Willa's POV
I knew Al wanted to stay only because I needed protection. But his lie was getting ridiculous.
"You realize I can see your mate's mark...right?" I frowned, squinting my eyes at him. I would bite him if he say it was a normal tattoo.
"Kirsch gave me this mark by mistake." Al grabbed my wrist as I struggled to stand up. His words froze me and that worked much better than his grip.
"You...you two...do you love him?" I couldn't get my brain to work to process that information.
"I loved Kirsch as a brother, but Rudy claimed me as his mate, so I let Kirsch mark me," Al explained calmly.
"But Kirsch doesn't have your mark..." I blinked, trying to understand.
"Cerberus knew he wasn't ours, so he wouldn't mark him." Al gave me a sad smile.
"So why did you let him mark you when you knew he wasn't your mate?"
"I was driving him crazy. Knowing who your mate is but cannot have them does that." Al sighed, gazing into my eyes, "So I thought at least that would make it easier for him."
"But what about your own mate? One can only have one mate's mark...well, unless Kirsch has a twin, I guess?" Of all the possibilities of Al's mate's mark, I never thought this would be the answer.
Al sighed as he lowered his eyes.
"I lost hope back then." Al started in a soft voice, looking into my eyes as he said, "Cerberus doesn't have a sane mind ever since I shifted. His mood swings give me a constant headache. He doesn't mean to, he just can't control it. So..."
"So?" I asked, feeling my heart ache, listening to his story.
"So, I didn't want to share this life with my mate even if I could find him or her. I never meant to mark anyone." Al smiled at me as he finished in a gentle tone. His smile was sad.
I heard my heart shattered.
I thought he must have an easy life for him to be this warm and bright. His past just might be even darker than mine!
"They will come again." Al's eyes fell on Baldwin's body, "We aren't safe until Kirsch comes back."
"They drugged him!" I remembered what Baldwin told me, "The Treaty, they are punishing Kirsch with wolfsbane. He doesn't know Jason's men are in the pack now."
"I guessed so." Al nodded. His eyebrows furrowed together as sweat dripped off his forehead.
"We have to leave this place once your gunshot wound heal. It would heal quickly." I checked Al's ribs. It was taking some time because the bullet broke a rib. Healing bones takes time.
"I can't shift right now. It would be too obvious and too slow for us to go anywhere." Al put his elbow into the bed but he could barely stand up.
Why did the antidote choose such a crucial time to not work!
Though at least the cure spell was working.
Granny's magic had brought us so much trouble in the past. We had to keep it a secret, but sometimes words still got out, and that attracted ill attention. I wished we never had magic...
Until now.
"I can help you. You don't have to worry about the headache again!" I cupped his face with my hands.
"Curses can't be cured, Willa." Al took my hand and pressed his lips on my fingers.
"It's not a curse! What's a curse?! So Crebreus can't control himself well, but with the spell, we can keep him safe!" I blurt in a haste, "Curses are just problems that people are afraid of because they don't understand the problems."
"The curse is I bring misfortune to everyone around me, silly." Al sighed with a bitter smile.
"I do that, too. You have no idea how much trouble I have brought granny. I would be dead already if it wasn't for her. But that's not a good reason to give up your life. Granny taught me that." I wanted to tell him about my poison, but it wasn't just my secret to tell. Granny was in on this, too.
"At least you don't turn rabid every new moon for a killing spree." Al dodged my eyes.
"Do you?" I looked him in the eye.
"It's only because Kirsch had been fighting me on new moon nights to prevent it. It doesn't mean I'm not dangerous." Al shook his head.
"So why are you leaving all of a sudden when you have been doing this for so long?" I blinked in confusion. I thought it was because I was getting too close when he had a mate. But there was no reason now that I knew he hadn't found his mate yet.
"You just told me to get far away from you because you bring misfortune!" Al curved his lips, but the sweat on his forehead made his smile less soothing for me.
"That was when you have a mate to go to." I shrugged, refusing to admit that I would have done what he was trying to do if I were him.
Al let out a long sigh with a bitter smile, closing his eyes at my unreasonable reasoning.
"How are you feeling now?" I looked down and checked the gunshot wound. It was almost healed.
Al opened his eyes, but he didn't answer. His eyes turned onyx, and his breath thick. He gripped his forehead, panting.
Al put me down and stumbled for the door, only to crash into the wall, he barely managed to put up his arms when he did that.
"Run, Willa! Run!" Al managed a few words as he put his head against the wall in pain.
"Al! Is your head hurting again?!" I pulled a parchment I made earlier from the bed as I approached him.
Al wheeled on me at the same time and grabbed my wrist before he pulled me into this arm in such a rough way that my face crashed into this chest.
I rubbed my forehead, feeling a little dizzy at the crash as I looked up in Al's arms: "Al, what are you--"
"No Al! Cerberus!"
