White Wolf’s Curse

CASSANDRA

I know what I have to do. Because he is a part of that family, I have to let my family know that the feud has to end. Justin kind of prepared, so I am grateful. He trots over to where he hid some clothes for the both of us. I smile sliding the clothes on, they are his but I don’t mind. “You expected me.”

“Hoped, really.” He blushes a little. “You are all I have been dreaming about since I met you. I never for a million years would have guessed you were a white wolf. Do you know how rare that is?”

“No, but I am sure Aunt Josephine will tell me.” I laugh.

“Oh, she will. You heard the way your pack howled. It is amazing. You are far better than I thought you were. I am still surprised that you didn’t reject me and send me packing.”

“Justin, knock it off. We are done with that. Just be with me ok.”

He takes my hand. “To the end of the world.” He brings our hands up so that he can kiss my fingers. “I can’t wait to mark you. I just don’t want to do it in the middle of the woods.”

“Oh, really. What did you have in mind?”

“A romantic setting. One that will be coming as of tomorrow night.” He pulls me into his arms. “Or rather tonight.”

We walk out of the woods wrapped around each other. I can feel Justin stiffen next to me as we exit the woods. “Don’t worry. I got this. They will not attack you.”

“Do they know that?” He looks around at the sea of brown.

We come closer and I call out in a loud voice. “This is Justin, he is my mate. I do not care about his family background. He doesn’t care about mine. The feud is done. It’s time for a change.”

My Uncle shifts first. He stands behind my dad who just barely covers his private areas. Thanks Dad. “As Alpha of this pack. I agree. The feud is done. I will meet with your Alpha and make it official.”

We all hear crashing in the woods off to the east. It doesn’t sound normal. More intense. Like the woods themselves are coming towards us. Justin sniffs the air. “It’s Trey. Something is chasing him. I can’t tell what.”

We all run in that direction. Most of my pack is still in their fur. I just do my best not to look at my Uncle. When Trey breaks through the woods he is tangled in vines. “What happened?” I call out, running towards him.

He shifts out of his reddish brown wolf. “My mom, she is fucking nuts. She said that she has been ruining mate bonds for years. She was going to ruin yours. She cast a spell on us. She is scared of you. Apparently her magic isn’t working on you.”

Aunt Josephine comes forward. “It’s because you are the white wolf. Our packs have been waiting for you for such a long time. We knew something was messing with our bonds, we just didn’t know what. You need to fix this Cassandra.”

I look at her confused. “What exactly am I supposed to do? She sent a damn forest after her own son.”

“I’m not her son. She said she killed my parents and I was supposed to ruin your mate bond. That was my one job. Now I am useless to her.”

I can hear the hurt in Trey’s voice. He loved his mom. Now she is trying to kill him. “Be that as it may. What the hell am I supposed to do against that?”

Justin squeezes me to him. “We are all behind you. You lead the charge. I will not leave your side.”

We don’t have time to figure it out either. A glowing dark figure comes out of the woods behind Trey. “I knew my worthless son would run straight here.” Trish smiles and waves her hands to the side. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag. For two hundred years I have made your families suffer from the side lines. Made mates cheat. Made people forget their mate bonds. Made bonds that caused weak children. All for the sake of weakening your worthless race.” She growls, losing her smile towards the end. “Then you had to have a white wolf. You had to bring her back here. You had to ruin everything.”

We all felt the ground rumble underneath us. Patches started to shift and move. “Now you all will pay.”

I shifted without even thinking. I could see all the wolves moving around me. Several went to protect the kids, those that couldn’t shift. Others went towards Trish. We all created a front. Trey had shifted back and Justin was shifted at my side.

My Uncle’s voice rang out to me. “You are the only one that her magic doesn’t affect. We will distract her, but you are going to have to go in for the kill.”

I cringed at the thought, but I know that he is right. When I looked back at Trish her evil gaze was locked on mine. “You think you will win. I am far more powerful than you.”

