Cursed by Fate (COMPLETE)

Chapter Seventeen

A very loud and sudden banging harshly jolted from my sleep. It scared me so badly I practically jumped out of my skin, and landed on the floor. Hard. I looked at the clock on my nightstand and gasped when it said it was only five in the morning. I growled, rubbing my hand up and down my cheek as I stomped down the stairs to face whoever thought it was a good idea to wake me up this early. 

“What?” I growled jerking the door open. 

Mathias stood on the other side of the door. The smile that I saw instantly fell the second he saw the angry expression on my face. 

“Mathias.” I breathed, rubbing my temples. “If this isn’t life or death, you have some serious explaining to do.” 

“I..uh, I…” He stuttered nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

I groaned, throwing the door open. “Just get in here.” I growled. 

Lance laughed from behind me as he made his way from the stairs to the kitchen. “I’ll make coffee.” He chuckled, shaking his head at Mathias. “You’ll find out quick not to wake her up before eight in the morning. She’ll bite your head off.” 

Mathias cringed as he followed me silently into the kitchen. I sunk into a seat at the kitchen table and dropped my head into my hands. It is way too early to be awake. I should still be in my bed curled up to my pillow sleeping. 

“Nicole I…” 

I growled, cutting Mathias off. “Do I have coffee?” I asked. He shook his head no, his brows furrowed. “Then I’m not ready to talk.” I said flatly, never raising my head from my hands. 

“Here Uwoduhi.” Lance said gently, placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of me. I smiled up at him, grabbing the cup between my hands and taking a long swig. I sighed in contentment. Ah, that’s better. Coffee may not make the world go round but it sure as hell started mine. 

“Thank you Lance.” I smiled. Turning to Mathias I scowled. “Why are you here banging on my door at five in the morning Mathias?” I demanded. “This couldn’t have waited until a little later? We have all day, and all month.” 

Mathias smiled almost nervously. “Well, I didn’t like the idea of you being here alone here with him.” He said honestly. 

I groaned. “He has his own room Mathias.”

His eyes widened, and his smile turned kind of sheepish as his cheeks flushed. I laughed, covering my mouth to try and hide my amusement. 

“You’re jealous.” I snickered. 

“Of course I am.” He said throwing his hands in the air. “He has had you for an entire month, and I can’t even spend the night with you because some alpha wolf thinks he is protecting you.”

“Malachi isn’t the only alpha wolf Mathias. Lance is an alpha as well. The stories on werewolves aren’t true either. More than one alpha can live within one pack, Malachi just leads this one. Lance didn’t want to lead.” I shrugged. 

Mathias growled towards Lance. “Three alphas in one town won’t be easy though Nicole. Not to mention the fact that two will consistently spend a long period of time together with you.” 

I just smiled. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You both will need to behave yourselves.” 

They both looked at me a minute before turning their eyes on each other. Mathias’s green eyes flared, and it surprised me to see Lane’s brown eyes flash in return. Lance was usually one to keep his composure. I groaned internally, this was going to be harder than I thought it would be. 

“Okay.” I said, snapping their attention back to me. “How about we eat some breakfast and start the conversation we were supposed to have. I still have questions.” I said standing and making my way to gather some bacon, sausage, ham, and eggs from the fridge. I turned my favorite playlist on, on my phone and started cooking. 

I had to ignore the two men staring at me while I cooked. They were distracting and I would burn the food if I didn’t. Plus I was hungry, and if I burnt the food because of them, I would be mad. But at the same time, I needed to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn’t kill each other. Perfect. 

“Hey, Nicole. Can you make those eggs again?” Mathias asked excitedly. 

I turned and faced him smiling. “You still haven’t made them yourself yet?” I mused. 

“No.” He huffed crossing his arms over his chest. “I tried. But they never turn out as good as yours.” 

“Yes Mathias, I’ll make the eggs.” I laughed. 

I cooked in silence the rest of the time. Quickly frying the ham before washing the pan and frying the sausage and bacon. I decided to surprise Mathias and cook the eggs in both sausage and bacon grease this time. I wonder what he’ll think about it this time? I chuckled to myself. 

I quickly made everyone's plate and sat in front of them before sitting in between the two of them to make sure to keep space between them. They really shouldn’t be in such close proximity, but there was nothing I could really do about it. Especially considering we all needed to sit and talk about everything later. 

“Thank you Nicole.” Mathias beamed, a broad smile lighting up his face. 

“Yes, thank you Uwoduhi.” Lance smiled. 

