Monday 7th September, 2020.
Jonah’s Point Of View
Angie’s parties were pretty much legendary at our exclusive boarding school, Viper Moon Academy. The only students who threw better parties than Angie were myself and my brothers. We were sons of the Alpha so we knew how to entertain. I was tense despite looking at ease, sitting in a huge jacuzzi on the back porch of Angie’s house. There were four girls in the tub with my brothers and me.
I wondered if our suspected mate would show up. I hoped not. I’d been dreading her arrival for years. Being the eldest of the “Alpha Quadruplets” wasn’t easy. A lot fell on my shoulders. It wasn’t that I didn’t want a mate, I just didn’t want to love that deeply only to lose it. Losing a mate was the most painful thing a werewolf could go through. I’d known since the age of sixteen that my chance of losing a mate was much higher than other werewolves. My grandfather had called me to his study one day at our family’s manor. I remembered it so vividly.
Flashback
“Good, you’re early,” drawled my Grandfather.
Even after retiring as Alpha, he still radiated power and authority. He was tall. We were eye to eye. He had an impressive dark beard flecked with grey and dark wavy hair. His eyes were a deep green. His face was hardened and always set in a serious expression. He was a joyless man for the most part but I couldn’t blame him. He had lost his mate, my Grandmother, when they were young forcing him to have to raise my father on his own.
“Dad told me to be early. He said you consider on-time late, and early on-time,” I said.
Grandfather chuckled. I gazed around his study. It was a huge room with curved walls inserted of corners. Oil paintings of past Alphas and Lunas graced the wall. There were other portraits out in the hallway.
Grandfather got up and motioned for me to follow him. He led me down the hallway, all the way to the very end. There was door there leading to a room that was not in use. The room was bare except for two paintings on the wall both covered with tapestries. He gestured towards them. I unveiled the one on the left.
“Georgianna,” I read. That was all the caption said in gold-plated lettering on the frame. The painting was of a young, beautiful, raven-haired woman, with one violet eye and one brown eye and a slight smile playing about her full lips.
I unveiled the second painting. “Alpha Alto,” I read. This was of a young man who greatly resembled my brothers and me. He had light ash brown hair and green eyes with a sly smile and a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“This is your great, great, great, great Uncle,” said Grandfather. “His younger brother was named Oleander. Oleander was your great great great grandfather.”
Why was he telling me this?
“Ok,” I mumbled.
“You want to know why I’m wasting your time,” grumbled Grandfather.
“No, no, not at all,” I lied.
Grandfather chuckled sadly. His eyes looked faraway.
“When Alpha Alto met his Luna, Georgianna, he was shocked. Do you know why?” Asked Grandfather.
“No,” I said.
“Because she was a witch!” Answered Grandpa.
A chill crept through me. Werewolves tried to avoid witches where possible. I only knew of one Alpha fated to a Witch. That was the Alpha of Ambrosia, but that was after a lot of modern-day progress. I could only imagine the scandal it had been back then if it was still shocking to this day.
“What happened?” I asked Grandfather.
“They fell in love! The mate bond is inexorably strong!” Grandpa said.
I nodded. “And then?” I asked. Clearly, there was more.
“Our forefather, Oleander, was furious. A witch luna! Over his dead body!” Said my Grandpa. “So he poisoned his own brother, Alto, with silver and wolfsbane in his wedding goblet.”
My eyes widened. “That’s despicable!”
“Yes, yes, it is,” muttered Grandfather.
“What happened to Georgianna? Was she poisoned too?” I asked.
“No, she lived on. She was greatly aggrieved though. In despair, she cursed Oleander and his lineage to never feel the love she was denied!” Said Grandfather.
I had heard about the “family curse”before. I wasn’t sure I believed it. Supposedly, the curse claimed the lives of any luna joined to our family through marriage. For that reason, my parents remained unmarried meaning my mother was an unofficial luna. She was my Dad’s fated mate but he’d refused to run the risk of marrying her. Grandfather on the other hand had married his mate shortly after my father had been born.
“You believe in the curse?” I asked.
Grandfather laughed humourlessly.
“I didn’t when I was your age. I should have,” he whispered.
End of Flashback
I hadn’t taken him seriously. However now that I had a potential mate. I was worried. “What if” wasn’t good enough.
Angie could tell my mind was faraway. We’d been dating a year. We had been friends first, partying together often. She had been after me the whole time and was thrilled to be more than friends despite us not being mates. I hoped she would find her mate before I found mine because she really didn’t take rejection well. She was in her glee tonight though. The centre of attention. Her favourite place to be. She turned my face and pressed her lips to mine.
