Page 96 of His Curse
“About…” Because this is so not what I was expecting right now and I’m not entirely sure where we’re headed. So, playing dumb it is until I have a feel for things.
“The fact that he had a right to know all of that, and that he should have heard it from me. Ronin is a good boy—”
“He’s a man, Marigold. A goodman, and the best Beta I could ask for.”
She sighs, long and loud, but nods. “I know. I know he’s a man, and I know my oldest pup has become quite the Beta, but I can’t take any credit for it and neither can Ron.”
I frown because her mate hasn’t exactly skirted on teaching Ronny things, he’s just been restricted to what he can teach since my sister is the alpha in that house.
Mary snorts. “That’s putting it nicely, but you’re right. I haven’t taught Ronny the ways of a pack or the hierarchy involved in it, and I haven’t exactly encouraged my mate to do so either, but the pup learned anyway.” She stares at me, really looks at me for the first time in ages and a faint smile touches her lips. “You look so much like Papa.”
Jesus, she is all over the map tonight.“Thank you?”
With a giggle, my sister scoots a little closer and playfully,fucking playfully,nudges my elbow. “You look like him, you sound like him, and my gods, do you act like him. Which is exactly why my Ronny knows anything at all about being a Beta or how packs work. You taught him the same way Papa taught you, and it’s why my son loves you more than he loves me.”
My jaw drops and I start emphatically shaking my head. “No, Mary, that’s not true. Ronny loves you, you’re his mother for Christ sake. Of course he loves you and—”
“Ok, so maybe that was an exaggeration. Ronny loves me and I know that, but he sure does think you hung the moon.” Her expression grows a little sad before she looks out into the woods. “And I’m sure he’s convinced I’m the one that pulls it from the sky and buries it when the nights are pitch black.”
“Mary…” I sigh, my shoulders dropping because I will always have a soft spot for my little sister even when we’re fighting like cats and dogs. “Ronny doesn’t think that.”
“It doesn’t matter.” My sister shrugs as she leans forward and grips the edge of the stump. “My point is, I’ve done everything I could to avoid talking about our parents and pack life short of erasing it from our history completely while you’ve been keeping all of that alive and well behind my back, and it shouldn’t be that way. Just like I shouldn’t have found out about your mate when she showed up with Ronin last night.”
Well, I can’t really argue any of that.
Wolves typically aren’t anything like the way my sister and I have been for the better part of the last century, and they definitely tend to gravitate toward each other in the midst of tragedy instead of letting it divide them. We generally share everything, especially with our kin, right down to raising pups and continuing traditions. Matings, births, deaths. All of that is shared between members of the pack and the fact that we’re the children of the Alpha means it should have always been that way.
“But it wasn’t.” Mary sighs as she clearly keeps tapping into our link. “The only reason you were invited to mine and Ron’s mating ceremony was because Mama wouldn’t let me pretend like you didn’t exist and even though I was mad about that for years, I’m glad she made me because I’d be devastated now to think that you missed it. It’s already hard enough that I didn’t allow you to be anywhere near the pups when they were born. You’ve missed so much with the younger ones and it’s all my fault. I just…”
“You were scared.” I nod and stare out into the woods the same way she is. “Scared, and dare I say, feeling guilty?” Mary huffs but I see her fighting her smile. “I did what I did, back then with that Ancient… I did it for you, Marigold. I didn’t want you to sell your soul and end up with—”
“The curse you now bear on my behalf.”
“Or anything else that could have come from dealing with that horrible demon.”
“I know.” She nods as she turns to face me again. “I know, Colton. You were being my big brother, the same way you always had been, and instead of seeing it clearly for what it was, I turned it around and became bitter. So bitter and angry with you for doing it, especially as the years kept ticking by without either of us finding our mates.”
Which I understand, I always have. I knew exactly what Mary was doing and why she was doing it, and I understood her frustration as time went on. *Demon name* didn’t just curse me withthe other, he cursed both of us with a massive delay when it came to finding our fated ones, and neither of us could ever share that with anyone else. Problem was, we didn’t exactly look for comfort in each other, either.
“We didn’t, and instead, I just blamed you for everything. Especially as we kept moving around and leaving packs, and once Papa and Mama were killed…”
“I know.” With a sigh, I scoot a little closer to my sister then hold out my hand palm up. “It was easier to blame me, I did too, but that was completely out of our control.”
Hesitantly, Mary lifts her hand and cautiously places it in mine, twining our fingers before resting them between us the way we used to when we were little. “It wasn’t fair though. Blaming you for our parents, for being so old when I found Ron. And it wasn’t right to keep you from the pups because of everything that monster did because I know it was never you. You’re one of the best males I know, Colton, and I know you would never allow something like that to happen if you had any control.”
“It was all probably for the best though.” I give her hand a squeeze before I take mine back. “The other night, at Vok and Cora’s place, it proves that I shouldn’t be—”
“That’s actually what I came out here to talk to you about.”
My spine stiffens as I brace for this conversation to take an unwanted turn. I thought we were making headway but I guess I was wrong.
“Ronny and Lark, they’re worried about you.” Mary folds her hands in her lap and looks down at them before she starts twiddling her thumbs. “When my son first started to explain what happened, well, I reacted the way you expect me to now, but then Lark…” She shakes her head with a small chuckle. “She’s quite the female, by the way.”
“I know.”
“Not that I’d expect anything different from your mate, but she’sdefinitelya true Luna.”
“I take it she lit into you too?” Because I wouldnotput that past my Birdie at all.