“You’re welcome.” 

As I ate my food I began to wonder why I all of a sudden wanted to eat so much meat. I’ve never eaten more than one meat during a meal. So three during one meal was beyond odd for me. And the fact that I basically shoveled it all down my throat like I was starving, was also weird. Yeah, I eat. But never so much, and never so quickly. I was embarrassed at myself with how I behaved at the table. I acted like a complete barbarian. 

“I am so sorry.” I rushed out, covering my flushed cheeks with my hands. “I don’t know what came over me.” 

“It’s your werewolf side.” Lance said soothingly. “She will be coming out soon, so she is preparing your body for the change. You will need as much energy as possible for the change. And that’s just your werewolf side. When your vampire comes out she will need strength in...other ways.” He finished curling his lip. 

“What’s that about?” I asked furrowing my brow. 

“What?” Lance asked, confused. 

“The curled lip over my vampire. So what if she’ll need to feed, I’ll find a way to manage. I can get blood bags instead of feeding off people. But you just curled your lip over it. You’ve known this whole time what I was. And you’re curling your lip over it now?” I demanded. 

“No, Nicole. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just the idea of drinking blood. It’s unsettling.” He shuddered. 

“Well I don’t exactly like the idea.” I muttered. 

“I’m sorry.” He said reaching over and taking my hand. “I know this isn’t easy for you. I shouldn’t have done that. You being part vampire doesn’t bother me, really.” He assured me. 

I smiled. “Good. Now, I have some questions. First. Shifting, how bad does it hurt?” 

Mathias and Lucas both cringed. “Well, the first time feels exactly like it sounds. Have you ever broken a bone?” He asked. 

“No. I’ve never even been sick.”

“That’s odd. We are all basically human until our fifteenth birthday.” Mathias murmured. “Anyway, it feels like every bone in your body is being broken and realigned. I’m not going to lie, it hurts like hell. Some people even black out from the pain. After your first time it gets easier, until eventually you really don’t even feel it anymore. I’d say it takes five to ten shifts before it gets to where you no longer feel it. But it really depends on the person.”

I nodded, now terrified of shifting for the first time. I may not have ever broken a bone, but I heard Mathias shift, heard Lance shift. And it’s awful. The sound. I shivered at the mere memory of it. What will happen when I hear it coming from my own body?

“Okay. Does the color of a wolf mean anything? Or is it just random?” 

“Well, that’s a complicated question.” Lance said rubbing his jaw. “Most of the time it’s random, but color do have meaning with rank and strength. The most common color is grey, which is usually the omegas in a pack. The common everyday pack member. Then you have brown wolves. They usually rank as gamma’s and beta’s, they rank directly below the alpha. 

Then you have red and black wolves, they are more uncommon in color and would normally rank in the alpha position. They are stronger, faster, and bigger than the other wolves. Which is why they lead the packs as the alpha. Malachi is a black wolf like I am. And you have two more, rare colors which are white or silver. I have never seen a white or silver wolf, but by what I’ve been told they are supposed to somehow rank above even an alpha. I don’t know how that’s possible though. The white and silver wolves are said to be as fast as a bullet, as strong as steel and as large as a small horse.”

“Okay, so I can probably expect to be either grey or brown more than likely.” I said more to myself than to them. 

Mathias laughed. I mean he let out a loud bellowing laugh that echoed off the walls. “No.” he laughed. “You will most definitely be red or black. There is no way, with your attitude, fire and dominance now, that you’re a common wolf or beta.” 

“You think so?” I smiled excitedly. I’d love to be black like Lance. Don’t get me wrong. Mathias’s red was beautiful, but the sleek black of Lance’s coat mesmerized me. 

“No.” He said caressing my cheek. “I know so.” 

I all but squealed as I threw myself excitedly at Mathias and hugged him excitedly. “Wait.” I said pulling away suddenly. “Won’t that be an issue with all of us?” 

“No.” Lance said chipping in. “A female alpha and a male alpha won’t clash like two male alphas will. It is actually far easier for a female alpha and male alpha to get along.” 

“Well, that’s good to know at least. Okay, next question. How long do I have to choose? Am I on a time limit?” They both sighed heavily as they looked at each other before looking back to me. 

“The fate that cursed the hybrids gave them one small blessing if you can call it that. She gave the female one year after her first shift to choose the one she wants to be with. But she must choose the day before her twenty-first birthday.” Lance answered sullenly. 

