Nina takes a step back, putting distance between us.
‘Why would you do that to me? Why would you put a curse on me, Magnus?’ she yells.
‘She is cursed?’ someone yells.
Nina looks at me with tear-filled eyes and a look of anger and hurt in her eyes.
‘Well, that’s one less thing I don’t have to tell.’ Hank says.
Nina and I glare at him. ‘Nina has a curse that affects your dear future, Alpha. He can’t shift naturally without severe pain, as you all know, but you don’t know it’s because of her curse!’ he shouts and points to Nina.
Everyone glares and point at Nina.
‘No, leave her alone! It’s not her fault.’ I say, pulling Nina behind my back.
‘I have the proof that Nina is not what she seems. She has no wolf because she is a witch and cursed you, future Alpha.’ he shouts and points a remote up, pressing a button. The projection screen shows a video of Nina and me and the lake earlier today. Nina is casting spells.
There is a sudden uproar of pack members and people from other packs yelling, ‘Witch!’ ‘She cursed Magnus.’ ‘What is she has cursed others?’
Nina clings tightly onto the back of my suit jacket.
My dad stands up and walks in front of us with my mother.
‘Please, everyone. You must all calm down and take your seats. Nina is not a danger to anyone.’
‘See, she has even cursed your Alpha to protect her.’ Hank yells.
‘She would never.’ My mother shouts.
‘I suppose they haven’t told you either that their son Magnus has killed Moss?’
‘What?’ everyone says.
‘He kidnapped Nina. He wanted to kill me.’ I explain.
‘Lies! I have a witness here who witnessed the brutal murder of her son.’ He says, gesturing for someone to come forward.
A hood figure steps out from the shadows and stands next to Hank. She pulls her hood down.
‘Vanessa!’ My parents scowl.
‘It’s true. Magnus murdered my son after Nina bewitched him. She made him fall in love with her. She willingly came to our pack, pretending we had kidnapped her. Magnus went straight for my son, who was under a spell and ripped him to pieces. And now I will seek my revenge!’ She yells.
The hall becomes swarmed with hooded figures. Everyone yells and scream. The rogues remove their cloaks, shift into wolves, and attack my people.
Mum, Dad, Leon, Seth, Mia, and Amelia instantly shift and fight off the rogues. I step back, keeping Nina safe behind me. We watch as my mother’s wolf goes straight for Vanessa. Mum lunges at Vanessa, biting each other, snapping and snarling. I have never seen my mother so vicious and put up such a fight with pure intent to kill. They fight to the death, one that was due many years ago. She whimpers as Vanessa rips a chunk of flesh from her side. Mother uses her weight to pin Vanessa down. She bites into Vanessa’s neck the same way I bit into Moss’s. Blood pools at her neck as her legs flinch a few times before she becomes limp. My mother lets out a howl of triumph. She has won the fight against her greatest enemy.
She spots Alice and runs towards her. Alice being old, my mother kills her within seconds. The rogues don’t stop fighting, even though Vanessa is dead. Five of them creep towards Nina and me.
‘Magnus, they’re going to kill us?’ Nina says.
‘Use your wand. I need you to teleport out of here.’
She nods and pulls her wand out.
She grabs my arm. I look down at her arm as she says, ‘Skedaddle Dash.’
We disappear together. We reappear in the packhouse at the top of the stairs.
‘Wait, you could port me too?’
‘I figured it was worth a try.’ She says, marching to my room.
‘Wait, where are you going?’
‘I’m leaving, Magnus. I need to take the spellbook with me.’ she says, searching through my room.
‘Wait, what do you mean you’re leaving?’
‘Even if your parents beat the rogues, the pack will want to hunt me down anyway because if you have forgotten, they think I have cursed you when it’s you who has cursed me.’ she retorts.
‘I won’t let them hurt you. I’ll explain everything. That it’s all my fault.’
‘Yeah, because you explaining it all was going down well in the ceremony hall?’ she says sarcastically. ‘How do you suppose you will stop our pack and many others from hurting me when you can’t even shift into a wolf quickly enough to save me?’
I walk over to my backpack, put it on, and take Nina’s hand.
‘What are you doing? Let me go.’
I stop walking and face her.
‘I’m going with you.’
‘What?’
‘I’m leaving Shadow Crest; I’m going with you until I break the curse. That way, we can both come back, and no one will have a reason to harm you.’
‘But they know I’m a witch.’
‘And you can threaten to turn them into a frog if they even try to harm you.’ I smile. Nina is trying to stay angry at me. I watch her lips slightly curl up as she contains a laugh. She nods and holds my arm, and waves her wand. ‘Skedaddle Dash, Skedaddle Dash, Skedaddle Dash.’ She says a few times. We appear a thousand metres ahead with a blink of an eye, then another thousand metres. The blinking continues until we are at least a kilometre away from Shadow Crest. As we come to a stop and are no longer teleporting, my stomach churns, and nausea takes over. I vomit profusely into the bushes. After ten minutes of vomiting, I turn and face an unimpressed Nina with her arms crossed.
‘You have a lot of explaining to do, Magnus, such as why you cursed me, how you caused it and how you will break it?’
‘Do you remember the day when we were kids, and you tricked me into standing near the floodgates by the dam, and I got washed away?’
‘Yeah.’ She laughs.
‘That night, after mum told me to go bath, I went upstairs to my room and ran the bath. I was still soaking wet, and my clothes clung to my body. I slipped over, laid there on the floor in anger, stared out the window at the sky, and yelled these words at the moon.
Damn you, Nina, I wish the Moon Goddess herself would curse you and not give you your wolf on your eighteenth birthday and remove your mate bond until the day I find my mate and I fall in love. A flash of lightning suddenly hit the roof of the packhouse, and thunder roared in the sky. I wondered if it was a sign from the Moon Goddess but didn’t think it was possible. I never thought about that moment until tonight when your wolf never came. Then I remembered this part in the spellbook.’ I pull the spell book out and open it and point to the paragraph where it says.
Anyone can also curse someone using their god’s or goddess’s name. A powerful sign will occur, such as an earthquake, lightning strike, or a loud rumble from the sky if the god or goddess accepts your prayer, wish, or curse.
‘That was when I realised it was me who had cursed you. I’m so sorry, Nina, I am truly sorry.’ I say as tears drip down her face. She steps back, glaring at me, as I attempt to wipe a tear from her face.
‘And now you’re telling me I won’t get my wolf until you find your mate and fall in love with her?’ she cries. ‘Talk about a slap in the face, Magnus.’
‘I’m sorry, Nina, I don’t understand why the moon goddess would even take anything I say literally, anyway?’
‘You have more muscle than brains. Do you know that?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Your mother is from the Moonstone pack. She is a descendant of the moon goddess, which makes you a descendant also! So, of course, the Moon Goddess will take her descendants seriously! Ergh!’ Nina stomps her feet and storms off.
