The Delta's Cursed Mate

In Your Mind

Leon’s POV

It felt like hours, before Phoenix woke up. He had gone into some kind of trance as soon as my Ginger passed out in my arms, and we hadn’t moved a single muscle.

He snapped his fingers, and the small flame in the bowl went out, my mate’s breathing increased and then went back to normal. She nuzzled into my chest, and a small sigh escaped her lips. She smiled in her sleep as her eyes darted back and forth behind her eyelids. Her body felt warmer. Like it should have always been. She was a werewolf, but the way she wore jackets and hoodies made me question if she had the same body temperature of a human. I usually ran around 104, but I was acclimated to snow 8 months out of the year.

“What did you do to her?” I whispered as I moved hair from her face. I had seen her fall asleep, she never smiled. I wasn’t even sure she dreamed, and she was warming up.

“I think we should speak with her entire family.”

Kane let out a deep and threatening growl. Phoenix only stared at me and pulled out his cell phone. I thought he was some kind of psychic. Why did he need a phone?

“I don’t like invading the minds of others. In fact, it’s not something you should know we can do at all. The gift was hunted for power during the war, and then the Trials.” He didn’t bother looking at me as he texted away, “Also it doesn’t work from a distance and my wife and children would worry.”

“You’re married?” I thought he would be some old dude living in a cave.

“The wolf thinks I live in a cave. Ironic isn’t it?” He snorted. “Yes, I’m married. I have children and own a company. We’re not so different. Apart from sharing my body with an animal.”

I growled again, but Reina twitched, and I kissed her forehead.

Rowan and Richard came into the office, followed by Christina who was holding a tray of food. I was hungry, but more worried about my mate. When she woke up, I would feed her like I did at breakfast, then I would eat. Phoenix ate a lot more than I expected him too. Or than I wanted him too. I wanted to know what the hell he had done to my mate. I had never seen her smile in her sleep. In six months. I had never felt her sleep so long either.

There was something very different that had Kane on edge. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn’t like not knowing. Rowan offered to hold Reina while I ate but I declined and moved us to the couch. My legs had cramped from being in the same position for so long, but no way was I letting her go. Not until she woke up and told me she was fine.

Phoenix told us his theories about the spell. Instead of being a simple blocking spell, it was a binding spell. To Emerald she felt so lost and compelled to spend time alone because she could not feel her mate. Even though we were right here. Kane whimpered, but quickly got it together when Phoenix told us he could break that spell. He had already broken Emerald of the invisible chains that held her from connecting with Reina. The new spell would take an entire day and could only be performed on a full moon.

“When will she wake up?” I asked, worried. I needed to know she was okay.

He furrowed his brow, “Hopefully not until the smell is completed.”

I snarled. The full moon was three days away, and I had no idea if I could control myself not knowing how she was. I buried my face in her hair, her sweet scent calmed me down.

Phoenix held his hands up, “Before you try to rip my throat out, I can give you a simple potion to help ease your mind. You would be able to speak to her, in her mind. Do not be surprised if it’s a mess. The magic is deep and there are many different spells combined.”

“What kind of spells?” Rowan was on the verge of shifting.

“Binding spells, a spell that opens her mind to compulsion, the spell that disconnected her from both her memories and Emerald from Reina.” He looked at me, “The most important spell, and the most complicated, is the disconnection spell.”

I stared at him. “Why is that the most important one.”

“Because that spell has completely disconnected Reina and Emerald. That’s why Emerald can take control of the body for so long, because they are not one.”

I was still confused. Kane began to whimper. If they weren’t one… then how was Emerald my mate?

Phoenix nodded. “She rejected you as her mate because you aren’t. What does Emerald look like to you?”

I was still frozen. She wasn’t my mate. I felt the sparks though. Reina was mine. Her scent called to me; the sparks warmed my skin. I felt whole with her in my arms. She marked me. I could feel the mate pull from the second I laid eyes on her. On Reina. With Emerald, I didn’t feel…. Anything. She was a beautiful wolf, but nothing more than any other she-wolf .I felt nothing for Emerald. I loved her because she was a part of Reina, but as a spirit herself, nothing.

“She’s bright red. Like my Ginger’s hair.” I whispered as my fingers ran through the strands.

“Emerald is actually a very pale gray.” All eyes shifted to the warlock.

It was possible to have a wolf’s fur to be different from the human’s hair. Athena was snow white, and Gray way gray. Delilah had brown hair, and James’ had dark blonde. Those two were a little less than normal though. Most Alphas were black, and then every other wolf went with the human’s hair color. Reina was an Alpha, so it would be completely okay if her wolf was black instead of red, but pale gray? I’d never heard of such a difference in a normal wolf. James and Delilah only got special wolves because they were a part of the True line.

“Can you break the spell?” I whispered.

Phoenix sighed, “I can.”

“What’s the ‘but’?” Rowan growled.

“It would kill either Reina or Emerald.”

Reina’s POV

It felt like I was floating. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so free. No one to let down, no bonds, or people. Just me in my own head.

I floated through random fuzzy memories trying to see if any of them made sense. Nothing did. Soon the fuzzy memories turned into a really long hall lined with books and different pictures. I picked up one book, it was a photo album with a very detailed description. The picture was of me, apparently, and Rowan when I was just born. He was holding me in a chair, staring down at me with a huge smile on his face. He had wanted to name me Ruby instead of Reina, because of my hair. I flipped the page, I was about 4 and in the hospital, it was after I lost my hearing. Rowan was laying in the bed with me, the text said he refused to leave until the doctor sent me home. The next was my first day of school, Rowan, who was almost 6 years older than me, skipped school that day to be with me all day. Dad was less than pleased, but proud of his son.