One year. I had one year to get to know each of them better than I do now, and choose which one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. That’s what? Four months a piece, if I count Elias. A small part of me wanted to count him, wanted to give him a chance. While the larger part of me still saw him as an possessive, conceited asshole. And yet, isn’t that how alpha males were supposed to be? Possessive. Maybe vampires worked differently than werewolves. Who am I kidding? Of course they do. Vampires and werewolves were two different species entirely. Maybe I should reconsider Elias. 

“Okay, so after my first shift should Elias come back, each of you will get four months alone with me. And that will give us four months to get to know one another better than we currently do.” I stated as calmly as I could. 

I tried not to let the sadness slip into my voice. Not to let the weight this put on me be known. I know they were under stress too, and I didn’t want to add to it. I also didn’t want them faking with me. Didn’t want them putting on a show. That’s what worried me most. What if they were just putting on a show? What if they were showing me one thing, one side of them, when a completely other side is who they really are? 

“How do I know if all of this is real?” I ask. “Like, how do I know how you all are acting isn’t fake. Like you’re trying to impress me with behavior you usually wouldn’t display.” 

“Part of the curse.” Mathias groaned. “All parties involved have no choice but to show their true character, their true intentions. Which is why Elias was acting the way he was.” 

“Well, that’s one thing that works in my favor at least.” I said sarcastically. 

I hated this. I hated this whole damn situation. I know I’ve said it before, I’ve said it a hundred times. It’s just not fair. I can handle being alone, I’ve been alone as long as I can remember. I can handle living with a broken heart, can handle losing all of them. What I can’t handle, what I don’t think I could survive was hurting one of them. How was this even a choice? Couldn’t they take the pain of the others away after one was chosen? Make the others forget about me after I chose one? 

“I’m sorry Nicole. I can’t begin to imagine how hard this is for you.” Lance said softly. 

I chuckled. “Yes you can. Because you hold the same fear inside you I do. You hold the same reservations, the same everything. The only difference is, you don’t have to make the choice. You don’t have to break someone's heart.” I stood abruptly, wiping away a tear that escaped. “I need some air.” I whispered, before running out the door. 

I ran and ran, until I couldn’t run anymore. I couldn’t feel my legs and my lungs were burning. I doubled over bracing myself on my knees as my shoulders heaved with every breath I took. I didn’t love either of them, not yet. But the thought of hurting them still made my chest tighten. 

“Something must not have went well.”  Elias’s voice sounded from behind me. 

“Don’t Elias.” I whispered. “Not right now, I’m not in the mood.” I said dropping to the ground and pulling my knees to my chest. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, sounding surprisingly sincere as he sat beside me. 

“So you care now?” I asked. 

“I’ve always cared Nicole. I just don’t like the idea of sharing.” He shrugged. 

“Sharing? You don’t have to share.” I said sourly. “I have to choose. Like I’m some kind of prized horse looking for the best stallion. I hate it. It’s not right.” I fumed. 

“Being a hybrid was meant to be a curse, Nicole. It may not be right or even fair, all you can do is make the best of the situation. Brooding and sulking over it won’t help anything or even change it.” 

I turned to him with a raised brow. “Okay, where is the real Elias?” I teased. 

“Both are me.” He admitted. “It took you pointing it out to see how bad it got.” 

“I’m not ready for this Elias.” I admitted. “I never even looked at a man until now. I’ve always been so focused on myself and my future.” I shook my head. “I guess all that’s gone now, huh.” 

“No, rosa mea, it’s not. It may be put off for a little while, but it’s not gone.” 

“Rosa mea?” I questioned, looking up into his haloed brown eyes.

“It means my rose in Latin.” He told me, smiling. 

 “It’s beautiful.” I whispered.

Growls erupted behind me. I turned to see two very large very angry looking wolves. I just sighed, shaking my head. I knew they’d follow me eventually. Though I never intended to meet Elias out here. Them seeing me with him probably didn’t help their mood. 

“Guys, he’s fine.” I said tiredly. “Can we all just stop, you two shift back, and go home? I’m tired.”

Both of them shook their head slightly. Ah right, they’d be naked. 

“Well maybe next time you should bring clothes with you.” I scolded, hauling myself to my feet. 

Elias helped me up, as my legs still felt like jelly. “Want to see how vampires travel?” He whispered in my ear. I smiled and nodded as I met his eye. 

Before I could blink Elias picked me up into his arms bridal style and started running. No, not running. Flying. At least that’s what it felt like. He ran so fast everything passed by us in a blur, all the colors running together. It was exhilarating and amazing. And I couldn’t wait until I could do this by myself.