The Wolves of Witch Pond

Chapter 2: Cursed

Ronan

As the sun rose, Alpha Ronan retreated deeper into the forest. When the full moon set, the power of his pack diminished and they were no match for the witches. He paused at the tree line while the rest of the pack sought refuge in the caves where they were safe. The witches wouldn’t dare set foot in the caves.

Glancing back at the pond, Ronan caught sight of a young witch. Petite with olive skin and dark hair, she knelt at the edge of the water. It was risky for a lone witch to be at the water so early in the morning after a full moon. Either she was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.

Ronan snorted, a misty breath clouding around his snout. He shook his head and turned away from the water.

*You’re just going to leave her there?* Kai, Ronan’s Beta, asked over the mind link.

Ronan glanced at the grey wolf who hovered just on the edge of his periphery. *The sun rises, so does her power,* he pointed out.

*Take her now. Kill her and it is one less to worry about,* Kai urged.

Ronan snorted and shook his head, his furry mane dancing on his neck as he did. *We’re not having this argument again.* He snarled, to emphasize his point and herded Kai deeper into the woods with the rest of the pack.

If Kai had his way, every witch that was caught alone would be chased down and killed. Many, like Ronan’s sister Selena, agreed with Kai’s ideas.

Ronan was practical. Killing witches might satisfy the need for revenge but it wouldn’t break the curse that long haunted his pack.

When he reached the caves, most of the others had settled down to sleep off their euphoric, full moon night. With the power of the Moon Goddess at its peak, the celestial energy was like a drug.

Ronan was still coming down, his skin and fur buzzing, feeling electrified even though the sun fully rose. He trotted to the back of the cave and climbed up on a stone dais. There, he laid down and rested his head on his paws.

Pack warriors patrolled the mouth of the cave in shifts during the day, keeping watch for any stray witches wandering into their territory.

Yawns and snores had Ronan’s ears twitching back and forth. The pack would need their rest. The night of the full moon was by far the most exhilarating night for the pack. It was the night after the full moon that they all looked forward to.

Ronan’s eyelids drooped and he slumbered soundly.

**

When Ronan woke up, he yawned and stretched, arching his back and tail up to the cave ceiling.

The rest of the pack had barely started to stir.

The sun was setting. He could feel it on his skin. Stretching again, Ronan went outside the cave and looked up at the sky. The moment the sun sank below the horizon, a shiver ran through him.

Without even thinking about it, the shift was upon him and Ronan rose from four legs to two, standing in his human form.

He got to work lighting a bonfire in the clearing in front of the caves. It wasn’t long before other pack members emerged in their human forms. Laughing and skipping, they hugged each other and started playing games.

Someone brought a freshly killed deer to the fire and they worked on getting in on a spit. Soon, the air was filled with the scent of roasting meats and mead was being passed around.

The Alpha smiled at the joy and happiness that spread through everyone he cared about. He sat on a stump, a mug of mead in one hand and some freshly roasted venison on a plate, precariously balanced on his knee.

“I hear you let a couple of witches escape,” a female voice said snidely.

Ronan rolled his eyes and looked at his sister, Selena. She was tall for a female, athletic, and strong. Her dark skin made her almost a shadow beneath the trees but her amber eyes glowed brightly. She kept her black, frizzy hair short.

Selena knelt down beside Ronan and snatched a piece of Venison off his plate.

“I know you’d like to wipe them all out, Selena. That wouldn’t help us,” Ronan said with a sigh. He sipped his mead, hoping the subject would be dropped.

“It would make us all feel a lot better,” she pointed out, sniffing tartly.

“Perhaps, but I think about the big picture. One day, hopefully in my lifetime, I would like to see you and talk to you like this whenever I wanted. I don’t want to have one night a month with you as human,” Ronan said.

Someone began playing guitar. Soon an accordion, violin, and flute joined in. Pack members grabbed their mates, friends, or children, and started dancing around the fire.

Ronan smiled widely. He set his mug aside and clapped along to the beat.

“And how do you propose we make that happen? By just walking into their village and asking nicely?” Selena countered.

“No, but this ‘eye for an eye’ cr*p isn’t working. It didn’t work for father or grandfather. Otherwise, the curse would have been lifted generations ago,” the Alpha said tersely.