Justin growled and lunged at the same time that Trey and Uncle Jared launched as well. They were creating a distraction. Only I have never killed anyone before. I have no clue what the fuck I am doing. I let my instincts take over and lunge towards her face and throat. She tries to block me with a spell. At least that is what I think she is trying to do. Her arm faces me, I feel a tingle, but nothing. I keep going. When I hit her I feel her strength. Even without her power she is strong. Her hands grip my cheeks, my snapping jaws, just short of the face that I am beginning to hate.

“You think you can beat me, little wolf. You have no idea the power I possess.” Her hands are too busy holding my face that she doesn’t notice that she has left my paws free. My claws dig and scrape at her skin in quick succession. She is healing but not fast enough. My claws dig deeper. She loosened her grip to try to grab a paw, but that was enough to let my jaw free. I snapped my jaw on her throat and dug my canines in as deep as I could. I could feel her foul blood seeping into my mouth. Her screams echoing in my ears. I dug further still. I didn’t want her to heal. Aunt Josephine told me enough about her kind to know she is a vampire. She could heal from this. I need to remove her head. That is the only way.

Digging my hind paws into her chest I launched off. Clamping down my jaw, it pulled at her neck. With the force I launched I swung my body around hers. This twisted her neck. I launched again, this time with more force. Completing the circle. I felt the neck bones snap in my mouth. Still I tore until it was completely severed.

Trish’s head rolled as soon as it hit the ground. Her body crumpled under mine. Trey looked at her head in sorrow. All things considered, she still raised him.

Around the field I saw wolves, one by one, shift back into their skin. There were a few injured, but no one was dead. At least I could be greatful of that.

Justin put his arms around me and pulled me away from Trish’s body. I didn’t even realize that I was frozen over her lifeless body. I shift back and collapse into his arms. Tears streamed down my face. “I didn’t want to kill anyone.”

He holds me to his chest. “You had to. You were the only one that could.”

Trey stands in his skin and comes towards us. “I think her spells are breaking. I can feel it. Not that I don’t think of you as a friend, but I don’t love you anymore. I need to find Kelly. She said that she is my true mate.”

Justin smiles up at him. “I already linked my pack. She is on her way here.”

Uncle Jared addresses the packs. “I think it is time that we all united in the wake of these events. It is time that we put all old grudges in the past. We need peace among our kind, that is the only way we are going to be able to fight off this type of danger again. I suggest we call a meeting. Now seems as good a time as any.”

Justin’s pack bursts through the woods on the west side of the woods. I can see a massive black wolf leading the charge. The pack marches forward until they meet ours. The black wolf shifts. I see that it is Justin’s step-dad. “Justin, what is going on?”

His arms barely leave me as he points to Trish’s body. “It would seem that we had a vampire/witch that has been among us for several years. She has admitted to tampering with mate bonds for several years. We have reason to believe that now that she is dead the spells that she used are breaking.”

His step-dad nods towards me. “This one?”

“She is my mate.” He puts a possessive arm around me.

Uncle Jared comes forward. “I suggest we all sit down and come to some agreements. Many things we thought were not true.”

Kelly has shifted and is running through the field. Trey meets her part way. He grabs her up in his arms. I may not like Kelly, but I am glad that they can both be happy.

Her dad looks at her and softens. “I see. Perhaps you are right, Jared. It is time that the packs fight against this evil together.”

Uncle Jared points his arm at me. “This is because of her. She has killed the vampire. She should be a part of everything that goes on.”

“What makes her so special?”

Justin doesn’t hesitate to answer. “She is a white wolf.”

I can see the awe on his face. “Then by all means. We should get cleaned up a bit and meet in town hall. All wolves present. I will send out a call.” He nods his head at us. Turning he shifts. Trey and Kelly follow him.

Only now do I look down at myself. On top of being naked I am covered in blood. “I think I need a shower.”

Justin laughs, but holds me close. “Yeah, that you do.”