Page 23 of Unexpected Alpha's Claim

I can’t let that happen. She knows more than she’s saying and right now she at least seems to be on our side. Worst of all, I think she’s our best hope of surviving what’s coming.

The witch turned left down the hallway and led us into a large library. I couldn’t keep myself from gasping in surprise. I had been a bookworm since childhood. Books had been my escape from the worries and pressures of my day-to-day life. Walking in, I immediately fell in love with the view of the hundreds upon hundreds of books.

Before I could head over to one of the bookcases though, something else caught my attention. On an ornate desk in front of me was a wide-open book. Time had left its deep-yellow mark on the pages, giving evidence of the book’s age. As I approached, I saw there were beautiful, intricate, yet delicate calligraphic letters that graced the open pages. On the bottom right corner of the page, there was the stain of an ink spot.

“This tome was written by a very powerful witch, Penelope. She was quite likely the most powerful witch of her time and was blessed with the power of foresight. That means she could foresee the future, without using an orb like me. Her visions have proven over time to be incredibly accurate. Now, please read this.”

Raul and I stood side-by-side in front of the book. I took pride in the fact that I was only a little distracted by him. Though I will not deny I was acutely aware of the slight contact of our arms and the heat that radiated off of him making me want to touch a lot more. Focus, Monica, read like you were told.

In the year 2021, on the snow moon, a human healer shall save ‘wise as a wolf’ from the jaws of death. In turn, he will save the human healer on the very next day.

Double fives and triple twelves shall adorn her name. ‘Wise as a wolf’ shall be smitten. His heart will yearn for her. His desire shall lead to greatness for him and his bloodline. No matter the brutal wars he will fight, he shall not forsake her.

For all her desire to be with him, the human healer shall face inner turmoil. Her heart and mind will clash within her, threatening to curse ‘wise as a wolf’ to an untimely death. Yet despite this, he shall have no other as his mate.

“Snow moon is February’s full moon,” Raul broke his silence first. “And my name is Spanish for ‘wise as a wolf.’”

“Double fives and triple twelves. Monica Greenwell.” I spoke in a trembling voice, waves of shock coursing through my system. “What does she mean by ‘his desire shall lead to greatness for him and his bloodline’? And what’s that curse she’s talking about?”

“There’s only one way for shifters to achieve greatness,” he said, turning his head left to face me. “By becoming the Alpha. In the event of an Alpha’s death, if their reign is successful, leadership of the pack is naturally passed on to the next in line of their blood. So, if I’m Alpha when I die, Sammy would take over. That curse…”

He faltered, trailing off as his face twisted into an expression of concern. He dropped his eyes back to the book, clearly avoiding looking at me. Every muscle in his body was tense to the point that tension radiated off of him.

“What? What is the curse?” I ask, placing my hand on his forearm.

He shifts his gaze from the book to my hand. I would swear it felt as if his gaze was a heater, warming the skin of my hand and making my heart beat faster.

“We may be blessed with the powers of a wolf,” he said, speaking so soft I leaned closer to hear him better, “but we have the wolf’soneweakness too.”

He stoped, leaving me hanging, waiting. I was distantly aware of Helena watching us but she was barely in my thoughts. Fear edging towards terror was building in my guts and made a swirling mix with the hormones that were flooding my body,made me want nothing more than to kiss him and so much more. To take away the pain he was feeling in the best way I knew how, by making him forget it all with pleasure. That was stupid though. Now was not the time nor was that the answer.

“Wh—” my throat was too dry to get the word out, I cleared it and tried again. “What is it?”

“The wolf in all of us has… a frail heart.”

“Frail heart?”

I tried to wrap my head around what he meant. Wolves have what? A genetic tendency towards an a-fib heart? What did he mean “frail”, cause that’s not natural, but then none of this was. He nodded, still staring at my hand, then he raised his eyes to meet mine. The fire burning in his warmed my soul and added more fuel to the hormonal desire that was trying swamp all rationality.

“Yes,” he said, as he slowly covered my hand with his free one. I swallowed. Hard. “Monica, when we choose our mate, our one, it’s for life.”

“I got news for you there Raul, monogamy is not unique to shifters,” I said, trying to shield myself with sarcasm because in my heart I knew what he meant.

“No, Monica. Not like that. This is… more. If our mate dies, we wither and die a slow, painful death.”

“Oh, my God…” I whispered, putting my fingers over my mouth. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m afraid he is,” Helena’s feathery voice filled the room. “When Penelope merged man and wolf back in 1564, she didn’t know about the wolf’s weakness. She found out once she witnessedthe deaths of her first creations. Men and women died from a mysterious illness, which sounded eerily similar to heart failure. She described that in her journal in detail. You can read it if you like.”

“No, thank you,” I rejected her proposal, my voice thick with emotion. I was light-headed. The room seemed to spin, and I could barely form a coherent thought. I pressed the palm of one of my hands to my forehead. “Are there, uh, any bedrooms in here? I think I need to lie down.”

16

MONICA

“You’ll find plenty of bedrooms downstairs, dear.” Helena’s gentle tone did nothing to soothe me.

I had to realize that she was right about me. I needed tons of sarcasm to cope with the most recent revelations that , in my heart of hearts, that there was no denying. That there was nothing accidental about how Raul and I had met because some witch, hundreds of years ago had predicted it. And she had, apparently, predicted our fate. I didn’t know how, if she had used the lunar cycle or some other form of witchcraft, but she had been spot-on.

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