Selena groaned and stood up. She put her hands on her hips, towering over Ronan where he sat. “When I was sixteen, I ran into a witch. Unprovoked, she tried to cast a spell on me, remember that? They are never going to break this curse unless we show them it is more dangerous to keep us as wolves.”

“There’s my girl,” Gabriel, Selena’s mate, sang as he sashayed through the dancers to join Selena and Ronan.

“Maybe you can talk some sense into my thick-headed brother, Gabe,” Selena said.

Gabriel, her mate, slipped his arm around her waist.

“That’s funny, Selena, I was going to say the same about you,” Ronan muttered.

“Come with me, my love. I so rarely get to look on your beautiful face like this,” Gabriel coaxed. He urged Selena away, looking back and winking at Ronan as they departed.

Ronan smirked and gave a nod of gratitude.

Gabriel had been his best friend his entire life. Yet, fate had given him to Ronan’s sister as a mate.

Ronan watched his pack dancing, drinking, and having a good time. A pit settled in his stomach as he watched.

His pack was cursed. One night a month, the night after the full moon, they were allowed to take human form. The rest of the time, they were trapped in their wolf bodies.

The nearby witch coven had cursed them long ago before his grandfather had been born. He’d inherited a cursed pack, but unlike his predecessors, Ronan wanted to break the curse, not just destroy the witches.

“For you, Alpha,” Kai said, taking a seat on the stump beside Ronan. The Beta handed him a fresh mug of mead.

“I know you don’t approve, Kai, but I will find a way to break this curse. Unfortunately, I think we will need the witches. If we wipe them all out, who will break the curse?” Ronan asked.

Kai shrugged and guzzled down his own mead.

Ronan and Kai had been at odds since Ronan had made a law that killing witches unprovoked was against pack law. Unless it was in self-defense, he would severely punish mindless killing.

“You’re the Alpha,” Kai responded.

Ronan nodded and took a big gulp of mead. The moment it hit his tongue his mouth felt numb. He shook his head, his mind feeling foggy.

“Are you alright, Ronan?” Kai asked.

“I… must have drank too much,” Ronan muttered. He set the mead aside and stood up.

His arms and legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each. With a soft grunt, Ronan headed into the trees, away from the bonfire. His skin felt tight on his chest and he felt like he needed space, fresh air.

When the music and laughter were far behind him, Ronan leaned against a tree. He closed his eyes and tried to clear the clouds from his mind.

“Alpha, are you alright?” Kai’s voice echoed behind him.

Ronan whipped around. He saw three different Kais standing in front of him. They were blurry and mimicked each other as Kai tilted his head to the side.

“Wh-what did y-you give me?” Ronan asked, swatting at the air as what looked like cobwebs flew in his face. There was nothing there.

Through the fog, he saw Kai smirk. “You’re too soft. Ronan. The pack needs a leader that will hunt, fight, and kill. We don’t need a peacemaker.”

“And yet… yet y-you had to… drug me to face… me,” Ronan groaned, pointing out the irony.

“The others will never know,” Kai shrugged.

With a snarl, Kai jumped at him.

Ronan had enough clarity to dodge out of the way. His heavy limbs slowed him down.

Something sharp raked down his back and searing, white-hot pain flared. Ronan roared and turned to Kai.

He grabbed Kai’s wrist, twisting it until it snapped and the knife fell to the ground.

“Ack!” Kai yelped. He kicked, the toe of his boot colliding with Ronan’s shin.

Ronan stumbled backward, his arms flailing, feet slipping. He was losing control of his body, fast.

Kai hissed and jumped on his back. The added weight caused Ronan to stumble back and forth.

The blade of the knife flashed in the moonlight as Kai raised his arm. He plunged the knife down, piercing Ronan’s chest.

Ronan groaned as the blade stuck in him like a thousand bee stings.

Kai pulled the blade out, stabbing again and again until Ronan lost his footing.

With a crash, he came to his knees on the forest floor.

“Don’t worry about the pack. I’ll take good care of them,” Kai sneered. He pushed against Ronan’s back.

The Alpha fell face first into dried leaves. He heard Kai’s cackle as the Beta ran back to the pack.

Ronan stared off into space.

A surge of strength filled him. He wasn’t going to die there on the ground.

Slowly, he grabbed at the dirt and started dragging himself. If he could get to the shelter of an unused cave…

Hand over hand he dragged himself one excruciating inch after another toward an open cave. He’d win his pack back and free them from the curse.