Alpha Knight’s Cursed Mate

NIRVANA “Hey, girl.” Kailin was unusually jolly today as she hugged me tight before entering the apartment.

“Grandpa.”

“Hey, honey.” He put his arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my head. “Mr. Blackwell.”

“I think we passed the formality, Case.” They shook hands.

“So, how was your night?” Kailin asked her cousin.

“He probably has a headache or neck pain but hides it very well.” I joined them in the living area when the doorbell rang again.

“I got this,” said Kailin as she went to the door.

Then Zarah walked in, looking gorgeous in her white corporate dress.

“Zarah.” I got up, surprised to see her.

“My dear, good to see you again.” We did a cheek-to-cheek kiss.

“Me too.” I suddenly felt uneasy when the apartment felt small for all of us, and I had a bad feeling that this meeting was set up.

“Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea?”

“I’m good, darling.” Zarah took a seat to my right.

“Honey, we have something to tell you.” When Grandpa started in that tone, my pulse began racing. “I know it may shock you, but I have kept secrets in your life. But know this: I did all these to protect you.”

My stomach had a nosedive, and I felt like he would be right- it may shock me. I swallowed hard before I nodded. “Okay. What is it, Grandpa?”

Grandpa shifted his gaze to Knight as if giving him a signal.

“What do you remember the night before you left?”

I looked at Knight. I suddenly saw the guilt in his eyes, which was surprising, considering he was unapologetic. “Before you told me to leave or after?”

“The night you saw in the vineyards.”

“I don’t know what I saw.” I shrugged it off. I mentally told myself it was all but my imagination because it wouldn’t make sense. It wasn’t real.

“That was Gage. He was one of my workers, and-”

“He’s a werewolf,” Kailin added.

“A what?” I asked breathlessly. No matter how hard I tried to hide my fear, it was still palpable in my voice.

“I’m a werewolf, too,” said Grandpa.

I stared at him for a moment before I burst out laughing. My eyes began to sting with tears, but none of them laughed.

“That’s not even funny.” I rose to my feet when they remained silent. “It’s a myth. It’s not real but in movies and fiction books.”

“I know this is shocking, but he’s telling the truth, Vana.” Kailin also rose to her feet and came to me. “I’m one. It’s been difficult for me to keep who I am from you, but I promised your grandfather to keep my true nature a secret.”

This was getting out of hand. I blinked at her and looked her in the eye to see if she was lying, but she wasn’t. I stared at my grandfather, who raised me since I lost my parents, and Knight, who looked more handsome, and then at Zarah, who was not denying what they said.

“No.” Shuddering, I shook my head violently. “Guys, please, stop this nonsense. It’s not funny anymore. If this is a prank, you better stop it, or I swear to God I walk out of this apartment. You’re all insane if you think I fall for this crap.”

“Nirvana.” Zarah stood up, too.

“Not you, too, Zarah. You know my parents. They’re not those monsters. Enough of this crap, please.” I left them and went to the kitchen to get something stronger to drink.

A part of me knew I wasn’t dreaming or having a terrible nightmare because I had doubts. I just didn’t know what to believe anymore. I knew what I saw that night, but thinking of how my grandfather, the man who raised me, was one of them was just far-fetched and insane.

“Vana.” Of course, Kailin followed me. She held my arms and forced me to face her.

“Stop.” A single tear fell down my cheek. “I don’t believe you. You’ve been my best friend for four years. You never kept a secret from me. Did you?”

“That’s the only secret I kept from you because I knew something like this would happen. And you wouldn’t still believe me. I’m so sorry, Vana. You know you’re like a sister to me, but you have to believe that it pained me to lie to you the entire time. My guilt choked me up, but I did that to protect you.”

“Enough, please?”

“Deep in your heart, you know it’s true. Please don’t hate me, and don’t be scared of me. We may have animals inside us, but we can control it.”

“I don’t wanna hear it anymore.” I walked away from her until a strong wind suddenly appeared in my kitchen and stopped me.

