Her Cursed Mate

Chapter 10

Beta Jay's POV

After the phone call from Alpha Benjamin, my parents and I left Alpha Thaddeus alone in his study. We finally had an idea of where Annabel was but I couldn't help but think leading the Alpha to her was a bad idea. Judging by the expressions on my parents, I knew we were all in the same boat. We waited until we were at a fair distance to finally speak. 

"We all agree this is a bad idea right?" I asked for confirmation. My mom sighed, rubbing her forehead while dad crossed his arms over his chest. "So what do we do?"

"He is not in the right state of mind," mom spoke up, eyebrows coming together. I thought back to the short scuffle between her and the Alpha when he had found them at Elena's safe house. My chest was heavy at what took place there. Even though she was alright, I knew it had hurt my mom emotionally to have to go there with Thaddeus. She saw him like her own son and the last thing she wanted to do was lay a hand on him. 

Dad exhaled. "You are right. It doesn't matter if we refuse or not, he will do what he wants. And what he wants is his mate back." 

"So we should get a search group together," I was already thinking of who to include. I glanced at my parents who seemed to be conversing together. I waited impatiently. They did this every time they were going to say something they knew I didn't like. It finally came. 

"I'll go with Thaddeus," dad said. "You two stay here and oversee pack duties. We all know Thaddeus can't do that right now."

I shook my head. "I'm going with him-"

"This is not up for discussion Jason," my mom hardly ever used my full name. As she gazed with such an intensity, I knew there was no point in arguing when the decision was already made for me. My wolf disliked it but I respected my parents too much to disobey. 

"Take Richard with you," I suggested, thinking of our best pack doctor. "He worked with Joseph and knows about the curse. He'll be great to have." 

Only a handful of people knew about Thaddeus's family curse. This included my parents, myself, Richard, Ken our third in command, and his father. It was best to keep it a secret. If the pack knew about the Alpha, their leader, brutally beating his mate, chaos would arise. Truth be told, I don't think I would blame them. 

When I had first learned of the Knox family curse, I was in disbelief. I thought to myself there was no way anyone would willingly harm their mate. The bond between two halves of a whole would be stronger than anything. But witnessing it with Elena and Joseph, and now Thaddeus and Annabel, proved me wrong. I saw the way Thaddeus shouted at Alpha Benjamin on the phone when he threatened harm to Annabel. I remember the change he underwent when he first met her. Although he had wanted to keep her at an arm length away for her safety, he still wanted her. 

He cared for her, even loved her but hadn't come to realise it yet. The first time my parents came back to the pack shortly after the fight with Brayton, the first thing they noticed was Thaddeus's appearance. He looked almost happier or as happy as he could get. We all knew it was the result of our very short, wide-eyed Luna. Even though we were all glad for the change, we knew what was coming. We just hadn't known it would come by this fast. With Joseph and Elena, my parents told me it was years before the violence struck. It hadn't even been two months before it started with Thaddeus and Annabel. 

"Jay, I want you to round up your most experienced, loyal warriors. Specifically, older ones. No more than four. If worse comes to worse, we will have to detain the Alpha and that won't be easy." I nodded, already having my best guys in mind. 

"What should we tell the pack in the meantime?" I was puzzled by the question. Mom had said earlier that we should keep everything on the low but if both Alpha and Luna are gone, that would arise questions.