over the crane, guarding her from the black one. His fur too was stained red from fighting in this blemish of a battle. The black wolf lunged at the copper one, both biting and snapping at the other. Ripping open each other's flesh in an attempt to subdue the other. It wouldn’t be until the girl on the ground woke up would their fighting stop. She hadn’t done anything major or drastic. Just appeared to groan as she moved to sit up. Blood trickled from a cut on her forehead down her face. Her eyes looked at the two beasts before her, but only one left her shocked.

“Ember, are you alright?” The black wolf questioned, shifting back into his human form before her. He was naked and yet didn’t appear to care. Those steal blue eyes of his, revealing concern for the girl. Solidifying that my hunch was indeed correct. He was fated to the crane, just as the water had shown me. He helped her to her feet where it was swiftly determined she would need medical treatment. But Alpha Trey, who had shifted soon after Ember got to her feet, refused to let the girl leave with him.

“ She needs to return to her family and get treated, Damien.” Trey reminded the other male, earning a growl in resistance. Pulling Ember closer to him, Damien froze when she let out a cry. His hand tightened on her already weakened wrist and breaking it without intending too.

“Look what you’ve done! There are rules for a reason, Damien! When an Alpha is given a mortal mate we are meant to-”

“Oh shut the f**k up, Trey! Like hell, a pathetic weakling like you can judge me! f**k, you can’t even find a mate thanks to your family's f**k ups!” Damien spat, his blue eyes threatening to turn red as he addressed the other alpha. The hostility between the two of them is clear as the setting sun. “Oh what I wouldn’t give to kill you now! Better yet, I should kill your mate before you find her, so you can make it easier to take over your pathetic excuse of a pack!”

“Good thing I’ve found her then. “ Trey smirked, glancing towards Ember and then back at Damien. “Your mate is my mate’s sister. So threaten her loved one again, then see if she’ll have you.”

Rolling my eyes, I was starting to have enough of this bickering. The petty bitching of Alphas wasn’t ever an amusement for me. If anything, it was a headache that required several days in my garden to fix. But what I did know was that the impending infiltration of the Moonstone pack that the Demon Claw Pack had been planning. Sister Jess, telling us all about it so we could prepare. Which only meant that this new connection might change things, or complicate them. Who honestly could tell, futures change and bonds can do wonders to change fates as well. Maybe mine too would one day change.

Running my fingers over the still water, these images began to blend into just blurs of color. The last thing I saw was that Ember had gone with Alpha Trey, much to Alpha Damien's displeasure. If I had to guess, she didn’t like that he threatened her sister. From what I’ve seen, she was family oriented, loyal to those she loves. Just like us.

“Perhaps a new face worth meeting.” I mused, releasing my hold on the birdbath, letting it return to normal. The water reflects the glass windows of the greenhouse above it. I had a lot to reveal to my sisters and even to plan. One thing was certain though. The curse had begun to change. Where the Dove was the target of the curse…the Crane was the anchor that could set a new path in motion. Before us were two sisters bent on different paths and yet only one was the true key. Now which key would get forged? One to end the Moonstone pack? Or the one to end all curses? And I was dying to see which.