My heart was in my throat as I watched something like a mini tornado spin before me, but nothing was flying besides my hair, and then Zarah came closer. She looked like she was walking inside the golden, shiny magic weaved. And then it disappeared.

“I’m a witch,” she said to convince me. “If you don’t believe me, I can show you something about your parents.”

“Is a witch supposed to be riding a broomstick or wearing a hat?” I was still denying everything I was seeing because it was just impossible.

“She can create a portal and appear wherever she wants.”

“So you’re also a werewolf?” I scoffed at Knight.

“Yes. He’s my alpha,” said Kailin proudly.

Alpha. McKaye called him alpha, but it didn’t mean anything, right?

I laughed again. “You guys must be under the influence of drugs.”

“Do you know your ex is a werewolf?”

“What?” Kailin asked in surprise. “I never met the guy. They began dating as soon as I left for California. Is he? How did you know?”

“I caught his scent last night.”

“He is,” Grandpa confirmed it.

“Guys, please. I’ve had enough. I’m saving you the trouble if you’re all here to convince me that werewolves and witches exist. Stop wasting your time explaining.”

Zarah grabbed me in the hand, and I sucked in a breath. I was brought to an old house with a white picket fence somewhere in the suburbs. It was like in a roll film so fast I couldn’t catch it, but it was clearly someone that I knew. A woman with blonde hair was smiling at the dark-haired man while holding her baby bump.

“I love you so much, baby,” the man said. “I can’t wait to meet our baby girl. Our Nirvana.”

Then it was gone. I was brought to a terrifying moment where the same woman was bloody, stuck in a car crash, the man was already unconscious, and the baby was crying in the backseat.

“Stop! Stop!” I was back in the kitchen, jolting, catching my breath. Before I could fall, Kailin and Knight caught me. With wide eyes, I stared at Zarah in horror. “They were my parents, weren’t they?” I wiped the tears unknowingly fell. “I was the baby in the backseat. I was there in the car accident.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, my God.” I blinked the tears to clear my sight as I ran to my grandpa to hug him tight. “Grandpa, I saw them. They were so happy. My mother was pregnant. And they named their baby girl Nirvana.”

“I know, honey.”

I looked at him as I pulled away. “So, you’re a werewolf? Why am I not like you? Am I adopted?”

“No. You’re my grandchild, honey. You’re my blood, but you were cursed by a powerful warlock before you were even born.”

“Why?” I swallowed hard. “What did I do?”

“Your mother was a seer. She showed the warlock what his future would be. He cursed your mother that in every firstborn child would lose the power, the ability to see, and the true nature inside her.”

“So, why now? Why tell me now since I’m just an ordinary human?”

“Since you met Knight, something triggered in you. Some supernatural beings would be interested in you and do their best to unlock what’s inside you. You could be in grave danger,” Zarah explained.

“Why?” I had so many questions, and it hurt my brain knowing I wouldn’t get the answer at this instant or I might not be able to take all the information all at once.

“You have to know how valuable you are to our world, to the witches, vampires, faes, sirens, and other beings you haven’t met,” Kailin said.

Did she just mention vampires? “I’m a human. I’m a nobody.”

“There’s a possibility that Knight can break the curse.”

I chuckled bitterly as I pointed at him. “Him? Why him?”

“Do you feel the intense pull towards him? Are you attracted so much to him that even science can’t explain?”

“No,” I just lied.

“I can hear your racing heartbeat, best friend. You can’t also lie to a witch.”

“So? What’s so special about him?”

“In our world, Moon Goddess, who we believe brought us to this world, gifted us to be stronger and fiercer and made us transform into a wolf, and she gives us the one- our one true love, one soulmate throughout our lives. We only love one person in our lifetime.”

Oh, no.

“And you and-”

“No.” I pointed a finger at Kailin, shaking my head. “Don’t-”

“You’re his mate, Vana.”