CHAPTER 28

Chapter 28

“You have to rest, Alec… Staying up day and night isn’t good for your health.”

Micah’s voice interrupted my concentration while I was working. I looked at the clock only to realize that it was already morning. Ten, to be exact.

Ignoring him, I went back to my work, checking the printed papers and some of the texts that the elders had provided me with.

“Alec?” he called with frustration.

His voice was starting to annoy me. I wanted to get to the bottom of things. Was that too hard to fucking understand?

He called me again, and this time I fucking lost it.

“What?” I yelled, the words coming out as a growl.

My eyes pierced his as I raised my head, Knox close to the surface. He was usually calm and was only a beast when we needed to fight or someone crossed us. Now, with everything that had happened; losing his mate and our pack being on the brink of extinction, he was more on edge than usual.

The situation was fucking pushing us. It frustrated me and agitated my wolf, which isn’t a good combination for an Alpha wolf, since we are usually more likely to lose control.

Instead of leaving like I expected him to, he sighed, crossed the room, and took a seat in front of my

desk.

“You’re not listening, Alec. You’re my Alpha, but you’re also my friend, and I refuse to let you wither away because of the curse and your mate rejecting you.”

“Piss off, Micah.”

I don’t want to be reminded that Lola rejected me and then disappeared. She didn’t even give me the chance to try and earn her forgiveness. I want to try and understand her, but I get it. I would also have reacted violently if I’d found my mate in bed with another man, whether it was intentional or a

drunken mistake.

“Not even on your fucking last breath, Alec,” he simply replied, and then leaned back against the

chair.

We’ve been best friends for years. Growing up, he and Jason were the only ones my age, so it was a given that we would be best friends. It also helped that their parents were gammas and betas,

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Chapter 28

respectively, and were also my parents‘ closest friends.

I would lay my life down for them, and they would do the same, but right now I needed to focus on the pack and how to save my people. Work was the only thing that kept my mind from wondering how messed up things had turned out.

“I’m serious, though; you need to rest,” he said after a while. “When was the last time you even slept?”

I wanted him to just shut up. His nagging was getting on my nerves, and I was in no mood to be given a fucking lecture.

“My pack is deteriorating. You’ve seen how weak we are getting and how tired and feeble our warriors. are getting. We haven’t had a birth in fucking years, and it’s all because of this stupid curse… Tell me, Micah, how can I be expected to sleep peacefully when my people are suffering, knowing very fucking well that if I don’t do something, then things are only going to get worse?”

He doesn’t answer, so I continued. “I’ll gladly sleep if you can give me a damn solution, but until then, get off my fucking back.”

With that, I ignored him and got back to work. I’d just gotten my focus back when the door opened again. I released a groan of frustration and looked up.

“Good, both of you are here,” he hurriedly said, closing the door and crossing the room.

“I swear, if you’re here to nag me, I’ll throw you both out right after I’ve kicked both into

your asses oblivion,” I growled, unable to control the rising tension inside me.

Jason looked puzzled at both of us before shaking his head. “No, I came here because I found something.”

He waved something in front of me, and it was only then that I realized that he was holding a book. Not a book. More like a leather–bound journal.

“Is it about the curse?” Micah asked, turning towards him.

Jason nodded his head. “Yes“.

“Are you going to speak, or am I going to have to force the words out of your lips?” I asked after

minutes of silence.

He shakes his head as if clearing his head from a haze.

“Well, remember when your dad and the elders told us about the curse?” he began, and we nodded

our heads. “No one really knew about the origin of the curse or why someone would curse us in the

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Chapter 28.

first place.”

We again nodded our heads. The only thing we knew was that we had a curse hanging over the pack; that meant not only those living in the pack but anyone that traced their origin to our pack. That includes members who left for whatever reason and any family they might have had.

No one knew who cursed us or why they did it in the first place, which made it difficult to break. My dad and grandad went to different witches and warlocks, and all of them said the same thing. It’s hard to break a curse if you don’t know the details.

There are a few who tried breaking it, but it always backfired. They’d told my dad it was because whoever cursed us was really powerful, making the curse really strong and difficult to break.

“Well, it turns out, we were cursed because of something the pack did, or more so, the leaders of the pack did.” Jason’s voice pulled me back to the present.

“You mean my great–grandparents?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s all the leaders… Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and the elders at that time,” he replied, opening the book.

Micah and I just stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying. If it’s true, what did they do that was bad enough to earn them a curse?

Jason looked up and added, “The weird thing is that the pages before and after are torn. This seems like someone’s journal. Someone who was alive when that shit happened.”.

“So you’re saying someone went to great lengths to hide exactly what happened by tearing out the pages?” Micah asked, standing up.

Jason simply replied, “Yes. The only existing part is the entry saying that the pack did something that

caused the curse. There isn’t much detail about it, except that.”

I was about to ask him to hand over the journal, when I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. It’s like nothing I’ve never felt before.

I hunched over, catching the attention of my friends.

“Are you okay, Alec? Why do you look like you’re in pain?” Jason turned towards me, looking worried.

“No shit, Sherlock,” I answered sarcastically, right before another wave of pain hit me.

This time, I wasn’t able to stop the groan of pain that escaped my mouth.

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Chapter 28

“What the fuck is happening?” Micah questioned me, but I was in as much darkness as he was.

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Gritting my teeth against the pain, I stood up and slowly walked to the couch. Before I could get there, another wave hit, making me fall on my fucking knees.

Fuck, what the hell was happening?

Jason and Micah rushed towards me, helping me on the couch as pain traveled along my abdomen. I could feel my abs clenching as if they were cramping, and, fuck, did it hurt.

“Shit, call the pack doctor,” Jason told Micah urgently.

“No,” I snarled the word. “Unless it proves to be a life–or–death situation, I don’t want the doctor involved.”

They stared at me, but a command was given. They couldn’t go against it.

I lay there, as wave after wave of pain sliced through my body. I’m not sure how long we were in the office when the pain suddenly stopped. Good thing my office was soundproof.

“Do you think it’s Lola? I’ve heard this happens when your mate is fucking someone else,” Jason asked, worry still written on his face.

“No, this is something else. Besides, we hadn’t marked each other, so that’s not possible.” I sat up slowly, feeling the aches and soreness in my body.

“I don’t like this… I don’t like it at all,” Micah murmured, his eyes betraying how unsettled he was.. “First, our members begin to weaken rapidly, and now this?”

I don’t answer him. Instead, I leaned back against the sofa and closed my eyes as tiredness washed. over me. I shut everyone out, including Jason and Micah.

“What the hell happened, Knox?”

He was sleeping, his head resting on top of his paws. He’d tried taking some of the pain, so he was drained, just like I was.

“I don’t know, and I can’t explain it, but something feels different,” he answered before closing his eyes.

Fuck. I rub my chest as something shifts and settles inside me. I don’t know what it is or what causes it, but it is there.

Knox is right; something feels different. I just don’t know what the fuck it is or what it means.