Howls of Cursed Fate

꧁ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓷 ꧂

𝓦𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓗𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼

A few quiet days passed, and I was more than content just watching things settle. Moongrave's old church was slowly coming together, my pack was closer than ever, and my dad actually seemed proud. For once, it felt like I was finally learning what it meant to be a real leader.

Everything was going too smoothly, except for one nagging thought: someone among us was struggling with darkness, and I had no idea who. I wasn't ready to point fingers, but small signs were there, subtle enough to brush off, but unsettling just the same. Why did Asher have to work so hard to keep his overprotective instincts in check? Why had Shelly and Ryan been so distant, practically invisible these past weeks?

Or was it me?

Just the fact that I was an alpha and couldn't find my mate sooner than after being nineteen years old, made me doubtful. Derek might be still mateless and older than me, but his little joke about a curse left me thinking. He had said he might be cursed, but they had been fighting demons when one of them had to sacrifice themselves. What if Derek hadn't found his destined lover because he was really cursed? One thing made me deduce the cause behind it. Maybe Derek was the one who tried the hardest to save Noah from sacrificing and the demons somehow caused...

What if I was possessed? Because the darkness had appeared the next day after I finally found Savannah. Or before? No, it was exactly twelve hours after...

No, I couldn't be cursed. I'd never seen a ghost before, I'd never felt darkness in me before...

Think positively, Gideon. Too much happening and there had to be some nice thoughts to overplay.

Savannah's birthday party is soon. Yeah, that's good.

She'd been better those past days. We'd helped her so much and she'd let us do so. Willingly. She finally saw that I was just bark and no bite—worth fully trusting. Surprising to see that our friendship could bloom more, but there was still the little problem called 'her parents' threatening her peace. And I really needed to help her to calm the werewolf in me.

My mom, and her usual lawyer's precision, had handled everything with Theo's parents in a matter of days—papers signed, new guardianship arrangements became as official as it could be. Savannah had been about to have a better life, but for now it was called something as provisional parentage. Even though her new family status was for trial I was more than happy to see her with no abandonment, no loneliness anymore.

Savannah had been stunned when we told her on Sunday—one day after Lilly's meeting with Derek. She'd looked between me, Theo and Caden, eyes wide and a bit unsure. It was like she couldn't believe it was real, but her actual words had crushed me.

"Do I need to be under any wings? And someone really want to take care of me?" she'd said so innocently, so vulnerably.

It was strange, and in some tiny ways, funny, to see her react that way. But soon, she'd started to ease into the idea. Her misbelief that kids had to be independent and productive for their parents at all cost made us realize how bad it'd really been. She'd been a survivor. No eyes had been dry that day.

Moving her things in with Theo had been surprisingly simple, especially since my mom worked so efficiently, so it all happened really fast.

But the day we'd found out that her parents had been employed on the other side of the country long weeks ago was harsh. The realization had crushed my mate all again.

"They weren't about to come back," she had whispered in her new room, with her eyes seeming distant and hurt. I hadn't been able to see her like this, so I'd gone to buy her another birthday present to fill my collection for her.