(Author's Note: Cerberus finally came out to see Willa for the first time! Do you like him? I grow fond of him a lot as I write more)
Willa's POV Al's eyes turned red, his pupils shivering as they fixed on me. I froze in fear. It wasn't like fearing a ghost or a bad man, it was a raw fear growing from the bottom of my heart. Like you just fear when your ration was even telling you there wasn't anything to fear for. "Betrayal!" Cerberus shouted before he hit himself hard on the gunshot wound. Blood splashed out as he growled in pain himself, but still, he didn't stop. When Al told me he was mad, I never thought Al meant insane. I just thought Cerberus had a bad temper. But this wasn't it. He was furious at Al and he thought hurting his own body was hurting Al. He couldn't understand that they were one! But how could Cerberus wake up? The dose should have worked way faster than this! I guess the dose worked at different speeds for different people. Only it worked at a really bad timing! "Stop it! You are hurting yourself!" I grabbed Cerberus on his wris
Willa's POV Surprisingly, he looked a little scared. Actually, not that surprising. No one knew the pain of wolfsbane more than me. Of course it scared him. "Yes." Cerberus struggled for a while, but curiosity got the better of him. Who was it that said, curiosity kills cats? "There are bad fires, like the one Taran drank, but there are also good fires. They don't hurt, and they are sweet and pretty, like my toy." I nodded at the parchment on the floor but I didn't reach out for it. Cerberus stared at me with doubt in his eyes. "I'll touch it first if you are scared." I grinned at him. "I'm not scared!" Cerberus grunted like a kid. I burst into laughter. He was actually really cute when he wanted to talk. "I can still touch it first, just to show you." I reached out slowly to the parchment. Cerberus grabbed me on my wrist with lightning speed, but then he let go of me as if he touched fire. "Sorry. Ask first." Cerberus
Willa's POV My heart exploded ecstatically at his words. I pulled his shirt in for a kiss but Al already stood up. "We can't stay here. They might try again." He said, frowning at the dead bodies on the floor. "But I want a kiss..." I followed him around, hating Jason's men for ruining the moment. Al let out a surprised chuckle, having trouble understanding my pout at first. Then he pulled me close and leaned in for a kiss on my cheek. Boring! I tip-toed mildly, and turned my head to meet his lips in the last second, successfully stealing a kiss. Al paused in surprise for a second, but instead of pushing me away, he grabbed my thigh to pull me close and prolonged the kiss. He gripped the back of my thigh and pulled it slightly up the side of his body. My panty was pressed tight against his erection. I flinched at the realization of what the hard texture meant, but instead of letting me go, he put more force on the back of my waist and
Willa's POV He was quicker than I thought. By the time I turned around, he already stood up straight. This time he was very naked. I thought he would turn around or shift but he didn't move. He just stood there with his pants held in his hand, eyes flickering with a dedicated look. He was talking to Cerberus. Then the lines of his body consumed my attention. I stared at him, eyes trailing down his body. I knew Cerberus was huge, but I didn't think the size of your wolf had anything to do with the size of your body parts. And Al was huge. I wondered if he had to pay when he went to the whorehouse. I doubt any woman would not want to have sex with him, or could ever find enjoyment from other men even closer compared to what they got from him. Though being a werewolf, I had seen men naked more than I ever wanted. It was just daily life experience. But seeing Al naked was different. A flame burst out in me the moment I laid
Taran's POV I stopped a few times on the way to rest, as well as on the snow line. Willa needed to put on heavier clothes as the temperature reduced much with every mile we climb. It took us a few hours to reach the mountain top. Willa put tiny force on my shoulder blades to hold her position on my back as if worrying that would hurt me. Little did she know her soft touch was more dangerous because instead of hurting me, she was tickling my heart. The longing for her got more and more unbearable as I spent more time with her. When we got the peak, the sun was almost up. There was a hidden cave on the top, not too far from the edge. I let Willa down at the entry of the cave before I went in to put my cloth on. Willa was pouting when I stopped her from following me in. She was NOT making the two months waiting any easier for me. I could hear her pacing around at the entry, waiting impatiently. Or maybe she was jus
Willa's POV Al knelt on one knee, gazing at me with a defeated smile. I waited, my heart pounding fast. He sighed and hesitated, but then he reached out and grabbed my fingers before he pressed his lips on them: "I'm at your command, my queen." I giggled and pulled him up: "Also I promised granny no sex before my 18th birthday, so you were never in danger from me." I already went against the first rule of no relationship before 18, but Al didn't need to know that. Besides, what harm could love to bring? Al let out a surprised laugh before sighing as he followed my lead to the edge of the mountain: "I told you, I never stood a chance protecting myself against you." I burst into laughter. Though to be honest, I didn't know any soul-stealing spell for real. "Then you are in luck that I'm in love with you." I sat on the edge of the mountain, and Al followed, not one step away. "Pretty sure I lured you to fall in lov
Willa's POV [Kirsch!] I got the mind link through right away, [I'm alright! Al is in pain though--] I looked up, and Al smiled bitterly after one glance at my eyes to know I was mind linking. "Is it Kirsch?" Al asked, his voice hoarse and shivering, "Ask him whether his torture turned better or worse." I felt like he said it as a joke, but I couldn't understand it. [He will be fine, don't worry about it. Just give him a minute.] Kirsch's voice was hoarse as well, as if he just shouted at the top of his lung for a very long time. That was understandable though, he had been suffering a wolfsabne attack. [Hmm, Al said to ask you...] I hesitated for a second, feeling kind of bad to tease Kirsch when he was in pain. But just then, Al's voice kicked in the mind link-- [Cerise, enjoying the splash of color there?] Al's voice sounded tired, but he seemed to be in a joking mood. It was the first time I mind linked Al. When he mi
Willa's POV Al chuckled at Kirsch's embarrassed escaping. I buried my face in his chest, my head steaming. "You could have pushed me away..." I murmured, my voice muffled because I wouldn't let Al see my burning face. "I didn't want to do that," Al sighed with a defeated laugh, nipping me on the ear tip, adding, "I could never." "I wouldn't want to cause you pain if I had known!" I protested in shock, staring at him with disbelief. "I know," Al chuckled, "But there's also the fun part--" I buried my face back into his chest again, somehow blushing even more. Al burst into laughter. Though it was freezing cold on the snow mountain top, it was bearable after the sun came out. We stroll around the mountain top for hours, exchanging stories. Well, it was mainly my stories when Al just smiled and listened, asking questions that made me spill more of my past. Until-- My stomach rumbled before I even re