Page 76 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

“Our friendship wasn’t one many approved of. Neither my coven at the time nor her pack. It wasn’t done, friendships across species lines, and at that time in America, racial tensions were high as well. We were doomed to fail, yet somehow, our friendship bloomed. Two women ahead of their time.”

She smiled softly then, stroking one of her thumbs idly as she relived the memories. She didn’t have the body language of a killer. Not that she wasn’tableto kill—she was strong enough to fry a person if she was so inclined—but my wolf sensed no malice in her, no whiff of a lie to this tale.

“She met your father about a hundred years after the two of us became friends, and it was instant love, as it so often is with your kind. They were over the moon when they found out you were on the way. She’d lost a son before you—I don’t know if they ever told you in the end—and it took all my skill to save her. So when she found out she was pregnant again, well, your mother immediately put herself on bed rest. She was so eager to be a mom, even though pregnancy is fraught for wolves. She didn’t care. She just loved you, from the moment she knew you were coming.”

I drew in a shallow breath, confused about the direction this was going. If they were so close, why the fuck had Kari cursed her?

Brielle’s scent changed again as sorrow plunged into the mix.

“Around halfway through the pregnancy, she began to have complications. Small things at first. Early contractions here and there. And then one day, she was walking back from the bathroom and collapsed. Your father called me after the pack’s healer left. He hadn’t been able to do anything for her besides a few herbal teas. And that’s when I sensed it for the first time. Your magic.”

She smiled at Brielle, the saddest expression I could imagine.

“You knew,” Brielle said, the words a statement, not a question.

“I knew what you were, yes. And when I told your mother, she nearly died of a broken heart. She couldn’t bear to lose another child. She begged me to do anything I could, to change you, to save you. But there was nothing I could do to take away your very nature. An omega is who you are, what you were destined by the Goddess to be. We tried everything: masking spells, glamours, even lesser curses, but still, I could sense you. The only possible option was to dampen your magic, smother it under a curse so vile, it would kill her. But she didn’t care. She wanted you to live, to have a chance at a normal life and happiness. She insisted that she’d rather spend however many years she could loving you. Your father agreed, though I think given any other option, he would have chosen his mate’s life.”

Brielle and Leigh were both crying now, my own mate swiping away silent tears as she leaned into my side. I wrapped my arm around her, wanting to stop the pain, even though we all knew how this story ended.

“I placed the curse in her fifth month. Your power was already so strong, we were concerned the ODL would sense you early, and it was the only way to mask your true identity. The effects were immediate, the taint so strong, your mother’s health almost didn’t recover after the birth. It once more took everything I had to save her, return some semblance of her health, but she refused to let me lift the curse. You were her everything, and if I lifted it from your line, you’d have been exposed.”

She cleared her throat, doggedly continuing the story. “It worked, obviously. Your magic has been slowly draining away for your entire life, and as you age, the symptoms will worsen. I can lift the curse, but… you’ll be hunted. The power I felt when you were still in your mother’s womb…” She shook her head sadly. “It can’t be hidden any other way. As soon as we reveal thetruth, the ODL will come for you with the full weight of the organization. You’ll be hunted until the day you die.”

The silence was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife.

“She died to protect me,” Brielle whispered, her voice full of agony. “She could have lived for hundreds of years more if it weren’t for me.”

“No, sweetheart, no. You don’t understand. Bringing you into this world, saving you, that was her purpose. She couldn’t have borne another blow. It changed her, losing your brother. She’d had a long, hard life. You were the light that saved her.” Karissma stepped forward, ignoring the way Kane tensed as she folded Brielle into her arms.

After they’d both regained their composure, she stepped back. “I can remove the curse, today if you wish. But you need to be prepared. Your kind hasn’t walked the earth since the Renaissance. While I know you’d never harm another living being, the Omega Defense League won’t care. They will see it as their singular mission to destroy you.”

“We should wait,” Reed was quick to interject, holding up apologetic hands as he addressed Kane. “Alpha, with all due respect… If Brielle isn’t in immediate danger of the curse doing permanent damage”—he cast a questioning glance at Karissma, who nodded her agreement—“we should wait. We need time to plan, to make a strategy. The ODL threat is real. The faintest whisper of her magic at Ushagat Island, and they struck without any hesitation or preliminary investigation. They won’t be any less willing to strike when her powers are unleashed in full.”

Kane was silent, his expression stony as he held Brielle tightly to his chest, and I couldn’t blame him for his stunned silence. I’d held my dying mate in my arms. It was enough pain to end me, but they faced a devil’s bargain. It was no choice I ever wanted to have to make.

“So, what? Her only choices are to live her life as a shadowof what she was destined to be in relative safety until she dies young. Or, unleash her full potential, only to be hunted into an early grave?” Leigh said, her words stricken with anger and grief.

“Those aren’t the only options.” Shay surprised me by speaking up at my side. Her voice shook with emotion, and her grip on me was tight, as if she was scared she’d float away if she let go. “There’s another choice.”

“What? Because all I hear is shit sandwich after shit sandwich!” Leigh’s face crumpled into tears, and in an instant, Gael was there. He pulled her against his chest, running a soothing hand down her back. For the first time since meeting them, she didn’t push him away. She accepted the comfort, turning her face into his broad chest and letting her tears soak his shirt.

“We bide our time, and we keep fighting. You don’t quit when the chips are down, not when your life is at stake. We figure out how to keep Bri as strong as we can, and then we go to war against the ODL. Onourterms.” Shay straightened, leveling a pleading gaze on Bri. “You deserve better, Bri. Your mom did too.”

Brielle bit her bottom lip and looked up at Kane, as if asking him a question. They communicated silently for a few moments until he cleared his throat.

“We agree with Shay. We will change the laws, or we will dismantle the Omega Defense League brick by brick.” He pinned Kari with a heavy gaze. “What can we do for Brielle in the meantime, while she’s stuck with this curse?”

Karissma smiled then, giving a slow nod of approval as she peered around at the seven of us. “Physical contact with her mate, of course. The stronger your bond is, the more the toll of the curse is spread between you. Your position as high alpha may help, given the greater pool of power you can access. There are some potions I can provide, generally good for the constitution and good health. But beyond that, it’s trying not to tap in toyour omega powers while they’re shuttered. The more power you use, the larger the drain.”

Brielle gasped. “Is that why I can’t hold my shift?”

Karissma nodded. “Any use of your power is going to cause you pain and exhaustion. The more you can limit it, the better. Though given you’ve never experienced your powers without the curse, you may not even realize when you’re doing it. Omega gifts take time and practice to master, like any other. Surrounding yourself with power, whether at a natural seat of power like a convergence of ley lines or by those gifted with extreme magical energy”—she nodded at Kane, then Shay as she spoke—“can also help replenish your stores more readily and lessen the effects of the drain.”

“Ley lines?” Gael asked. “Where are those located?”

Kari sighed. “You young people are supposed to be running this whole damn world, and you don’t even know about ley lines?” She muttered a few curses under her breath as she waved her hand, magical glitter trailing in its wake until a four-foot-high world map shimmered in the air before us. Purple lines began to appear, pulsating and glowing especially strong anywhere they intersected. I was surprised to see that one was centered in Alaska, near Pack Blackwater grounds. But the thickest lines were over Europe.

“Holy shit, that’s right where your father’s pack house is located,” Reed murmured, pointing to an inky pool of purple settling right over Romania.

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