It’s nice to have those back isn’t it? A pale gray wolf with bright green eyes appeared out of nowhere, but I knew that voice.

Emerald?

She nodded her head and put her forehead against mine. Hi, human.

I threw my arms around her neck, and she rumbled in appreciation.

How is this possible?

Magic. Reina, we must find who did this. It’s in here somewhere. We just have to go through it all.

I looked at the long hallway that was filled with books. It would take us forever to go through all of them, but Emerald nudged me. I’m not sure how long we spent looking through books. The memories were all scattered. Some had memories from when I was small mixed with memories with Leon. One book had a picture of me talking to a man, but his face was blurry, all we could make out was bright orange eyes. Like Phoenix.

Emerald, who is this?

I know what you’re thinking, but Phoenix doesn’t want to hurt us. But we need to find who this is. She sounded kind of excited.

Why? What’s so important about him?

I don’t know, but we need to find him.

We went through book after book. Only find the man with orange eyes in the backgrounds of the pictures. He wasn’t even mentioned in the descriptions. It was like everything about him was erased. Who was he?

Reina, open this one. Reina nudged a book off the shelf and brought it to me.

I flipped through the book; it was all of the man with the orange eyes. There were no words, just random pictures of those eyes and the blurred face. Emerald growled in both frustration and excitement.

Who is he?

I think.. I think I know him. He was there…. With my mate.

Leon never said he knew a warlock.

Emerald snarled, Why does everybody keeping saying Leon? He nor Kane us my mate!

I stared at her. Leon was our mate. Wasn’t he? I felt the bond. The sparks, the warmth. He was my mate. I knew it. I felt it. But if she didn’t what did that mean? I found the book that held the picture of my very first shift. The more I looked through the books, the more things started to come back to me. I remember the excitement I had when I first heard Emerald’s voice. I remember the adrenaline rush from running with the pack. One thing I never found was her being a pale gray.

Emerald do you remember this? I showed her the day of our shift.

She tilted her head. No. I don’t.

That wasn’t possible. If she was my wolf, then she would be getting my memories when I did. Right? Since we were one.

Emerald, how did we get the huge cut on our back?

From the wizard. The one who did this to us. She tilted her head, in confusion.

Why hasn’t it healed? You’ve healed my broken bones, and all the small cuts, but why not that one? You’ve kept it from getting an infection since it opens and will kind of heal, but why hasn’t it healed completely?

I…. I.. she turned to look behind her, That man is here. The one you wanted to mark so bad.

I smiled. Leon! I smelled his almond scent, and my heart started beating harder in my chest.

I heard him call out to me and everything in my body told me to run to him. When I finally reached him, I jumped into his arms and buried my face in his neck. He chuckled.

Wait. He chuckled. I heard him!.

“Leon?” I spoke out loud. I guess since we were in my mind, I had kind of figured that out from all the memories, my ears not working didn’t matter.

“Hi, baby.” He smiled as he nuzzled into my hair. “I miss you so much, Ginger. So, f*****g much. It’s been two days and Kane and I are going crazy.”

I giggled. I liked being wanted. He pulled me into a deep kiss, swiping his tongue against my lips. I opened them for him, and he groaned as he tasted me. We were broken apart by a sharp bark from Emerald who rolled her eyes. She was sat on her haunches and glared at Leon.

Don’t push me. I let Reina mark you, doesn’t mean I want to see you two f*****g in my space. She growled.

Leon didn’t look angry or even upset, he just nodded and put me down. His hand wound around my waist as I led him to the table we had created for all the books. I showed him everything, I could remember. It was slowly starting to come back. Things from the past. Elementary, middle school, and bits and pieces of high school. I remembered exactly how close Rowan and I used to be. He had wanted to name me his Beta, but Dad refused. If someone were to attack, he would lose both his children. So, I was supposed to be installing and designing new tech for the pack. Before I was attacked.

Leon was happy for me, but I could tell he was holding something back. Especially when I told him about the strange man with the orange eyes. He agreed that it wasn’t Phoenix. Shockingly the warlock had a wife and kids and a business. I thought he would sit in a really old creepy castle and sell people spells for their souls. Leon thought it was hilarious. Apparently I was funny.

Emerald left because she didn’t want to be in the same room as Leon. Which only made me question it more, because Leon didn’t really seem to have a problem being away from her but clung to me like a typical Alpha with his Luna.

“Leon?” I finally asked.

“Yes, baby?” He smiled down at me.

“Emerald isn’t your mate, is she?”

He sighed, I loved hearing the noises, but I kept my hand on his chest so I could memorize the feel of them. I didn’t want to rely on the bond to know how he felt. I just wanted to know.

“No, I don’t think she is. Which is impossible. But magic is involved so who knows.”

I nodded. It confirmed another one of my suspicions. It also raised about a hundred more questions.

“Phoenix thinks that because of the disconnection spell somehow you and Emerald split.”

I shook my head. It still didn’t explain how she could remember something that we shared completely different. How we disagreed on everything. Even now. I needed more.

“When is he breaking he disconnection spell?” I asked.

“Tomorrow, I think. I’m not really sure. How long does it feel like you’ve been here?”

I shrugged. It really didn’t feel like the two days Leon said it had been.

“I have to get back, Ginger. I can feel the potion wearing off. It’s only supposed to last a few hours.” Leon cupped my face in his hands, “You have to be strong for me, okay? Then we’ll be together.” He smiled at me sadly.

“Don’t let him do it. Not yet.”

Leon’s face went to pure confusion. “Why?” He started to fade away.

“Just don’t let him break the spell, okay? Wake me up, and I’ll explain.” I gripped him tighter, knowing it wouldn’t do any good.

“Baby, what’s going on?” He was almost gone.

“I don’t think Emerald is my wolf.”