My Cursed Mate's Revenge

Chapter 3: A Dying Man's Promise

Two months Earlier:

Freya



We arrived in the pack hall five minutes after Clara rung the bell, signaling to the pack an important announcement was taking place and they must gather with haste. Astor met us halfway to the pack hall, loudly proclaiming that it was so fortunate someone was still around to properly carry out pack business, especially while we wasted time choosing my father’s new outfit, one that hardly anyone would even be able to see, and other pointless endeavors.

She did not receive any response or even an acknowledgment of her presence from us and had resumed her usual attitude of indifference, leaning against the far wall of the raised dias- putting as much space between my father and I as possible in the small space.

The pack had begun filing in shortly after our arrival, coming from the various entrances spaced along the large hall. The space was large enough to fit nearly every pack wolf in Anastrossi, and even many of the rogue wolves that lived in the Western Wood- though we did not have a reliable way of counting their numbers given their solitary nature.

As such, it was hard to gauge when the entire pack was assembled. Some tended to gather in clusters, while others would mingle freely as we all waited for any stragglers to arrive. The procedure was to wait thirty minutes after the bell echo had faded, giving us twenty-five minutes to ensure my father was comfortable and settled prior to speaking.

The minutes ticked by slowly. Conversations grew louder and the occasional laugh echoed through the hall. I stared down at them, trying not to feel so envious of their easy interactions. While my father liked to think of my strange mindlinking ability as a gift I had not yet learned to control, he was alone in this.

No one in our pack treated me with anything less than the respect every heir was due, but that did not mean they were fighting for the chance to befriend me either. My thoughts and feelings randomly and uncontrollably being broadcast into every nearby pack member’s mind had led to more than one unfortunate interaction.

I did not blame them for this, but I ached for a companion. Someone my own age, a friend to talk to and confide in. The fear I felt for my father was a burden I had carried alone for weeks, not daring to share any of it with him and risk making those fears a reality.

The steady flow of people entering had begun to slow, and I looked at the nearest guard. He shook his head, telling me that I was not lost for too long in my own thoughts and my father had a few more minutes to rest. I took those few moments to search our dais, noting who was here.

My father’s Beta was still away, overseeing the defense efforts at a Night Stalker outpost and helping to rebuild after the most recent attack. The last message we received warned of escalating efforts by strange creatures many were calling ‘Warped wolves’, both in the tenacity of their attacks and the frequency.

We still were not any closer to learning where these wolves had come from or what they wanted. We could find no pattern to their attacks. His Gamma was still recovering in our infirmary from one such attack, although he was ambushed while leading a supply train to a nearby outpost.

His wounds from the Warped bites had not yet healed, despite the round the clock care our medical staff provided and his own natural healing abilities. He was the last and only survivor from this attack, after watching his son die slowly in the infirmary bed next to him.

The last time I had visited with him was when my father had become bed-ridden, acting as the messenger between them and carrying out their responsibilities within the pack to give them both time to recover. The smell of his wounds when I walked into the infirmary was like rotting flesh- festering, overpowering, and sickly. It had become a smell I associated with the sludge my father spit up daily.

With his two highest officers missing, the gathering on the dais was small and consisted of myself and my father, the two guards who were assisting us, Astor, the envoy of the Night Stalker pack whose face was familiar but whose name my exhausted mind failed to remember, and a few other, lower level officers.

“Where is your mother? We will need to start soon.”

I searched for her again, unsure why she had not yet arrived, knowing that my father would never make such an important announcement without the presence of his Luna. Our pack was facing uncertain times and we could not risk starting a rumor that she did not approve of my father’s choice to name me.

While many of the pack were not fond of her like they had been of my mother, my strange mindlinking had not endeared them to me either.

Suddenly, my father stood up and shuffled toward the railing of the dais, facing down at the pack gathered a few feet below. I never knew if he had the ability to tell when every member was gathered because he was the Alpha, or if it was because he had been doing this for so long that he simply knew his people well enough to recognize they had all arrived.

It was a mystery he enjoyed dangling over me, swearing I would be in on the secret once I took over for him. Whatever It was, it warmed my heart to see that he still retained the ability even in his weakened state.

He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders back, lifted his head and took a moment to scan the pack hall, to meet the eye of every wolf gathered before him. The change that overcame him was almost immediate.

This was not the weak gaze of a sick and dying man, but the steely gaze of an Alpha- the kind of penetrating stare that looked through you, into your very soul, with a weight that brought even the most rebellious wolves to heel.

“My friends, my family, my pack. Thank you for joining us today.”

Godric’s voice echoed through the hall, filling it with warmth, love, and power. I could see that it brought an air of peace and calm to the gathered wolves, giving them a reassurance of safety that had been missing in these bleak and uncertain times.

“We are in dark times. I would do you a disservice by pretending otherwise. Many of you have already felt this darkness, seen it take from you, from your loved ones. You have felt its weight on your shoulders, sensed its presence lingering in the early morning, heard its shrieks echo in the dead of the night.”

He paused. The energy in the hall felt like it had been pulled taunt, as if Godric’s words had notched the very future of the pack as an arrow into his bow. They waited for his next words, knowing their fate, their very existence would be decided by where he aimed.

“I know….I know how this darkness feels. It eats away at you each day, never getting its fill. It buries you, smothers you. It steals and deceives, until it has stolen everything it can from you. It takes your very will to live…”

As these words left his mouth, laced with a hidden pain and sorrow, my vision began to blur. My lungs burned as my body betrayed me and trapped sobs wracked my body.

I closed my eyes and prayed to the Goddess and any powers that may be listening. The prayer was a wordless plea, begging them to spare my father from enduring any more pain than what he had already suffered.

