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She laughed. “You have that ‘pack business’ look about you.” She opened the door wider and gestured for both of us to enter. “Come in. Come in. I’m just on my way to visit my new grandbaby.”
Mom gathered a basket into her arms and smiled at us, though her eyes were devoid of the warmth she’d shown the first time Mikaela had given birth.
“Give her my love,” I said.
Mom waved and left, walking off down the dirt path that meandered through the village in the direction of my sister’s house.
“Hey Dad!” I called out as I walked down the hallway, toward his home office.
He was in the small room, sitting at his desk, as he always was. He’d appeared strong this morning, but now the stress in his face had returned and he looked damn tired.
He swiveled around in his chair when I entered. “Hey Xander. Kyle. Anything wrong?”
I shook my head and stood before my father, not quite sure how to begin this line of questioning. “Um...”
“Have a seat.” My dad gestured to the worn couch behind us. It was a light brown leather and pressed against the cabin wall ready for guests.
We sat, but I was agitated. I glanced at Kyle, who jumped in when it became obvious I didn’t know how to start. “Sir, twenty years ago, I heard my parents talking about the Alpha cursing our pack. Can you tell us about that?”
My dad’s eyes opened comically wide, but he didn’t deny the fact that the Alpha may be the reason we were in this mess.
“Is it true?” I asked, sliding to the edge of the couch and clasping my hands together.
My father sighed. “I don’t concern myself with rumor and gossip, Xander. And I don’t think this is a topic for us to discuss.”
I gaped at him. “If you thought it was a possibility, why hasn’t anything been said to the pack?”
I couldn’t believe that neither of my parents had ever discussed such a thing with me. Of course, we discussed the lack of a future, but not with any solution or cause.
My dad sat back in his office chair, running a shaking hand through his graying hair. “Because it’s never been confirmed.”
But suspected?
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What do you know that you’re not telling us?”
Dad glanced away, toward the windows, appearing deep in thought. Finally, he turned to us. “The Alpha will be back in two weeks. I think you should speak to him.”
“We will,” I said. Someone had to save our pack. “But tell us the background, Dad. What happened?”
“It’s not really my story to tell...”
“Tell us anyway,” Kyle said. “You know the Alpha isn’t the most talkative man on the planet.”
My dad laughed, and I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips. Kyle had the knack of lightening any conversation, and it had been far too long since I’d heard my dad laugh.
“Come on, Dad,” I urged him. “Things are getting kinda desperate in the pack now. We’ve gotta come at this from a different angle.”
“Well,” Dad began, “a long time ago...”
“What, like, thirty years ago?” Kyle asked.
Dad smiled at him, fondness in his gaze. “Yes, thirty years ago, the Alpha was engaged to be married to a woman of the pack.”
“You mean his wife? The one who died in childbirth?”
Dad nodded, a shadow casting itself over his face. “Yes. But the thing is, he was fated to another.”
Kyle gasped beside me, and I narrowed my gaze. “To whom?”
“To a witch from a coven about three hundred miles north of here.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, denial beating at my heart. “No. That’s impossible. Our fated mates are only ever wolf shifters.”
That was what I’d been taught since before I could remember. Had my parents really been lying to me all this time?