I felt Noah stiffen beside me. I followed his gaze when Angie and I parted. That had to be her!
She was beautiful. She was short for a she-wolf with a shapely figure. My eyes trailed over her curves. Her long dark lustrous hair fell all around her. Her pink, full lips looked soft as did her golden skin. I wondered why I’d never noticed her before. She probably never partied until now. To my surprise she came over. She was gazing at Noah. As she neared the jacuzzi, her scent hit me. It made my mouth water. I felt inexplicably drawn to her though there was still some confusion in my mind. She was probably nearing her eighteenth birthday. The mate-bond hadn’t hit fully yet.
Noah had told me her name was Hannah Star.
“Hey there, uh, Moon?” Angie said.
What did Angie have against this girl? Could she sense I was into her already The girl didn’t correct Angie as though she was used to Angie’s jibes. Angie did give certain people a hard time.
“Hi, Angelique,” said Star.
Angie put a hand on Noah’s shoulder.
“What brings you here, Cloud?” Angie said.
I laughed half-heartedly at her feeble joke.
Star glared at me. I flinched. I didn’t want to upset her but I didn’t want to piss off Angie too soon either.
“Tobias insisted I come,” said Star softly.
My wolf growled, jealous. I quieted him. Tobias was gay.
“Ohhh, yeah, Toby, you must be thrilled, huh, to get to see how the other half lives,” said Angie snidely.
That was so unnecessary. Star frowned. She spoked to Noah instead, “Hey, Noah, thanks for the other day.”
“What happened the other day?” Asked Angelique, the jealousy evident in her voice.
I knew Angie would love to be Luna. She was a bit power-hungry.
“He…” Star began.
“Nothing!” Said Noah suddenly.
Star looked hurt. Noah seemed upset too. I knew he wished he could woo her like a normal alpha-luna bond.
I noticed him going over to talk to her when we were drying off after the jacuzzi. He was touching her arm.
“I thought you didn’t know her, little bro,” I said.
He knew better than to confuse her by being hot and cold. We were supposed to keep our distance until we’d sorted out the curse. We’d decided to be safe rather than sorry. Eli and Zaya were none the wiser. They just didn’t believe in it. It was no use trying to convince them.
“I don’t,” said Noah, letting go of her arm. “I was just telling her to keep her distance.”
I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My wolf whimpered. That must have hurt Star because it was hurting me. I needed her to get away from us.
“Run along ok, Cloud,” I said, adding insult to injury. “You weren’t invited.”
Zaya and Eli came over. I hoped Star would listen but she remained put. She seemed rooted to the spot. It was probably overwhelming for her being around the four of us and not being sure what the pull towards us meant.
“I told you to go,” said Noah, trying to snap her out of it.
I wondered if Zaya and Eli could feel the mate-pull. They’d both been drinking a lot so perhaps not. The bond hadn’t been established yet.
“Hey!” Snapped Zaya. “The eldest Alpha told you to fuck off!”
Eli and Zaya laughed as though that were funny. I forced myself to laugh with them.
“Seriously, bye,” said Eli to Star.
Star’s eyes were brimming with tears. A searing hot pain lanced through me. Fuck. This was why I wanted no interaction at all with her till we had figured shit out.
“Are you seriously about to cry?” Asked Zaya incredulously.
Did my youngest brother not feel the connection at all?
Noah was tense, regretful. I stopped fake-laughing. Eli took a step towards Star in response to her tears. Eli was probably sensing it faintly. It wouldn’t be long before we all felt it and could no longer resist the pull. She took a step away from Eli. She felt threatened. I wished I could hold her.
“No,” she said softly. I was relieved to see her go.
“Fuck. Why am I such an ass?” Muttered Zaya to himself after Star was out of earshot.
I chuckled genuinely now.
“That girl was kinda cute,” said Zaya. “What do you guys have against her?”
“Nothing. I told you I don’t know her,” Noah said. He was a terrible liar.
“She just didn’t listen the first time I told her to leave. That’s all. We need all pack members to respect us,” I said, giving a feeble excuse.
It was chilly out tonight even for a werewolf like me. I wished I were curled up somewhere under a blanket with Star. I hoped she wasn’t cold.
“Sure,” said Zaya rolling her eyes.
“Did you guys hook up?” Eli asked.
“No!” Grumbled Noah.
“She’s pretty,” said Eli. “You made her cry Zaya!”
“Me?! So did you!” Said Zaya, fidgeting uncomfortably.
“Whatever,” said Eli though he seemed regretful.
Angie came over and dragged me onto the dance floor. My eyes kept darting all over the room, searching for Star. This was going to be torture.