“But I do not see that darkness here today. I look out at all of you and I see nothing but strength. The strength to persevere, to overcome the terrors that stalk us in the night! I see courage. The courage to face this darkness, to battle it head on and say that it can try, but it will not- CANNOT, break us.”

His body sagged slightly, almost as if the energy it took to shout these sentences was sapping every ounce of his strength.

He continued on regardless, whispering into the still silent hall, “I do not see this darkness here today, but instead hope. Hope for tomorrow, for our futures, for our land. I see it in our children. I know that while we may not have the strength to defeat this darkness and rid our home of this plague, our children will find a path, will forge the way to our salvation- starting today.”

He turned and beckoned me forward. Breathing deeply and quickly batting the tears from my eyes, I stepped forward and grasped his hand, joining him for the first time at the front of the dias, standing side by side with my father and Alpha, as only an equal and Heir could.

“It is with great pride and privilege that Gabriel and I officially announce that we will stepping down as Alpha and from today forward, the pack will answer to our-”

A coughing fit hit my father’s body, interrupting Godric’s next words and turning his face purple. His hold on my hand became the only thing keeping him upright and I quickly pulled him into my chest and guided him back towards his chair.

My mind again mourned the ease at which I was able to move him around as I called for a bucket from one of the guards. Instead of a guard, Moira appeared over his shoulder and began gently rubbing his back in soothing circles.

“Do not worry Gabriel, I will speak to our people. You tend to your father, Freya,” Moira whispered quickly before stepping around his chair and onto the dias behind me.

I heard her begin to speak but the words were drowned out by the sudden roaring in my ears. All of this was WRONG, everything was wrong- my father sick and weak, our pack losing wolves every day, sickness crawling across the land. I was just one person, one heir with no wolf. How could I possibly find a way to fix everything if my father could not?

I couldn’t breathe, I could barely think, the roaring in my ears growing louder until suddenly my body was no longer my own. It was like my strange mindlink had occurred but in reverse. Where my mind normally felt like it had been split in two, grabbing any minds nearby to shove them all into the small space within my skull, this felt like I had been shoved aside in my own mind, cut from the control of my body completely.

I was reduced to nothing but an audience member, sitting with a front row seat as someone else- or something else, moved my body to satisfy their own motives. I found my father’s weight once again supported by my arms, felt my legs turn and carry his still coughing figure towards the dias.

The roaring in my ears had subsided to a dull buzz, but remained loud enough to mute nearly every sound. I barely heard the guard approach us, his strong voice muffled as if balls of wax had been stuffed into my ears.

I felt my hand wave him off, felt my feet guiding my father back to his place in front of our people, heard Moira announce that their Alpha had decided they would follow her, their Luna, until my wolf appeared. That her daughter, Astor, would become the Heir of the Pack should my wolf not appear by my 23rd birthday.

The muffled decree echoed in my mind, filling me with a rage I had never before felt. I screamed at my limbs to move, at my head to turn, at my mouth to open and denounce her treasonous claims, but... nothing. My body did nothing but stare forward with a resigned expression cemented on my face, an arm extended and supporting my father’s weak body. The anger boiled over as I grasped for something, anything in my mind to give me a mental foothold and allow me to reclaim my body.

But there was nothing to grab.

My heart pounded faster, the only sign of my mental exertions. This could not be happening- it should not be happening! My father wanted the leadership of our pack to fall to me. Godric wanted our pack to follow me, she could not have possibly convinced him that this would-

Suddenly, I felt it.

A small thread,so small I nearly missed it. My mind grabbed hold and pulled, hoping it would unravel the mental net that held me captive. I felt my body slowly coming back under my control, my neck turning slightly at my command to look at Moira and my father.

I knew if he could just see into my eyes, he would know- somehow he would know that I was trapped in my mind, would find a way to assure me that she was not actually taking over our pack, that he would do whatever it took to break me from the prison that had become my body.

My head finally turned enough to see his face. His mouth opened and for a moment, it appeared as if he was choking on the words trying to leave his mouth. Moira placed her hand gently on my father’s back.

“As my Luna has said, so it shall be.”

The Alpha command echoed through the hall, despite how frail and raspy my father’s voice had become, shattering whatever power had held me trapped within my body. Shuddering breaths left my body too quickly as his command snapped into place.

It feels as though all of the air has been sucked out of the room. My vision began to tunnel. Footsteps sounded as the pair of guards rushed forward, one catching my father and the other grabbing hold of me. My eyes locked onto Astor’s, her face ashen and terror filling her eyes. It was clear she did not want this either.

Perhaps this is why she had always been so cruel and distant. Perhaps she knew it had come to this and felt it would be easier if we were not friends. I would almost pity her if my entire purpose, my future, my fate had not just been stolen from me.

I turned from her face to search for my father’s. My vision was tunneling too quickly, my breaths coming shorter and shorter, my lungs burning as they failed to pull in enough air to keep me conscious.

Suddenly, he was there, filling what little space remained of my sight, his body propped up in his seat, his eyes dark and focused intently on my face. His expression conveyed nothing but in his eyes burned an anger that I had never seen before. And something else, something stronger and even more unfamiliar in his stare- fear.

There was fear in his eyes.

“Oh dear Freya, must you always be so dramatic?”

Moira’s cruel words cut through my fading consciousness, followed by a painful shot of adrenaline coursing through my body, triggering my mind to link with the guard holding me.

‘What have you done, Moira?’

It was the second to last thought I had before my knees buckled and the darkness took me. The last was a realization. A fleeting one, but one that felt no less significant. It was the realization that the roaring in my ears had returned.

But this time, it was the roar of a wolf.