The Lycan's Curse

Never a Dull Moment

“Sister, sister! Wake up!”

I was pulled out of the memory by my brother shaking my shoulders. I focused my eyes on him and shook my head clear of the fog. “Sorry little brother, what’s going on?”

“Did you see him again? Before you lie to me, your eyes were silver.”

I bit my lip in frustration. I hated to lie to Vince and I knew that if I did, it was only going to make things worse. Kid was f*****g smart and didn’t take it well when he was lied to. Plus he was becoming a young man, I had to treat him accordingly. I took a deep breath to steady myself and said, “Just in my memories.”

“Ash, you need to talk about it.”

“I know but, I’m not going to.”

He furrowed his brow and sighed, “Fine, don’t tell me. Dad sent me to look for you; where were you going? You walked halfway to Clear Lake.”

“Dude, I have no idea where I was going but, now I do. Let’s go home. Wanna race?”

He snorted, “You’ll smoke me so, no. Can’t you just-?”

“Absolutely not.”

And so, we started walking back to the pack grounds, chattering about life. Vince told me about school and how people wouldn’t leave him alone because he was the Alpha’s brother. He expressed his interests and the new games he wanted to play. I was grinning the whole way home; I loved my little brother to pieces, and I was always thrilled to hear about how he as doing. Our talks made the walk back home seem short and before we knew it, we were back on our territory. Our land wasn’t the biggest but, it was the most gorgeous, in my very biased opinion. My dad said that 300 years ago, our family was told that a special wolf would be born and they would unite all the kingdoms together. It’s a cute story when you’re little but, when you grow up and actually read the history, it gets pretty gnarly. I began to pull on my braid, which I did often when I was nervous, seemingly lost in thought. I felt a hand on my shoulder, “Ash, you’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Dwelling. Stop dwelling, it stresses you out and you can’t do your job properly if you’re stressed out.”

“Man, are you sure you’re only sixteen? You hand out wisdom like an Elder.”

My little brother’s chest puffed out a little and said, “Seventeen next week, I’m stoked. Now let’s go see what Grandma made for dinner.”

“Feli’s cooking tonight? Oh, HELL YEAH!”

I picked up my pace and basically booked it to the house; the smell of fresh chicken enchiladas made by my grandmother permeated the air. They were my favorite along with her tamales and pozole and caldo de pollo… okay, I’m getting lost in the sauce here but, her cooking was out of this world. I headed to the kitchen, weaving in and out of the omegas, who bowed their heads upon seeing me. I waved it away, “None of that guys, we’re all equal here. Now, where are the empty plates?”

“Ash! ¡Quítate de aquí! (get out of here) Go sit down and wait to be served, you’re in the way!” barked my tiny grandmother. I didn’t wait to be told twice. It was rare nowadays that my grandmother cooked since my dad retired and her wrath in the kitchen was like no other. I plopped myself down next to my brother at the dining room table. He laughed at the look on my face, “I don’t know why you try to go in there while she’s cooking, you always get kicked out.”

“Can it, kid.”

Vince roared with laughter as the rest of the pack showed up to eat. After I basically told half the pack to kick rocks, I decided that we would all have meals together to strengthen what bonds we had left. My pack was my family and they’d sworn their lives to me but, I would never ask strangers to die for me. As everyone walked in, I greeted them and asked if anyone needed anything. Nobody usually did. I was determined to keep things running as smoothly as my dad and grandpa had.

When will you tell them that I am here?

I froze. The voice that I heard in the hospital was back; the nausea came up again and I slightly retched. Not now, please.

Why not now? That little outburst with that boy… I didn’t think you would be capable of power like that. The rage inside of you is strong, child, we will make a great team.

You can kiss my ass, I thought back, Food is way more important than you.

Impudent whelp, it snarled as it went back into the recesses of my mind.

Before I could think about it any further, out came my grandmother with a platter of enchiladas just for me. Shredded lettuce was sprinkled on top with a mountain of queso ranchero. Vince laughed as he saw the amount of cheese, “Want some enchiladas with your queso?”

“Boy, you know cheese is life, now excuse me while I get down.”

Halfway through scarfing down my fifth enchilada, a sudden burn on my neck made me shoot up from my seat. I stared down at my father and uncle, who had mostly been quiet until now. They noticed my glare and sure enough, they’re faces turned red, “Why is he here?”

“We don’t know.”

“I don’t want to see him.”

“It’s not our choice.”

The rest of the pack stayed silent. They kind of knew what was going on since I couldn’t remove the black double crescent moons that were burned upon my marking spot. Dad had to vaguely explain what happened. Was it anger or fear that that son of b***h was in my house somewhere? The voice inside my head began to rumble as the panic was rising.

Be calm, little girl. Finish your food. Then we shall see Tsukuyomi together.             

I didn’t want to see Tsukuyomi again, especially not after hearing my wolf speak. My wolf sounded like a male wolf! This was impossible! How could a she-wolf have a male wolf spirit? What did that make me? Were my old pack members right and I was just a freak? I could barely touch my food after my scars burning confirmed that the dark god was here. So many emotions were rolling around at once. My head felt like it was packed with wet cotton. Vince noticed my eyes were starting to lose their focus, “Ash? Are you okay?” Too late, I tried to tell him, falling into darkness.