The Curse Of The Alpha

13

Word Count: 1748

~Meara

Upon some miracle, I've managed to convince Sire to let me go to work.

He claimed he wanted to spend the day with me, but when I insisted I needed to make money and to have a healthy break from him, he conceded.

It's a good thing, because I'm behind on my rent payments for this month.

"You've been gone for a while," Emma states, leaning against the counter.

Emma and I clicked the moment I started working here. It's a small café in the centre of the Pack, and is usually very busy. Today, there hasn't even been a lunch rush.

Just strange, eerie quiet.

"So much has come up recently..." I mutter, running a cloth over the countertop. I've noticed her watching me since I came in, noticing something has been on my mind for my entire shift.

"Oh yeah? About what?"

I tense. It's not like I can tell her the entire truth...not that she would believe me. It sounds so otherworldly she would assume I'm telling a ridiculous story to evade her from the truth.

My only choice is to tell her a more palatable excuse.

"I broke up with my boyfriend," I blurt out.

"Oh no. You okay?" She pulls me into a tight hug, not bothered about the single customer eating in the corner of the room.

"I'm fine, I just want everything to go back to normal," I tell her, pulling away.

Normal would be good. These past few days have turned my life upside down, and to stay afloat, I'm scrambling to live as normally as possible. Which includes going back to work, which for the first time in my life, I've been enjoying.

"Did you hear about what has been going on in this Pack?" Emma asks, nodding to a newspaper on the counter

I spread it open, frowning at the headline plastered across the front page.

Strange and Unusual Deaths Plague the Pack; What can be Done?

"No?"

"There's some kind of sickness going around. It's killing a lot of people," she tells me, pointing at the fine print.

I read a couple sentences, realising she is telling the truth. From what I can tell, officials don't know what is causing all these deaths, they just know it is some kind of sickness or poison that is affecting unprecedented numbers of people.

"What? So they don't know what kind of sickness it is?" I clarify, looking to see what Emma knows about this.

She wraps her arms around herself, glancing at the person eating in the corner of the room. Clearly this issue is more serious than I thought, which must be contributing to our lack of customers today.

"No. That's what's terrifying," she mumbles lowly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she turns her back on the customer.

"Shit..." I grit out.

This isn't because of the curse, is it? There's no confirmation it's real, but what if it is linked? The Pack seemed perfectly fine before Sire was unleashed from his tomb...

"Enjoy making money while you can, they will likely close this place down soon," Emma muses solemnly.

"Great..."

Emma suddenly perks up, pointing at the door. "Woah, look over there."

Turning, I watch as Sire walks in through the café door, scanning the area. The moment he see's me, he smirks a little before approaching.