The Curse Of The Alpha

25

Word Count: 1730

~Meara

I settle under the covers, pulling them up to my chin.

Sire slides in next to me, awfully quiet as he turns the lamp off, drowning the room in darkness, cut only by a few lit candles seated on my dresser.

We have shared a bed before, but this feels far more intimate. The room is small and the bed even smaller, forcing out arms to touch at all times.

"Your parents are nice," Sire says after a long stretch of silence.

"Yeah. They are." I tightly clutch the edge of the duvet. "When they aren't criticising my choice in previous lovers."

The last time I was in this bed Case was beside me. We ended up having a fight after he got mad about some comment my mother made. He knew she didn't like him, especially after he cheated on me.

"No one matters until you find your mate," Sire reminds me, a hint of amusement in his voice.

I roll my eyes. Considering my parents are mates, they do believe that.

"That isn't a luxury for everyone, and it wasn't guaranteed for me," I tell him.

I wasn't expecting to tumble into a tomb and find my mate there. I also didn't expect my mate to be from another time.

Sire laughs under his breath. "Yeah. Me either I suppose."

I turn onto my side, facing him. I can't see him in the dark, but there a thought that is plaguing me.

"We can find where your parents are buried," I say softly. "Someone has got to know something, right?"

"It was a long time ago." I hear him swallow, fighting back his sadness.

For him, it was only a few weeks since he lost his parents. How he hasn't broken down in front of me yet is lost on me.

"But they were once Alpha and Luna. I'm sure they would have been buried somewhere important, right?" I don't want to give up on this. He deserves to have a place to mourn them.

"Kyro would have had everything destroyed when he took over," he mutters.

"Well, once we figure out this curse problem, that is my top priority," I assure him. They have to be buried somewhere...Surely Kyro cannot be so evil as to destroy their graves.

Sire falls silent, and for a moment I think he's mad at me.

"You are a special girl, Meara," he breathes softly. I wish I could see more of his face. The candles cast a soft glow over his features, but the depth in his eyes is lost on me.

I roll onto my back again, stretching out.

"Am I what you imagined when you thought of your mate?" I ask. I'm risking hurting my own feelings, but I'm curious.

"You're more beautiful than I imagined, honestly." He says it so earnestly a knot gathers in my stomach.

I nudge his side. "Stop."

"It's true." He laughs breathily. "And you're more headstrong than I imagined. I like that, though."

I roll my eyes. I don't bother pointing out the fact that he's really the headstrong on here, and I'm just preserving my future by being apprehensive about giving myself over to him completely.

He knows that, though. It's why he offered to be with me without any pressing obligations. We are both aware of how they mate bond pulls us together, making being in close proximity to suffocating.