Page 74 of Wolf Cursed
“I’m starting to think it’s important.”
He shook his head insistently. “Look, Ash, that mark is as sacred as it is dangerous.”
“So I’ve heard.”
His eyes narrowed, and he marched up to me. “From who? Who else knows about this, Ash?” His voice was urgent now.
“Kai saw it,” I admitted. “Accidentally.”
My face heated at the memory of that particular “accident.”
“Shit,” Oscar muttered. “Okay, Kai. That’s not a problem. I’ll speak to him. Anyone else?”
“No.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
“But the twins—”
“No one else can know, Ash. I mean it. Not a single person in this town can be trusted with knowing about that mark on your body.”
“This is so insane,” I said. “I don’t know where it came from or why I have it, but suddenly it means I’m public enemy number one.”
“You’re already public enemy number one,” he said, which was true, but still made me cringe. “If anyone sees that mark, you’re dead.”
I blinked, a little taken aback he’d just said it so casually. Okay, maybe not casually but still. My death shouldn’t even be on the table, and here Oscar was, pointing out the serious likelihood.
“I won’t tell anyone,” I said quietly. “But I would like to know more about this so-called curse and how I’m supposed to break it using only a birthmark.”
“The curse is very real,” he said.
“No mates, no alpha, I’ve heard all that, but I don’t understand why.”
Oscar blew out a breath and motioned to the chair again. “Might as well sit. It’s not a simple story. And to be honest, I’ve never been able to tell it until now.”
He still looked dazed by that fact, and I was starting to develop a theory I definitely didn’t want to face just yet.
This time, I took the chair.
“Twenty years ago, our pack was moving toward peace talks with the hexerei. A channel had been opened—which, by the way, took about fifty years, to begin with—and it seemed like we were headed in the right direction. Finally. After centuries of war and conflict.”
“That sounds like a good thing,” I said.
“It was,” he said. “In some ways.” He stared out the window over my head, his gaze far away as he recounted it all. “But there were many pack members who didn’t want that peace. Didn’t trust it. We’d lived through lifetimes of distrust and prejudice, and it’s hard to let that go for some.”
“So, what happened?”
“A summit was scheduled. We would meet the hexerei leaders at the border where our lands met and sign a peace treaty in blood.”
“In blood? Seriously?”
“It probably sounds strange to human customs, but for wolves and supernaturals, it’s a common practice. An agreement like that would be unbreakable, and the punishment for violation would have been severe. The pack was divided about it. There were protests. Riots. On both sides, so I’ve been told.
“Anyway, the night before the summit, there was talk of a secret affair. One of ours sneaking off to be with one of theirs.”
“A wolf and a hexerei were in love?” I asked.
“Rumors,” he said. “No one knew for sure. Then, the next morning, we all met at the border.” His expression changed then. His faraway gaze became haunted. “We should never have gone to that meeting.”
